Hijacking other games and ignoring me

[Kylos86]

Hi,

 

Django is now 10 months old and his recall is aroung 90% (still working on this with a long line) except at the local dog park where he has a few regular friends.

 

The problem I'm having at the moment is we will be playing ball together (he is off leash at this point) when there are not many people about and he will be fixated on playing with me. I have trained him well on the whistle to go left/right/down etc as well as verbal commands so he "works" for it but if just one other person is throwing a ball for their dog he will just forget about me (even if I'm about to throw his ball) and just run over and join in their game.

 

I have tried going over and showing him I have his ball to throw for him but he doesn't care, even if the other dog "tells him off" he will still run aroung waiting for the other person to throw their dogs ball. I have even tried having multiple balls and balls on ropes to try and make it "more fun" to play with his actual human.

 

I'd like to know if anyone else has had this issue at dog parks? and what they did to resolve it?, he is excellent on hikes etc but it is a little depressing when your beloved dog ignores you in preference for a stranger.

 

When this first started happening I attempted to call him back to me but stopped when he didn't come the first couple of times so I didn't reinforce negative recall and the most annoying thing is even though people can clearly see you are trying to get your dogs attention they will CONTINUE TO THROW THE BALL! distracting them further and encouraging the behaviour.

 

When a random dog tries to join our game (very rarely) and I can hear the owner calling them I stop play and tell the dog to "go on" and point to the owner until they get the idea and return.

 

I mentioned his friends at the park, when they are about I put the ball away and encourage him to play with them which he does and the problem isn't an issue.

 

I welcome your input, thanks.

 

 

[chene]

The easiest answer is to work on his recall. It's not a great idea to have him off leash until his recall is 100% anyways. Second easiest answer is to play further away from others. But otherwise perhaps you could make your game more interesting for him. Be more excited about the game by talking and praising and cheering him on, or try frisbees (low, so he doesn't have to jump) instead of balls, incorporate games of tug, get one of those extendable arms to throw the ball further, try to trick him by throwing it different ways, reward him when he brings the ball back, etc. Alternate between different toys.

[simba]

I would probably go grab the dog, put the leash on, and end the game. But I tend to do that for pestering strangers, and I'm not a particularly good dog trainer. Then I'd wait five minutes until he was calm and focused on me, and initiate something he liked again.

[Shetlander]

I would probably go grab the dog, put the leash on, and end the game. But I tend to do that for pestering strangers, and I'm not a particularly good dog trainer. Then I'd wait five minutes until he was calm and focused on me, and initiate something he liked again.

 

Actually, I would consider that good dog training.

[GoodbyeHalcyonDays]

I actually have this same problem with my own dog. Unfortunately, we haven't really come to a compromise yet, but he will now bring the ball to me (as opposed to just lying down somewhere) when people refuse to throw the ball for him.

 

What I had to do was stop balls with other people, period. If I knew someone was going to be around, balls don't come out, at all. After that, we would play together for awhile, but I wouldn't let him have enough to really be satisfied. From there, after a few weeks, I asked someone who he's never played ball with before (but who is a friend of mine) to come along, and when he brought it to her, she simply told him "no" and turned her back, and I'd pick it up there by being the fun one around, and here we are.

 

Still not 100% happy with it since he used to bring the ball to me, and only me, but what can you do? I've gotten a lot more lenient with the ball being thrown by other people, but only because I know it'll take awhile to change him.

 

 

I hope that helps. If nothing else, you're definitely not alone in this, and it really is a blow to the ego when it happens.

[Kylos86]

Thanks for the responses so far

I would probably go grab the dog, put the leash on, and end the game. But I tend to do that for pestering strangers, and I'm not a particularly good dog trainer. Then I'd wait five minutes until he was calm and focused on me, and initiate something he liked again.

 

I have started to do this but he gets over hyped and cirlcles mindlessly so it can take a while to get him back on leash then I simply end the game and take him away.

 

I actually have this same problem with my own dog. Unfortunately, we haven't really come to a compromise yet, but he will now bring the ball to me (as opposed to just lying down somewhere) when people refuse to throw the ball for him.

 

What I had to do was stop balls with other people, period. If I knew someone was going to be around, balls don't come out, at all. After that, we would play together for awhile, but I wouldn't let him have enough to really be satisfied. From there, after a few weeks, I asked someone who he's never played ball with before (but who is a friend of mine) to come along, and when he brought it to her, she simply told him "no" and turned her back, and I'd pick it up there by being the fun one around, and here we are.

 

Still not 100% happy with it since he used to bring the ball to me, and only me, but what can you do? I've gotten a lot more lenient with the ball being thrown by other people, but only because I know it'll take awhile to change him.

 

 

I hope that helps. If nothing else, you're definitely not alone in this, and it really is a blow to the ego when it happens.

 

I'm glad I am not alone and seeing other collie owners whose dogs only have eyes for them makes it worse (there are quite a few in our area) I will try working harder to make our play more fun but right now he forgets about his own ball/toys and wants to play with everyone elses and their human

[Kylos86]

The easiest answer is to work on his recall. It's not a great idea to have him off leash until his recall is 100% anyways. Second easiest answer is to play further away from others. But otherwise perhaps you could make your game more interesting for him. Be more excited about the game by talking and praising and cheering him on, or try frisbees (low, so he doesn't have to jump) instead of balls, incorporate games of tug, get one of those extendable arms to throw the ball further, try to trick him by throwing it different ways, reward him when he brings the ball back, etc. Alternate between different toys.

