How do I prevent my dog from following other people away?

My dog always follows people she sees…even when I tie her up, she will pull the collar hard and looks like she was choking her self…

Migod – not ONE answer I can approve of in its entirety – although a couple showed promise they mucked up along the way.
• First step is F E N C I N G so that she cannot follow people.
• Second step is to build a S E C U R I T Y – P E N with a raised sleeping box, a roof, and enough room to run around in – most dogs learn how dig under or climb over fences before they reach adulthood. And there are brats who deliberately open gates to let dogs escape. So get your prevention in first.
• Third step is G O – T O – T R A I N I N G – C L A S S E S. No, not send your dog to be trained by a professional – it is the OWNER who needs training to use “the voices”, to improve body language & timing, and to make good use of rewards & reprimands. While you are waiting for the first class, get to work convincing your dog that you are the nicest possible person in the world, a person who helps it do interesting things and go to interesting places (always on-lead), a person who gives it lots of physical contact (chest rubs, ear-base massages, croup scratches) and supplies lots of interesting tidbits (slivers of cheese, baked liver, baked hot dog, baked/fried sausage, crisp-fried bacon, peanuts – anything small, tasty, easy to carry in a plastic zip-lock bag in your pocket) so is well worth sticking close to. Note – I said SLIVERS. It is not the intention to fill the dog’s stomach, just to have her interested in the smell and taste of each tidbit. So far as she is concerned, a single peanut is GREAT (unless she doesn’t like peanuts, in which case you use one of the tidbits she DOES like).

You’ve obviously not thought about WHY she is running away.
• First reason is that she CAN – there is no barrier to prevent her applying her GSD curiosity about the world.
• Second reason is that she considers people INTERESTING – they pat her, they talk to her, either of which is far more interesting than being alone outside. If she’s lucky they might have a face covered with chocolate or icecream that she can clean off – they might even give her the scraps from their lunch!
• Third reason is that you are less interesting to her than are strangers.

The second is good, but you have to change the first and third.
Les P, owner of GSD_Friendly: http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/GSD_Friendly
“In GSDs” as of 1967

Saw V – The Collars aka the Neck Tie Trap

Comments are closed