Wonder if anyone has advice regarding our nearly 2 year old gsd cross. From day one at puppy classes it became apparant how much she enjoyed the company of other dogs, listening to the advice from our puppy trainer we have tried to make our selves more interesting than dogs for nearly 2 years. We play find it, fetch, tug, even chase with her as that is what seems to get her really excited. Recently we have also started an agility club to which i have tried to explain to the trainer that she really wont be interested in toys there and hes reply to all of us was that we needed to play with our dogs more. We play with her all the time! In the house she will fetch a ball (after quite a bit of training) but outside she will fetch maybe 4 times before deciding that looking out for another dog is far more interesting. Ive jumped about like a loon, ran around skipping having a whale of a time with the balls and toys but she looks at me like i am mad. Very occasionally she will join in but that may be one walk in about 10. Im feeling very down hearted about it recently and worry im not doing something right. She does have plenty of off lead play with dogs we meet along the way and 3 times a week has a long walk with 2 of her doggy friends. But she would obviously rather play with dogs than us. If I am training her in a feild and another dogs comes in to play with its owner i have to put her on a long line still as i can guarentee she will run over to try and initiate play. I try to distract her but to no avail and end up getting very strange looks from people and usually end up taking her elsewhere for a walk. Should I stop her playing with other dogs for a while? When we go on a walk along paths if she sees another dog and they both say hello to each other she is more than happy to come with me as we pass, the problem is if we are in a feild and she sees a dog across the other side, still after all this time i have to put her on lead. I dont know what else to try. Some people are suggesting we get another dog as she obviously loves their company so much. Any advice appreciated as it would be nice to let her off lead without her noosing thru bushes to see if there is a dog in the ajoining feild, would be nice if i could get her attention on me and playing games for some of the walk.

e2a if i notice another dog and command her to wait and sit while she is thinking about running off she will wait and sit for me to come over to put her lead on, would just like her to not even think about running over to say hello, if at all possible

For what it's worth, it's a long time since I only had one dog , so can't really comment I'm afraid. BUT at 2years old she is still a young dog. She will still find other dogs much more interesting than you, no matter what you do. Some dogs are just not very people orientated. I would carry on as you are. You are obviously very aware of her ways so will know when to stop her. Not all owners are. :rolleyes: Sorry I can't help any more but my dogs are very into me. Watching my every move, so it's not a problem I have to deal with. ;)

If it makes you feel any better a few months ago I said something like "if I covered myself in sausages and danced around in the waves I wouldn't be more interesting than another dog". I have a golden that just turned 2. He's getting better but if I try to play with him in the local park he still turns into an owl because he's sure there's another dog somewhere (but mom, you always tried to engage me when other dogs were around). Truth is, when he actually got to meet more dogs he became less interested. At the beach he barely gives them a glance because swimming after his toy is more fun. He still looks interested at every dog he sees but usually dismisses them to carry on with me now (especially collies and westies, he just plain ignores them).

I'm no experienced trainer but I'd like to tell you that things got better for me and I have a male gun dog! Hang in there, keep finding things that your girl thinks is fun, (that may not be what you think it should be. Breaking sticks and chasing kelp monsters are faves for my boy). Don't take it personally! :-D

Hi Newowner, my GSD Zak was exactly the same, he gradually started to take more notice of me sometime after 2 years of age. I was even told by 1 trainer that stopping him playing with other dogs was the answer. In other words she only plays with you & has to look to you for all her fun. I suppose in a way this does make sense, but it seems a bit cruel, especially when your dog quite clearly loves other dogs. I always use the silly high pitched voice, Zak also plays with toys at home, but in the company of other dogs at training he wasn't interested one bit! I never train without liver or liver cake, is your dog food orientated? Zak would never take his eyes off me at home, but out with other dogs he never took his eyes off them. I found it frustrating, but now at 4 my hard work has paid off. He is a dog in a million & I wouldn't swap him for the world. I do do agility with him & actually found that he would focus on that, he loves it & could safely be let of the lead when doing an agility course. He still looks at the other dogs, but isn't half as bad as he was. Good luck.

It sounds to me like you're doing everything correct - it all just takes time :)  My youngest collie is almost 2, from the first time she went out for a walk I've played with her with a ball adn she is getting very ball obsessed, but whenever she sees a dog in the distance she's more interested in it. A few months ago she would have raced up to it even if I was shouting and calling and waving liver around. Now she'll stay with me but doesn't notice the ball at all - is only interested in the other dog. Her mother is just over 4 and was the exact same - it's only been the last year say that she's finally more interested in me than anything else :)

Re: the playing with toys at agility - again it's all down to time. Meg (the 4 year old) wouldn't play the first 6 months at agility despite being crazy for her tuggy at home. There are just too many other distractions, now however you ahve to hide her toy as she's crazy for it and won't go ahead if you're holding it - again it's all about time and perseverence - there's no short cut I'm afraid.

We gave into our dobe girls needs and provided her with a Whippet brother. Peace at last, has befallen the houseold.

As long as she will recall and has good manners then I would consider her pretty normal, though I do won a breed that isn't toy orientated and would expect them to find their own species of more interest, after all they have you all the time.

