Boarding a couple dogs need advice.

Ok a friend of ours is out of town for a week, so I've got their two dogs here boarding. One is a very overweight golden retriever who's got some nasty matted hair, and the other is a little lab possibly terrier mix. Cute bouncy boy!!

Here's my questions...

When i let the golden out, she BOLTS. I mean takes off. So I've been slipping a choker over her as the owners suggested, but this is jsut NOT an effective method. the dog is obviously learned that she can get away with it and if she pulls hard enough just drag you along.
Now its not my right to try and train her or use another method, but I'll be darned if I'm gonna let her keep this up while she's here!!! Should I attempt to try and stop this behavior? or leave well enough alone?


I need to bathe her soo bad. But I don't know if I should trim off the matted hair or not. I haven't heard from the owners yet, but do ya think I should?? under her armpits and between her back legs, under her tail and around her ears its matted to the skin. Poor girl can't hardly lift em!

I've got a furminator and I was going to brush her down with it really good, but what do ya'll reccommend I do about the matting??

 

This is just my opinion, but I'd say you do have the right to try to stop this type of behavior. It's dangerous for both of you, and when you have the responsibility for her well being, you gotta do what you gotta do to keep her safe.

I am, of course, assuming you use acceptable and humane training methods.

As for the matting. This is really difficult. Some types of mats, like ones in the arm pits and behind the ears, you usually just have to shave off. The arm pit mats don't pose much of an esthetic problem, shave them off and it won't show. But behind the ears? It depends on how big the mats are. If they aren't too extensive you can shave them out and it won't show. Otherwise you have some blending to do to make it look good. And you do have to be careful in both areas, because it's easy to cut skin. You have to use an animal clipper with at least a 10 blade, maybe a 15 or 30.

If the other mats aren't too tight you can work at them with a good de-matting product and a mat breaker. But use caution so you don't cut the skin. You can also split the mats with scissors, but split them lengthwise, and keep the tips of the scissors pointed away from the skin. Once the mats are split, they're easier to brush/comb out. But I'd caution against trying this on mats behind the ears. I've seen some horrible gashes caused by people trying to do this.

If you can't (or don't want to) try de-matting the hard way, they also need to be clipped out. One little trick used by many groomers is to wet shave the mats.

Give her a good bath, and while she's still soapy, clip out the mats, then rinse. They'll come off a lot easier, and the hair will be longer after it's clipped than it would be if you clipped the mats dry. Another advantage of wet shaving is less chance of clipper burn. You can also see exactly where the skin is, which makes it much easier to avoid cutting the skin.

Precautions to take if you want to attempt wet shaving; Use cordless clippers or plug your clippers into a GFIC outlet. Inspect the cord for cracks before you attempt this. If the cord isn't in good shape, don't try it. You also need to keep your clipper pointed down so no water can drip down into the motor. And when you finish dry and oil your blade, so it doesn't rust.

 

I'm gonna just clip them. The ones behind the ears I snipped with sissors last night. They weren't too big, but definately painful. Can'te really tell I did it. LOL

As for the running. I put a prong collar on her last night.. Whatta ya know. She bolted, hit the end of the leash and stopped, looked at me like WHOA!!!! LADY!!! What the heck was that!!!!
I put her back in the kennel (left the collar on with the leash) opened it again. and she bolted.... same result..
did it again this morning, and she came out of the kennel real fash, then suddenly stupped like, "Wait a minute, i remember last time... so she just stood there. LOL

Taught her self I guess you could say!!!

But to no avail, she still runs out, but stops short of the leash catching her.... I guess I just need to shorten the leash now....

Poor little guy, he just sits back and watches like "Dumb blonde will never get it! I'm the good one, give me a treat!!!!"

 

Does that "Dumb Blonde" know any of the basic obedience commands? From your description of her actions I might guess the answer is no. If not then perhaps teaching her to sit with a reward for doing it would be a fairly easy way to start. Then have her sit before you open the kennel and if she doesn't bolt then another reward. Make them very tiny rewards however as you mentioned she was overweight.
Other than that I would start to shorten that lead like you mentioned.

 

No she's had no obediance. SHe's a back yard dog that plays with their four kids. VERY sweet dog. just "blonde" LOL Doesn't seem to get it.

She's not into treats at all. and I haven't found a toy that she likes yet either. I'm using the "ignore" and "reward with attention" right now. when she's bad or doesn't listen, i won't give her attention, and she's an attention hog!!! So far she's figured out that when she ddoes what I want, she's petted.

She's obediant in not jumping and stoping whatever she's doing, but open a door or gate, and she bolts.

The other dog is very smart. He's picked up on our routine already...

 

One of the best ways I've found to stop dogs from bolting out the door or gate is to simply shut it in their face.

I try to get the dog to sit first, but if they don't know sit I just put my hand in their face and say "WAIT". Then I reach for the door or gate. If they move, I put them back where they were, tell them to wait, and try again. If they hold their place until I actually happen to get the door partially open, then move, I slam the door as hard as is possible, and tell them to wait.

Getting the door slammed in their face a few times will teach all but the most obstinant dogs to wait. Once they stay put while I open the door, I then tell them OK, and let them exit.