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Pekingese Won't Move When They See Distractions – HMWTC
Hello! Has anyone had experience with the opposite of being leash reactive? I am working with two Pekingese who are not very treat or toy motivated and when they see a distraction on a walk such as another dog they just sit and will not move for anything.Dolce is a little over 1 1/2 years old and Bella is almost 1. They do this both with the owner and with me. They are both very healthy and they don’t exhibit any fearful or possessive behaviors. They seem to like most dogs. In fact when Dolce turned one year old I was invited to a doggy birthday party for her and both Dolce and Bella enjoyed interacting with all of the four legged guests! The owner tells me that she feels like it’s the Pekingese trait of being stubborn and not wanting to move. Not matter what it is – a dog in the distance, a dog in a front yard with an invisible fence, the mailman, the UPS driver – both dogs will sit and will not move for anything. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated! Thank you.
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8 Replies
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@kab – I moved your query here to HMWTC and gave it a heading and a photo. Hopefully that will help more members to jump in with ideas for you. I’ll give them a chance before I post my thoughts. Thanks for bringing this great topic!
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Hi Catherine – thanks so much!
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@kab , thanks for posting this. Based on your description, if the dogs are just very interested vs fearful, I wonder if the other distractions are just too close right now. Perhaps they can be successful moving away if there was more distance…?
Have you thoroughly experimented with truly high-value treats to see if anything excites them? Usually, that means fresh proteins, though meat baby food (lickable from the easy-to-palm jar) is crack to a lot of dogs!
Have you been exploring other ways the client might reward her dogs?-
Hi Virginia, thank you for your reply. Both of us have exhausted all possible treat ideas including chicken, roast beef, cheese, etc., however I like the idea of the baby food! Usually after a few treats the one Pekingese, Bella, will turn her nose away even if we mix up the kinds of treats. The owner really doesn’t have any other ideas about how to reward her dogs. They really love to play with each other but I’m not sure how to incorporate that as a reward. I agree that we would be more successful moving away if there was more distance. It’s difficult for the owner though because there are so many dogs in the neighborhood and she is determined to walk them down her street.
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They love to play with each other! – There’s an opportunity for motivation. Can the owner work one dog while you work another? And can you have them far enough apart so that they are motivated to get up and move toward the other dog? You may be able to put this “Onward” on cue with distractions not present, then work toward adding distractions.
Another idea is to teach them Sit/Stay. I know that sounds counter-productive, but often by putting a naturally occuring behavior under stimulus control, we can reduce it by not asking for it. This takes time to see results, but if you’ve exhausted other options, might be worth a try.
This is a great case study, @kab thanks for bringing it!
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@kab , I was working with a Kerry Blue terrier this summer, and her desire to observe neighbor dogs through her fence was intense. Her recall completely failed in that context, and her normally high interest in food disappeared. So I got really close to her, and used her name or a interesting distracting sound (like a kissy sound). As soon as she glanced at me for a 1/4 second, I praised and released her to “watch” the other dogs again. After some reps of this, she seemed to understand I wasn’t trying to end her fun, and then we had some success with short recalls and then immediate release to “watch” again. An example of the Premack Principle. ???? Wonder if something like that could work with the Pekes.
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Lovely training! Thanks for bringing in Premack/ aka “Granny’s law” – eat your veggies to get dessert!
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My first question was, do they each sit when they are walked individually, when faced with distractions? Have they ever been walked individually? (sorry, not sure if you are training them one on one or both at the same time?)
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