Herding dogs--brains fall out?

[Gempress]

I took Voodoo for a short walk. No big deal, he's leash-trained. I clip on his leash and away we go. Or so I thought.

No more than 10 yards from the house, and Voodoo turns into SuperIdiot. He starts heaving at the end of the leash, bounding up into the air, woowooing his excitement, and running circles around me. And he is a stout dog to fight.

I'm leaning back on the leash for all I'm worth, trying to rein him in. I finally manage to get a sit out of him. I pause for a moment to let him collect himself and calm down (and to rest my aching arms). I tried to start off again. He literally CHARGES full speed ahead and almost jerks me off my feet again. I had to set my feet and hold him. The way I was digging in my heels, I felt like I was water-skiing.

So I regressed back to the old "Be a Tree" method. If Voodoo started to pull, I stopped. He was heaving and pulling so hard that it was murder on my arms to stop. It took about a quarter-mile of this stupidity before Voodoo suddenly remembered how to walk properly on a leash. But not before he gave me some nice bruising on my wrist.

I was so angry. I have no clue what made him act like this. He hasn't had leash problems in forever. It got me thinking: Voodoo is the only dog I've ever had who seems to have random relapses where all his sense and training just goes completely out the window. I mean, my other dogs acted like this during the terrible teens, but Voodoo is about three years old. Are random idiocy attacks a herding dog thing?

 

[corgipower]

Are random idiocy attacks a herding dog thing?

Voodoos --- Anybody with sanity and concern for their property value should stay away from these dogs. Voodoos are prone to sudden unstoppable bursts of mayhem that spout forth at completely random intervals. They can leap to heights of 6 feet or greater, pivot and turn at high speeds, and can smash through most modern construction materials without blinking. Voodoos enjoy rope tugs, publicly humiliating their owners and the occasional bottle of Jose Cuervo.

Nope, they're clearly a voodoo thing

Almost all my dogs have been herding breeds, so I don't have much comparison, but they certainly do have their moments. I wouldn't call it idiocy. They're generally far too intelligent for such a thing.

I would call it creativity.

 

[NicoleLJ]

With Ajax it is "Finally warm weather" thing. LOL He is 17 months old and is also fully leash trained. But when I take him out for his walk when it has been several days of severally cold weather and finally a warm enough day to go out he will do this sometimes for a few minutes. It is his way of greeting the sunshine and showing his happiness. So I have started to let him have about ten minutes of just going crazy spinning in the snow and so on in the yard before the walks and it does the trick. Try that. Just enough to get the jumping beans out of them.

 

[Gempress]

Nope, they're clearly a voodoo thing

Almost all my dogs have been herding breeds, so I don't have much comparison, but they certainly do have their moments. I wouldn't call it idiocy. They're generally far too intelligent for such a thing.

I would call it creativity.

Hmm. I suppose this does qualify as one of the "public humiliation" moments. And I like your use of "creativity", LOL.

 

[corgipower]

With Ajax it is "Finally warm weather" thing. LOL He is 17 months old and is also fully leash trained. But when I take him out for his walk when it has been several days of severally cold weather and finally a warm enough day to go out he will do this sometimes for a few minutes. It is his way of greeting the sunshine and showing his happiness. So I have started to let him have about ten minutes of just going crazy spinning in the snow and so on in the yard before the walks and it does the trick. Try that. Just enough to get the jumping beans out of them.

Mine do it as a "Finally warm weather" thing also. And a "OOOHH!! The first snowfall!" and "AAAHH!! The second (third, fourth, fifth) snowfall!!" and "Leaves are blowing in the wind!" and "Cool air!" :rofl1:

I was so angry.

Yea, I've learned to just laugh at them while they have their moments. It's basically zoomies, except they can't zoom cuz they're leashed.

 

[NicoleLJ]

Mine do it as a "Finally warm weather" thing also. And a "OOOHH!! The first snowfall!" and "AAAHH!! The second (third, fourth, fifth) snowfall!!" and "Leaves are blowing in the wind!" and "Cool air!" :rofl1:
.

Hmmmm is Ajax a distant relative? Or maybe I should just stop feeding him those mexican jumping beans?

 

[sprintime]

Gempress have you tried a prong collar? They aren't the barbaric tool they seem to be. You can still do your "freeze" routine when he is wearing it, you just stand still until he realizes he's the one causing the collar to react by acting inhis voo doo style. It sure saves a lot of wear and tear on your arms.

 

[mrose_s]

Buster has doen that a couple of times with his leash training.

He'll be my model citizen for months on end than one day thats it, he just tries to revert completley back to that constant tension thing he used to do.

he also has the same thing happen with his recall on occasion. It'll be great for ages than maybe twice a year we'll have a week where he just thinks "nah..." whenever I ask him for anything.

 

[Zoom]

Gemp, it happens. Sawyer needed a crash course in leash-manners this weekend as well.

 

[Sweet72947]

Try volunteering at a rescue shelter. There are few dogs that don't act like that for the first few minutes on a walk.

I feel your pain, about 5-7 times on Sundays, lol.

 

[doggiegroomer]

Well, I will tell you what worked with my EXTREMELY high engery female GSD. Maybe I have been watching too much Cesar Millan, but his method worked for me. I moved her collar to wherever it fell on her neck to right below her occiput (the dumb knot on the base of their skulls) and started to correct her to the side. Instead of pulling back when ever she pulled on me, I would do a sharp, short tug to the side. Cesar's theory is that pulling back on the collar just increases the engery of "GO GO GO". Where correcting to the side just breaks the concertration of the dog and makes them go "oh so you wanted me to listen?". All I know is that after doing that for maybe 10 minutes with my female GSD on a basic kennel lease (what the vet uses, just the rope that wraps around the neck in one leash and collar set up) she was heeling on a loose leash and was extremely happy about it.

 

[Phoenixangelwyngs]

Shye's brain is defective but for him.... it's barking.... it's 12:00am and he barks at thw wild birds SLEEPING in the bushes next door. *rolls eyes*

I think herding breeds.... can get kinda goofy.... almost hyper-focused.

 

[Renee750il]

The answer is yes, their brains do fall out on occasion.