Seeking advice on training for tie down

[Ninjasquirrel]

As some of you might know from my thread "a day at the dog park" you will know we recently adopted a dog with anxiety and behavior issues. Her poor behavior is mostly outside issues now. This weekend we were working on cleaning up an area of our yard. I did not want to leave her inside because I could hear her crying and whining in our sun room. I brought her out with us and tied her leash down to the fence so she could be near but not in any danger. She got very aggressive and was jumping, nipping, barking and whining. Eventually I just brought her back inside because she was making it impossible for me to get any work done because I feared she would hurt herself. She has seperation anxiety so I would like her to be more confident and comfortable. Any advice on how to properly train a tie down? Please be advised I am NOT tying my dog up and leaving her alone. I would never do that. This is more she can sit and wait calmly while I work in the yard nearby. Normally she has free range of our backyard in the fence but we are not ready to trust her when our chickens are free ranging just yet. She is good when she is in the fence but when she was on the leash she was panicking so I think it might be a great teaching opportunity to calm her anxiety. I just want to approach it correctly. When I tried to do an internet search it just brought up people who are abusing their dogs by leaving them tied up outside. Thats why I want to be clear that this is not the intention and this is only to be used as a teaching tool. She has overcome a lot of her issues and is becoming a wonderful companion. She looks to me a lot for guidance and we are building the trust level. Thats why it is all the more important that she can let this seperation anxiety go. Any advice is appreciated.

 

[FortCluck]

I have a dog that has separation anxiety that I have worked with for 10 years. Anytime I am going somewhere she thinks that she is going for a ride with me, but she's learned the command no and stay. She used to freak out pretty bad when I'd leave her behind.

A dog needs to know that you will be coming back. If you tie your dog up, leave for 5 minutes and then come back, then increase the amount of time you leave but always make sure you come back. The dog needs to know that you will be coming back and it can be confident that you are going to come back. Work your way up to the amount of time that you'll be gone to work in the other yard.

When you tie the dog up give it toys or bones that it likes so that it has something to keep it occupied. I usually buy cow femur bones or bones that have marrow in it from the butcher because it keeps them busy and it's also a healthy treat. It will keep the dogs mind off of you being gone for so long and direct its anxiety onto the bone.

When you come back after tying up the dog, make sure you give it a lot of praise. Tell the dog how good it is and how proud of it you are. Things like good dog and scratching behind their ears is always something mine love. Make sure you sound really excited when you talk to the dog when you come back.

 

[lcwmt]

In similar situations, I have used a leash that attaches to a waist belt.
It's a bungee sort and quite long. The dog is restrained but close to me, has enough room to lie down or move around. We work with this regularly so she learns the leash/restraint concept. From there it's a small step to restraint while in view but not underfoot..

 

[Ninjasquirrel]

In similar situations, I have used a leash that attaches to a waist belt.
It's a bungee sort and quite long. The dog is restrained but close to me, has enough room to lie down or move around. We work with this regularly so she learns the leash/restraint concept. From there it's a small step to restraint while in view but not underfoot..

She works well on the leash if I'm holding it or it is tied around me. Just not on her own. She gets the concept but does not want to be out of reach.

 

[Ninjasquirrel]

I have a dog that has separation anxiety that I have worked with for 10 years. Anytime I am going somewhere she thinks that she is going for a ride with me, but she's learned the command no and stay. She used to freak out pretty bad when I'd leave her behind.

A dog needs to know that you will be coming back. If you tie your dog up, leave for 5 minutes and then come back, then increase the amount of time you leave but always make sure you come back. The dog needs to know that you will be coming back and it can be confident that you are going to come back. Work your way up to the amount of time that you'll be gone to work in the other yard.

When you tie the dog up give it toys or bones that it likes so that it has something to keep it occupied. I usually buy cow femur bones or bones that have marrow in it from the butcher because it keeps them busy and it's also a healthy treat. It will keep the dogs mind off of you being gone for so long and direct its anxiety onto the bone.

