[leobing]

I have a standard poodle who is 3.5 years old.
He is not neutered and a male.
His name is Sterling Silver.
I got him second hand from an area of woodland with large properties and few neighbours. Instead of walks the old owners let him run free on their grassland acreage.
Ok! then I got him and he was not really trained at all so I have tried to do some of that myself. Can't afford a trainer. He is doing ok and improving but I still have one fairly big problem. He used to hate anything with small wheels like baby buggies, small bikes, inline skates and mostly hates skate boards. Now he just tolerates inline skates but still wants to go after the skate boarders.
I live in a small city and here there are small parks and walkways. I like to take him for short walks of about 1.5 km three times a day or more if I have time.
I am 73 and retired and in fairly good shape for my age but when I get on a narrow path with my dog and skateboards, I have a very hard time keeping my dog from these kids.
So far he has not any tendency to bite but I never am sure about it.
I would like to hear any suggestions you may have.
Thanks.

 

[Poodle Lover]

Welcome to the forum Leo and Sterling.
Have you tried carrying treats with you and when skateboarders approach, have him sit and distract him with cookies, so that he associates skateboards with something positive?

 

[I<3Poodles]

I agree! Use treats to form a positive association with skateboards. Does he know "Sit"? If not I would recommend you teach this FIRST! You can do this by teaching the "watch me" command-you don't have to use that word, you can say "Look" or anything else that you would like- but you have him "sit" and then hold the treat in front of his face and move your hand up by your face and say "watch me" or what ever you choose. When he looks up at you, give him the treat and praise him. Do this several times over the span of a few days, untill you are confident that he's got it down, gradually increasing the lenght of time he has to look at you before you reward him and THEN you can begin trying the technique out side. When you see a skateboarder comming down the street, lead Sterling off the side walk a bit (to give some space for the boarder to pass) and use the "watch me" and hopefully he will be more interested in the treat. One thing to remember- I'm sure you are concerned about Sterling going after the skateboard, but you MUST keep yourself calm when you are with him and the skateboarder comes up. Dogs are very intuitive, and will pick up on your stress-in turn making them more stressed and more likely to lash out.

I recomend you watch "It's Me or the Dog"-it comes on Animal Planet, and Victoria (the trainer) often deals with dogs who have problems like this and it might help you to see how she does her training. I love her show! Cesar Milian, "The Dog Whisperer" is also a good show. He uses different techniques and focuses on being calm and assertive and being "Pack Leader".

Good luck with your dog, and try to stay calm as possible! ***Sorry for spelling***

 

[leobing]

gonna try the treat idea.

I have tried doing a lot of things and once Sterling spots or hears the clack clack of the skateboards it has already taken his complete attention away from me.
With baby buggies and bicycles it was not too hard to get him to ignore them more or less. If the bikes are the small tricky style little bikes ridden by teeners he still has a bit of a problem. This I can control but skateboards are still lost to me. Part of this is because the skateboarders don't want to leave the narrow sidewalk. This leaves me and Sterling very little room to get out of their way. I will try to do what was suggested but one of my sons with a Pitbull that had a similar problem and he took his dog to visit a skateboard park and now his dog is fine with the skateboarders. I just may give that a try but it is a long way from here. Maybe I should ask my son to accompany me so he can show me what he did.
Thanks for the replies.

 

[jak]

We have a friend who had the same problem,

Basically as said above, really use treats to give him a positive associations with the skateboards, never tell him off.

Remember that it will take a reasonable amount of time, and you probably won't see results for a few weeks.

One way to speed it up would be to buy some form of Gentle Leader or Halti (a type of headharness), which will give you that extra control over him.

Just really remember to get his attention with anything, whether it be a toy or treats

You could also try getting someone with a skateboard to help you, they could go around on it, and you could walk around with him and treats

 

[Mandycasey'smom]

Just wondering if this was the Cantope dog that was posted a few months back that was retiring from breeding?

I to live in the country with land so don't have to leave my property but have made it a point to drive into town MANY times with the dogs for this reason.
Now in less then 4 weeks I am moving to the city again and into a townhouse EEK so thankfully other then Casey being super silly when we meet people (that will change) both have seen and heard everything.
Bikes scateboards buggies crazy kids
So note to new puppy owners remember to get everything your puppy MIGHT come into contact with seen so that it is easier down the road.

 

[leobing]

Nope! not Cantope dog.

I have had Sterling from 1.25 years and now he is 3.5 so I have had him longer than the previous owners. They told me they were building a new home and it was not going to be good for them to keep a dog who was so used to being on 10 acres.
I am on 1/2 acre lot with 6' chain link fence and single family home.

 

[Mandycasey'smom]

oh ok different dog. Would love to see pics of him I love the silvers.
I would try the skate park and lots of extra special treats that you don't use everyday.
Bits of wieners are good boiled chicken anything special.
Still say it is important to expose pups to everything and anything really helps later on so these things have less chance of popping up.

Do you or have you tried the Halti/ head halter? They do work good for most people.
Casey unfortunatly hated his so much he litterally shut down when it was put on and refused to move which is totally my fault. I had him in the car with it on and a leash and he must have stepped on leash.
One good thing as you can always hear the scateboards long before they get near you.
Bikes I find get right up behind you before you know it is there.

Good luck with your problem Hears hoping you can find a solution

 

[*heather*]

Cesar Milian, "The Dog Whisperer" is also a good show. He uses different techniques and focuses on being calm and assertive and being "Pack Leader".

There's been SO many shows about skateboards and bikes! Watch Cesar as often as you can! It's like an apple a day, it teaches me something everytime I watch it! (I PVR every episode! lol)
:welcome: to the forum! And good luck :clover: with Sterling! Be consistant and work with him every day, poodles are amazing, before long he'll be everything you want him to be!! I just know it!

 

[Harley_chik]

I think you've gotten some great advice already. One other thing you might try is to buy a cheap skate board yourself inorder to "desensitize" Sterling (that is an awesome name btw.) You don't have to ride it or anything, just push it around and let him check it out. You should be able to get one from a discount store or even garage sale, really cheap.

 

[FUZBUTZ]

Excellent idea Harley chik, We also have a spoo that is not real fond of skate boards, think I'll look for one when we're out yard saleing to use for training.

 

[leobing]

Good idea.

I am going to look around for a used skateboard.
Next weekend at some yard sales or a flea market.
If I was not in my 70's I might think of doing a ride like I saw the dog whisperer Cesar do.


Thanks for all the advice. All good from a good bunch.

 

[Harley_chik]

LOL, age doesn't have a lot to do w/ it. I'm in my 20's and I promise, I would fall flat on my butt, if I tried to ride a skateboard!

 

[*heather*]

LOL, age doesn't have a lot to do w/ it. I'm in my 20's and I promise, I would fall flat on my butt, if I tried to ride a skateboard!

:lol: ditto!! :faint2:

 

[leobing]

I bought a used skateboard now?

Well I went on craigs list and found a skateboard for $ 15.00 A nice low price! When the guy saw me he asked what in the world I wanted a skateboard for so I told him about my dog.
He had a chuckle and warned me about being tempted to try the skateboard out by riding it.
I figured that in all my years I have learned not to try stupid things.
I am going to drill a hole in one end and attache a lead to it and with a clip on the other end I can hook it to Sterlings collar and have him drag it along on our walks.
I will let you know how things work out.
Thanks for all the good advice.