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Fear while walking on leash


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Cerbie is going on 13 weeks and is starting to walk really well on the leash. Twice daily we walk to the park for a bit of obedience work and lots of play. Sometimes, for no apparent (or barely apparent) reason, he just sits down, lays his ears back a bit, looks frightened and refuses to walk, even with a fairly stern leash pop. The only way I can get him to move, other than dragging him (I don't!), is to pick him up. I'm worried that with the wrong stimulus on my part this could snowball.

I really don't know what is frightening him, although it could be a dog barking inside a house on the route. Sometimes he acts a bit agoraphobic when first out of the house but it usually passes. When he gets to the park he's great, although he's starting to act like a teenager and ignoring me sometimes. When he knows he's going home he pulls on the leash (gotta stop). Is this just new puppy, new cercumstances anxiety?

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Guest echoica
Cerbie is going on 13 weeks and is starting to walk really well on the leash. Twice daily we walk to the park for a bit of obedience work and lots of play. Sometimes, for no apparent (or barely apparent) reason, he just sits down, lays his ears back a bit, looks frightened and refuses to walk, even with a fairly stern leash pop. The only way I can get him to move, other than dragging him (I don't!), is to pick him up. I'm worried that with the wrong stimulus on my part this could snowball.

I really don't know what is frightening him, although it could be a dog barking inside a house on the route. Sometimes he acts a bit agoraphobic when first out of the house but it usually passes. When he gets to the park he's great, although he's starting to act like a teenager and ignoring me sometimes. When he knows he's going home he pulls on the leash (gotta stop). Is this just new puppy, new cercumstances anxiety?

 

if he is displaying fear i don't think a 'stern leash pop' is going to be helpful. this will most likely make it worse. try encouraging him by patting him on the bum and giving some encouraging talk and then slowly pull forward on the leash. give him a treat reward when he gets moving again. one of my dogs was fearful as a puppy too...

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Cerbie is going on 13 weeks and is starting to walk really well on the leash. Twice daily we walk to the park for a bit of obedience work and lots of play. Sometimes, for no apparent (or barely apparent) reason, he just sits down, lays his ears back a bit, looks frightened and refuses to walk, even with a fairly stern leash pop. The only way I can get him to move, other than dragging him (I don't!), is to pick him up. I'm worried that with the wrong stimulus on my part this could snowball.

I really don't know what is frightening him, although it could be a dog barking inside a house on the route. Sometimes he acts a bit agoraphobic when first out of the house but it usually passes. When he gets to the park he's great, although he's starting to act like a teenager and ignoring me sometimes. When he knows he's going home he pulls on the leash (gotta stop). Is this just new puppy, new cercumstances anxiety?

 

You took the words right out of my mouth. The same thing is happening to me. My BC puppy is going on 12 weeks, and he has been doing it for the last couple weeks (when I first started trying to take him on walks). He refuses to leave the yard unless he is picked up, but once far enough away from the house he'll walk a little, but usually still requires another pickup or two. But when heading back towards the house he runs, just like yours. The only "easy" way to get him to walk is if my girlfriend walks her dog with us, then he's usually okay.

 

My guess is that this will just take time. But if someone has a better solution I would love to hear it.

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Cerbie is still a baby, and everything is new and the world can be scary to him. Just act normal and unconcerned. Jolly him up and keep walking. He should take his cues from you. I would mention that if he is actually frightened, a leash pop would be inappropriate and could make him worse. ( A second scary thing on top of the first scary thing!) You could also try carrying a favorite toy with you and pull it out and distract him with it the instant he acts scared of something.

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Hi!

 

When I first got my pup I was (and am) a total novice. I put the leash on for our first walk at 9 weeks (an hour after we got him) and was sooooo confused as to why he wouldn't walk. :D

 

Seriously, I almost called the breeder- I thought he may be broken. :rolleyes: Isn't every dog just born knowing how to walk with a leash... ha.

 

Anyways. I immediately googled as much info as possible and after a few days we were both progressing nicely.

