[ShenzisMom]

I really need to get this off my chest. A neighbor of mine has a GSD. Sky is about 7-8 months old. She pulls, she whines, she barks, she reacts, she's what would happen when people don't train or socialize properly. I've tried on numerous occassions to help them out, in many different ways. They seem interested in training her for a little...like 2 days, and then 'but its not working/you told us to do it wrong/shes dumb!!' and don't work with Sky anymore.

Part of the problem is that the woman thinks she's a great trainer, loves to toot her own horn. 'But I trained my own PP dogs! They were awsome!'
No, you had aggressive monsters with no training. I remember Brutus. He was no PP dog.

So they have a completely untrained monster on their hands. She has a great temperment and if worked with consistantly I think she would make a GREAT dog. But right now she's a puppy with no leader.

I literally, 5 minutes ago, saw the 15 year old walking both Sky and a little no older than 6 week old GSD.:angryfire:

 

[KZoppa]

personally i would find a way to get the dogs away from them. They obviously dont have a clue and the dogs are paying for it. She sounds like a total idiot. Yes i understand, the current dogs disappear, she'll just get more but thats two that are safe from her ignorance. I cant stand people who refuse to acknowledge that they actually have to do something beyond the least amount possible to get the results they want. Poor dogs. Its like raising kids. You arent consistent thats when the trouble begins.

 

[Deuce]

Wow, that's tough!

 

[EJQ]

Just one more reason that we see GSDs in shelters - there are just sooo many stupid pet owners on the scene

 

[Larien]

Ugh, it's so aggravating when people have dogs and yet know close to nothing about how to raise them! I've got a similar neighbor, although they have a mini schnauzer, and it irks me every time I see them outside. The dog is about 8-9 months old and has had no training whatsoever: they walk him with a retractable leash in the yard every single time he has to go out! They have never actually trained him to stay in the yard, and they let him run out that leash as long as it will go and he just drags them all around, there's no control. Man are they jealous of my 8 week old GSD who follows me obediently around the yard with 0 problems!

In my experience though helping someone's dog doesn't work at all if the owners aren't willing to get serious about it themselves. My best friend growing up had a crazy unruly beagle who dragged them on the leash, ran away, had no manners at all. I petsit him for a week when they traveled once, and spent that time training him. I had him heeling flawlessly, he was a perfect gentleman - and then my friend took the leash, and no sooner did he grasp the handle when that dog took off and dragged him through the bushes on his stomach! So the dog knew they were weak, and they let all my hard work go to **** in an instant because they couldn't fully commit to making him a better dog.

At least you've offered to help and you're concerned, most people don't even do that much. Maybe one day you'll get through to them and be able to help poor Sky!

 

[Konotashi]

Unfortunately, my mom's the same way. She can't stick to anything. Lucky for her, she's got me around, and had my sister around, to teach her dogs some household manners, otherwise they'd be complete and total heathens. I know it's probably bad, but the only things I've taught Aiden is sit and lay down. But three of the dogs (hers) beg, jump all over people when they come in the house, will bark like mad (besides Aiden, he's quiet), etc.
My dad noticed a HUUUUGE difference when she went out of town and I stayed home. He had to come over to help figure out what was wrong with the A/C. Normally when he comes over, they're all going nuts-o for about 45 minutes. When he came over when it was just me there, they got excited and then calmed down within 10 minutes. He was SHOCKED and told my mom. She was like, "Shut up."
I don't tolerate bad behavior from my dogs. They seem to know that when I'm around, they'd best behave. But when Mom's around, forget it. They can get away with murder. I told her exactly why, too. She'd come home every day, they'd be going crazy, and what'd she do? Head STRAIGHT to the pantry and pass out free treats. When they whined, what'd she do to shut 'em up? Head straight to the pantry and give them a treat.
It drives me insane that she doesn't enforce anything that makes a dog enjoyable to be around. Begging drives me up the flippin' wall. Aiden is the BIGGEST beggar I know. He will literally crawl on your lap and try to eat your food right off your plate. Mom denies that he's begging and says, "He just wants to cuddle." Yeah, that's why his eyes are super glued to your plate....

Anyway, stepping off the soap box now. But believe me, I know your frustrations. Sucks because 3 of the 5 dogs I live with (our lab is considered mine), are the same way.

 

[shadow mum]

There are quite a few like that in the area of Brampton I live in. When I walk Shadow, there's one woman being constantly pulled by her golden. She asked me once why Shadow didn't pull me around. The answer, because I don't let him!!

 

[ShenzisMom]

Yup-That one in my area is a golden/poodle cross. This thing is HUGE. And literally pulls the owner everywhere. Do you have an issue in your area too with SPO's walking their dogs completely offleash? I tried calling AC but without pictures they won't come out! It wouldn't bother me so much if they were under control-or the least bit of control...grr?
And if that doesnt grind your gears, I took a vacation day last week, looked outside to see the usual girl walking her <2 pound dogs(yes, multiple!) off leash playing ball in the path near where I live when an AC truck passed right by! Had me and Shenzi been playing off leash can you imagine the tickets/bullets flying?
*big breath*
*steam comes out of ears*
*really long caps locked screaming rampage*
*steam diminishes*
I'm sorry, but my neighbors really P me off...

ETA: I have never called AC before in my life. I was told to email pictures and they would come out.
oiy!

