Hey everyone! I’ve posted here before but I wanted to get a little insight if I can.
My boy Cody is deaf, and has a really hard time with leashing. He’s great about putting on his gear (we have a deaf dog labeled harness back clipped to a collar for safety when on walks). But as soon as you try to pick up his leash he freaks out.
We had a trainer who had us using aversives on him so he still has a lot of trauma from those methods, which i think is why he doesn’t like the leash. Any time we go out or back in, he bites me, lunges at me, ends up starting a scuffle with our other dog etc. The only time he doesn’t do it is during walks or training, since I believe he sees it as work.
Today I took a risk and left his leash on, but allowed him to freely move on his own when he had to go inside. He stayed right with me, and when he began to stray a bit I signaled to the house to go inside. He walked up the stairs, sat and waited. I have tried it a few more times and he is great every time (better actually than with the leash despite training). I want this to become a regular thing as we live in a quiet area but I need to know how I can effectively recall. We tried a vibration setting on our e-collar before and it would startle him badly. So I’m not sure what else I can even do, but he seems alot happier off. Any thoughts or tips would be appreciated!!
Edit: he has near perfect recall in the yard, but MUST finish whatever it is he’s doing before he follows through
My boy Cody is deaf, and has a really hard time with leashing. He’s great about putting on his gear (we have a deaf dog labeled harness back clipped to a collar for safety when on walks). But as soon as you try to pick up his leash he freaks out.
We had a trainer who had us using aversives on him so he still has a lot of trauma from those methods, which i think is why he doesn’t like the leash. Any time we go out or back in, he bites me, lunges at me, ends up starting a scuffle with our other dog etc. The only time he doesn’t do it is during walks or training, since I believe he sees it as work.
Today I took a risk and left his leash on, but allowed him to freely move on his own when he had to go inside. He stayed right with me, and when he began to stray a bit I signaled to the house to go inside. He walked up the stairs, sat and waited. I have tried it a few more times and he is great every time (better actually than with the leash despite training). I want this to become a regular thing as we live in a quiet area but I need to know how I can effectively recall. We tried a vibration setting on our e-collar before and it would startle him badly. So I’m not sure what else I can even do, but he seems alot happier off. Any thoughts or tips would be appreciated!!
Edit: he has near perfect recall in the yard, but MUST finish whatever it is he’s doing before he follows through