Lazy to walk
I have 6 month old male shiba inu, Takumi. He's been lazy to go for a walk lately. It's been raining a lot in the last couple of days in Miami, where I live. So it might be understandable?? Anyway even on sunny days, he's been hesitating to go outside. He stops often when I walk him. When that happens, I pull the leash a bit to the direction I want to walk a few times and release it, wait a few seconds and pull him harder to make him walk more. He tends to pee and poop on the concrete area, not on the grass lately also. I sometimes have to pick him up and put him to the grass area and make him do his business. Did anyone here ever have the same problem? Give me some advise......
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Puppies go through a fear period at different times in their development. Sounds like he is going through one now. It might be a good idea to get him to a training center if you have not done that yet to get him over the social set back. If you have classes you are attending with you pup, keep going and talk to the instructor to help you get through.
Depending on the variety of grass, the blades are different and some are very harsh on the paws, particularly if it is in mid season growth tough and mowed low.
I would reward the dog with treats for following you with also for eliminating and particularly eliminating in the right spot. Never scold a dog if it poops in the wrong spot just pick the mess and try to get him in the grass even if it means you have to walk in the grass too. You may have to take some steps back in the potty training in order to move forward. If he has a "poopie" spot that he has gone on before in the grass take him back to the area so he remembers where it is best to go. Intially, this may entail that you move the poop from the sidewalk to the grassy spot you want him to go to.
Here are some links that has some good info:
http://www.diamondsintheruff.com/
(Drill down to the Behavior faq's on the left and then go to House Training link)
http://www.clickertraining.com/housetraining
Hope this helps.
Snf
He might just want back in the AC.
Going through a fear stage....maybe. I also notice he growls a bit when I try to comb him (he's been having a flea problem.), which did not happen before. Other than that, I do not see anything like tense up or looking scared of his surroundings, as Romi indicated.
In response to StaticNfuzz, Takumi still pees in the house (no poops). But he always does it at the same spot in the house. I put newspaper on that spot (I tried to use training pads instead of newspaper, but never worked.....). What I am trying to do now is making him learn to hold. I put him in crate when I am not home and he does not pee in the crate. But once he is out of crate he pees on the newspaper, probably every 2-3 hrs. I never scolded him when he does, though. Maybe I still keep on doing this and he will eventually learn to hold his pee longer...??
Thanks for the links, too. I will read them!!
Also, along what Brandon said, Shibas have their double coat making hit weather double hot for them, especially humidity. We have to wake up an hour earlier during summer weather to walk them before the hot starts, then we wait until evening to walk them again - but we take them into the yard in between, but during the day we don't push walking.
I hope Takumi gives you an easier time soon!
You might want to try to go back one step a bit on potty training too and put yourself on a timer as a reminder to take him potty to make sure he gets out every couple of hrs for sure. It's so easy to forget if we humans get distracted with computer work or t.v. etc. In between use a belly band while he roams free in the house so he gets he concept not to pee on the corner or wall. I would really clean the spot too so that is has less scent.
Make sure to reward him for telling you he has to go and get him out the door quick. I think some other folks on the list use a bell on the door handle so the dog can begin to tell you when has to go. (Of course take the belly band off once you get outside or when the dog is in the crate while you are away) Once he gets a better concept on indoor behavior then you can reduce the use of the band. Here is a link to the product.
http://www.bellybands.net/
Hope this helps
Snf
And thanks for another comment, StaticNfuzz!
Takumi has been neutered already. He has been in crate for about 8hrs beore and did not soil. The problem is once he is outside the crate, he does not hold his pee. I will consider using belly band as you suggested.
Dogs ring a bell when they want to go outside....what a wonderful idea. I should train Takumi to do the same someday, too.
You can also try making the going outside part an incentive for reward - for a while Tsuki was #2-ing w/o ringing the bell, but she would to pee, so we starting giving her treats after she 'twosied" outside and it was only a matter of time before it was habit for her. Shibas are smart - use it to your advantage!!
Hachi is doing well, really well actually. She has found her forever home with us and is officially a part of our pack!
I started a Tsuki/Kitsune/Hachi picture thread on the forum..
Thanks for asking!
Takumi has some isuues such as play bite and jumping on people. As you mentioned, shabas are smart dogs. He will learn soon, I hope..