Thanks for your replies everyone. Has made me realise that its not through bad training at least, she is an excellent dog/companion apart from this. Guess its me wanting too much too soon! Yes, liver cake or very smelly cheese is our usual training rewards, she is very food orientated at home, and out if no other dogs are about but lately even food doesnt seem to work outdoors, she would rather keep her eye out for another new playmate. And her favourite toys at home seem to become invisible at agility, although she doesnt run over to the other dogs there, is more nose to the ground smelling the scents of all the other dogs. But saying that i do get lots of lovely comments from walkers that we meet on what a good dog she is so i guess we are doing something right. I suppose i just needed some reassurance as the majority of dog walkers we see seem to think it is aceptable for their dogs to run over to strange dogs, where as after some of the horror stories that i have heard of dogs getting attacked, i would rather she was kept safe than be sorry later. Plus when she plays she likes to show her teeth quite a bit with the ocasional growl when she gets over excited, this is fine with dogs she knows but obviously i dont want her to scare new puppies, which get her even more over excited because they usually love a chase. Recall is brilliant but not if she has already set off in pursuit of her 'new' friend which is why she is put on lead straight away, the run up across the feild to the other dog seems to bring on seletive hearing, although saying that (and i never shout at her apart from this) a loud boomy 'come here right now' has worked in the past.

I agree with Lori it does get better, I have a goldie who has just turned 2yrs 5 months last week and I have to be honest things have only just improved over the last few weeks, like your girl Kez wants to be everyones friend, I once walked well over a mile away from a dog on the beech before i let him off his lead and alls he did was run straight back over to him LOL. I got really frustrated for a long time bar keeping him on the lead there was nothing else I could do to get his attention !!! I also panic he will get attacked but he tends to just say hello now and walk on, unless play is instigated by the other dogs. Training classes are tough to, he is ok when working but when waiting around it is play time and I have to be firm with him. Stick with it you will get there in the end

Molly will be 2yrs in Aug & is excatly the same as your dog. She adores other dogs & totally ignores me when they are around. But I did managed to get her to sit & wait when her friend Billy Whizz walked by on the other side if the road the other day, she used to go beserk before. I think it's patience & a waiting game!

There are 2 things you can also try :)

One is to ensure you have one special toy which is her absolute favourite which is only ever used for special training, for special play, and when she's been extra good. If this is brought out in great excitement, and the game with it ended before she gets bored, and the toy is pocketed by you, you may find she gets more interested in it.

Choose the toy carefully - for us it was the Kong on a rope. Much better than ball on a rope, ordinary kong, etc.

My Belgian was brought up this way (as it were!) and loves her toy more than other dogs if she thinks there's a chance I might throw it. However when it's pocketed and i tell her "That's enough" she relaxes and is very happy to meet and play with other dogs - a good compromise methinks ;)

The other thing you can do, is to use something called the Premack principle. This is basically asking the dog to eat her greens before she gets her dessert :D and involves you asking her to say, Sit and then saying Good! and letting her off lead literally at once to play with another dog. Effectively you are using her love of playing with other dogs as a reward for her good behaviour. It works very well but you have to start with small obedience commands first and then once she gets the hang of  it she will start to enjoy what you ask of her obedience wise as she sees it as a prelude to play and meeting :)

Just a few thoughts anyway, hope they help.

Lindsay
x

hi there, your letter could have been me 2 years ago. i posted on here at that time when mine was 2yrs  asking why i hadnt got a perfectly obedient dog by then:rolleyes:, (my reason for asking being the running of to other dogs but brilliant other wise, the same as you).
anyway i carried on with the training and rewarding etc etc etc, you know the stuff, and gradually (hes 4 now) hes rarely tempted any more. i can even call him back from running towards his best mate
you dont realise sometimes how things have improved until you read a post on here and think Oh yes!! mine used to do that now hes doesnt! it will be the same with you. have fun.it just takes much longer that any of us think.

It is really reassuring to know that all your hard work will pay off in the end. Sometimes you are so close to a "problem" that you don't notice an improvement and I for one was not aware that it could take so long for that almost 100% recall to happen but have noticed a huge improvement (fingers crossed that fate isn't being tempted here) for the majority of my dog's recalls compared to this time a year ago.

I thought I must be getting it wrong somewhere but it is encouraging to see that age plays a part in this as well - well I did actually realise that but thought it would all fall into place at a younger age than people are saying. :)

I have been trying a kind of version of this Lindsay, where as when she is pulling on her lead to get to the dogs playing in the water i will make her come to me first before letting her off. Although I think the problem is I probably havent been doing it enough! As we head up to the water there is a certain point as she is walking off lead that I know i can tell her to wait and sit that she will, its just as we get closer that the seletive hearing comes on lol. I think I need to put her on lead everytime we get closer to the water and do the wait command from there.  And the same as the feilds, if she is off lead and i ask her to sit and wait she will but unless i put her lead on, the minute i release her from the command she will go shooting off, i will carrying on though. Thanks to all of you that have replied, its obviously an age thing and she is so good apart from this that i need to realise how much she has improved. Months ago she wouldnt of even sat and waited on command so yes you are right. I just havent noticed the improvement of what she used to be, reading back over my previous posts through the months i can see now how much she has come on, you just tend to forget how they were in the dreeded teenage years.