I need some advice on an 8 month old GWP that has been returned to me. She had been attacked several times by another dog at her previous home. She is a lovely affectionate dog and seems to have no baggage other than reluctance to come to you when called in the house or off a lead. I had tried her off the lead at first and she was not bad at coming back. However when this deteriorated I decided to stop loose running until a bit more bonding took place. In the house she seems to suffer 'selective deafness' but will happily come to you when she feels like it.
My friend has taken to her and is having her part of the day to give her own dog chance to accept her. This is going very well so far and soon they will have her overnight. I took her for a walk today before she went to their house and slipped on the ice, dropping the lead. She didnt go far but stood there despite all attempts to get her back. It was a side road fortunately so hardly any traffic. At one point she came about a meter away, hesitated and then backed off again. This she repeated and I caught her  eventually when she went into a nearby garden.I felt she did not want to run off but was wary of coming back. Her previous owners said it was only a problem getting her back if other dogs were about.
She has been with me 3 and a half weeks now so still early days. If my friend takes her she will be going to puppy training and will get all the recall advice she needs. I have given them loads of info about recall and back to basics stuff. I suppose I just want to hear from others with similar experiences who may be able to offer hope that this will be ok at the end of the day.
The other dog they have is an ex sniffer dog so is completely obedient.
Any thoughts appreciated.
:)

I wonder if she has been punished in the past for not coming back and this has made her reluctant to return?  She is also going through her teenage stage at the moment so it may be a passing phase and with continuous training she will get through it.

good luck :)

I wondered that too but her previous owners did seem very nice.

Im not sure about GWP but some dogs need very gentle handling or they will just freeze and wont listen, even shouting can make a dog clam up.

Hi Star,

Can't add much to what Blondebird was saying as those were my own thoughts exactly ;)  I do hope her prospective new home works out and commend you on your efforts to try and rehabilitate this girl before letting her rehome.

Good luck, I'm sure with patience and gentle perseverance this girl will come round - it's just such a shame that we can't always be 100% sure what they've actually gone through elsewhere.

Regards, Teri :)

Thanks for the encouragement. GWPs can be stubborn and as you say it is that 'age'. She is lovely (better behaved than some of mine if I am honest, especially for a young energetic dog) I would love to be able to keep her but we are at full quota for now. If she goes to my friend, I get to see her as much as I like and know she has a good home. It was not her fault that she came back so she deserves a special home.

Just wondering what gwp stands for?

German Wire-haired Pointer.
:)

Thankyou.

Hi Sue

She sounds just like Briar with selective deafness. We are going through similar problems with Penny who at 9 months will dance a couple of feet in front of you but won't come close enough to have her lead on, the other two pups are fine and will come back to heel really quick, we have found that they do respond better to a whistle.  We have been keeping Penny on a long training lead and using lots of praise and a toy to entice her to heel, its starting to work but is taking time.

I have found with Briar that lots of gentle praise works, as if she notices a change of voice then she won't come near, never been hit by me but she will cower for no reason, so I use the whistle more than my voice, must admit it took her 30mins yesterday to come to heel.

Regards

Tracy

Thanks Tracy
Hopefully if they decide to take her and start training all will improve. Apart from not coming back she is the sweetest girl. Tim is training her on a flexi and feels she is improving, but i will suggest a whistle too.