Looking for some tips.

For the first time last night at training my dog started having an issue with the floors in the school. We have done searches in this school before, as recent as last week with absolutely no problems... He completed all the room searches fine(narcotics) but was acting very strange in the hall way between rooms, so I didn't even do the locker searches. I put him up for about 30 minutes and figured I would just work on figuring out what the heck happened. I brought him into another part of the building with the same flooring and played ball with him and he was a little hesitant but never failed to retrieve or show good drive. I did that for about 5 minutes or so and put him up. He really seemed like he just could not get his legs under him but when he couldn't I could tell that it bothered him. He never backed away or tried to avoid the floor but was cautious very cautious for him. I brought him out again about 30 minutes later but this time I dumped some Soda (pop) on the ground outside and walked him through it to get his pads a little sticky. That definitely seemed to help. I don't understand why all of a sudden he's having problems He has been on these floors since he was a pup.

Towards the end of training I did do a building search with him again he did the search fine. Knowing him I could tell he was being cautious and having trouble with the floor. Once he picked up on the decoy he went into being his normal self with one exception. On the bite instead of coming up he went for a leg bite. Normally I wouldn't care but I think he only did it because of the floor. After I out-ed him I had the decoy agitate him and I sent him for another bit. This one seemed better but not near as powerful as he normally is.

Any Ideas on any other things I can do work him through this. I don't want to wait and allow it to become habit, since it has never existed before.

He is to excellent in all other areas to allow this to develop into something more than it may be. I do realize if it continues what has to be done though. He is still fairly young at 17 months and I realize it could be a stage but very very unlike him.

I should add no problem on the gym floor or hardwood, Just the hallways.

Thanks for any suggestions

There are products out there you can put on his pads that are better than soda <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> The only thing I can think of is that he may have slipped playing ball and strained something, or got a stinger from slipping. I would keep training and use one of the wax products they have and see if this helps. I am not any good at the computer, but the products are used by sled dog, and hunting dog people. Hope this helps.

Jason ,

Since he has been fine on these floors in the past I would bring him back on to the floors on-lead making sure you both aren't moving fast enough where he begins to loose traction . I would just hang out with him on these floors giving calm praise and some food for doing well .

Do this for awhile until he gets comfortable with the floors again then pick up the speed gradually until he learns how to keep his footing .

I've seen this in some new dogs when we increased the activity in the training scenerios on slippery floors . The dog is working really hard to get what he is after and really starts slipping and falling on the slick floors and gets a little freaked out because he can't get to where he really wants to be quick enough . We just slowed things down a little on these floors until the dog learned he can't take off at full speed but has to accellerate slower on these types of surfaces . It's like adjusting a dog to the muzzle . Some dogs have a tough time adjusting to it at first because it's taking away one of his biggest weapons(his mouth) . In this case it's his speed and balance .

I haven't dealt with very many dogs with these problems but the ones I have seemed to be very fast working , hard hitting dogs . It didn't take much with these dogs to get back to the same working level as most dogs on slippery surfaces .

The shine on the floor could also be the problem . I would still do the same thing . Calm exposure and confidence building on that surface .

Jeff & Jim thanks for the advice.

I'm going to be in the school again this week, as well as I gained access to another for the weekend. I'll start working on it ASAP. I just bought some of that stickum for the hands I'm going to try as well. so fingers crossed this will be out of his system soon!

The paw wax is called ...Mushers Secret & comes in a small jar or pot. It's a bit pricey, I think it was about $10, got it at the beginning of the season, so I don't remember exactly, it does work well. ( I purchased mine locally)You can purchase it on line at many of the dog supply outlets or at the better pet stores or the sled dog supply sites.

Thanks Anne,

I'll order some of the wax today. The stickum stuff I bought does provide good traction, but it wore off fast last night. Not to mention his paws looked like a magnet covered in metal shavings. LOL everything was sticking to them from hair to paper and plastic on the ground.

as far as the leg bite thing, i wouldn't worry about that at all. i had a dog that didn't have any problems on slick floors, but once in a while on slick floors he'd go for leg bites because he couldn't get the traction to launch up for the upper body. to me, that's a sign of a good street dog. one that takes whatever is available to them!