All of a sudden, puts "brakes" on when walking

[Kmaccani]

All of a sudden my two year old Yorkie doesnt like to take walks! I have tried giving her treats after a few steps, read not to push or pull. If we go to a new area, she is fine, but around the neighborhood cant get her to walk. Very frustrating. Any advise will be greatly appreciated. Nothing ever happened to traumatize her or anything on our walks.

[matese]

Sometimes one of my dogs would do this. I would pick her up, walk a block then set her down, she would then walk. If you haven't tried this give it a shot. For 10 years I walked my dogs on the same streets, 2 x's a day every day, they never got bored and knew the route we took, just every once in a while one of my girls (at that time I had 3 girls) would get ornery and hit the brakes refusing to walk. Good luck

[Kmaccani]

Yes, I tried that too. Just to prove it, I taok her to a park and she ran around like crazy. Im baffled! Thanks, tho.

[yorkietalkjilly]

Nothing that you know has happened of to traumatize her happened but some sound you can't hear, smell you can't pick up or the sight of something she's worried about - say of a new dog in a yard or a new structure being erected(a carport), a new big truck parked in a driveway, new lawn furniture, a new sprinkler system or pool being dug in a yard, unearthing smells and things from underground or things like that can cause a dog to become uncomfortable or feeling unsafe on their usual walk. Often, we never know what worries out dogs but it is our job to help them work through it w/out becoming neurotic or nervous.

Try walking her when she's very, very hungry and using nothing but freshly boiled chicken in your fist, taken out and held before her nose once she balks, to bait her into walking on. Hold it near her nose and urge her forward to get it or toss it ahead on the sidewalk, only eventually giving it to her if she's walked another few feet.

If this doesn't work, try using her prey drive - whirling and squeaking a squeaky toy or favorite tugowar or ball all around her head and face to bait her and work her up into wanting it - and then tossing it ahead on the sidewalk so she will move forward to get her prey, amped up by her instincts and not her anxiety. Encourage another two episodes of that moving forward per walking session and then take her home so that you show her whatever she's afraid of, the time of exposure to it is kept short and food or toys will help her face the problem in the back of her mind as she focuses on them and not her fears or worries. She will begin to see that nothing bad happens to her on her walk and besides that, good food and toys are now offered up to help her along.

As she begins to walk on, you can gradually increase her walking sessions into more and more time but never move forward to longer walks as long as she's acting anxious or balking. Taking her up to the various houses and yards and the dogs in them to allow her to sniff them more closely while she's fed treats could also help her feel less anxious - help familiarize her with the scents and sights and things that could be worrying her.

I'd also change up the walk, moving to the opposite side of the street, walking the opposite way on the block, and even changing her collar/harness, lead so that she's got nothing but new, less worrisome things that she associates with the old walk that worried her. Anytime she balks, you could try immediately turning and walking in the opposite direction or a tight, fast circle for a while and then turning right around and walking back again just to see if the change-up will help redirect her mind.

[Kmaccani]

Thank you so much for all the suggestions. Have tried them all, and so far no improvement. Treats dont tempt her, even boiled chicken as she is a very picky eater anyway. I will keep trying. I appreciate all your help

[Kmaccani]

I forgot to mention that we are in Florida for the winter, staying in an RV park. Its our second year in the same place and had no issues last year. There ARE tons of dogs here. Maybe too many smells??

[matese]

I was going to also suggest walking in opposite direction, or on opposite side of the street, but see that you have done this already. Have you tried, carry her from your house to a block you have not walk on, then set her down. Ya know, these lil imps sometimes just gotta have their own way lol. She probably wants you to take her to the park again lol. I would stick to the routine walk, as hard as it may be, not give in to her. I assume you walk her on a harness, have you checked to see no hair is caught in the clasp, maybe pinching her.

[Kmaccani]

Yes, she has a harness. Nothing pulling. I have tried taking her to a new block within the RV park, but she still balks. Its so weird that if we take her to another place out of here, shes a happy camper and no problems walking. The only thing she will do is if its a windy day, she will chase leaves here and sometimes a ball, but just plain walking....nope.

[yorkietalkjilly]

Any time there is a behavioral change, a vet check is always in order to be sure she's not got a painful or tiring medical condition.

Once she's checked out, you might try just carrying her or taking her in a doggie stroller over the course of her daily walk for a couple of weeks, so that she feels safe or at least is made to passively enter the area she apparently thinks is scary. Take care you are going through the same route each time, stopping to let her smell each yard area as you near it safe in your arms or her stroller, to show her that the area is safe. At some point, you might then let her down to see if she will walk toward home.

It's not uncommon for dogs to go through fear periods that suddenly develop out of nowhere and the key is just to keep working with the dog through the episode. Even the change in the seasons with lighting changes can spook a dog outside. Dogs may associate anything unpleasant with their new fear, even something we do. Maybe one walk something scary happened to her down there on the end of that leash or a noise happened that scared the her and she began to associate the walk with that fear.

Google "my dog has a sudden fear of...." and you will see millions of pages with dogs having developed sudden inexplicable fears or a sudden avoidance of something. The key is just to keep working with the dog through the experience, trying different things to change their focus at times while they are experiencing the thing they now dislike or just seeing them through it in a passive way, desensitizing them with mundane repetitions, until they see that the fear is unfounded. It can take up to six months to work through a new fear that began with a real trauma, though usually it's more like two months to desensitize the dog to its new area of concern.

My Tibbe came to me at age 9 mos. with many, many fears and over a period of the next 3 years or so developed several new ones but we've worked through all of them. His fears seem to be mostly related to odd or strange noises - especially on TV - but he can find more new noises in this world than I ever knew existed. But we have techniques such as games we play, go into training mode or I just redirect hi or pick him up at times, and get him through the experience w/out drugs or giving up. Also would become fearful of things like doors, new furniture, going into a room. When Tibbe was sick, he developed a fear of thunderstorms and a Thundershirt totally negated that fear when distraction - our normal tool - failed. You might try a Thundershirt for her to help her through this.

Just keep on working with her and in time she will no doubt find out her worries are non-existent after a while. It's amazing that the bathroom and utility room doors Tibbe suddenly developed a panic about are now not an issue, despite six months of fear avoidance of both doors.

[Kmaccani]

Just had her to the Vet last week to get a heartworm check so I could renew meds. She checked out fine. It isnt everywhere she wont walk, just within this RV complex. I did order a stroller yesterday (much to my husbands dismay), so I will try that, too. Thanks one and all for the suggestions.

[yorkietalkjilly]

Originally Posted by Kmaccani

Just had her to the Vet last week to get a heartworm check so I could renew meds. She checked out fine. It isnt everywhere she wont walk, just within this RV complex. I did order a stroller yesterday (much to my husbands dismay), so I will try that, too. Thanks one and all for the suggestions.

I hope part-time, short-term use of the stroller can help desensitize her to the RV complex in the next couple of weeks or so. And don't rule-out a Thundershirt. Something about them just calms some dogs, like Tibbe, right down.

Sometimes just a new shadow that falls in a different spot on the yard as the season changes, a new dog/cat in one of the homes or yards, a coyote or even raccoon, lurking in the distance, with its new, foreign, wild scent, can conspire to freak out a dog who is not very self-confident and calm and happy outside.

I hope she gets past this sooner rather than later but if you treat her fears matter-of-factly, gently redirect her and desensitize her through this, always rewarding bravery with your tone of voice and praise/positive rewards for behavior you want, in time she will no doubt work through this. If you keep on working with her in a calm, confident manner, I've no doubt she will. And you can use similar techniques for any new fear session she has down the road.