dognutter6
Newbie
Posts: 29 
Pets I own: Tyra - Lab x Beagle Rescue who's 5
Grace - My own lil' English Springer who's 10 months
Buzz - Family cat who's 16 years
We also have 9 ex battery hens :D
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Post by dognutter6 on Jun 1, 2013 16:15:18 GMT
Well...as the title says...I have and Abnormal dog!
In the last month Grace has developed a fear of walking outside, but quite happy in the woodland areas. We think a lorry may have spooked her, and the only ursan area she'll let me walk her is a small close that takes less than a minuet to walk round.
I know its not stubbornness because today her back legs were shaking as she reluctantly sat on our step, not wanting to move at all.
Any tips?
She's not interested in a ball or any treats, not even chicken.
Thank you!!
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Post by BorderTerrier on Jun 1, 2013 16:28:04 GMT
I would have definitely mentioned treats or toys... but....
If she walks not bad round the small close, do that for a bit, and maybe gradually try to walk a little bit further every time and see if she notices? It depends how switched on Grace is I guess!
Best of luck.
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Post by charlottte on Jun 1, 2013 16:32:58 GMT
You could try noise desensitisation CDs although I'm not sure about how well they work, I've never used them. Also you could do at BT said, walk her round the estate then go a couple of steps further, let her have a sniff then turn back, the. The next time, go a couple more steps. Just build up slowly and look out for stress signals to make sure she isn't being pushed above threshold. Is she fine in the fields etc? If so is there anyone who can drive you there for the time being until she gets more used to the noise? Also how old is she now? About 8 months? Fingers crossed it sorts out quickly  |
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Post by scallywag on Jun 2, 2013 10:22:53 GMT
When we rehomed Beau at 13 months we were told by previous owner he was good off lead and walked well, recall was excellent. Well none was true, Beaus recall was next to none, and he reacted exactly the same when BIG White transits and lorries came towards us, as for walking in town with people, he was just the same. We persevered with him short walks up the road at first,(we live on a fairly busy road), but when either vehicle came towards us he stopped walking, I just put myself between him and the road, shielding him, I didn't speak to him as we were always told that was rewarding them and letting them know reaction was allowed ( not sure if I have explained that right ? ) anyways when the vehicle had passed I simply said walk on, then I told him he was a good boy. He now has no worries at all, unless it is a noisy fire engine etc LOL. Sorry for the long winded reply |
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Post by gladys on Jun 2, 2013 22:40:11 GMT
Cooper went through this when he was 5 months old after an incident involving the park, a tree, a pigeon and a snapping branch!! It took months to get him to walk out of the house again but strangely he was happy to go out the back and get in the car and walk somewhere new?? We had to stop doing anything that was similar to the routine that we did before pigeongate. So going out the house using a different door (back door and garden gate rather then front door). Not putting collar and lead on till outside (Cooper wouldn't run off so this was safe for us). And going for a walk a different way, this was difficult to start with as we live in a cul de sac. But we just took one step at a time until we got to the T junction and went left instead of right (less than a minute walk took 10 to 15 mins at first). The thing that worked once those long short steps were taken was he LOVES to play, so to begin with we took 5 steps out the house and back home for a game of ball. Next add more steps than home for a play. We soon made it down the road then home for a game. In the end we had walked enough steps to make the village green where we then had a game. As soon as he knew a game would be in the middle of the walk he stopped being as nervous, But it was a long and painful journey. Sorry that doesn't sound very bright and happy story but we came a long was and he is a happy boy again, unless it's raining and we have NO chance of getting him out the door. But he will get in the car!!  Does she like games (when not scared)? |
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Post by chantel on Jun 3, 2013 6:36:11 GMT
Sorry to hear about that, you could try like B/T stated shorter walks to gain back his confidence and throwing down. Cheese/liver really tasty things he loves.
I had a simular problem walking riley he would just stop and we couldn't move him we just kept taking him different walks and taking plenty of treats and just really giving him lots of praise to get back his confidence.
