Corgi almost escaped...please help!
I just had the scare of my life. This week, my 10 month old Corgi is finally starting to calm down a bit at home. It's the first time I've been able to sit on my sofa without having her pounce all over me while barking and biting. After coming home from work today, I took her out for her usual walk. When she doesn't want to come in, she lies down and firmly plants herself onto the ground. And at 21 lbs, I can't get her to move. She also won't let me pick her up to go inside. So today, she pulled so hard in the opposite direction that she slipped out of her collar! Luckily there were no cars, squirrels, or birds around - otherwise she'd bolt after them in a second - and I rushed inside to grab her favorite toy. I caught her attention with the toy, but she knew I was trying to entice her in, and she wouldn't be tricked. Finally, I was able to get her safely indoors...! I was fuming mad at her, it was so dangerous she could have escaped and got hit by a car! She could definitely sense that something was wrong after we got indoors, because she kept looking at me and didn't even play with the toy. But how do I prevent this from happening again?
We've tried various harnesses (including the Easy Walker) for her pulling, but none seem to fit her, and she always manages to slip her short front legs out of the harness - quite dangerous as well!
Has this ever happened to anyone else? Any suggestions on what type of collar or harness will prevent slippage and work with the body habitus of a corgi? I know that many of you will say she needs obedience training...but I'm doubtful of that. Will obedience class teach us how to have her obey commands even when she doesn't want to? She's smart, and she KNOWs all the commands (sit, stay, down, rollover, high five, come) but she's a stubborn one and will do it only when SHE wants to.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Melissa and Franklin! on
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I think you really need to take her to training classes. She has your number and is using all of her brains for evil instead of good lol. A training class will really help you. Even if you are familiar with dogs and training in general corgis are little stinkers and benefit a lot from more training. This happened with my rescue Kirby once, he was being his usual butt headed self and slipped his collar and took off. Luckily we were out on the river away from any traffic. Because I know his personality I knew if I ran with Franklin in the opposite direction he would come after me. It worked and I got him back but it was very scary and quite frustrating that he did that to begin with, I could tell it was totally on purpose too. I second what others have said about martingale collars.
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Permalink Reply by Anna Morelli on
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Your questions about the safety of the Martingale are good. The collar can be adjusted. You adjust it so that, when it is pulled tight, positioned at the top of the head, right below the ears, you have an inch or so of extra space. The collar cannot tighten beyond this amount and so cannot choke the dog, but it will not be able to slip over the ears. If you keep the collar low on the neck it will choke the dog, so try to keep it either high on the neck, which gives you good control, or loose if she's not pulling. Leaving it on the dog is especially dangerous with Corgis as their short front legs can get caught in the part that dangles down when the leash is not attached and they can panic if this happens. This happened to me. I had left the martingale on when I put my Corgi in the yard and walked down to the mailbox. I heard this awful scream, ran back, I thought he'd broken his front leg as he kept screaming anytime I touched it, then i noticed his leg was caught. He was not hurt, but had I not been right there, it would have been a real problem.
I join the chorus on obedience classes, just find a good one. When you get to class with all the other dogs and people your dog won't even remember her name, let alone all the other commands you mention. A trained dog is not one who knows the commands, a trained dog is one who RELIABLY performs the commands when asked to do so and does this with distractions and in various environments ( not just in the house or yard ). If you find good obedience classes you will enjoy them too and the benefits last the life of the dog.
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Permalink Reply by Bev Levy on
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I just want to add that the classes are more for you. There are many things we humans do that inadvertantly cause the problems you are discussing. At 10 months you can still train her to be a responsive dog so start soon.
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Bev, when I offered dog training classes I would tell people, on the first night of class: " I offer dog training classes because if I called them people training classes nobody would sign up. Dogs all know how to train their people and don't need any lessons." It gave my students food for thought. :-D
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Permalink Reply by Jane Christensen on
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Anna...even after many classes...I always learned something especially with Sage as she was her mellow self and never in a hurry. Except for treats!
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Yes Anna, I thought I was a very experianced dog owner until I got my first corgi, Sparty. Classes helped me so much!
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Permalink Reply by Nicole Edwards on
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I have a 6 month old puppy and she hates to come in after a walk or after a play session in the yard. She saw coming in the house as the end of her fun time even when offered enticements. It took a while and a lot of convincing, but I made a game of coming to me or going in the house. I use a high value treat (usually turkey or cheese) and once she successfully comes when called she gets a treat and we play another game. So for example if we are out in the yard playing fetch, I'll run to the door calling for her to follow, once inside she gets her treat, then we play chase with a stuffed toy attached to a rope and I run around the house with it for a while and she chases it. Or if we are at the dog park and I call her away from playing with the other dogs I make sure to have something fun like chasing her soccer ball once she comes to me. She learned that obeying me means more fun not the end of the fun.
Another thing that I did for training her to not chase cars was when we were out walking I would make her sit, stay and focus on me when a car drove by. Every time she ignored the car and looked at me she got a treat. I was able to progress this behavior to walking and focusing on me, and now I don't have to command her to ignore the car anymore, whenever she sees one she looks straight at me.
I got all my types from a wonderful trainer who even after the puppy classes ended answered my unlimited email questions about what to do.
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Permalink Reply by John Wolff on
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Sounds like adolescent rebellion. Al had a period like that, when he discovered that he did not, in fact, have to come when I called, and I could not, in fact, catch him. Oh how he loved that game (oh how I loved the fence I'd just finished).
Google "Really Reliable Recall", Leslie/Laurie Nelson. Simple, effective, fun. I like our modified Martingales (see collar FAQ); I don't think dogs can back out of them.
Sticky situation: you don't want to reward the dog for running away, but you can't punish the dog for finally returning.
Collar FAQ has photos of my altered Martingales -- I replaced the chain with a loop of tough nylon kernmantle rope, fisherman's know (simple) -- once I got the collar length right, I removed the adjustment buckle and stitched it (that sets the minimum girth, which should be tight) -- adjust the maximum girth with the length of the rope loop. Simple, see the pics. Inspect regularly for wear. Minimize the weight of the collar.
Ours don't wear collars indoors. The Martingales slip on/off easily, but they can't back out of them.
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Permalink Reply by Geri & Sidney on
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A lot of great responses here...I agree, yes to the martingales...that's what we use...and yes to training, absolutely!
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Permalink Reply by Jane on
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Obedience classes and a martingale collar. The collar should be adjusted so it is very close fitting to the neck when tightened, but it should not be choking them.
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