Really annoying morning - there were some people and their dogs at the dog club when we arrived this morning - i let the dogs out of the car and into the paddock and she was gone. From then on Ieper just wanted to race up and down the fence staring and barking at the other dogs and behaving like a lunatic. She would NOT pay me any attention, would NOT come she just ran up and down the fence getting more and more excited and more and more out of control. At one point i took Harpo down beside the club house so we were out of sight and called her. I hoped she'd worry that she couldn't see us and come looking - but nope - she just kept on behaving badly at the fence.
This behaviour makes me so MAD i don't know what to do about it. It is clearly very self-reinforcing, a lot of FUN, to race up and down the fence. I am wracking my brains to figure out what to do with her that is more appealing that her own special "naughty game". I caught my naughty little bitch, put her on lead and walked her away from the fence - she was immediately very well behaved.
I got my dear Harpo the Hooligan and put him in a sit-stay a little way away from the fence and Eepie and i heeled some figure eights with Harpo as a "post". She heeled beautifully with all that adrenaline from the fence running flowing through her - paid good attention, forged nicely into the cross-over point and sped up automatically on the outside circle till she was working the circle with a nicely flexed spine and, essentially, herding me with her shoulder - beautiful work...........thank you, Eepie!
Harpo used to do something similar at other dogs on the other side of the fence - he'd charge to the fence and puff up and bark and carry on as though world war three was about to break out and he was defending Flanders - it took a few years to train him to come back away from the fence and away from barking at or investigating dogs on the other side. He is seven now and, though he will still charge off to see who has just arrived, he comes back when called with a grin and a wagging tail, most of the time without even making it as far as the fence.
I am not sure how to begin this with Eepie and i certainly do not want it to take years - she has three modes at the moment - completely self-absorbed (when she's fence running), completely engaged with me (when we are working) and somewhere in between when she's working but watching something else on the other side of the paddock.
I guess the answer is partly in training attention and partly in being willing to let her grow up a bit more - she still has "puppy brain" and will have for at least another twelve months - perhaps i can set a goal for twelve months' time and chart our progress.
Fence running really annoys me. Sorry, Peep, it has to stop!
Lots of love
Mum
