I think it's personality, but it's a big issue. 10 mth Staff X.
Last week, walking down a path in semi-darkness - the sound of a car in the distance spooked him and he nearly sent me flying.
Yesterday evening, walking him along a back path, he stopped, sat down and refused to move, ears pinned back and head down, cowering. Why, you ask? Crickets! I had to show him the hedgerow with my torch to get him to move.
With dogs, he seems to take his lead from their behaviour. If they are very calm and sensible, he approaches with great caution, tail tucked right under his bum, sniff and dart away, then a bit closer, etc. But, if they are bouncy or chase him, he runs as fast as he can away, looking behind him with a high pitched yelp that is terrified.
Last week we were walking in a field. I saw a dog walker far ahead, and had my dog leaded. I thought 'oh they're a good distance away' and as my dog doesn't wander far (fear) I let him off. Mistake. One of the walker's Golden Retriever types came steaming down from the top end of the field to where we were, absolutely bouncing. Patch ran as fast as he could, yelping horrifically and looking at me as he did, obviously realising that he couldn't get to me without this other dog being near. His recall went to pot, because of this, and when he did return, he gave a warning snap at the other dog , who by this time had knocked my children over. The other owner then used her whistle, and her dog returned with perfect recall. Quite why she didn't think of that 5 minutes earlier, I have no idea.
I'm worried that his obvious fear of other dogs will mark him as a target, and he obviously doesn't know how to avert unwanted attention, so is giving the wrong signals by running away.
How do you address fear and anxiety in a dog?
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The doghouse
My Dog is so afraid
9 replies
Lougle · 11/10/2012 17:25
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