 

Thanks for the advice, we are in the first week of solidifying his recall and it is going well, we have a field at the back of our house that has minimal distractions so we are building it up slowly. I have also been avoiding the main "problem dog park" I have been testing most of what you listed and have the chuck it ball thrower, I stopped frisbee a while back due to the unpredictablility (causing him to jump) but I may indroduce it again and just roll it. I have tried playing with him on the long line but he always seems to get tangled and it restricts the distance the ball can be thrown.

[Tess's Girl]

For some reason the quote is not working for me but you said:

 

"I have started to do this but he gets over hyped and cirlcles mindlessly so it can take a while to get him back on leash then I simply end the game and take him away."

 

Are you saying that when you approach him he runs away so you can't get him? If that's the case then I wouldn't be going to the dog park until you know 100% you can always approach him. One way to do this is to make sure he has a rock-solid sit or down. That way if he wants to play keep away you can just ask for a sit and then grab him.

 

For the problem whenever he pays attention to someone else's ball I would get him and completely leave the dog park. Make it very, "you're not going to pay attention to me? Ok then, fun stops" Very matter-of-fact. His choice determines the situation, play with owner = have fun, hijack someone else's game = leave. Even if you've only been there 5 minutes, that kind of behavior earns him a one way ticket back home every single time.

[Alfreda]

My 13-mo old is highly social and I like that he enjoys playing with other people and vice versa. I try not to take it personally at parks and I move him along if he gets perstery. (Other people are friendly novelties, and are also less demanding.) Usually, I let him play with others for a while and then call him away, and we go walking elsewhere before he can select his next Chuck-It wielding service provider. Sometimes I've asked people to hide their ball for a moment while I show him and throw ours.

 

Still, I've also decided to give the dog parks a "rest." The ball becomes obsessive there. He stops playing with other dogs, (which to me was the main point of going there instead of hiking somewhere else). I don't want him getting neurotic or robotic about ball or anything else. I'd rather he develop and practice focus on other things/jobs.

 

At dog parks there are always lots of obliging people standing around attending to dogs. My cute, sweet, eager pup trains them very well to keep throwing for him. I prefer to use ball as a reward for doing tricks, tasks, sequences at home, or as a short break from other things. Also, having had ball-a-holics grow old, I don't want to overdo it on the young joints.

[Kylos86]

For some reason the quote is not working for me but you said:

 

"I have started to do this but he gets over hyped and cirlcles mindlessly so it can take a while to get him back on leash then I simply end the game and take him away."

 

Are you saying that when you approach him he runs away so you can't get him? If that's the case then I wouldn't be going to the dog park until you know 100% you can always approach him. One way to do this is to make sure he has a rock-solid sit or down. That way if he wants to play keep away you can just ask for a sit and then grab him.

 

For the problem whenever he pays attention to someone else's ball I would get him and completely leave the dog park. Make it very, "you're not going to pay attention to me? Ok then, fun stops" Very matter-of-fact. His choice determines the situation, play with owner = have fun, hijack someone else's game = leave. Even if you've only been there 5 minutes, that kind of behavior earns him a one way ticket back home every single time.

 

Hi yes I will work more on his down/sit which is pretty good except when he is overexcited, he is too smart sometimes as most collies are. He has a good "wait" command which I usualy use to get him to stand still and apply the leash. I have been stopping the fun straight away as you mentioned so he will learn it's not OK to "hijack". With him still being young though he will "down" on command but tends to "release" himself, do you have any advice on training him to stay in "down" until I gice a "release" command, I have tried the obvious stuff and just put it down to his age.

My 13-mo old is highly social and I like that he enjoys playing with other people and vice versa. I try not to take it personally at parks and I move him along if he gets perstery. (Other people are friendly novelties, and are also less demanding.) Usually, I let him play with others for a while and then call him away, and we go walking elsewhere before he can select his next Chuck-It wielding service provider. Sometimes I've asked people to hide their ball for a moment while I show him and throw ours.

 

Still, I've also decided to give the dog parks a "rest." The ball becomes obsessive there. He stops playing with other dogs, (which to me was the main point of going there instead of hiking somewhere else). I don't want him getting neurotic or robotic about ball or anything else. I'd rather he develop and practice focus on other things/jobs.

 

At dog parks there are always lots of obliging people standing around attending to dogs. My cute, sweet, eager pup trains them very well to keep throwing for him. I prefer to use ball as a reward for doing tricks, tasks, sequences at home, or as a short break from other things. Also, having had ball-a-holics grow old, I don't want to overdo it on the young joints.

 

Hi thanks yes playing with other dogs is the main reason we frequent the dog park also and as soon as the ball comes out none them exist any longer, if we are playing ball and some "friends" arrive I always put the ball away and say "go play" which works pretty well until he sees someone else with a ball. I have also decided to give the park a rest and isolate him so when he plays ball I'm the only one around, we still visit his "best friend" (an English Bull Terrier female named Milly) who doesn't play ball and is insistant that he play with her, its funny to watch as she can only really run in a straight line so Django has fun out manoeuvering her. I am also mindful of overdoing the young joints as he has had bouts panno in his forelegs before which had me worried sick.