What To Do?/Sudden Off leash Disobedience

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

Tara has been very good with off leash work around our property even with high distractions. For example, recently she came face to face (about 10 feet) from a bunny (Stewpid?) and I told her to down/stay which she did and stayed until released after the bunny hopped away.

 

So, that being said, yesterday I ran into a problem. She was loose and started to fixate on the neighbors about 100 ft away. I called her back to me and she responded nicely to "come". But once she was with me I told her to "down" and she completely ignored me and kept staring at the neighbors.  On the off chance that she didn't hear me (sudden, temporary deafness) I broke my own rule and repeated the command and she ignored me again.

 

So, she at that point is standing right next to me in a flat collar with no leash and I was sort of frozen about what to do. It has been SOOOO long since she has just blatantly disregarded a command!

So I grabbed her collar and pulled her to the ground which I didn't really like doing but I couldn't think of anything else to do!

What do you do when this happens? Any suggestions? Am I premature allowing her to be loose?  And, are people really that much more interesting than rabbits? ;)

[Nancie & Gracie Doodle]

I am going to guess that you did the right thing since you had no other option.  Since that same technique is normally done with a leash on a collar I don't think it matters how you get to the final "down".  But...I seriously think that Laurie sent Stewpid cross country to you!!!!  Did you by any chance look to see if it had the Intercourse tee-shirt on???  lol

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

LOL!! I think you maybe RIGHT about Laurie shipping that Stewpid rabbit to me!! I saw her mention the other day that she "hadn't seen it for a while"...hmmmm...

 

I forgot to mention that even after I pulled down on her collar she still left her butt up in the air!!  Then she did the crouching down for a while! It took some time before she was actually DOWN!   That little stinker!!! Just when you think you have them trained...

[Adina P]

I think your response was on target.  She didn't do it so you made her do it. A perfect response (and I'm guilty of occasionally repeating something 'just in case' somehow my voice went to outer space and the dog really didn't hear me (which is unlikely) would have been to NOT repeat and just make her go down.  Also praise her once she IS down because even though you made her do it, once she is correct she should be reminded that THAT is a good thing.

 

You could always just put her training collar on her (does she wear a diff training collar?) and a tab with a very light, not too long line attached to the tab.  Then she'll feel mostly off leash but you can still correct her as needed. 

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

I can't remember if I praised her or not once she was down! It seemed like a tug-of-war there for a while trying to get her entire body actually DOWN! You're right though!

Yes, she has a training collar but I have been hesitant to leave it on her off leash because sometimes she goes bush diving and I am concerned about it snagging on something. It is the type that could choke her if she became entangled. I do have a little one foot lead that I could attach to her flat collar for a while that would at least give me something to grab. It still wouldn't deliver much of a correction but it would at least give me a little more control. Thanks!

[Adina P]

If you have a way of retrieving her I doubt it would snag off leash.  My trainer usually hikes with her dogs off leash and all they wear is a tab attached to their training collar (choke chain).  You can buy some braided nylon cord about 20-24'' long, fold it in half make a knot at one end, and loop it through the  collar ring you'd attach a leash to.  Then you have something to grab and hold.  It should be thick enough to give you a good grip but thin enough to go through her collar link that you attach the leash to.  I can show you pics.  

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

Yes, I think I get the idea but it would be nice to see pics.

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

Adina, here is a pic of her collar and  the leash options I have available now but haven't been using:

I think the longer leash is similar to or could be made to work as you suggested.

[Adina P]

I can't tell what kind of collar that is at all....what is it called?

 

I just took some pics for you.  This is the tab I made.  Basically a 20-24" braided (not twisted) nylon rope with ends burned off so they don't fray.  Then I made a knot at the end and I loop the non-knot end through the collar loop the leash usually attaches to.

And the final product looks like this:

 

The knot on the end gives an end point when gripping the rope so your hand doesn't just slip off. 

 

I make (well I'm learning to make...I can't seem to do it from memory as I never really learned knot tying skills) a knot in my very light line and tie it/loop it around the knotted end.  It's a slip knot of some kind so I can easily remove it.  The weight of the choke chain plus tab (which I get my dogs used to for a couple of weeks before I use it) masks the super light weight of the light line that hangs from it so they don't really feel added weight when they wear it even when it is loooong.

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

Okay, I seeeeee. Yes, I have some of that rope too. I just made a mini copy of yours:

 

Just need to take care of those fraying ends. This should work well and I really like how light weight it is for her.  What is the long super light weight line made from? The rope I have is 1/8 inch. I have about 50 feet of it that I used for long leash training so I just snipped a bit off to make this one.Thanks for the idea!

 

Here is a better shot of the collar.  It came with the Don Sullivan Perfect Dog training program. He calls it the "Command Collar".:)  They can be purchased from his site. They are a modified prong collar. Actually more teeth like than prongs and it is made of plastic instead of steel. Kind of midway between the Martingale style and prong collars.And like prong collars they come with extra links for custom fitting.

 

[Adina P]

Got it...yes that was what I thought you used for a collar it just looked way different in that initial photo.  The light line I'm using (well I've barely used it since I just haven't had time or energy to move forward with off leash training) is braided (not twisted) masonry line.  I found it at home depot and bought a spool of it.

[Camilla and Darwin]

Stewpid strikes again!

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

Watch out Camilla he was heading southeast the last time I saw him!!