Fear aggressive dog - reduced walks?

[ShittyFingers]

My highly sensitive and fear reactive dog hasn’t been for a walk since Saturday (and Saturday was on the enclosed field so not a lead walk). Reason being I have had a relapse of severe anaemia which caused a 3 day migraine and then a “migraine hangover”. Because of the way she is nobody else can walk her but me.

So today I took her on a long walk - I was expecting her to act crazy but she was perfectly behaved! Loose lead the whole way, no reactions, stopping at road sides without being asked … full focus and attention on me for over an hour. Anyone watching would never have known she had issues. Got home and she stood nicely whilst I scrubbed her feet (even picking each foot up for me) and she’s now settled with her buffalo horn.

So I’m pondering … if you have a dog that is highly sensitive, hyper nervous and fearful … do they actually benefit from reduced walks? Im wondering if a dog like mine actually needs more time than most dogs to ‘come down’ after a walk (or in her case … exposure to the outside world).

Not looking for an excuse not to walk her, I like walking her - one of the reason I got a dog was to have a walking partner - just willing to try anything to make her happier and more relaxed.

(I’ve had behaviourists and trainers involved, she’s genetically a nervous wreck)

Sounds similar to our dog! We were told by the RSPCA and all the behaviorists we've seen that she's the most anxious dog they've ever come across.

One of the best pieces of advice we had from our (one of three!) behaviourists was that she does not actually need a walk every day, provided we give her alternative stimulation in the way of scentwork, games etc. And that lead walks were likely making her worse - she described a lead around our estate as being like a computer game, where there are baddies hiding behind every gate, and around every corner - you'd be a nervous wreck as a human if every time you went out for a walk you felt at high risk of being mugged!

Have a look at trigger stacking and cortisol in dogs - it takes about 3 days for a dog's cortisol to drop after a stressful walk / incident, so that sounds about right for what you are describing.

www.k9turbotraining.com/post/what-is-trigger-stacking#:~:text=Defining%20Trigger%20Stacking.,-Trigger%20Stacking%20is&text=A%20stressful%20or%20scary%20situation,%2Dor%2Dflight'%20instinct.

Yes, absolutely.

Reactive, nervous and fearful dogs really benefit from taking days off.

Have a look at the bucket theory. All dogs have a bucket that gets filled with things they find stressful - so things like loud noises, other dogs, traffic, being left alone, car journeys, going to the vet etc.

To empty the bucket (imagine holes drilled in the side) they need calming or enjoyable activities - sleep, rest, company, chews etc.

For some dogs, walks are stressful so they need days off to make sure that their bucket doesn't overflow. For other dogs, walks help empty their bucket so it's important they get them everyday.

All dogs are different and they certainly don't all need daily walks. My own dog benefits from days off occasionally so when the weather is really bad or he's tired we stay home - it's never done him any harm :)

Absolutely they benefit from days off walks!
I am on the Fb 'ReactiveDogsUK' group and one of their (many) helpful files suggests NOT walking your dog every day... reactive dogs are on such high alert that days off give them cortisol breaks... a chance for the nervous system to literally calm down.

I have to take mine out to toilet as she won't poo in the garden, but if she's been particularly stressed/reactive we do a mini walk somewhere dead quiet and she's so much better for it, and if she's had a poo I know she is happy just to stay home the rest of the day.. it always suprises me how much easier and more relaxed she is if she's had a break!

Yes. If we have a bad day then we will take a day off. I agree with the pp - read up about the bucket theory but if you have migraine (I am a chronic sufferer) then some people use the spoon analogy. It's the same I think.
Our dog is scared of the dark, strangers, other dogs, wooden pallets, skips and lots of other random things that probably relate to her horrible start. As a big bull breed, her fear reactivity looks like aggression to the untrained eye. She is getting better and days off help massively.
We discovered this by accident too!
I have also found that 2 shorter walks, one very early and one late when it's quiet are good at confidence building.
I hope you're feeling better. Migraines suck.

This is really interesting. My dog got much better this year when I started just doing one long walk at lunchtime.

I've added in a morning one since. He walks well but is still reactive to off lead

He's very routine drive and he expects his morning walk and is a bit restless without it (and I'm also separation training so need a routine to settle him and am doing walk/kong/leave). Maybe I'll make the morning one very short just ten mins around the football field with no hidden hazards .

Thanks everyone. It’s a difficult one as she’s a large athletic breed so does need the exercise bless her - but her temperament is so messed up it makes it challenging.

Going to start her on 1-1 agility i think, she used to enjoy it when she was younger but we stopped due to lockdown and never picked it up again. I’m just slightly worried that she’ll no longer like the instructor 😞

@ShittyFingers do you have any secure fields near you? We have abou 6 round here that you can hire by the hour and we do this once a week so that Ddog can have a good proper run about without us having to worry about other dogs