Hi from Madras, India.
Need some advice badly as we are looking after a dog for the first time (we are a cat family) ! Hence such a long post ( my apologies in advance!) . By now I have a good idea of what to do to take care of an adult dog – done tons of research and spoken to people.
I have started off with the training tips in the book. But getting Brownie to respond to commands / or walking him seems impossible. Treats have only limited appeal (but if at all he responds, it is to treats). He is not a difficult dog, looks like orientation is the problem.
Brownie's story -
He’s been a stray his whole life, I suppose . We saw him first about a year ago when he started hanging around our street. Hes an adult , fully mature , previously neutered (perhaps by some animal welfare organization). Hes got white in his muzzle and his teeth are not in great shape so hes not young ( I think ‘mature to middle aged’ ). Hes fairly active, alert and happy around people. All of us on the street have been feeding him scraps for many months now. Like most strays in our area hes not skinny!
But now , over the past few weeks I have adopted him and hes become part of my family. His ‘den’ is on our porch, which is dry, cool and very comfortable. The climate here is temperate. We have a small yard which he likes to lie around in, likes to look out at people walking past.
He’s sweet natured , smart, loves people , is social . And that’s why everyone loves him. But is aggressive or scared of other dogs . Not interested in playing all that much- not used to it. Hes in decent shape , but obviously needs to go see a vet for a regular check up. But I cant take him anywhere unless I am confident of controlling/guiding him
He does not appear to have any behaviour/ health issues. I have started grooming him daily and he seems to like it. Hates water , so I haven’t tried giving him a bath yet. Maybe, once hes more used to commands etc.
Have now put him on dry dog food. Hes not too happy about it, but finishes it. I alternate with natural food which he seems to enjoy more.
Hes a manageable dog and allows me to handle him, touch him etc.
I need to do the following -
1. teach him to respond to basic commands - beginning with his name which is totally new to him ! Started training but his response varies. He chooses to ignore my calls unless hes hungry. He does understand that I am calling him, so he’s disobeying.
2. Biggest problem - walking on leash - (tried ‘random walking’ but not going well, though hes not scared of the leash). As an ex-street dog hes insecure about going out of our gate- he probably thinks he’ll be out on the street again and wont be let in. Bye Bye new home! I try walking him late at night when there are very few people, vehicles and dogs about. I have to pull him to come out of our gate, even treats dont work . The next barrier is reaching the end of our small street- he refuses to move past this ‘line’ . This street is his territory and he hates going out of it. While walking he walks all around me and I have a tough time controlling him. Our biggest problem - when he sits and refuses to move at all , which he does very frequently - I hate pulling him but thats what I end up doing . He obviously hates it when I pull and he whines. Then, he runs home like hes being chased by a pack of wolves! I know dogs love going out for walks but this guy is the quite the opposite! He is not used to thinking of walking as fun.
Since he refuses to budge out of the gate even for walks and is not much interested in games/ toys etc , he’s putting on weight. I understand that the basic issue is his street dog thinking – food and shelter are the first priority and as far as hes concerned maybe hes not still sure if hes in with us for good!
3. He is territorial and barks at any and all dogs that pass by our gate (and at some people too, though the reason is not clear ) - this is a big nuisance esp at night.
4. Cats - we have 4 cats and he has to get used to them before hes allowed inside our house permanently. He ignores the cats at times but when he sees them outside the house he growls at them or chases them . Once hes in I really don’t have the facilitiy to keep him separate from the cats, or cat litter boxes. Not sure how to manage this. Since we rent, we cant really install small gates etc inside
Whew! In short - I need to train and domesticate him from scratch - a fully grown dog who has been a stray his entire life.
HELP!!
(Btw - head collar is not available here yet, so I cant use this as a training aid. Looking at shipping options)
