Curious Georgia is not called “curious” for nothing. She is a very active sniffer, liking to get her nose right up close to anything and everything — to better understand the world. She doesn’t cause any trouble whatsoever, but she sure does like to sniff.
Sir Chick, our own wonderdog, is a bit of a grump with new dogs, so we can’t have Curious Georgia giving him a thorough sniffing anytime she pleases, or he may get fussy — which would most certainly frighten our delicate little flower. So what do we use? A tiedown.
It sure is lonely here on tiedown all by myself . . .
We have written about the glory of the tiedown before. We use it as a critical stage in integrating a new foster into our household. For us, a tiedown comes after baby gate socialization and before total free-range time. It helps dogs learn how to settle down and be still, keeps them out of trouble while allowing them to observe and be part of daily life, and allows resident animals to maintain their freedom without being bounced on or pounced on by new, rambunctious fosters dogs. Georgia is not a pouncer or a bouncer, but she is a sniffer.
Luckily Curious G took to the tiedown like a champ. She gets a little whimpery and barky when we leave the room and she is tied down, but after just a few days this behavior is beginning to extinguish and she is learning how to be cool even when we are gone. And Chick sure appreciates his independence, too.
I see that beautiful Chick but I cannot sniff him from here!
Maybe if I put on my saddest face, they'll let me resume my sniffing habit.
For more info on adopting Curious Georgia, click here or contact us at DCpetographer [at] gmail [dot] com.
Love and a Six-Foot Leash 
The nose knows! Poor Miss Georgia, sorrow is lack of sweet scents.
Aw, that is quite the sad face! I hope her tie down phase doesn’t have to last long!
I love how she refuses to lay on the bed in her hopes of getting off tie down lol. Luna will pout in the same way. This is a technique I encourage many of my clients to incorporate into life, as it’s a great way to have your dogs with you but to teach restriction and keep them out of trouble while hanging out. Do you usually have these leashes attached to furniture or the wall? Simply curious. I’m sure her and chick will become friends soon, she seems overall pretty chill. He sure did love his Gonzo didn’t he.
Anna
http://www.akginspiration.com
Tie downs are also very useful for use when house training.
Where do you attach the tie-down leash? Does Chick ever go to her to sniff? This tie-down thing has me intrigued….
Tiedowns are great tools 🙂 I also use the tie to my belt when they are puppies 🙂 She sure has the miserable look down pat lol 🙂
Our Wilbur is also a ‘sniffer’. Sometimes I swear he’s going to suck the pavement right up off the ground. His nose absolutely quivers when he finds something especially good like bird poop, his favorite! Poor Chick, I’m sure he’ll probably be okay with Georgia and her sniffing if she does it in a lady like way.
Thank you for pointing out how important it is not to give the new foster animal full freedom right away. That is a mistake many foster owners make, and unfortunately it means it doesn’t always work out and they have to be returned to the shelter or to a different foster home.
Hmmm….as a foster rookie I am intrigued by this tie down idea. We have our very first foster, Tucker, with us now, and he his a BOUNDLESS bundle of energy. He terrorized our prince of the house, Oscar, constantly! We probably fall into that “full freedom right away” category LOL! I think we’ll give it a shot – does anyone have any tie down tips for first timers?
I’ve got this problem.
I want to smoosh Georgia’s face and rub her ears. Those ears! Elka is a good stand-in, of course, being my own dog with remarkable ears who’s used to face smooshing.
I agree, that she’s laying next to the bed is quite funny. With that “I can’t believe you’re doing this to me!” stare. She’s going to make somebody very happy!
Those ears!!!!!!!!!! I can’t stand it!!!!! ❤
No matter how long the tie down, they’re always lying with it stretched out as far as it can possibly go. Wonder if Chick will give us his thoughts on tie downs and Georgia when he writes his blog tomorrow…hope so!
I am so glad you’re showing some of these behind-the-scenes tips. Though I too am curious what you tie-down to…
Mom has tried this idea… however, most of the time I’m the bouncy, pouncy one with a new foster. So a tie down with the new foster, who is usually scared and unsure, doesn’t work… and she’s tried the tiedown with me, but often I call the new foster over to me and it doesn’t work… so she’s tried the tie down with BOTH of us… and that just makes me go crazy and get all tangled up in my leash. Thankfully, we haven’t had an introduction issue yet (knock on wood!), and mom teaches Sit/Stays to new fosters so we have to practice those once all of the excitement wears off. I’ve been MIA for a while, so I just caught up on the beatutiful Curious Georgia! How exciting! I love hearing the adventures of your new foster dogs!
-Corbin
Tiedowns are definitely an under-utilized teaching tool, but so important and helpful for any dog to learn. It teaches so many things–learning to be quiet and chill out, helps remedy separation anxiety, prevents bad habits from forming.
But one thing to note is that tiedowns are only for when humans are home and nearby, never when a dog is left by himself, since he could get tangled and injure or choke himself.
At our house, we usually use heavy table legs or couch feet for tiedowns. Old dog collars work well to loop around the furniture post. Then you can clip a leash to the old collar, rather than having to hoist the furniture off the ground to release the dog.
I am SO happy to see a tie-down blog. We just started using the tethering method with our 5 year old pit (who looks an awful lot like Georgia, but acts like Stevie!). It was pointed out to me that house-broken is NOT the same as house-trained & our Kylie is doing so so well with the tether / tie down training. I used to feel bad thinking about the idea, but it’s opening up new opportunities for her with guests as well as outside the home.
Reading about the tiedown, as well as where it fits with crating or the baby gate and free-range of the house is really helpful. I’ve fostered once and she was a sick pup so didn’t require much structure. I hope to foster again and my current dog is a bit touchy so I imagine the tiedown will be extremely helpful.
You’ve got that tie down stretched waaaaay out as far as you pawsibly can, don’t you, Georgia? But between you and me, that bed sure does look a lot more comfy than that floor.
As for me, I can’t be tied down to stuff cuz it freaks me out. Mom’s not sure why that is and I’m not tellin’. But she thinks it’s cuz I was tied out in the backyard of those other peoples I used to live with. Now, I luvs being on a leash if somebuddy’s holding the other end of it but as soon a they tie it to something, I gets all skittish and skeered. When I do that, mom just sighs, pats my head, unties me and calls me “special.”
But we’re ALL for tie-downs for other doggies that are new in their homes cuz it makes pawfect sense. For them. Not for me. Cuz I’m special.
Wiggles & Wags,
Mayzie
Oh that’s a good trick! Thanks for sharing. I’m going to try this with Ruby to help her learn how to sit quietly. She’s also a snifferooni.
This is such a smart idea, especially when just getting to know a new dog. I am sure it also helps Chick feel a lot more comfortable as well. Though by now he must be a pro!
Georgia is an expert at sad-face. It’s quite impressive. Her new family will be in big trouble!
sadden faces usually works wonders
Benny & Lily
Thanks for writing about this. Now that we got a pair of baby gates we can put them to use with our next foster. I felt bad about crating one of the dogs when we couldn’t watch them. So baby gates are definitely a solution with our easily excitable dog.
I would fall for that face
Kari
dogisgodinreverse.com
I love love love our tiedown. We don’t use it often anymore, but it was invalueable while Kolchak was learning his manners! Like Curious G, he layed “near” his bed, not on it.
That certainly is a pathetic little face on that last pic! Good tactic – for all involved.