A moment of defiance

[kazP]

Grrr... the little monkey this morning:

Early summer I broke my arm, so Abi has had to adapt to walkers and people coming over to play with her. Anyway, for the past 8 weeks I've had builders here and whilst they are setting up for the day, one of them comes to get Abi and plays with her in the garden for a bit... at the end of play, I call her and she comes indoors... NOT this morning though!

She actually ran away when called (I didn't chase her)... I told the builders to totally ignore her... it took an hour before she came in. Normally I just whistle and she'll come. I don't kid you... she was being openly defiant this morning... running towards me wagging her tail then running off again. When I ignored her she started playful barking. I've not even looked at her since she's come inside... I'm so cross.

What do I do now... only let her out in the garden when on a lead? (I can't use the long lead because she gets wrapped around plants and trees). I'm afraid that if I approach this in the wrong way she will have discovered a bad behaviour and find it fun

[Stuart]

I think to start with, I would do no different to any other day,.. let her out as normal, and recall when ready as normal,.. this morning could well be a one off,..she just might have had the devil in her.

If the same thing happens again, then you can try resticting her a bit, if you cant use the long lead where you are, maybe a reminded training session with the long lead somewhere else

The thing is that she clearly knows her commands, and knows when she has to return, so heavy training,..i.e. back to basic isnt going to do much good.

Is she fed before she goes outside?...if she is, then you could try leaving the meal untill you recall her in,.. that will give her a bit of encouragment, and some insentive to behave

[DelsMum]

Originally Posted by Stuart

Is she fed before she goes outside?...if she is, then you could try leaving the meal untill you recall her in,.. that will give her a bit of encouragment, and some insentive to behave

That's exactly what I was going to say!

There are no flies on your girl, she knows that when she goes outside with her builder she has a great game and then when you call her in its over.
You could try the breakfast when she goes in route or if your builder is playing with a toy can he give it to you and you continue to play with her inside for 5 minutes so it doesn't signify the end of the game?

[kazP]

Many thanks for the suggestions... she was being a right pickle! For some reason, after her puppy 4 meals a day, she developed a routine of 4pm and 8 pm feeding times (hope this isn't harmful to her)... so food bribery in the morning doesn't work.

When the builders stop for lunch, they come knock to have her in the garden with them again (one of the builders is a friend, so that's why they are being so helpful)... anyway, confused by the morning's defiance display I said I'd let her out but could they ignore until I had a successful recall. After 15 minutes I whistled and she came in... I let her straight out again and they played with her. Hopefully this was a 'one off' trying it on (sigh). She sometimes has these moments and I honestly never know what to do

[Shrap]

Originally Posted by kazP

Many thanks for the suggestions... she was being a right pickle! For some reason, after her puppy 4 meals a day, she developed a routine of 4pm and 8 pm feeding times (hope this isn't harmful to her)... so food bribery in the morning doesn't work.

When the builders stop for lunch, they come knock to have her in the garden with them again (one of the builders is a friend, so that's why they are being so helpful)... anyway, confused by the morning's defiance display I said I'd let her out but could they ignore until I had a successful recall. After 15 minutes I whistled and she came in... I let her straight out again and they played with her. Hopefully this was a 'one off' trying it on (sigh). She sometimes has these moments and I honestly never know what to do

Dino has started doing it too. He'll do it for a one off and then be fine for a few days, then he does it again. It's infuriating!! I try not to get too mad but for some reason he only comes back when I shout at him angrily. But then he'll run NEAR me, and he'll sit, and if I walk towards him he runs away and back round me and stuff. I try not to chase him but I need to grab him or else he'll run off again.
I need to be VERY firm with him or he takes the complete and utter piss.
It's certainly difficult not to get too "excited" (angry) lol.

You did well to tell them to ignore her. If you're consistent with that then she'll get the message than when you call her the fun stops outside, and when she comes back in you can play with her for a few minutes. That way it makes it more worthwhile to come inside. If you can get them to turn away from her and cross their arms and not look at her/respond to her if she ignores your recall.

[Sully Monster]

Does she have a favourite toy that maybe squeaks or something? If the builders play with her normal toy and you keep her favourite toy, then when it is time to come inside you could (as Faye suggested) continue playing with her inside for a few min but using her mst favourite toy in the world. If it is a squeaky toy then you could call her then squeak it so that she comes running to play with it. Just as a thought

[kazP]

Many thanks . The builders are here again today (yes... on a Sunday)... I've asked them to ignore her again... I think she's started to revisit that 'centre of attention' phase, so I want to remind her that she's not 'all that' .

Lol... she keeps dropping her blasted ball by the cement mixer... nosing it towards the builder, then sits and waits... and waits...

As suggested I have called her and had her favourite ball in my hand... she's then happily followed me inside for a bit of play. I stopped getting her squeaky toys last year because I read somewhere that they can bring out aggression (not sure if that's true... but she had a streak in her that I was a bit unsure of and didn't want to promote it - she has a fierce guarding instinct that I'd like to dampen - but how?).

[Shrap]

Originally Posted by kazP

Many thanks . The builders are here again today (yes... on a Sunday)... I've asked them to ignore her again... I think she's started to revisit that 'centre of attention' phase, so I want to remind her that she's not 'all that' .

Lol... she keeps dropping her blasted ball by the cement mixer... nosing it towards the builder, then sits and waits... and waits...

As suggested I have called her and had her favourite ball in my hand... she's then happily followed me inside for a bit of play. I stopped getting her squeaky toys last year because I read somewhere that they can bring out aggression (not sure if that's true... but she had a streak in her that I was a bit unsure of and didn't want to promote it - she has a fierce guarding instinct that I'd like to dampen - but how?).

Resource guarding? Traininggggggggg. Does she do it with food/toys/both?

Squeakers promote prey drive, something which you can use to your advantage when training recall!

[kazP]

She doesn't guard objects / toys or food, but flipping heck... anyone walking towards the house and she really lets rip! It isn't a bark to let me know that someone is about... it is more of a 'you come any closer and I'll kill you' bark. She can be difficult with strangers and it is a right old 2 and 8 when I have a visitor she doesn't know... if I'm honest, I find this both embarrassing and stressful. She's so inconsistent too... when out walking, she will sit nicely and welcome attention from some folks, but others she'll launch into her intimidating bark and scare people.

Worse still... she adores all my family and friends, but in her mind there is a pecking order and guards those she considers more important to her or maybe more vulnerable... so when my sister was telling off her daughter (Ela)... Abi started barking at my sister... and the bark sounded quite threatening (Ela is Abi's favourite person). Is this normal behaviour and should I be doing something about this?

[gsdlover4ever]

What age is your dog?