[Eylin Gilbart]

#7627

We are retired so we are home a lot. My 10 month old Aussiedoodle will go for a walk with my husband no problem, if I’m not home or if I’m busy in the home office or doing Pilates in the extra bedroom.

She  will NOT go for the walk with him if I am anywhere nearby, in the house or yard.  He might be able to get to go to the end of the driveway but then she starts balking. He was coming back from a short attempt and I would go with them, then I realized that was just reinforcing her behaviour.

Any suggestions?

[Darcie Jennings]

#7639

She’s obviously got a very strong bond with you. I have known dogs to have this level of attachment to one human in the house but it isn’t that common. Without observing the dynamic in the household between the three of you and especially you and your dog, it’s hard to offer specific guidance as this falls outside of the scope of teaching loose leash walking and what this course covers and is more of a separation issue. One thing I can suggest is to make sure you aren’t always giving her attention every time she seeks it out from you. We can sometimes inadvertently reinforce this attachment by petting, praising, cuddling with or even verbalizing how bad or guilty we feel when they are unhappy being separated from us when they solicit attention or refuse to go with another person, which can reinforce that behaviour and make it worse. I would also suggest that your husband be the one to feed her her meals, play with her and do daily fun training practice (I say fun because while they’re practicing you want to see her tail wagging and a big happy grin on her face) if he isn’t doing those things already. Beyond that, I would need to book a consultation with you to do a full analysis of what is going on to offer more specific advise.

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