Dog Ignoring Us

[Lexy88]

Hi all, haven't been in for ages but here I am again

So I recently got a full time job (first one since before I had Riley who is about to start school!) and I have very early starts (but this also means I finish in time to do the school run). We have been thinking about getting a second dog to keep Blade company during the day and have been visiting the dog adoption centres in our city and meeting some potential dogs.

The problem we have come across often is the dogs compleeeeetely ignoring us when out in the 'play paddock'. Now, I've owned and trained dogs for many years and am very aware that recall needs to be trained. I also know that they are probably sick of meeting strangers and just want to be able to explore the paddock once out of their pen. But these dogs don't even acknowledge us once they are off lead, no matter how exciting we try and make ourselves with treats, toys, high pitched voices, running away etc. They won't even glance at us. They are all adolescent or adult dogs and have been rescued from the pound before being put down. They most likely ended up there by being wanderers.

We would really like to adopt a dog that needs a home. Can this 'attitude' in the dogs be trained/changed?

 

[running_dog]

How exciting to be looking for a new dog

My thought is that the paddock is just more exciting to them than anything else in their caged up little worlds right now. These dogs don't trust you to give them treats and toys because you haven't built that trust yet. Squeaky voices, probably any voices mean nothing to them because they haven't learnt that they mean good things, and why would they care if you run away? You mean absolutely nothing to them - yet. I don't think this lack of responsiveness would put me off but then I'm used to having to train recall a lot.

Hopefully some people with a lot more experience of rescue dogs will be along to comment soon

 

[running_dog]

I've been thinking and Zac ignores me like this when he is overstimulated looking for prey - it is a distraction thing and he has got better about it. Do the dogs eat treats when they are free or do they ignore them totally even if you throw them down in front of them - I mean is it that they don't trust you to give them treats or are they totally distracted even from food?

 

[running_dog]

Me again

I found this link on petfinder about meeting shelter dogs and thought you might find it useful. It basically says don't worry if they don't pay attention to you outside because you can sort that out later, do worry if they don't pay attention to you inside, it gives you loads of tips on how to choose a dog.

 

[brody_smom]

When we were looking to adopt a dog from our local SPCA, we found Brody and his sister out in the play yard. They were both at the gate, barking up a storm. We were told that they were shy, but to take treats in and just wait for them to come to us. We did so, and they took very little time to approach us, though somewhat tentatively. We found balls in the yard and threw them, and they chased, but did not return them. They had been outside in the yard for a while before we got there and were probably already bored with the environment. This probably made a whole lot of difference. If we had gotten there right after they had been released, it may have been more like your experience. Would it be possible to call ahead and ask that the dog(s) you are interested in be put out in the yard for a while before you expect to arrive?