In the previous article on taking your dog for his daily walk, we dealt with dogs who were happy to go walkies, but now, we will look at a dog that is reluctant or fearful of leaving his home environment.
Dealing with a fearful dog can be one of the most challenging dog behaviours to modify. It requires patience, dedication and above all – love for the dog. Without these ingredients you will never help a fearful dog.
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If you have a dog who is fearful of leaving your home, ask yourself what could be causing the dog to behave in this manner?
If a dog has been well socialised as a puppy, but has now become fearful each time you prepare to go for your walk, there must be a logical reason why the dog is acting in this manner. For instance, if the dog had a bad experience on his last walk, (he was attacked by another dog,perhaps, and had to undergo surgery) he now associates the walk with the attack, and it is no longer fun to go for his daily walk.
In the above scenario, the dog should be handled in a stress-free manner. You should remain calm while attaching his leash, do not talk to him, leave his leash attached to his collar while you keep a watchful eye on him, (never leave an unsupervised dog’s leash attached to his collar, it can be dangerous). Continue doing this for a few days and, once the dog is more at ease, while his leash is attached, walk him around the garden, play ball, and give him a treat for his good behaviour. Only when he is happy to have his leash attached and calmly accompanies you in his own environment can you begin to venture away from home.
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The next step is crucial. DO NOT take the dog to the area where the attack took place. Walk down your road, even if the walk is only five minutes. Watch the dog, and if he shows any signs of stress, return home immediately. If you do this twice daily, you will soon be able to go for longer walks.
As the dog becomes more comfortable, return to the area where the attack took place. If the dog shows signs of stress when he recognises the area, return home immediately – do not allow him to become too stressed out. This is time consuming, but you will succeed. Once the dog is calm upon your arrival at the dreaded venue, it is time to increase the length of the walk.
This should be done slowly, and even if you only walk a short distance to begin with you are making progress. If you observe an approaching dog with his handler, take note of your dog’s body language. If he is calm and happy, you are doing well, but if he shows signs of stress, about turn, taking him out of the situation. Continue to follow these guidelines and you will succeed.
A very challenging situation for any owner is a dog who is noise phobic. Trying to enjoy a walk with this type of dog is very frustrating for any owner. Sadly, many owners give up on the walk finding it too stressful. Noise phobic dogs can be helped.
ACTUAL CASE STUDY
I used to walk my own dogs on a road that had metal speed bumps. Each time a car passed over the bumps, my standard poodle Brumby would go into “freaky mode”. So each time I observed an approaching car, I would stand still and offer Brumby his ball. Yes, he loves his ball. In this way I distracted him from the noise, in a short time he became accustomed to the noise from the bumps, and our walks were peaceful once more.
Enrol in a good obedience training school where your dog has more exposure to other dogs. The trainer should be made aware of the fact that the dog has become fearful of other dogs.
Desensitisation will be dealt with in a later article.
Happy walkies.
Yvonne Eland ADIPCBM (UK) with distinction.
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