When you come back after tying up the dog, make sure you give it a lot of praise. Tell the dog how good it is and how proud of it you are. Things like good dog and scratching behind their ears is always something mine love. Make sure you sound really excited when you talk to the dog when you come back.

This is great. Thank you. I'm leaving for the store so I will pick up a special thing for her to gnaw on. She's great with the crate now but she used to be terrible. The crate is now "nap time!" And "bed time!" She loves her crate now and will go in it on her own. She will even hide in it for the dreaded "bath time" I've worked on her anxiety with the tub though and she has improved greatly. I'll try out this technique until she can sit calmly. Thank you so much

 

[FortCluck]

This is great. Thank you. I'm leaving for the store so I will pick up a special thing for her to gnaw on. She's great with the crate now but she used to be terrible. The crate is now "nap time!" And "bed time!" She loves her crate now and will go in it on her own. She will even hide in it for the dreaded "bath time" I've worked on her anxiety with the tub though and she has improved greatly. I'll try out this technique until she can sit calmly. Thank you so much

Dogs love food and are usually food motivated. If you have a butcher near you, they have bones with marrow in it. I freeze them and give them to my dogs and when it's time to put them away I put them in baggies back into the freezer. when the marrow is all gone in the bone, I put peanut butter inside the hollow part of the bone and I refreeze them. The dogs love it. just make sure that the peanut butter is nothing but peanuts, I usually by crazy Richards peanut butter at Walmart.

 

[Ninjasquirrel]

Dogs love food and are usually food motivated. If you have a butcher near you, they have bones with marrow in it. I freeze them and give them to my dogs and when it's time to put them away I put them in baggies back into the freezer. when the marrow is all gone in the bone, I put peanut butter inside the hollow part of the bone and I refreeze them. The dogs love it. just make sure that the peanut butter is nothing but peanuts, I usually by crazy Richards peanut butter at Walmart.

Duchess doesn't really like peanut butter. We also dont have a butcher near us unfortunately. We used to but they went out of business. I got a bone filled with a cheese and bacon flavor at the pet store. The kid at the store recommended that and another one. I didnt get his first recommendation because it did not look durable enough. It was a "all natural rawhide" and it was 15 bucks (why is dog stuff so expensive?!). I didnt want to buy something that would only probably last 15 minutes. I love my dog but not a dollar a minute! Hopefully this works but we will see. My dog can destroy an elk antler in 5 minutes so I try to buy the most durable option

 

[FortCluck]

Duchess doesn't really like peanut butter. We also dont have a butcher near us unfortunately. We used to but they went out of business. I got a bone filled with a cheese and bacon flavor at the pet store. The kid at the store recommended that and another one. I didnt get his first recommendation because it did not look durable enough. It was a "all natural rawhide" and it was 15 bucks (why is dog stuff so expensive?!). I didnt want to buy something that would only probably last 15 minutes. I love my dog but not a dollar a minute! Hopefully this works but we will see. My dog can destroy an elk antler in 5 minutes so I try to buy the most durable option

Rawhides are something I don't feed just because of all I've read about them

 

[Ninjasquirrel]

Rawhides are something I don't feed just because of all I've read about them

I saw a lot of stuff at the store saying on the rawhides that they were "99% digestible" which was enough to give me pause. I dont know anything about them but if you feel the need as a company to write 99% digestible...something tells me the other 1% is bad. Thats why I just went with a stuffed beef bone.

 

[Ninjasquirrel]

Well apparently my dog doesnt really care if mommy goes missing. I set her outside tied to the fence and went about my business. She remained calm the whole time and took NO interest in the bone. When I let her off and back to the house she brought the bone on the porch and left it to snuggle next to me. This tells me that it wasnt because mommy was working outside...it was because mommy AND daddy were working outside. We will have to work on it with both of us. Then again...daddy does disappear for 8 hours a day...