Too attached to my other dog

[Verivus]

Well this makes me feel like a failure, but Kaiser is definitely too attached to Pookie. The handful of times my friend and I have taken them out on a walk together, if Pookie is even slightly ahead of him, he feels the need to forge ahead to catch up. If you try to get more then 5 feet away with Pookie he starts crying nonstop in distress and pulling to catch up. He is so loud that people don't want to come near us because they think he's being aggressive.

On the flip side if he is ahead of us, no matter the distance, he is fine. He may turn around to see where Pookie & I are, but no distress calls. If I walk him by himself he's fine. If I walk them together by myself he's fine. Pookie doesn't give a hoot whether or not he's around. She's a happy camper as long as she is with me.

What should I do to calm him down and not care as much? I've thought about trying LAT with Pookie at a (very far) distance, but I don't have another person on hand very often to ask for help so I'm not sure if I could do it often enough to make a difference.

[Debbieg]

Are you sure Kaiser behaves that way because he is too attached? I ask because Benny is the same way with Jake our Borzoi, but is it because Benny is the alpha of the two and seems to feel responsible for Jake.
When DH and I walk the dogs together, Benny does not want Jake to take the lead when out walking and when Benny is in the leas he will check back and want to wait if Jake gets to far behind.

If we are in an off leash area and Jake wanders off Benny will herd him back. He does not like even our human family members to wander off and seems to feel it is his responsibility to keep the pack together.

I think the LAT game or some focus work could help with Kaiser. Maybe just start with letting Pookie only a little ahead and then increase the distance

[Verivus]

Originally Posted by Debbieg

Are you sure Kaiser behaves that way because he is too attached? I ask because Benny is the same way with Jake our Borzoi, but is it because Benny is the alpha of the two and seems to feel responsible for Jake.
When DH and I walk the dogs together, Benny does not want Jake to take the lead when out walking and when Benny is in the leas he will check back and want to wait if Jake gets to far behind.

If we are in an off leash area and Jake wanders off Benny will herd him back. He does not like even our human family members to wander off and seems to feel it is his responsibility to keep the pack together.

I think the LAT game or some focus work could help with Kaiser. Maybe just start with letting Pookie only a little ahead and then increase the distance

The attachment is just my assumption, but I'm pretty sure it's attachment and not really herding behavior with how he reacts. If I did do LAT Pookie would have to be very far away in the beginning. I can't even get 5 feet ahead with her before he starts crying.

[JakodaCD OA]

chrissy, I think Kai's behavior is ALOT like alotta gsd's I see, MINE included! For whatever reason they do not like being behind, they like being the front dog..Most of my gsd's were/are the same way.

My sister has two paps, when we walk, if on leash, masi is just dying to be ahead of them, when she is, no problems she just goes along, if we lag to much, she's definitely trying to pull me to get ahead of them (I sometimes allow it, sometimes I hold her back)...and my sisters two paps are the same as Pookie, they don't give a hoot where Masi is LOL..

Just as a note, does Pookie beat up on Kai? My sisters two paps are merciless with Masi, they come flying at her, she hits the dirt, and they are all over her LOL..Kinda funny to see this BIG MEAN dog, get beat up by a couple of papillons) They do get along great tho

[llombardo]

I don't think its too attached, its more about who is the leader. Two out of three of my dogs do this..the GSD and the Golden. I think the Golden is worse then the GSD...he will throw a fit if she gets ahead. I just keep them together on the dual flexi leash that I got for them....JUST KIDDING, but I do keep them as close to next to each other as I can.My oldest is the leader of the pack and doesn't feel its necessary to do this.

[Carriesue]

My four month old pup Ollie does this with my Golden... If the Golden gets ahead of him or is off playing in the ocean it's like the end of the world, lol.

Last week my husband took our Golden for a walk, I've been fighting off a couple of infections and was not up to going that night but as soon as they left and shut the door, Ollie had a fit crying and carrying on. I redirected him and took him to play tug.

Sometimes I feel like my GSD loves the Golden more than me LOL, I never thought about it being a leader thing. Sam(my Golden) is definitely... well he's second in command under my Pomeranian.

[myshepharley]

Harley does the same thing. No matter if its just the kids or them with our little chi, he can not stand being behind. If he is out front, he is fine. Stops alot to make sure everyone behind is ok!!!

[Verivus]

Okay it makes me feel better to know other people's dogs do this. I thought it was an attachment thing because he just cries and cries and cries and drives me crazy. It'd be nice if he'd just be okay with her being ahead. It makes it a pain to walk them both with my friend.

Diane, when I get home the zoomies are on! It always plays out with Pookie chasing him around the yard with him running away as fast as he can. It's too funny, lol. He loves her, though she couldn't care less about him. She's the boss until it's food time.

[JakodaCD OA]

chrissy, those paps are tough little dogs LOL..Masi's the same way, she goes all mushy when she sees the paps, they want to beat her up first and then they could just care less about her but she's just dying to get them going..