Riley has just developed a phobia with our flooring in the hall all of a sudden he won't walk and like you said he just shakes, i have had to put down a runner rug for him to walk on.then we have his other phobia of travelling in the car to sort but it will just take time.
I'm sure you will get their in the end Good Luck.
You could also try some calming drops/tablets we have got some for riley so i am hoping they will help him with his fears.
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Post by BorderTerrier on Jun 3, 2013 15:25:09 GMT
Sorry to hear about that, you could try like B/T stated shorter walks to gain back his confidence and throwing down. Cheese/liver really tasty things he loves. I had a simular problem walking riley he would just stop and we couldn't move him we just kept taking him different walks and taking plenty of treats and just really giving him lots of praise to get back his confidence. Riley has just developed a phobia with our flooring in the hall all of a sudden he won't walk and like you said he just shakes, i have had to put down a runner rug for him to walk on.then we have his other phobia of travelling in the car to sort but it will just take time. I'm sure you will get their in the end Good Luck. You could also try some calming drops/tablets we have got some for riley so i am hoping they will help him with his fears. Cheese and liver are Earl's very favourite snacks!    Don't lure him with treats however, I was told that luring and cooing 'come on' to your dog when he/she doesn't want to go somewhere/do something only puts the dog in a higher place than you, and the dog thinks if you are all soft about it, he/she won't respond as well. ALSO, if your too soft with it, the dog thinks 'ah, I can put my brakes on if I don't want to do something', and I won't be told off for it, so I can do it!'. I hope this makes sense, its really hard to explain! |
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Post by charlottte on Jun 3, 2013 16:03:30 GMT
I would say that luring the dog wouldn't work because you want it to be Gracie's decision, and by luring her it's like a bribe. Plus, if she won't eat food putside then she's obviously too stressed about it (if she would normally eat anyway) so using functional rewards would work better as Gladys described. Going a few steps, praise or a game if she would play, then go back home, try again 10-15 minutes later with a few added steps in |
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Post by bextull on Jun 3, 2013 16:40:47 GMT
Cheese and liver are Earl's very favourite snacks! Don't lure him with treats however, I was told that luring and cooing 'come on' to your dog when he/she doesn't want to go somewhere/do something only puts the dog in a higher place than you, and the dog thinks if you are all soft about it, he/she won't respond as well. ALSO, if your too soft with it, the dog thinks 'ah, I can put my brakes on if I don't want to do something', and I won't be told off for it, so I can do it!'. I hope this makes sense, its really hard to explain! The first statement about luring putting the dog above you sounds very dominance related. Are you a dominance trainer BT? But honestly, if I am the one controlling where the dog goes on the walk (its on a leash so it really can't go anywhere) and I am the one with the food in the first place, then how can the dog be in a higher place than me? You can be too soft with a dog, but by giving out to it for showing you they do not want to walk that way may result in the dog walking because it doesn't want to be given out to. And you want the dog to WANT to walk, not because it HAS to walk. And if the dog puts the breaks on because of fear then giving out wont help the situation. I agree with whats already been said, but just another thing to add. Is there any way that you can walk 2 laps of the close, but on the second lap towards the end of it speed up a little, like jog or run or something and then go a little bit further? Maybe if she is more focused on doing something, like running and keeping up (or making sure that you do not keep up with her 4 legs  ) then she may not even realise you have left the close. You could throw in some zigzags and random circles while running too, to keep her focused on you. I did that with Oscar when he would refuse to walk anywhere near the sea on the beach. If we walked up to it slowly with treats and praise it ended up being a war between me dragging him to the sea or hopping around making it look fun and him planting his butt on the floor or making a run for it up the dunes. I found that when we started getting into the rhythm of running and zigzagging he didn't even notice he was at the waters edge. Now he is fine on the beach, even walks in the water. |
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Post by charlottte on Jun 4, 2013 7:45:44 GMT
Good idea Bextull, I woulda never thought of that!