Whenever you go outside for potty time, get down to his level, and ring the bell, make a big deal about it, I would give Tsuki and Kitsune a treat when I hit the bell the first couple times, then go outside normally.
I can't really say how or why, someone else probably will have better advice, but after a little while, Kitsune picked it right up, then Tsuki a week or so later. We were just sitting in the living room and heard the bell - I was SO EXCITED!!
I had a bell left over from our christmas tree decorations, took the ornament hook off and looped a shoe lace around the bell loop and the door handle. Painless and cheap!
For play bite, I put my hand into a fist and say NO BITE, it worked in our house! but Tsuki will occasionally try on extended fingers, but she's good when you make the fist.
I just installed the bell at the door. Let's see if Takumi can do the trick.
BTW, I would like to ask you this question, since you are very good at what to feed dogs. Takumi seems to love dried pig ears that are sold at pet stores for treats. They last long to kill times and they are cheap. But I am just wondering if they are ok for dogs to eat. Please advise if you know anything.
I buy veggie rawhides now (sweet potato) and for the bones, I use raw meaty soup bones, like beef shank bones from the meat dept in a grocery store. Since you only have Takumi, you won't have to worry about snarkiness that raw bones seem to create, and trust me - those bones take our dogs a good hour or longer to get through!
They are much more safe (if you freeze them for at least 3+ hours prior to giving them - never cook them) quality wise than pigs ears. The ears are always a gamble because you never know where they came from and what elements they were exposed to before giving them to the dog.
But again, its up to you and what works for your dog!!
Maybe you can try the raw meaty bones, they are really cheap, I pay like $2 for a pack of 3 beef shank bones from the grocer. You might be pleasantly surprised by how much Takumi craves them, how long they take to get through and how nice his teeth will look!! Plus, when he gets all the raw meat and marrow off, you have yourself a nice bone to just gnaw on.
I hope that helps!!
These are the rawhides: http://www.sitstay.com/dog/supplies/servlet/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10001&catalogId=10001&productId=52053
Vegie rawhide sounds good too. Speaking of meaty soup bones, do you mean give them RAW?? Don't I have to worry about possible bacteria?? Well, I am a Japanese. We eat raw fish all the time (sashimi) and also some beef. So what am I worrying about, right? lol
Right now, behind me, Takumi is having a good time chewing pig ear......
You will also want to make sure they are a good quality bone from the grocer. I know around here, one grocery store, a local store, is excellent with their meat quality, they are always fresh, within the date, have no discoloration (white bone, red meat and marrow) and their bones never smell. However, another grocer (actually a chain grocer) has horrible quality bones, they are blueish or have brown marrow and they smell bad even after they are frozen. I threw those bones right out.
Also, I give them a whole raw carrot, which takes a good 20mins or so to chomp down, once a day and creates great breath and clean teeth and its a good nutrient! Or I give them strawberries, bluberries, zucchini, squash flesh.. just never grapes!
And along the lines of raw fish, I don't exactly give raw, but I do give the dogs salmon, like packaged salmon from the grocery store, with their meals. I also give them plain yogurt to help digestion.
You can do some internet research on RAW foods for the dog, or BARF diet basics (I don't adhere to that diet entirely), there are threads on the forum about RAW diets, there are great books you can buy and ask your vet - usually they will have some literature or advice, that is if they don't get a commission for trying to push science diet food down your throat!
mmm... sashimi... I think I need to go to our local Japanese restaurant, Kyoto, for some food tonite! mmm..
Jakki
Even though we love sashimi, I would avoid give it to takumi.....keep it to OUR delicacy..lol
Thanks for the comment, jakkhare. Housebroken at the age of 3 month old. That's wonderful!! Takumi is in training now and hope he will learn soon.
And I'm with you, I'm not sharing my sashimi!! :)
Akira eats the veggie rawhides in less than a minute... :(
I give him Rawhides quite a bit he is a very aggressive chewer. I gave him the Raw bones before and he really likes them but then my wife scared me about the bacteria. Also Akira tends to bury his chews and treats in the sofa which is gross if it is a slimy bone. How long do you let your dogs keep the bone?
Akira can be odd with treats and chews if he really likes something he has a tendency to "bury it" in the sofa or his crate for later. Later can be as long as a couple days or until i find it and throw on the floor again...