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HELP me help my pup!

442 views 3 replies 3 participants last post by  SagMom 
#1 ·
I'm all out of ideas here, and hoping someone else has a few. Our dog just turned one. He's good with commands, but we're still working on "come." He's at the point where he comes most of the time, unless there's something super interesting distracting him.


Which leads to our problem. Our neighbor next door has two dogs. They "play-fight" (as the neighbor calls it) with each other--lots of growling and snarling and jumping around and barking and biting. It sounds horrible, but neighbors don't feel that it needs to be curtailed. Problem is, it drives our dog crazy. He gets really upset by it and runs back and forth along the fence (chain link) barking his head off.

So, each time, I go out and bring our dog in, which can sometimes be a major event since he can easily outrun me and isn't inclined to listen to commands when he's so worked up. The neighbors will do nothing to control their dogs, so it's all on us--aside from our dog getting upset, I can't imagine that any of the other neighbors is too pleased about this noise, so I can't ignore it.

Would a fence that he can't see through help or would the *noises* from the other dogs still drive him batty? What else can I do to calm our dog when this is going on? I have to say that our pup is very social--he's never had a problem with any other dog. He often goes to the park with us and plays nicely with the other pups. There is a dog behind us (same fence) who he'll sniff and play with but doesn't flip out, which is why I believe it's the other dogs' fighting and not the fence itself that is the problem.

I know I can't control the other dogs. What can I do to help MY dog? Putting up a fence that he can't see through is my only idea but I don't want to go through all that expense and time and effort if the noise of the dog fighting is going to elicit the same response.

Help?!
 
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#2 ·
If the neighbors dogs aren't really hurting eachother, and niether is "yelping" they really are just playing, we have 3 dogs and they "play" all the time, If you had another dog your dog would be the same way i'm sure... but that's not the point, your dog is going nuts b/c he wants to play too, is what i think.... what kind of dog is it? What's it's activitily leavel? I have 2 dalmations and a dobermen all three require lots of attention and need to be worn down by playing or by going for a super long walk...
As for the fence it might help to have a wooden or something fence that your dog can't see the others... I'm not sure, we live in the country so neighbors aren't a problem our dogs barking and fighting can only drive us nuts! LOL
 
#3 ·
Yes a fence he can't see through should help with the fence running--but it will not completely solve the problem.
Starting right away, whenever your dog is outside, you need to go out every 5 minutes or so and call him to come--have a REALLY good treat, something he absolutely won't get otherwise--cheese, chicken something like that. Call him in when there ARE NOT any distractions. Then let him back out--so that he stops thinking that coming in when he's called means his fun is over. When he is consistently coming in quick and excited, you need to put a correction collar on him and a very long line (well, long enough that if he's dragging it you can easily get it and correct him in--so it depends on how big your yard is) This time, if there is a distraction, call him ONCE--only ONCE, if he doesn't immediately come, go get your line and give him a series of corrections towards you. When he gets there praise him and give him a treat. The thing you need to keep in mind is that through the beginning of this training phase you've already established that he absolutely knows exactly what you are asking of him--there are no doubts as to what is expected--so if he doesn't come, he is flat out ignoring your authority. Once he comes into you, release him again still dragging the line and repeat the excercise. Do this at least a couple times a day until he's responding to the first command every time.

I agree with the pp, the neighbors dogs are just playing, that's pretty normal play behavior and I'm sure your guy would love to get in on it :LOL
 
#4 ·
Thanks for your responses. I realize I threw a lot of stuff into my post--so what, I was asking probably got muddled.

Yes, we are still working on "come" but that's not really our problem (my post was pretty rant-driven and his ignoring me only compounded things this morning.) He JUST turned one, and has learned a lot. I'm not really worried that he won't learn "come" consistently--he's a smart one.

Really, what I needed to know is if a fence would prevent him from freaking out. I've honestly never seen dogs "play" this way--I've seen the prancing and jumping on each other and such, but the snarling and growling and teeth-baring is new to me. And yes, there is sometimes yelping. But, even if this is normal, I need to find a solution to my dog flipping out whenever the neighbor's dogs get into it. Having him come inside is one solution, but of course, I want him to be able toplay outside in his own yard! He does have opportunity to play with other dogs and he does get lots of exercise and playtime with us as well. (He's a corgi--lots of energy!) I guess the fence is something we'll try.

Thanks for your help.
 
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