[flyinggrayson]

Hey everyone,


Just have a minor question about my new adopted dog.


Some background info: Levon, our pup, was found and fostered by a family for about 7 months before we adopted him. When they found him he was injured and dying but they managed to bring him back to a healthy pup! Vet says he’s around 1-2 years old and definitely a chow mix (black tongue) with maybe a border collie or herding dog? Anyway, he’s a really sweet guy. Very quiet, submissive, and mild mannered, but very cautious as well (took us a night to get him to explore some areas of our small house).


The problem/question is, is that he will NOT let my boyfriend take him on a walk, let alone go outside with him to pee without me. It's very difficult to get him through the door, nails dragging and all that, if I'm not at the door with them and he lays down if I’m too far behind him on walks to wait for me so we’ve gotten to the point that I walk ahead of him and my boyfriend makes him sit and wait until I round the corner and go back inside through the back entrance of my house. Then he’ll walk with my BF but his tail is down mostly the entire time and he seems stressed out when he gets back (and always makes a beeline to find me before he even drinks water).


When we first got him a week ago, my boyfriend had to leave for about three-four days and I’m currently working from home so I was around more and I’m assuming Levon just got more attached to me during that small timeframe/change of owners. My boyfriend tries to play with him and while Levon graciously accepts cuddles and bellyrubs and will occasionally follow my BF around to see what he’s up to, he prefers to play with me and hang out with me.


For instance, today my boyfriend started bouncing a ball around and Levon went after it but instantly brought it to the bedroom so I’d play with him instead. Even when my BF threw it and Levon went after it, he kept bringing the ball back to me, even if I’d just hand it to my BF to throw.


He’s not aggressive in any manner and DOES seem to like my boyfriend, but he constantly wants reassurance from me to go outside or go on a walk. For now my boyfriend takes him on walks by himself and feeds Levon too, but do you guys have any more suggestions to help us out? My boyfriend knows Levon will probably favor me over him just because he travels so much (and Levon appears to like girls more. He was attached to the previous foster family’s wife/mother and seemed to exhibit these same manners too), but he’d like to take our pup out without the hassle of us tricking him into going outside.

 

[Kathyy]

My dogs clung to me after they came home with me then started to accept others in the household. Give it some time. Levon bringing the ball to you is really cute. Maybe you could play a circle game. You throw to BF, BF throws to Levon and Levon brings it to you! Take him for walks together right now, maybe split up a bit before the end of the walk or have BF hold him while you got into the store for a coffee or ice cream.

 

[PatriciafromCO]

This could be a strong set back.. your BF will need to work through .. it takes time but it can pass for the pup... (It's very difficult to get him through the door, nails dragging and all that)

Let your BF be a part of the happy positive walk with you going along with you... If an animal is struggling,fearful,, then that is what the animal is learning from the experience with you BF.. I say back off for the BF.. when it comes to going outside and walks without out you..... let your BF be the one to play games, meal times and treat times to develop skills, interaction and bonding in an environment the pup is happy so the BF gets all the happy credit from the pup... use play games to teach the pup to come, to free follow your BF around the house... especially if he is getting up to go to the kitchen where he can open a cabinet and get a treat for your pup following him there. All he skills you BF needs he can do in house first for right now... use a bedroom doorway to practice walking through together, use a long tug toy to teach healing with a quick release for the puppy to run off and play after a few steps with your BF to start.. Even if we make mistakes in how we handle the dogs,, they can be mended when we change how we handle things...