Let me first start off on the weather here.
There is snow everywhere and under that snow is ice, which the snow is melting slowly so the roads are a bit slick.
Next, my dog.
My dog is a female Australian Cattle Dog who will be 2 in April and is very hyperactive because I do not walk here but will be soon, and has a bit of aggression towards dogs. And little kids.
And finally, to the question or whatever.
Tonight I took my dog out with the leash because I didn’t want to wait for her to come back, and I myself wanted to walk in my very creepy at night (especially when there is snow everywhere!) wood-like backyard! After I traced the perimeter about 1 time, I took the leash off… With no pee or poop coming out of my dog’s a**. So I decided to go in the front, to check the roads with her. Who knows, maybe I’d have some luck there?
So I traveled to the front, and my dog was great! She did get a bit fixated on the road that eventually leads the entrance of the neighborhood, but when I called her to me she came!
I think now is about time I tell you about… “The Big Black Dog”.
There is a gentle dog opposite of the entrance (you take a right coming out of my driveway to get to the dog and a left to get to the entrance) and, well, my dog wants to really play with it! It’s very gentle, no growling or snarling, but is very hyper! When I walk by it with Kaia, it runs along the fence and Kaia goes absolute crazy, tugging and lunging and barking and whining…
So tonight, what do you know? The Big Black Dog FRICKEN BARKS ONE TIME and my dog immediatly whips around and faces in it’s direction. Her body is stock still, her ears forward, her tail straight up, her body tense.
“Kaia, come here! COME HERE!” I say, trying to sound “dominate”. Her ear doesn’t even twitch.
“KAI-A, CO-ME HE-RE.” I say, very sternly, placing my words with meaning.
She bolts in the direction of the dog.
Okay, so there she leaves me, my nose and ears freezing, my hands too.
I walk slowly and with pride, trying to show her (if she’s looking, ’cause I cannot see for a damn, but now exactly where she’d be) that I mean it.
“Kaia? Kaia, come here…” I whisper. Now this is where I think a failed a bit. I was scared. It was dark, snow everywhere…There are coyotes that hang around my house…
So I find her, and walk a bit closer to her. She looks at me, then bolts around the fence.
I try to get to her, but she just runs.
Now I am pissed.
“Alright, Kaia. I know you’ll come home. I don’t want to get frostbite.. or sick, so I’m leaving. Good luck with you.”
And I walk back home.
I heard her freeze as I turned and took about 6 steps. I heard her collar jingling then stop, and it was like she was looking at my back. I felt guilty, but pushed it away. She WOULD come home.
So I went inside, furious, taking my scarf off. I hear scratching at the garage door. I rish to it, a bit afraid. It could be a coyote! I open it anyway, and Kaia jumps on me.
“Oh, K- No. Sit!” I command, quickly changing from lovy-follower to commanding-leader.
She sits.
“Stay!”
I say while I walk away, unzipping my jacket.
She comes.
I put her back in her place, saying Stay. This repeats three times, till I ultimitly test it out as I go inside for a minute, coming out and seeing her in the exact spots laying down.
I praise her.
Now please, how can I get my dog to not get fixated with The Big Black Dog?
Some might suggest walking by that dog a bunch of times, and I’ve tried that. Didn’t work. I tried letting her sniff around the dog’s fence, didn’t work. I tried making her submit to the dog, didn’t work.
This isn’t just with the big black dog. It’s also with people who walk down the streets, just that it’s a tad different because Kaia just bolts at them without any hesitation.She’ll follow them, jumping up on them (in a friendly way, not that she’s trying to kill them).
Now if they have dogs, Kaia just gets in a bit of a dominance tussle. No blood is spilled, which I learned from the Dog Whisperer means she’s just settling dominance than trying to be aggressive, which is normal in dogs.
So… do you know how to… “unfixate” a dog?