Change in behaviour

[wilfysmum]

Hi everyone

I adopted Wilf (ex-racing greyhound, albeit a very short racing career!) from an animal rescue centre in September 2013. When i adopted him he was in quite a bad way, very malnourished and scared of everything! Over time he has grown in confidence and is such a sweet and gentle boy. He has been doing really well with recall and commands and was on his way to becoming a nice obedient dog... however! Last week he spent five days at my mum and dad's house whilst i was away with work and he has come back quite different.  He has spent a lot of time with my mum and dad, both at my house and at theirs (with and without me) and there have never been any problems. However, since he came back on Friday he has been so naughty. He not only ignores me on the park, he actually runs off when i call him! He barely listens to any command out of the house, you would think he's forgotten his name! He's also developed this funny throaty, half growl that he tends to do when he's wiping his feet on the grass after a wee. He used to do it only very occasionally and it seemed to be a sign of excitement (it usually followed his first morning no.2 and a happy sprint around the park and back to me). Now he seems to be doing it every time he wipes his feet, when he runs over to other dogs to play (not a good opener!), if i tell him off or just whenever he fancies! It doesn't seem to be a happy noise now. I went back to the original recall training i did when i got him over the weekend and he showed a little improvement yesterday (not great though) and today he's back to his old tricks again - looking at me when i call him or cocking his ear, then just trotting or running off.

What do you think has caused this change in his behaviour? Could it be the routine he has at my parents' house? What's the best way to show assertiveness with him and tell him off for not coming back? I usually put him back on the lead when he has run off and use my voice to scold him but he seems none the wiser! I sometimes get a frustrated whine but his tail is still wagging and he seems happy! I'm feeling a bit ineffective and i don't like the way his behaviour is going!

Any advice would be gratefully received!

Thanks


Wilfy's mum

[samburns]

Go back to basics and reward reward reward the good behaviour.  Get his favourite treats out and make a huge fuss of him when he's doing what you want.  Absolutely no point 'scolding' him, he's simply not going to associate the scolding with running off and will learn that you are unhappy when he is back on lead so it will just exacerbate the problem. 

[wilfysmum]

Thank you. I didn't think the telling him off worked! I only use "ah-ah" to tell him "no" so he was probably thinking "why is she saying no when i'm on the lead?!".

It's probably been the change in environment that has done it, I probably need to have a chat with my mum and dad about their routine and using the recall regularly.

[samburns]

Good luck   Let us know how you get on

[ragsysmum]

The more you put him back on lead when he returns, the more reluctant he will be to come back. I would clip him on, praise and treat, walk a few yards and let him off again. I often call mine in on walks, treat and clip on and then release again several times, so they know clipping on lead doesn't always mean the end of freedom. I reckon it takes a good year for a rescue dog to really feel at home and believe this new life is forever.....then they really relax and you sometimes see new behaviour they daren't display before. Having been away from home for a few days and then coming back he will feel more sure you will always return for him and so may test the boundaries further than he has to date. I'd just reward everything he does which is 'good' and try to ignore the faults as much as is safe to do.

[sharonhigh45]

Good Luck,perseverance and patience usually pay off in the end, I have had my Moss for a year now and he is quite a different dog to the one we first rescued, so much more sure of himself with a big Gob now but we love him!

[julies]

Remember always praise the good and ignore the bad - you should never ever tell him off for coming back .... why would he come back if he's going to be told off
Use very high value treats all the time so it's great to come back to you and much better than mooching about ... and has been said just re-inforce the basics .. and make it fun.
Julie