A few weeks ago, Lilly rolled in some foul smelling something or other. Her neck and shoulders were completely encrusted. A bath was beyond necessary. Lilly has never been a big fan of baths, but this one … for some reason … caused a total panic attack. Unfortunately, for me, the experience has ruined her recall at home.
She flat out won’t come to me, especially if she thinks we’re going inside. (The bath, for the record, happened out on our tiny patch of real lawn … not inside. And, her recall in class or in public has NOT be affected.)
I could be wrong. Maybe it wasn’t the bath that did it. Maybe it’s that adage about dogs who spend time alone outdoors being less responsive. I’m not sure. Lilly really does like to hang out outside in the summer.
Either way, she’ll either completely ignore me. Or, she’ll begin to approach, then go flat and slink away like she’s “in trouble.”
I’ve tried getting her to touch and interact with the bucket that held the fresh rinse water we used during the bath. I’ve tried putting the bucket away.
I’ve tried waiting for her to ask to come in, which is often does, but when I open the door, she slinks away.I’ve tried walking her in gently by her collar and rewarding her the entire way inside. And, I’ve tried ignoring her, when she ignores me.
I spent one whole evening last week doing recalls outside. I’d wait until she was far off in the pasture, thinking about something else, then I’d call her. She began flying from her spot straight to me for a slice of hot dog. She figured out the game quickly, so I’d release her and let her go off to play before I called her again.
Out and back, out and back she ran. And, I thought I’d solved the problem.
Until it was time to go inside, and she slunk away.
I’m going to try the hot dog game again this week, but I’ll inch my way closer to the door over time. I’ll release her to play way more times than I’ll actually bring her inside, but I’ve really got to fix this because sometimes when I call her at home there’s a darn good reason — like an approaching storm or a rattlesnake on the loose.
Preventing the Inside-Outside Issue
Even though this spring has been more like winter than winter was, I’m starting to see inklings of our summertime recall collapse, where suddenly Lilly acts like coming inside is a terrible-terrible thing in the late afternoon or evening. …
Preventing the Inside-Outside Issue
Even though this spring has been more like winter than winter was, I’m starting to see inklings of our summertime recall collapse, where suddenly Lilly acts like coming inside is a terrible-terrible thing in the late afternoon or evening.It first happened in 2007, when I blamed it on a battle over a bath. Eventually come fall, her rock-solid recall returned. Here’s a recent video sample of that.But even amid our work with the behaviorist which began in summer 2008 for this and other reasons, we ultimately had to make the rule that Lilly could NOT go outside (except to the …