Casey WILL NOT go for a walk..

It's really ridiculous. She is terrified. She will not walk past about 50 ft from our house. This has been going on and getting progressively worse for about a year.

I have tried everything. Treats, different directions, you name it. She hears a loud truck or someone putting the lid on a garbage can and that's all it takes to terrify her and she drags me back to the house. We spend ,ost of our time playing ball with her in the yard.

I feel really bad because I love to walk and she is a big dog. When she was a puppy we walked everywhere. The only thing I can relate it to is 4th of July, she was terrified. My mom thinks maybe she hears something we don't like the electric wires buzzing.

We are thinking of taking her to the vet and seeing if doggie prozac or something would work. I hate to do that but I dont want her to spend the rest of her life not leaving our house! Even the trainer doesn't know what's with her

Help!

Re: Casey WILL NOT go for a walk..

Oh no!

I wonder why she is like that

Re: Casey WILL NOT go for a walk..

My Dad's Golden (we adopted her when she was 2) will not go for a walk either, she's now 9. She'll run around at lightning speed all over the front lawn but will not dare set one paw on the sidewalk. It's pretty funny, it's as if we have an invisible fence.

She will not walk the neighborhood on a leash like every other dog we've ever had. She'll just sit down in the street and not move until we start walking back to the house. I thought maybe, in her previous life, she was almost hit by a car or something must have happened. Finally, I gave up and now we just exercise her off the leash in the backyard.

I have no advice... maybe our dogs are related

Re: Casey WILL NOT go for a walk..

How old is Casey? I know dogs go through 2 "fear" periods as they grow up. Did Casey ever have a bad walking experience or a bad experience w/any outside triggers -- grass, noise, trees, etc? I would call an animal trainer in, this sounds like a tough one. Good luck

Re: Casey WILL NOT go for a walk..

Theresa - thank GOD Casey is not alone That makes me feel better. I have to tell my DH. We really thought we just had a crazy Golden

DMck - she just turned 2. We are kind of hoping it's a phase she grows out of...in the meantime we spends hours playing ball in the yard! She is very afraid of noise. Yeah, I am thinking of getting a professional trainer in

Re: Casey WILL NOT go for a walk..

When we first got Simba he was petrified of the garage door opening/closing, the washing machine, the ironing board and the vacuum. He would not go anywhere near the garage if we had to open and close it. He would literally run around to the back of the house and we'd have to put him on the lanai, go up front to open the garage and then let him in.

Now he's fine with everything except the vacuum and ironing board. He still runs and hides from the vacuum and ironing board.

Re: Casey WILL NOT go for a walk..

I saw a dog like this on the dog whisperer. I remember Cesar saying that by babying the dog and being nice to it that it's making the problem worse and that when you walk the dog you need to act like an alpha dog (walk tall and straight and commanding) and to not tolerate her being scared and to just kind of ignore it - make the dog feel safe by being confident about being outside.

He had the couple walk the dog outside even though it was scared and it seemed to get better by the end of the episode.

Don't know if this helps? Good luck

Re: Casey WILL NOT go for a walk..

I have a dog who is exactly like this. Lucy is 12 years old now, and has been like this since she was a puppy. We tried taking her for walks, but, she would get very scared of everything and wanted to get back home. She loves her backyard and prefers to be there. She still runs and plays with my other two and is a happy dog in her own quirky way. This is her personality and we just learned to accept it.

Re: Casey WILL NOT go for a walk..

what about putting casey in the car and driving her somewhere (to a park, beach, wherever), then taking her out and going for a walk, and then getting back in the car and driving home? Maybe if you get her used to that, she won't be so afraid to go for a walk straight out of the house....

Message edited 10/17/2006 3:32:35 PM.

Re: Casey WILL NOT go for a walk..

Re: Casey WILL NOT go for a walk..

Posted by MrsTC

Posted by LFitzy79

what about putting casey in the car and driving her somewhere (to a park, beach, wherever), then taking her out and going for a walk, and then getting back in the car and driving home? Maybe if you get her used to that, she won't be so afraid to go for a walk straight out of the house....

i've thought that too...guess what - she is afraid to ride in the car! She wont ride it unless I put her in the crate. Which is way too much for me too do all the time because it is a monster crate.

Re: Casey WILL NOT go for a walk..

i'm sorry
no advise- but if you want, you can take molly and fortune- they'd LOVE to go for a walk and i never take them!

Re: Casey WILL NOT go for a walk..