# Fountain Attacking Vizsla



## Emily1970 (Apr 21, 2011)

Chuck (our rescue) never had swam until he came to live with us. We take him to a very nice dog park that has an entire separate fenced off area with a good sized pond with a fountain in it to keep the water circulating. He LOVES swimming. He can swim quite nicely, but usually chooses to slap the water with his 2 front legs splashing, barking, and biting the water. That's not a problem in itself, but he also LOVES the fountain. He climbs on top of it biting at the water, and covering the fountain with his body. He doesn't get hurt, but he also won't respond to commands and is damaging the fountain. We've talked to the park owner and he's good natured about it, but he doesn't want Chuck fixating on the fountain. So we are just keeping him in the running area now. Is there any way to train him to stay off the fountain? He loves to swim and around here, it's the only place he can go.


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## hotmischief (Mar 11, 2012)

Why not attach him to a long line before he goes into swim and practise some recalls when he goes near the fountain. If he doesn't respond you can bring him in on the line.

I wish you had taken a picture of Chuck on top of the fountain - it sounds rather comical


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## Emily1970 (Apr 21, 2011)

I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't pop up on Youtube. People cracked up and were videoing him with their phones every time he was out there. When he'd get on top of it and wouldn't get off, my husband switched the breaker off and he'd be looking around with a funny look wondering where it went. We just got Riley taken care of and we don't really want to pay $3000 for a new fountain.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

I don't know anything to keep him off the fountain other than collar conditioning him, but I bet he would love to play in the sprinkler at home.


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## Emily1970 (Apr 21, 2011)

That's the other thing he goes after at the dog park!! At about 8:30, they have sprinklers that pop up and start going off and he just has a blast, but those he doesn't really try to destroy. He tried to dig one up, but we stopped him right away and he was fine after that. He is a mad man in water. He swallows so much that he pees every 5 minutes for hours.


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## Keneomac (Oct 12, 2010)

Here is my experience with an issue like this. We have two Vs and live on a ranch with horses, llamas, goats, sheep, and chickens. The dogs are great with all of the animals, but really really really really wanted the chickens. We tried everything we could think of to help teach them the chickens are not play toys (they are free range so they are always running around). I was never someone who understood using a shock collar, but it works (and there are lots of other people on the forum who will be better suited to help you learn how to use it). Here are the caveats. We only used it on the lowest setting and I am the crazy owner that used it on myself to understand what the dog was feeling. It isn't pleasant, but doesn't hurt. What we did was introduce the collar with fun things so they think wearing the collar is the best thing in the entire world. Whenever they would get within 10 feet of the chickens they would get a pulse. After 3 days of this, they literally think the chickens are the thing causing the shock. They still love their collars, but will give the chickens a wide birth. The good news is they still point to other birds and can be worked, but they just don't think chickens are fun anymore. We don't use the collar anymore and the dogs and chickens call all be running around without any issue.

That being said a waterproof collar used in the same way may help with your issue, but please research the idea and no one knows your dogs and how they would react to it better than you.

Good luck!


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## Emily1970 (Apr 21, 2011)

A shock collar sounds like it would probably end up working well. I guess my concerns would be, Chuck is a rescue we've had since March and he was neglected, caged all the time, and hit (we think from his behaviors), and has just really found his voice and came out of his shell. He is extremely sensitive to anyone having a grumpy sounding voice or any kind of yelling. Would this cause a setback do you think?


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## Ozkar (Jul 4, 2011)

Emily1970 said:


> A shock collar sounds like it would probably end up working well. I guess my concerns would be, Chuck is a rescue we've had since March and he was neglected, caged all the time, and hit (we think from his behaviors), and has just really found his voice and came out of his shell. He is extremely sensitive to anyone having a grumpy sounding voice or any kind of yelling. Would this cause a setback do you think?


Emily, you know my thoughts on them. I wouldn't use one on any well adjusted and known dog, let alone on one which has an uncertain past. My Zsa Zsa is a Rescue with a similarly horrible but not totally known past. She does not respond well to anger either. She shivers if I yell at someone while driving. Even a casual "You D---H--D" in a whimsical voice gets her going. I would never allow anyone to use one on her. 

