Stopped enjoying walks?
About the same time she got stubborn on walks she was also snapped at by a larger and older dog that broke loose from it's owner, Bowie wasn't hurt or even touched, but definitely nervous now of her surroundings. She is still welcoming to other people/dogs walking by, but she would rather sit and wait for them to come to her than her venture out. I can get her across the street if I get down on her level and lure her, sometimes going into a light jog gets her moving, but she soons realizes what I'm doing and stops. Once we are back on the block, she makes a B-line for our gate. Any ideas, tips? |
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| Wow she is definitely stressed! That dog made a huge impression on her.
Does she show other signs of generalized anxiety? Is she afraid of sounds or fast movements? You need to help her get her confidence back and it most likely will take a while. I would start off seeing if she was willing to be bribed. Take some really high value treats and see if you can lure her off her block (out of her comfort zone) if she is too stressed to eat I wouldn't push it. It can take a good long time to recover form a very stressful event. I would however consider putting her in the car and driving to a new location (a quiet one) and seeing if that doesn't increase her desire to walk. If none of that helps I would find a good trainer or behaviorist and work with them - If all else fails, this may indicate a clinical level of anxiety and need some veterinary intervention. Real anxiety is often triggered by a traumatic (to her) event. |
| Yup. Everything Kerry said except factor in that it may just be a stage she's going through. Puppies go through several developmental periods, and at certain times they're more impressionable than others, you could almost call them fear stages. She may just have happened to have hit on one of them. If she did it's a good time to back off a bit and not hit her with too many new esperiences/force any issues until she's in a more susceptible frame of mind.
Some of mine get particularly squirrelly and vulnerable right before they become hormonal, or there's a full moon or...Who knows?  
It's really encouraging to me that she still seems to want people and other critters to come her way. If you don't specifically need to walk her right away, can you set her up on a regular basis for a couple of weeks where you take her out just as people - both with dogs and without - she may know "miraculously" happen by? They stop, chat with you, scritch her, feed her a few cookies, chat some more with you, go on their way....After a while I wouldn't be surprised if she started following them down the street.... Such a pity when good things leave you behind... 
Kristine |
OOps for some reason I had read it as 5.5 yo  Definitely in a puppy it is possibly a stage. |
| Just thought I'd give an update... Bowie is now a 1.5 yo- loves walks on leashes, loves being off-leash on nature trails, and likes to keep me in sight. If I leave, she follows. Thanks for all your advice last year. It helped greatly! |
That's great to hear that Bowie is doing so well.  Thanks for the update. |
| A year later and she's happy As my dyslexic friend would say, "She went thru a phrase." |
Sweet!  Happy for both of you. Kristine |
| I'm sorry but its so funny for me to read about "Bowie" since my dog shares the same name! Glad to hear your Bowie is wallking nicely on the leash and doing fine. The original post puts her age at about 5 and a half months. Dogs do go through a "fear stage" ...first at about 8 weeks and then again at about 6 to 8 months...Glad your Bowie got over it with flying colors! PS. In my avatar, my "bowie" is the bigger dog! |
SheepieBoss wrote: A year later and she's happy As my dyslexic friend would say, "She went thru a phrase." This struck me a soo funny!! heeheeI'm glad to hear Bowie is happy and doing great!!! |
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