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Pupforum presents your training questions answered by professional dog trainers.
Fran grew up teaching everything from chickens and goats to dogs and horses. These days, Fran works with DOG GONE IT rottweiler rescue, is registered with AKC as a Canine Good Citizen Evaluator and continues to train dogs in Las Vegas, Nevada. She also writes a canine question & answer column for a local news paper, The Hilltop & High Desert Shopper News.
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Fran Williams
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[Edit]
6/12/2006
I was given two pure breed Akitas; a two year old male and a 9 month old female. You can't separate them. They go crazy when I take them separately for a walk. They were not taken care of properly and I think they were abused.
When I get between the two the male starts to tremble and when I raise my hand to scratch my head they both duck as if I am going to hit them. What can I do to show them I will never hurt them?
How do I separate them so I can further train them? I have four other dogs that have to be kept apart from the two Akitas. (gksjri, Virginia )
Hi Virgina,
How nice of you to take on two more dogs when you are already very busy with 4. As you already know, I am sure, this
is going to take some work BUT it is totally fixable. First off its very important you do NOT baby them because this
will only make matters worse. Treat them like they're normal. By that I mean if you raise your arm and they cower
don't baby them, pretend it did not happen. Let's get busy turning them around so they can become active members
of your family.
Crate one dog while you work with the other one. They must be kept as safe as possible when they go into a panic
by being seperated.
Put a treat in your hand then raise it, like to your chin at first, start turning that fear into looking
forward to getting something good from the raised hand. DO NOT give a treat if they are cowering in a
heap but bring your hand up to your face and then lower it enough that the dog has to be standing or
sitting to get the treat (pr
aise every time they reach for the treat).
Use something that they really love
like hot dogs or bits of cooked chicken or liver. They need to see something good from that hand no matter
how it is moved or raised.
Taking them for walks seperate is GREAT, best thing you can do! BUT it is so important
HOW you walk with them. You must take a fast enough stride to keep them moving. Do not
give them enough time to THINK about being scared, just take off and go for it. This will
improve with time and get much easier as time goes by.
After each walk (with treats in your pocket of course) you need to put your hands ALL OVER
this dog. I mean with your leash still in your hand, start at the ears and just TOUCH them.
Go over the ears, mouth, neck, back , each leg and very important the tail.
Just touch and rub them as though you are giving every part a massage. Touch is SO important in cases like this
but it must be done the right way.
As the dog stands or lays down for this touch session
give a treat when its good behavior and Praise. NOT baby talk, but Praise. Words such as " GOOD JOB" or anything
that is bright and happy. You want to get your point across that they are safe and that they
are making you happy with the correct actions.
This will take some time but in rescue we go through this all the time. Its so important that you
do this as much as possible and maybe if possible have a helper who follows the exact same steps, so
they learn that they can trust HUMANS and not just YOU.
Best of Luck,
Fran
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