Dog advice sought.
Dec. 31st, 2012 05:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sasha_featherDoes anyone have advice for how to get my dog out of her crate? Treats are not working (turkey and cheese). Usually if I sit around and wait she comes out eventually, but she hasn't been out to do her business since last night!! This problem seems to have gotten worse since it got cold out. Climbing in and attaching her leash and then pulling on it doesn't really work and causes her to yelp. Singing her name/calling her hasn't worked today.
I am going to lay down for a bit: it seems like when I take a nap, that is when she whines to wake me up and wants to go out.
I am going to lay down for a bit: it seems like when I take a nap, that is when she whines to wake me up and wants to go out.
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Date: 2013-01-01 05:50 pm (UTC)A few things...
- Our greyhound did something very similar when he was Afraid of Storms and did not want to go outside. Or when he was stuck on the landing and afraid to go down stairs. He'd turn his head to avoid looking at the treats we were offering. It was kinda funny ("I snub your delicious treat even though I really want it!!"), but not after hours and hours of not going out to pee...
Some ideas:
- Clicker training might help here, if that's something you're interested in, since you can reward small steps in the right direction (take a step, click, take another step, click, go back in the crate, stop clicking, etc)
- There's something called a squawker that attracts dogs, and greyhounds seem to respond well to them. We never got one, but would occasionally play the sound effect on the computer and Robbie would be all HOLY SHIT WHAT IS THAT I MUST HAVE IT EARS TO RED ALERT WTF WTF. You can see a video of one in action here. http://s21.beta.photobucket.com/user/5blackgreys/media/MVI_8458.mp4.html So something like that *might* be distracting enough to override the anxiety for her.
- Is getting off the couch hard for her, or is she just nervous about it because she fell once or maybe has a little arthritis or something? If it seems like there is some difficulty, maybe constructing some sort of little step would make it easier? IDK.
- You mentioned she doesn't like most toys. This may not help with the crate situation at all, but it might be fun and potentially distracting for her-- a lot of greyhounds like stuffed animals. Ours liked those and ignored most other toys. Have you tried these? Easy to pick up cheap at a garage sale or from friends if you don't have some you're willing to part with. Ones designed for dogs are ideal, but if she's not a serious chewer, ones made for children are probably fine (greyhounds tend not to be chewers where some other breeds would nom the toy into a pile of fluff in seconds); just keep an eye on what she's doing and look for ones that seem sturdy/don't have a lot of smaller bits that would be easy to remove. Also avoid dangly limbs-- Robbie loved his Kermit the frog but we had to take it away because he'd trip over the legs as he carried it down the stairs (thus increasing Stair Anxiety). Note: if you haven't tried these and she likes them, you will probably need to be careful that she doesn't appropriate any you or other people do not want to share. Robbie eventually collected most of the ones in the house.
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Date: 2013-01-01 06:16 pm (UTC)I've tried giving her stuffed animals but she doesn't seem to interact with them. I wonder if it's because her teeth are ground down in front and maybe are a little sensitive? Or maybe because she's an older dog and just isn't used to them. The foster lady gave us a Clifford dog stuffed toy that has a squeaker, but she doesn't seem to play with it. One problem is that sometimes she slips a bit on the wood floors. I put some rugs down but that might be the issue with getting off the couch.
Thanks j00j! I'm sure I'll chat more about this later.
no subject
Date: 2013-01-01 06:19 pm (UTC)