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Hello all!
I hope it's OK to post this in here, I'm new and didn't really feel that it fitted anywhere else. This isn't really about 'training', but I'll give a bit of background so you've got a better idea.
My Husband and I moved to Dubai in January, we're both from the UK and have always had dogs growing up. About a month after we arrived we both realised that life was just not the same without a dog around, so we did our research, picked a rescue centre and went for a visit. The centre was brilliant, they didn't just let you go and gawk at the dogs, they asked questions about our personal circumstances and picked a few dogs that would suit our lifestyle.
It was love at first sight with Pika and we took her home a week later. She was found roaming in the desert, so no one really knows where she came from but it became immediately apparent that she had never lived with people before. She was skin and bones when we got her home and very quiet and timid for the first few days. We live in an apartment so it was a huge change for her. Our kitchen is mostly closed in but it has an entrance (with no door) and a big 'window' over the breakfast bar, so we bought a baby gate and put that across the entrance, turning the kitchen into her bedroom. We shut her in there at meal times, feeding her at the same time that we eat and don't let her out until we have finished, and she used to sleep in there too. This was fine at first but after a few days when she was more settled she started to be a handful. She would bark continuously whenever we ate or even just when we were cooking, she would whine and whine whenever we shut her in the kitchen and would try and mug us for her food... this is all standard stuff I know, and we worked really hard on training her. Now, three months later - she goes into the kitchen at meal times without being asked, she sits and waits until she is told to go for her food, she lies down on command, does 'paw' and 'high five', understands 'drop it', has her own little 'toilet' on the balcony and is usually really good in the apartment (with the exception of some chewed table legs and cushions).
The issues come when we go for walks. She LOVES other dogs, she wants to be friends with them all and plays really well. But when we're out and about with her it's like she goes deaf, she wont come to us, won't sit, runs off if we let her off the lead, she doesn't even look at me if I call her name. The other day she had been playing with her best friend scruffy (we go for dog walks together) and I did a test - it was safe, there was no one around, and scruffy and her owner started to leave, so I walked in the opposite direction (towards home) whistled her, called her, clapped my hands etc, but she didn't even look at me. She just trotted off the way she wanted to go.
I think this comes down to us not having a good enough 'bond'. It's as though she doesn't see the purpose of me as her companion, protector or friend. I really want to build this bond as it is something I have always had with my family dogs growing up.
Does anyone have any ideas? I would really appreciate any help you can give
I forgot to say - the vet thinks she is about 1 year old, she's a Saluki cross, medium but very slight and incredibly fast!!
I hope it's OK to post this in here, I'm new and didn't really feel that it fitted anywhere else. This isn't really about 'training', but I'll give a bit of background so you've got a better idea.
My Husband and I moved to Dubai in January, we're both from the UK and have always had dogs growing up. About a month after we arrived we both realised that life was just not the same without a dog around, so we did our research, picked a rescue centre and went for a visit. The centre was brilliant, they didn't just let you go and gawk at the dogs, they asked questions about our personal circumstances and picked a few dogs that would suit our lifestyle.
It was love at first sight with Pika and we took her home a week later. She was found roaming in the desert, so no one really knows where she came from but it became immediately apparent that she had never lived with people before. She was skin and bones when we got her home and very quiet and timid for the first few days. We live in an apartment so it was a huge change for her. Our kitchen is mostly closed in but it has an entrance (with no door) and a big 'window' over the breakfast bar, so we bought a baby gate and put that across the entrance, turning the kitchen into her bedroom. We shut her in there at meal times, feeding her at the same time that we eat and don't let her out until we have finished, and she used to sleep in there too. This was fine at first but after a few days when she was more settled she started to be a handful. She would bark continuously whenever we ate or even just when we were cooking, she would whine and whine whenever we shut her in the kitchen and would try and mug us for her food... this is all standard stuff I know, and we worked really hard on training her. Now, three months later - she goes into the kitchen at meal times without being asked, she sits and waits until she is told to go for her food, she lies down on command, does 'paw' and 'high five', understands 'drop it', has her own little 'toilet' on the balcony and is usually really good in the apartment (with the exception of some chewed table legs and cushions).
The issues come when we go for walks. She LOVES other dogs, she wants to be friends with them all and plays really well. But when we're out and about with her it's like she goes deaf, she wont come to us, won't sit, runs off if we let her off the lead, she doesn't even look at me if I call her name. The other day she had been playing with her best friend scruffy (we go for dog walks together) and I did a test - it was safe, there was no one around, and scruffy and her owner started to leave, so I walked in the opposite direction (towards home) whistled her, called her, clapped my hands etc, but she didn't even look at me. She just trotted off the way she wanted to go.
I think this comes down to us not having a good enough 'bond'. It's as though she doesn't see the purpose of me as her companion, protector or friend. I really want to build this bond as it is something I have always had with my family dogs growing up.
Does anyone have any ideas? I would really appreciate any help you can give
I forgot to say - the vet thinks she is about 1 year old, she's a Saluki cross, medium but very slight and incredibly fast!!