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 dog pen to potty) after dinner. Coming in from there was an issue at times as well.
So, last year, we were treating the whole thing as a piece of her overall fearful puzzle. Was it the door? The lighting? TV noise? Something else?
The Plan We Used
- We restricted her access to outside at certain times of day so that we could avoid battles over coming inside.
- We also instituted a scenario where food-stuffed toys appeared ONLY in the evening. This makes being inside after dinner more fun, but it was also designed to keep Lilly from hiding in the house, which was also a problem last summer before we started her new medications.
Just like in 2007, the issue of 2008 went completely away over the fall and winter, so I stopped doing the food toy trick every night. Yet, the issue seems to be re-emerging this spring. I’m beginning to think she simply loves being outside.
So far, we have not had any real showdowns over coming inside, but Lilly will come as far as our little sidewalk out the front door, then flop to the ground in protest. A briskly worded recall usually does the trick.
BUT, I’m falling back to our Coming Inside Song. I could swear I’ve written about this before, but I cannot find the post. So, the song goes like this:
Lilly gets a puppy treat.
Lilly gets a puppy treat.
Lilly gets a puppy treat for coming inside.
Click to play.
And, basically, I sing the song over and over from the door to the treat jar, where I jackpot her like crazy for a few more rounds of the rousing song, which Tom curses because he gets it stuck in his head. (When I recorded the audio clip, Lilly came blasting into my office for treats, so I know she recognizes what it means.)
I’m also using the food toy strategy at night again to try and prevent another summer of inside-outside drama. What’s funny to me is that while Lilly enjoys the food toys, she doesn’t quite get her heart set on the pattern the way Ginko does.
Even though he’s often just had dinner, he’ll whine for food toys each night. Fix one problem, cause another. :o)
Unfortunately, this behavior is not specific to one door. We’ve seen it at all 5 doors we have as options. Some *are* a bit better than others, but not much.
I’m sure that you’ve thought of this, but I’m curious. I’m wondering if you have a different door that Lilly could use and if she still acts afraid.
No songs from me – my dogs would run away! I can’t carry a tune.
Glad I’m not the only one that comes up with songs to entice my dog to do something. We have the Yogurt Song for Marge’s yogurt-filled kong, which she gets when we dremel her nails.
I’m back from Arkansas and just read your posts I missed. Your posts are always such fun. I love the little videos, especially the one of Lilly running from way far away up to you…gosh, way to go!
I also enjoyed the story of the treat toys. Our little ones are so small that we can’t give them many treats or they will look like balloon dogs..haha.
Thanks for the entertainment…I needed a good laugh and you and Lilly provided just that.