2

I have a red hair, smooth coat, Dachshund, now 11 months old. I have grown to despise walking her; she eats any thing on walks, even rocks and bugs. She's leaves pine needles, but otherwise it doesn't seem to matter; if it's laying there, she'll pick it up.

I've been working on her about this since she was 9 weeks old. It's never made a difference. Even taking her out to potty, she does the same thing, looking for anything. It could be a fly flying around, whatever, it will distract her from doing her business. It's very bad. She is my third Dachshund. I've never had one like her before. While walking, she never looks around, but her head is always down, sniffing and searching. I'm wore out.

Also, she seems to go "crazy" when she sees other people or a dog or cat. It doesn't mater what. It is like she has A.D.D or A.D.H.D. or other mental problems. Please, please help me, I'm going crazy!

Henders
  • 5,125
  • 5
  • 20
  • 54
Wanda jamail
  • 53
  • 4

1 Answers1

3

This dog sounds very stressed. Constant sniffing is often a sign that the dog is trying to defuse tension. Excessive interest in objects, and overreacting to other dogs and people can also be a sign of a highly stressed dog.

Ideally, you'd get a professional who can see your dog's behaviour and interpret it to help you understand it properly, but I understand that finances can make that hard.

With an easily distracted dog, it's very easy to get worried yourself and have your voice show your stress, but the key thing is to try to stay really calm, don't raise your voice, and have lots of patience. (I've recently been through this myself with an awkward sighthound, so I really sympathise)

There's a really good Youtube channel from Kikopup which I think may help.

Here's a good place to start: introducing clicker training.

Here is a series of videos about building attention And here's her series about working with shy dogs - I'm not sure if your dog is shy, but that much sniffing and obsessive behaviour is often a sign of shyness.

You might also want to look into Ttouch massage.

Here's an excellent article about stress in dogs that I think may help you.

Victoria
  • 1,409
  • 7
  • 11
  • Yes ur answer is so very right !!! I'm so stressed even before we walk out the door it's me also stressed out . I know that she's just a young pup but I can't be taking her out more then 2 x a day and the 2nd time we walk for about 30-45 minutes and another thing I've notice is she's not eating like use too but once a day an most of that timing is after the evening walk and I've notice yes she is bios rd stiff even with her toys nothing excites her but the out doors – Wanda jamail May 26 '16 at 16:56
  • Some behaviourists recommend taking a couple of days off walks, just to reset the dog's hormones. They get so high on adrenaline, they can't focus, and then each walk the stress mounts higher. You could try just gentle clicker training around the house for a couple of days, and see if it helps. Sounds like you could also do with a break! – Victoria May 27 '16 at 15:35
  • ... I edited my answer and added a suggestion that you consider doing Ttouch massage with your dog, and also a link to an article about stress in dogs and how to manage it. – Victoria May 27 '16 at 15:50
  • Irked walking my dog yesterday and I'm following the recommendations went very well but every morning she's being stubborn and showing me I'm not going to eat or do nothing unless u take me for a walk even in the rain and trying to show me nope not going to nothing but sit around here and keep whining until u do what I want . Then sense she doesn't eat she throws up just yellow stuff like acid reflux really cause she's doing this to her own self to make me feel sorry for her not going to work very hard headed and demanding please help for suggestions – Wanda jamail May 27 '16 at 15:52
  • What are you feeding her? – Victoria May 27 '16 at 15:55
  • I'm feeding my dog Blue Mountain been on this food since 9 weeks old she loves it now after I do what she wants to do and keep walking her many times in a day she'll come in and eat every bit of her food even sometimes a little later has seconds it's not she doesn't like the food it's her way of getting her way around here it's her way or no way very sad yes I get stressed person can't help it when ur dog keeps following u all over the house seeing if ur getting her leash ! If not right back to the hard head – Wanda jamail May 27 '16 at 16:02