being scared

[wiporwil]

I don't have a clue what to do about Willie. We have been going for walks for a long time now and i know that he is afraid of other dogs barking or people coming at him and i have always comforted him and we would keep walking. The last two times we went out we would go for a bit and then dogs that are in their houses would bark at him like usual and all of a sudden he won't go. He looks back towards home and wants to go home. So i tell him ok lets go home and he bolts he can't get here fast enough. When we get home he is fine and i don't know what has happened to him. I know that he has never been abused we have had him since he was a baby. We did go for a walk and the neighbor dog followed us but, never hurt Willie he just ran ahead of us or he would lag behind then run by real fast. Could that be the problem? Anyone else have this happen to them?Willie is :afraid: to walk with me.
Denise & Willie

[TessieMom]

Tessie is my puppymill baby and she used to be frightened of all dogs and people -- no matter how many times I tried to take her to school with me, she was still frightened. She is much better now thanks to going through obedience classes twice. We will do it a third time just to try to get through a bit of lingering shyness, but being around other dogs and people in a controlled situation has really helped her become more confident and outgoing. Rena, the 4 girls and 3 foster boys

[dutchman]

A good basic obedience call might help. No I will have to admit my boys (Frank and Tanner have been) didn't learn all their commands (they hat that word down) but the social aspects can be of great help to a shy or scared dog.

Now a couple of general ideas or tips. First off by trying to comfort Willie when he is scared or ging in and heading back home you are actually reinforcing his behavior. When you reinforce his fears he then becomes even more convenced that he was correct in that there was a reason to be scared and fear the world. When an animal expresses fear and you pick them up when you try to comfort them with talk you are actually telling them yes your are correct to be scared.

Take along some of his favorite treats and try to distract him with the treats and get him walking again by holding a treat our in front of him. I'm not sure if a gentle leader would help in a case like this or not.

One of the dachsunds we had wehn I was growing up developed a fear of going for walks. I was in my teens at the time and I found that if I would carry her 2-3 block from home she would then go on the 1-3 mile walks that we had done before she developed her fears. Sometimes we could get her to walk from home if both my dad and I went with er on the walks.

Tom

[wiporwil]

Well, i decided to take Willie out again in the early morning hours and he was ok. So we went out again in the evening and he was a bit skiddish but, he did ok. Each time i took a couple carrots with me and when he got scared i brought out the carrot and he would eat a little and off we went. We went out tonight and he was doing fine we were on our way home and this little scotty was acrossed the street barking at us. We continued on our way all of a sudden he came running after us he got away from the little boy who had him on his leash. Well, he was growling as he was running after us so i scooped Willie up and this little scotty was jumping on me trying to get to Willie. The little boy was so scared looking too because his dog ran across the road and he didn't know what to do. So with Willie in my arms and a scotty on my heals we took the scotty back across the street to his owners. The father apologized and thanked me for bringing his dog back..... I told him no problem i just couldn't leave the dog to get hit . Then i put Willie down and boy did his little dachsie legs do some major running LOL. It's a good thing he was on a short leash or i wouldn't of been able to keep up. I slowed him down and we were almost home and he was walking fine and some guy started his leaf blower and once again we were off and running. He must of noticed and stopped it and then started it again he was teasing my dog. There were no leaves and his lawn wasn't even mowed. So he was a big jerk. We made it home and i praised Willie for being so good and he is now fast asleep for the night. Wow sorry this is so long. We just have to take this one step at a time. Thanks for listening and helping us.
Denise & Willie