Hi guys! I've been having issues recently with my almost 7 month old GSD. Let me give you some background to better explain the situation. I have two miniature horses who are about twice his size that I take out to the pasture once every day. Magnum is an outside dog who has a very high prey drive, and because of that I keep him on a tie out when I can't keep him near me (like when I need to bring the horses out to the pasture). He's perfectly fine every other time when he's on the tie out, but recently he's been freaking out (barking and pulling excessively) whenever I start to halter the horses to bring them out. Tonight he ended up breaking his 1-1/2" leather collar! Is he jealous that I'm paying attention to the horses and bringing them out, or is he afraid that his friends are leaving him? I always come back to him afterwards to play and he's totally fine then. He will be starting obedience classes in a few weeks, but I'd like any advice you could give me about this.
Brittany, I'm not sure, but I don't think so. He seems to like being around them, though he's constantly trying to get closer to them (sticks his head in the panels, jumps up and rests his paws on the fence, tries to smell/lick them). And thank you!
Lauren, I believe he prefers me over the horses, as when I'm out there with him and I'm not bringing the horses out, he pays the most attention to me. He will also follow me everywhere and not pay much attention to them when we are running around the yard.
I'm not sure if there's a better way to deal with it (I was thinking of just putting him inside his kennel run when I bring the horses out, because he doesn't freak out when he's in there). I don't what kind of collar to get for him either, as I don't want him to be constantly breaking collars, but I also don't want him to hurt himself.
Our dog doesn't like for his "pack" to be separated. He doesn't have separation anxiety as far as when we leave the house and he is crated. He goes in his crate easily and doesn't whine at all. BUT if all of us are downstairs and one of us "leaves" to go upstairs, he starts whining and barking. Same thing if one of us leaves and goes in the backyard. He will whine at the door because he wants to be with us.
My guess is your pup wants to go with you/doesn't like you leaving him. Our trainer has had us to toss treats on the floor as one of us heads upstairs with a "find it' command. He gets so excited about finding the treat, he doesn't bark or whine as we head upstairs. We use the treats as a distraction. Since I am assuming you have to go far, how about trying to give him a marrow bone or stuffed kong before you head to the horses to see if that will keep his mind occupied? Velcro dogs!! Ahhhhhh! We love it except for when we don't! LOL
Does he sense something out where you bring the horses?
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