[nagdu] Doggie spazziness/unfocus?

[Tami Jarvis]

Oh, my! The time Mitzi went berserk when I didn't have her head collar 
was at a stable, where there were peacocks. I finally had to tie the 
leash around my wrist to make sure I wouldn't lose her whenever one 
walked into view. She would calm down, then another one would strut by 
and there she would go.

She would be pretty excitable when we would drive to the dog park, too, 
as were all the other dogs who drove to the dog park. The only time she 
acted the same way in another parking lot was at the farm supply store, 
which was pretty high stimulus. Then we walked out and there were dogs 
in a car by ours and it was too much, so there was bounciness and a bit 
of barking. Generally, if I just stand still, she will remember that she 
is wearing her work clothes and pull it together on her own. That seems 
to work best with her. Unless there are peacocks. I still am nervous 
about peacocks. /lol/

Mitzi finally did outgrow random episodes of complete loss of composure. 
Before that, she would still bounce but wouldn't pull, and she would 
remember to keep her mouth shut, so that was nice. Generally, if she was 
going to be that excitable, it would be when we weren't active enough, 
like towards the end of winter, when boredom had built up. The most 
useful thing really was just standing and ignoring her while she 
bounced, then praising her when she got a grip on herself and moving on.

Good luck with your silly but wonderful girl.

Tami



On 02/17/2015 02:40 PM, Daryl Marie via nagdu wrote:
> Hello!
>
> Just looking for input.
>
> I take Jenny to an off-leash park regularly.  We have very few problems walking there, but when my husband and I drive there with her, she gets so excited.  She starts happily whining when we're pulling in to the parking lot, and we have had some success working with her on not pulling when we get out of the car.
>
> Last night, we went to visit my mother-in-law at a house she moved into a couple of months ago.  We have never taken Jenny there before, and last night she just completely lost her head - pulling, whining, not listening, even in harness.  The first thing out of my husband's mouth when we got out of the car was "She thinks we're at the park," accented by dogs barking from yards in every direction.  I will admit I lost my head, too, and got frustrated with my chowder-headed dog.  It got to the point that nearly wrestling her to the ground didn't even seem to get her focused.  What really sucks is that leaving the house, I thought I should bring her Halti, and decided not to... a decision I regretted upon exiting the car.
>
> In the end, she calmed down once we got inside, she sniffed my Mother-in-law's Yorkie, stole a bone, and laid down calmly for two hours; getting back to the car was much better.
>
> Any advice on dealing with this?  I admit I need to roll with this better, but Jenn needs to know that this behavior is not acceptable, PERIOD!
>
> Daryl and the normally well-behaved Jenny
>
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