I have a lovely yellow lab that is friendly and the least aggresive dog you could ever meet - but just recently he has become very timid when taking him out for walks.

He gets all excited when I say the w word and wants to go out but when we get to the walk he suddenly becomes very scared and sits by the car cowering and shaking - I try to put him on the lead and end up dragging him along with him putting one foot on the lead to try and stop me - after a while sometimes not all he lapses and is as happy as lary running after his ball or chasing a stick - but each walk is becoming a trial and not always will he walk
I feel really mean treating him this way but he needs to be excercised and it got to a point that a lady had a go at me for being mean to him - I wish that was true but we have never laid a finger on him and he is loved soo much - but we are becomming so conncered about his change in attitude lately ?
It all appears to have started after the firework season but now 2 months later we are not seeing any improvement in him  and I am worried - I spoke to the vet about it and he said that he was fit and healthy
When he is inside and when he has got over this behaviour when he is out he is bouncy and enjoys his walk - but othertimes he just will not walk !!

I would appreciate it if anyone else has had similar problems could respond as to how they overcome this as it really is beginning to worry me

Worth getting him checked over by a vet to make sure there is no underlying medical conditon that maybe causing the change in behaviour. After that it might be wrth trying him with a Dap collar.

http://www.petmeds.co.uk/Products?search=dap&gclid=CKGUssLD-pACFQ4rlAod1A_XqQ

thanks for that - do Dab collars actually work ?

Vet looked at him recently and they were happy he was ok - a little nervous of the vet - but with everyone else he is great

its just odd - since the fireworks though he has got a lot worse any sound he is not sure of really scares him when we are out walking - I have started giving him rescue remody in his water but can not see any difference in him - he has been on this for about 2 months now

I'd go with LJS on the recommended vet check, then all being well try the dap collar - haven't used any of the DAP products personally but know well some folks who have with great success :)

Re the RR, try putting it directly on his nose leather 30 minutes or so before taking him out.  Additionally, I think I'd also try changing the area where you exercise him - perhaps due to fireworks or similar he has made a bad association with heading in that direction so you could either (a) walk a completely opposite way or (b) if that's not practical/effective, pop him in the car and drive somewhere new.  Might be worth trying until such tmes as you hopefully increase his confidence again.

I don't think forcing him to go somewhere that he's scared of (however well intentioned and more practical it may be) is the best way forward with him.

HTH, Teri

I sympathise Rache - the same thing has happened to 19 month old RC. It started back in November with the fireworks and is getting worse. My pup has been offlead (in secure areas) since he was 12 weeks old - his recall has been great. But now any noise he doesn't know sends him into a real wimp, so much so that twice he has run home across a busy main road - I'm sure he wont make it a third time :-(

My pup should be used to hearing fireworks and bangs as almost every other weekend cruise liners have ceremonies of some sort. But he is definitely getting worse. I know collies can be noise sensitive but it's such a shame when it ruins they're enjoyment. I now take him to a country park a drive away, but even then if he hears something in the distance I can tell he's ready to bolt. I have the dap diffuser and rescue remedy but I know he'll get worse as he gets older. He gets so excited when we're getting ready for walks and enjoys it until he hears something odd. He has been well socialised and used to many different sounds - fireworks have a lot to answer for :-(.

I can't add much to the good advice you've had already, only to agree with Teri and say please, do not force him to do anything he doesn't want to - even if he is happy once he's where you want to go.  It will make his fear worse in that difficult spot.

Try encouraging him to move with treats or a toy, whatever he loves - if he really won't do it, then get in the car and drive.  And remember to be patient - it'll take a while to get him past it, I doubt he'll get over it on the first walk!

Think of it like someone forcing you to face something you're frightened of - spiders, say, or clowns - would you feel better about them if you where forced to confront them or would it increase your anxiety?  I have mild social anxiety - I won't even go into the canteen at work if it's full if I can avoid it at all (it's a VERY small canteen, more like a big front room), and every time I've had to hasn't helped in the slightest.  Except to make me quicker at getting what I need - I'd be worried that your lab might go a similar route, increasing his reactions until he finds something that works and stops that situation.

and it got to a point that a lady had a go at me for being mean to him
heck some people!

It all appears to have started after the firework season but now 2 months later we are not seeing any improvement in him  and I am worried
I think you will find you are not alone. Mine had a really bad experience with fireworks when he was 9 months old and after that he wouldn't go out after dusk. And on days that were dark to him it was dusk all day long.  In the spring when the days are lighter he has no problems. HE learns to relax and enjoy the walks but as soon as the nights draw in and the weather changes is is as though he associates this time of year with the cause of the fear..it is unsafe unreliable to go out in the dark of the winter.

So I let him be. I don't walk him in the dark in the winter. And I don't want him in the dark days through woods and so on. Instead when it is like that I find a wide open cheerful as I can area and play actively with him.

when he is out he is bouncy and enjoys his walk - but other times he just will not walk !!
what I found with this fear is my dog did not just associate it with fireworks. His logical little brain associated it with birds. I guess they are in the air like fireworks so why wouldn't they explode?  So we would find him fine on walks and then react in fear ... yet nothing to us had changed..but he had seen or heard a bird.  Even when he heas a bird on TV he gets worried. So maybe there is something your dog associated with the fear that was not the logical to us  root of the fear but a connection he made. Or something migt have spooked him at some point that you are no aware of.

To start  with it just accept him as he is, work out his limitations and comfort zones and start from there to build up his far.  So I would take my other dog out to the toilet and I would leave the door open and play with her outside in the dark. If my boy came out I made no comment, if he looked at me I there him a ball and then went back in the house before something might make it go pear shaped! But mostly I waited until the summer when he was relaxed and did desensitising training then. And each firework night made sure nothing happened to make him worse. Two years on he is a lot better...more has a worry/dislike or fireworks and birds rather than a fear.  Oh and never do the poor bo thing, never react to the display of fear because when you acknowledge it you give your agreement that the fear is valid and that there really is something to be scared of. 

Our Golden has the same problem going out after dusk because of the fireworks.  She won't go along certain roads were she was frightened by the bangs, however we have discovered she will go other ways.  It may be worth putting your dog in the car are taking it somewhere else for a walk to see if that helps

My 12 months old was absolutely great with the fireworks until one night after November 5th while walking some of the really explosive ones went off.  It was also wet.  Shortly after I found her reacting to traffic when it was wet, she would try to get into a less busy side street to avoid being near the whooshing sound made by the cars on wet roads.

Now at home she has heard more fireworks in the New year etc and not been bothered, but take her out when it is wet or raining and she hates being on the busier roads and starts puling on the lead to get to a quieter place more quickly.  I stop until she stops pulling, but she shows obvious signs of stress (panting).

I wish the bl**dy things could be banned to public displays and quiet pretty ones for home use.