Dog that won’t walk

[Scaredypup]

Has anyone had a dog that is terrified outside and managed to successfully resolve it? I have a behaviourist coming but not for quite some time.

Pup is 6 months but this is much more than normal puppy skittishness. If I put her in the car and drive to a big open park she’s generally fine, but I can only really do this at weekends.

She is so so scared of everything in the world that she won’t go for a walk. Physically won’t move. Will shake, cower against walls, or cry and pull towards home. She’s scared of traffic, loud noises, builders, some people, deliveries, busy roads, quiet roads, aeroplanes, helicopters. For reference, we live in central London so there’s no escaping these things.

I just need some hope that I’ll one day be able to bring her out or on the school run.

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This is what I’ve been told and I absolutely pick her up now after initially thinking I shouldn’t. I was told ‘picking her up won’t make her scared or reinforce her fear. She’s already fearful. She needs to know you’ll look after her’

She got a basic vet check but the behaviourist is a vet inset behaviourist so they’ll check that side of things.

@PollyRoulllson I’m not sure. I think. It’s mainly traffic, hence her being better in parks. I think she just gets overwhelmed by everything.
But it is also other noises, builders ect.
I wouldn’t say she is fearful with people, curious, but definitely nervous rather than confident.
Dogs are about the only thing she’s confident with. Too confident.

I was out for an hour with her today and we got no further than 30 seconds away from home. An hour outside is a very long time for such a nervous dog. Are you trying to walk her everyday?

Totally agree about puppies in slings not being a good idea. I bought into this relatively new idea with my pup and regret it. When I think back she must have been terrified! She had no where to go and watch from a comfortable distance, everything was in her face despite my presence. Puppies while with siblings and Mum learn in many ways but always have all four paws on the ground! I have had many dogs over the years but my current girl is very reactive and Im sure it is due to her early sling experiences.

I only took her out for a wee. We walked over the road to the grass and she wouldn’t walk back. I just sat with her and gave her treats every time a car went past or she heard one in tbe distance and then gently and slowly bribed her towards home.

This definitely sounds like cars and traffic. I think you will be able to make progress but maybe need to come up with a graduated plan. My dog improved enormously with traffic. I was in tears over some of his fears in the early days but he did get over the traffic one, so don't despair op. Can she have fun in the place across the road? Is there a reward or motivation for her to go? Games? Treat? Fun? Or is she still scared once she's there? What breed is she by the way? That might be relevant and might affect what might motivate her for example.

I think you need to go right back to the beginner of her training. Can you just sit by your front door with it open so she can just sniff and listen without the fear of having to go outside? Do you have any garden at all that she can go to the toilet in?
On a breed specific Facebook group I'm part of someone's dog suddenly developed a fear of going out their front door. It was fine going out the back. It took a lot of small steps and a lot of time to get the dog confident about going out that way again. They used a behaviourist who worked really hard with them.

What breed is the dog?

The fb group I think recommends going very very slowly with them so initially a 'walk' may just involve sitting on your front door step watching the world go by. Keep her distracted and keep her attention on you as much as possible.

I would keep going places with her as well but keep the expectations low so when you arrive anywhere expect to mostly stay in one spot for a while so the dog can get used to the new environment.

If you have friends with dogs definitely meet up with them as your dog may build confidence by being with other dogs.

She does sound very similar to my dog. She is still quite nervous but nothing like she was about 6 months back. She was scared of the sound of builders and traffic. Still doesn't like the sound of loud traffic.

We did what others have described above with regards to going very slowly but were advised to also use high value treats as well to reward. We went very slowly only went just outside the front door the first few times. And built it up very slowly. We were told to only go as far as she'd still take treats. Also we watched her tail for signs of stress. High wagging changes from low/lower and tucked when she got stressed. I know you want to get to the park/area across the road so maybe you could try picking dog up then.

Another thing that is very good is "click and treat" at the stressor. So dog looks at car, you "mark" or click if you use a clicker, we say good and you give the treat. It'll be better explained somewhere else!.
You need to do this at a distance they feel comfortable. If not obvious you can use the above techniques for seeing where they get stressed. We spent a lot of time near the bottom of our road doing this.

[quote Scaredypup]@Hadtocomment I have a nice park a 5 minute walk away with an enclosed dog park in it too tnat I thought we’d go to daily, but she won’t walk there. I can’t drive there as there’s no parking. So I’m limited to driving elsewhere on weekends and taking her to the tiny one over the road during the week. It’s hard where we live to have off lead walks though. Even the dog park is always full of large dogs. We don’t have fields or woods or anything.

I think what you have said is the way forward though. I’m just not sure where to begin.[/quote]
Could you put her in a dog pram for the 5 minute walk ? At least then she gets to go to the park and she might even get used to the noises in the process

Spoke to the behaviourist today and basically I’m not to walk her unless I can get her to the park in tbe car. He said have the window open at home and treat when we hear cars and things.

@ouch44 thank you. These are all the things I’ve been trying to do but there’s so much going on I don’t know what I’m doing half the time. The problem is, going forward busy roads are unavoidable. I do worry what will happen if she can’t overcome this.

Ouch's advice sounds good! Basically I think the principle is her getting used to something and not having a negative experience (too much fear or pushing her too far means she will associate it with a negative experience or feeling panicked) and coupling the thing she doesn't like with something positive. My dog wouldn't take treats at all so that was awkward. If she does that is something like ouch says that you can use. Other motivations might be games (ie my dog was more motivated if we were loaded up with all the balls and throwers etc he loved so was motivated to get to the park ). Another motivation might be being with another dog. Etc.

OP please don't think too far ahead about her not getting there. She is very young and if my five year old dog could turn around I'm sure such a young dog can. Also you getting stressed will make her just feel stressed. See the small steps as things to celebrate. The kite thing with me started slow but once we concentrated on it he improved very fast. What you don't want to do is flood her. Because that can make them fearful of the fear if you know what I mean. She needs to build confidence. But finding a good motivation I found helpful. My old dog was very motivated by games. My current one by treats. This can be a reward or a motivation but can also be a distraction or a way of trying to get her to concentrate on something else and not focus on the fears so much.

My poodle was very anxious on walks early on and pretty much the same as your dog - ok in the car driven away from the house and walked in a park but wouldn't leave our road, the roads around us.

So we just went outside on lead and stood with her for 20 mins several times a day. As she got comfy she started to explore a small area and that worked well. It took a bit of time but eventually we got down the length of the road. Lots of standing and allowing her to sniff and treats/praise given when she was walking forward happily (no mean feat giving a moving dog a treat without stopping them in their tracks!). Eventually she got with it and happily went on a walk. We still did the car thing and drove to other places where she was happy to walk.

She loves a walk now but she isn't keen on bouncy dogs approaching her. She's a bit of a snob and prefers her humans but she does love a good trot now so it is doable.

Have to add the neighbours all thought it was very funny but the upside is I met loads of locals in adjoining roads!!

@Scaredypup we had read so much and got so much advice it was overwhelming. Just so much easier with a behaviourist telling you what to do. I'm sure you will see improvements. My puppy was older than yours and we did see results quite quickly and only had 3 sessions.