 

[shadow mum]

Not so much of a problem with off leash dogs. Just the ones who get pulled everywhere. My kids and I walk Shadow. I have to laugh as we walk because the kids are constantly scanning every direction and saying, "Mum, dog up ahead, or dog to the side." It's just easier to avoid. Then we get the ones who insist I should let their dogs meet Shadow, because they are friendly. Yeah right, the last time I did that, a small dog tried to snap Shad's face. No more meet and greets in the street.

The one thing I do enjoy is when I walk to the school to pick up the kids. We have been going since Shadow was 13 weeks old, and most of the kids know him. We now have the older kids "teaching" the younger ones how to approach, and to ask for permission. Shadow learns to accept different people, and the kids learn how to greet a strange dog. Better yet, a lot of the parents now know GSD's are not all mean, growling kid killers.

 

[Melina]

I don't take bad leash walking behavior from Koda. He tries to test me quite often to see if he can walk ahead of me (I have him trained to heel and not cross my thigh with his head/ears), sometimes it's initial excitement from going on a walk (It's not as though that doesn't happen daily, he just makes it look like it's a rare occurrence when I break out the leash ).

Any time he tries to push it, though, and walk ahead of me..I turn around, he gets pulled back. I make him sit, then we try walking again. Sometimes I'll walk at a snails pace to see if he tries to cross me. If he does, I turn around again. If he tries to pull ahead to mark a bush, same thing. I turn around, we go back in hopes he won't pull. I'll do that as many times as it takes for him to understand he cannot pull ahead of me. Luckily he doesn't test me often, he usually walks well.

Point being, I must look like a loon to people driving by. Continually stopping, turning around, making my dog sit, proceeding at an unnaturally slow pace, turning around again in he pulls, ad nauseam. It's worth it to have a well trained dog, though. It's just sad to see people being dragged down the street by their dogs...

 

[KZoppa]

I don't take bad leash walking behavior from Koda. He tries to test me quite often to see if he can walk ahead of me (I have him trained to heel and not cross my thigh with his head/ears), sometimes it's initial excitement from going on a walk (It's not as though that doesn't happen daily, he just makes it look like it's a rare occurrence when I break out the leash ).

Any time he tries to push it, though, and walk ahead of me..I turn around, he gets pulled back. I make him sit, then we try walking again. Sometimes I'll walk at a snails pace to see if he tries to cross me. If he does, I turn around again. If he tries to pull ahead to mark a bush, same thing. I turn around, we go back in hopes he won't pull. I'll do that as many times as it takes for him to understand he cannot pull ahead of me. Luckily he doesn't test me often, he usually walks well.

Point being, I must look like a loon to people driving by. Continually stopping, turning around, making my dog sit, proceeding at an unnaturally slow pace, turning around again in he pulls, ad nauseam. It's worth it to have a well trained dog, though. It's just sad to see people being dragged down the street by their dogs...

anyone driving by who has ever trained a dog to walk nicely on the leash totally understands what you're doing. Anyone driving by who doesnt have a clue will either stop and ask you what the heck is going on (i actually had one person stop and ask if i was retarded and needed help finding my house!) or they'll keep driving by until they're put two and two together or they'll drive by once and always wonder why the crazy person was changing directions like that so often.

 

[Melina]

I just realized I contradicted myself in my own post. I said he tests me often, then he doesn't test me often. Dumb. I guess what I meant by all of that is that he does test me, though not a ridiculous amount, and when I remind him where he should be walking, he listens.

 

[Konotashi]

I don't take bad leash walking behavior from Koda. He tries to test me quite often to see if he can walk ahead of me (I have him trained to heel and not cross my thigh with his head/ears), sometimes it's initial excitement from going on a walk (It's not as though that doesn't happen daily, he just makes it look like it's a rare occurrence when I break out the leash ).

Any time he tries to push it, though, and walk ahead of me..I turn around, he gets pulled back. I make him sit, then we try walking again. Sometimes I'll walk at a snails pace to see if he tries to cross me. If he does, I turn around again. If he tries to pull ahead to mark a bush, same thing. I turn around, we go back in hopes he won't pull. I'll do that as many times as it takes for him to understand he cannot pull ahead of me. Luckily he doesn't test me often, he usually walks well.

Point being, I must look like a loon to people driving by. Continually stopping, turning around, making my dog sit, proceeding at an unnaturally slow pace, turning around again in he pulls, ad nauseam. It's worth it to have a well trained dog, though. It's just sad to see people being dragged down the street by their dogs...

I do the same thing. I don't like any resistance on the leash. I don't mind Ozzy walking ahead of me, but as soon as he pulls even the slightest bit - turning around. When I was leash training Aiden (I did that for Mom, because she said she'd walk him every night, but that never happened), we were going back and forth in front of our house for a good 20 minutes. Then 10 minutes by the park. After a bit, he caught on. I taught Ozzy in about 10 minutes, once I got him walking. At first he wouldn't even MOVE. I would simply drop his leash and walk off; he didn't like me ditching him, so he ran after me. I'd stop, take his leash, and repeat.

 

[KZoppa]

I just realized I contradicted myself in my own post. I said he tests me often, then he doesn't test me often. Dumb. I guess what I meant by all of that is that he does test me, though not a ridiculous amount, and when I remind him where he should be walking, he listens.

thats okay. We understood what you meant!