 

When he stopped or got nervous on the walk or got distracted I went through the following steps:

 

- first step was always to consider if he was actually just tired and if so we took a break in the shade for at least a few minutes (at that age we didn't got too far anyways)

-if he wasn't tired, then I would just put my most confident, but happy vibe on and progress without looking back. That did mean that I would drag him a bit, when he walked on his own and caught up I would give him a treat and a pat

-if he was being really stubborn (and it was a safe area) I would drop the leash and progress slowly without looking back but having visible fun....within a few seconds he would be back at my side.

 

I really found that Shiloh took my lead on anything as a pup. I took it as my mission to teach him what was scary and what was not. So if he seemed scared of something I would act ultra relaxed and have fun with it. I didn't spend much time at all worrying about what he was feeling or thinking, instead I invited him to follow my emotional lead at all times. I found that most of my friends who have dogs treated them like babies and if they were scared or a loud noise scared the dog, the owner would be 3 times more shocked and comfort the dog like crazy and be sooooo worried... those people seemed to have really fearful dogs. I wanted to try something different and so far it has worked out well.

 

I hope this help a bit- Im sure those with more experience and knowledge will chime in.

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Cerbie is still a baby, and everything is new and the world can be scary to him. Just act normal and unconcerned. Jolly him up and keep walking. He should take his cues from you. I would mention that if he is actually frightened, a leash pop would be inappropriate and could make him worse. ( A second scary thing on top of the first scary thing!) You could also try carrying a favorite toy with you and pull it out and distract him with it the instant he acts scared of something.

 

I used the leash pop once before reaching the same conclusion. I also noticed that the toy I had hanging from my belt really caught his interest when he saw it. Perhaps I'll try using that, and a lot of verbal encouragment, to get him through the rough spots. Thanks!

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Hi!

 

When I first got my pup I was (and am) a total novice. I put the leash on for our first walk at 9 weeks (an hour after we got him) and was sooooo confused as to why he wouldn't walk. :D

 

Seriously, I almost called the breeder- I thought he may be broken. :rolleyes: Isn't every dog just born knowing how to walk with a leash... ha.

 

Anyways. I immediately googled as much info as possible and after a few days we were both progressing nicely.

 

When he stopped or got nervous on the walk or got distracted I went through the following steps:

 

- first step was always to consider if he was actually just tired and if so we took a break in the shade for at least a few minutes (at that age we didn't got too far anyways)

-if he wasn't tired, then I would just put my most confident, but happy vibe on and progress without looking back. That did mean that I would drag him a bit, when he walked on his own and caught up I would give him a treat and a pat

-if he was being really stubborn (and it was a safe area) I would drop the leash and progress slowly without looking back but having visible fun....within a few seconds he would be back at my side.

 

I really found that Shiloh took my lead on anything as a pup. I took it as my mission to teach him what was scary and what was not. So if he seemed scared of something I would act ultra relaxed and have fun with it. I didn't spend much time at all worrying about what he was feeling or thinking, instead I invited him to follow my emotional lead at all times. I found that most of my friends who have dogs treated them like babies and if they were scared or a loud noise scared the dog, the owner would be 3 times more shocked and comfort the dog like crazy and be sooooo worried... those people seemed to have really fearful dogs. I wanted to try something different and so far it has worked out well.

 

I hope this help a bit- Im sure those with more experience and knowledge will chime in.

 

The modeling suggestion really makes me think: how am I acting when he is scared? I think I did the "Awww, are you scared, buddy?" rather than the "hey, it's a sweet day, let's get to the park and have some fun!". I'll have to remind myself to do the latter!

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I am currently teaching a 2 year old, semi-feral dog to walk on a leash (he has trust issues ATM, so it's baby steps). Let me tell you, a puppy would be way easier!

Anyway, as you've noted, a leash pop is not going to be your friend in this situation (or ever please), it will actually make matters worse if used often enough. Scomona offered some great advice. If you're in a safe area, dropping the leash would work well I think. As long as he's not a flight risk.

Things that will make the "scary" situation better for your pup are a constant happy attitude, happy talk etc. His favorite toy for distraction and some SUPER YUMMY TREATS!!! Anything that really gets him going. Bits of hotdog, cheese, liver anything that he'd pretty much sell his soul for. If he gets a little fearful, I'd start being happy, happy and luring him with the toy or favorite treats, once he takes a few steps praise him and continue on walking. Sometimes puppies need extra coaxing because everything is new to them. Just remember to keep the walks short and positive.

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