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Post by BorderTerrier on Jun 4, 2013 17:11:06 GMT
Cheese and liver are Earl's very favourite snacks! Don't lure him with treats however, I was told that luring and cooing 'come on' to your dog when he/she doesn't want to go somewhere/do something only puts the dog in a higher place than you, and the dog thinks if you are all soft about it, he/she won't respond as well. ALSO, if your too soft with it, the dog thinks 'ah, I can put my brakes on if I don't want to do something', and I won't be told off for it, so I can do it!'. I hope this makes sense, its really hard to explain! The first statement about luring putting the dog above you sounds very dominance related. Are you a dominance trainer BT? But honestly, if I am the one controlling where the dog goes on the walk (its on a leash so it really can't go anywhere) and I am the one with the food in the first place, then how can the dog be in a higher place than me? You can be too soft with a dog, but by giving out to it for showing you they do not want to walk that way may result in the dog walking because it doesn't want to be given out to. And you want the dog to WANT to walk, not because it HAS to walk. And if the dog puts the breaks on because of fear then giving out wont help the situation. I agree with whats already been said, but just another thing to add. Is there any way that you can walk 2 laps of the close, but on the second lap towards the end of it speed up a little, like jog or run or something and then go a little bit further? Maybe if she is more focused on doing something, like running and keeping up (or making sure that you do not keep up with her 4 legs ) then she may not even realise you have left the close. You could throw in some zigzags and random circles while running too, to keep her focused on you. I did that with Oscar when he would refuse to walk anywhere near the sea on the beach. If we walked up to it slowly with treats and praise it ended up being a war between me dragging him to the sea or hopping around making it look fun and him planting his butt on the floor or making a run for it up the dunes. I found that when we started getting into the rhythm of running and zigzagging he didn't even notice he was at the waters edge. Now he is fine on the beach, even walks in the water. Its not about me, I was told this by my experienced training instructor. |
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Post by CollieSlave on Jun 5, 2013 11:10:19 GMT
Could you just walk in the woodland areas for a while - say a few weeks? And perhaps the close, and trying out Bextull's excellent suggestions.
I would try to avoid any sort of persuasion that amounts to making her confront her fears; forcing a dog to confront fears can often simply reinforce them (despite this approach being advocated by some people!). Does it matter if she will not walk urban areas for the moment? If you are getting stressed by the situation (as you almost certainly are) then this can/will be picked up by Gracie and make matters worse.
Perhaps sticking to the close and woodland might help her relax a little, then you might gradually and very tentatively try reintroducing her to areas she is frightened of at the present time. I suspect that this will take some time and you will need a lot of patience!
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Post by bextull on Jun 5, 2013 16:09:39 GMT
Its not about me, I was told this by my experienced training instructor. Jeez, I know it's not about you, I was just asking a question. It was you who said it, I can hardly ask your instructor now can I? Experienced does not mean right, everything is up for debate when it comes to dogs. I'm not certain if sarcasm is intended here (?). I'll just take it as if it's not and say thanks CollieSlave. If sarcasm is intended, then what the hell, thanks anyway!!! |
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Post by CollieSlave on Jun 5, 2013 16:30:41 GMT
I'm not certain if sarcasm is intended here (?). I'll just take it as if it's not and say thanks CollieSlave. If sarcasm is intended, then what the hell, thanks anyway!!! Honestly Bextull I did NOT, in any way, intend any sarcasm! Really!! I thought your suggestions were absolutely fine and really good. (Just because I offer compliments doesn't mean I'm being sarcastic!!! Or is that my reputation???) And I thought your query about 'dominance' was most appropriate! |
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Post by bextull on Jun 5, 2013 16:34:22 GMT
Thats fine, thank you!!!! I wasn't too sure and then I didn't want to look like a right old fool if it was |
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) then she may not even realise you have left the close. 