Try some check chord work and see how that goes. You don't want to risk all the progress you have made with Chuck in the last 5 months. Oh...and please sneak down when the attendant isn't there and get a video of it will you please??????


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## mswhipple (Mar 7, 2011)

My Willie Boy is a lot like Zsa Zsa. He does not respond well to any sort of anger, or even perceived irritation, on my part. It doesn't have to be directed at him, you understand. He also has a mysterious past. I have to be very careful... he is so sensitive! I don't want to hurt his feelings or frighten him in any way, or he just shuts down. He only wants calm and happy. But if I make a reasonable request of him, he typically responds beautifully. What a great dog!! I just love him so much. His sensitive temperament also helps to keep my blood pressure in check! LOL


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## Ozkar (Jul 4, 2011)

Mswhipple, I would love to meet your Willie.....and you know the old saying, your show me yours and I'll show you mine........


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## hobbsy1010 (Jun 4, 2011)

Hi Emily,

How deep is the water??, why dont you take a few goes at being prepared to go in and physically take him away from the fountain, as you did with the sprinklers, praise good play around it take him away from the fountain when hes climbing etc.

Remember the floor of the pond if painted, will be covered in algae, NO RUNNING IN THE POOL!! 


Good Luck 

Mrs Hobbsy


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## Emily1970 (Apr 21, 2011)

I think it's about 5 to 6 feet deep but is mucky in the bottom. He does empty it and refill it twice a year to try to keep it in good shape. I am going to have to try to get a video. I know he's misbehaving and not listening, but it's hilarious. Everyone gathers around the pond to watch him and I've seen other people videotaping him with their phones. They say they have never seen a dog who loves water so much. Chuck responds badly to angry tones too. He's made a lot of progress and I certainly don't want to take him back in time to where he was in a bad place.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

I wish people that are against ecollars would try one on themselves. I don't know anyone that uses them that hasn't. I think you need to know what correction your handing out. I would much rather have a ecollar on me than to have someone pulling me around by a lead.


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## redrover (Mar 17, 2011)

Jasper is e-collar trained. I will say that he can be very sensitive to yelling, but was never sensitive to the e-collar. I mean, obviously he responds to it, but he doesn't shut down or get upset about it. I've used it on myself too (I think everyone does)--it sort of made me feel...wiggly...but it didn't hurt. It shouldn't hurt them. If it does, it's on way too high. It should only be set high enough for them to feel it. It reminded me of shocking myself with batteries when I was a stupid kid. You must be careful in how you introduce it, as Keneomac did. If you're concerned about it, I would recommend using it under the watch of a trainer or trusted fellow dog-owner with experience using them.

I'd start with a check cord, however, and see how that goes. Give him a medium-length check cord, and let him out in the water, but not near the fountain. Start working recalls. It might be hard to reward well, since I don't recommend bringing treats to a dog park--you'll be followed everywhere, and it can incite fights. As he gets better and better about recalls under these conditions, give him more and more length, until he's next to/on the fountain. You could also try working a leave it in here, so that he leaves the fountain alone altogether, but if you can reliably get him to come to you when he's attacking the fountain, that would be enough. Careful on pulling him in with the check cord, though--don't want to hurt his neck/spine too much.

How good is his recall out of the water? You might want to start there if it's not 100%, and then move up to the enticing and distracting water. If check cord is not working, you might try collar conditioning, but if you feel Chuck would be a bad candidate for one (you know him best), then the only safe bet is to start staying out of that particular pond. You do want a really good recall in water, though, because if he ever starts swimming in rivers or anything with current, he might not know better and get taken for a ride.

Good luck! And let us know how it works!


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## Keneomac (Oct 12, 2010)

Sorry for the delay in responding...I didn't get an email telling me people had responded!

I knew that post was going to get the two extreme sides of the spectrum. Like I said this is a decision that only you can make, but as for your concern - Bella is also a rescue. We had only had her a few months before the chickens arrived and she does not mind the collar at all. She has no idea it is the collar and truly thinks it is the chickens. Bella was abused so badly her previous owner broke her back leg and when we got her she wouldn't let a male within 10 feet of her. She has come a long way and the collar had no negative effects on her.

Again, this is not for every dog. I wouldn't use the collar on one of our other dogs simply because of his attitude, but for our Vs it did the trick.


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