Why does Troy turn coming inside or being called back into a game of keep-away?
Today I met Troy! What a treat. When I sat down he towered over me.
The Great Dane lives with a couple, their eighteen week old baby and a toddler – people with their hands full at the moment.
Troy at only fifteen months old himself may not have quite enough to keep his clever mind occupied, so he’s finding things for himself to do. Things like wrecking beds when he is left alone and chewing the kitchen table and chairs.
Chewing the children’s toys hasn’t occurred to him fortunately, and he’s very gentle around the baby and the little boy.
Great fun
It’s great fun pretending to want to come in from the garden and then giving the run-around when they open the door. Especially when after several circuits of the garden it means causing chaos by running in over the carpet with huge muddy feet.
It’s great fun running off to play with other dogs and giving the run-around when they want to get him back.
It’s great fun to cause chaos in the kitchen with little polystyrene beads from a destroyed bed all over the floor like snow. (His owners’ response when they get home isn’t quite so much fun though – but at least it’s attention).
Giving Troy commands merely gives him the opportunity to refuse, so we are finding ways to outwit him.
When your dog exasperates you, you perhaps don’t realise just how many times you are saying No, or Down, or Bed! As with a child, it’s good to think of ways to show him what you would like him to do.
Rather than being cross when Troy doesn’t come in from the garden, they are going to teach him that it’s rewarding and great fun to come in straight away when called, and no fun at all if he doesn’t.
