Hello,
In the past few weeks Wheeler has been incredibly resistant to go on walks. This is really unusual as he used to love walking but now hes become timid all of a sudden and I have no idea what it is. Today he refused to come out of the house! Usually when we get to the park hes fine, its just the initial part of walking down the road so im not sure if something spooked him? Ive tried treats to temp him but they dont work as he just shivers and sits on the floor. At first I blamed the weather but I think its something more psychological. He seems better when theres two of us walking him but theres not always two around and I dont want him to get to used to the idea. I was hoping someone could advice me on how to help him get out of the house? I really don't know how to go about it and I hate pulling him. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!!

How old is he? If he is still a pup he could be reaching the stage where everything is scary. Whatever you do don't make too much of a fuss. You would just be telling him that it is ok to be scared. I've not had a dog that has gone through this (except for one that was scared to go out thanks to some yobs and fireworks ) so can't really help with this. I would take treats with you and praise him when he does go forward happily, but ignore him if he doesn't. Hopefully someone will come on who can help you better than I can.

If he's an adult and this behaviour is not normal I'd take him to the vet for a check up - if a sudden change and you don't know why, this is always the best rule to follow. We can't always see a medical condition which may be making a dog act like this :)

It may be he's been spooked either on a walk or in the house. As Lindylou mentions, fireworks can do this unfortunately...

Lindsay
x

Once he has had a vet check and all is fine if he is an adult then here are some tips that I use to get my noise phobic (severe) dog out side the front door.
1. Being fed out side. If this is too hard start in the hall then with the door open then close to the door then outside etc... until he goes down the road excited for his food.
2. You say he walks best with two people. Get his favourite person to walk about 20m ahead or until he is desperate to get to them. Give a command ie walkies and then let him go to the other person. Reward either on route or when he gets there. Then start again. This can eventually lead to longer and longer distances between the people and not such great rewards when he gets there. Soon you can get the person to walk out the house and then hide and then he should walk the set route around and back to the house at which point he gets rewarded.
3.Other things are driving him to a point of the walk and then taking him out and walking the rest. Or if that is too diffiicult. Take him somewhere in the car and then walk home so he knows he is going home instead of going on a walk. Don't let him pull you home though.

I find that giving walking a command helps as it gives them something to think about. Also train some tricks or fun training that he enjoys and instead of trying to walk do some of these on the streets and gradually walk to each next trick. This will get him thinking about the training and not walking. Clicker training is brilliant for this also. Try and train tricks that move ie weaving through your legs, turning in circles, tummy crawls along the ground, if he does agility i use the forward command (in my case go go go!!!) which really gets my dog excited and i therefore allow her to pull on the lead forwards and sometimes run.

I hope these tips help
My dogs still doesn't walk very far but she was very very set in her ways and really scared when i started so for you it should take less long and be easier.

Don't make an issue of it and if it isn't getting anywhere sometimes not walking them for a couple of days (just stimulating indoors) can get them eager to get out and that is when the training can start.

Best Wishes
Anna

sorry didn't reallise how much i had rambled on sorry

Some people I sold a puppy to had this problem. After a great deal of detective work, they discovered that their neighbour had installed one of those ultra sonic devices to keep cats and foxes out of his garden and everytime the dog set foot outside, he got an ultra sonic blast.

Yes, these are getting more popular - worth checking out.

Also if the problem doesn't go away (and don't wait too long) check out a reputable trainer or behaviourist on www.apdt.co.uk or www.apbc.org.uk

Lindsay
x

Thanks very much for the advice and, luckily, he seems to have snapped out of it as hes back on his walks without double aid :D fingers crossed it stays that way!!