Joined
·
206 Posts
I am concerned about my pup's behavior on our walks. She is just now 11 weeks old.
We have not attend puppy class yet as she needs her second round of shots first. But I do take get her out of the house and socializing in different areas as much as I can. I take her to the petstore just to get her used to being in the car and in different areas, we go to the lake and the park, she rides with me in the car when I go through the bank drive through or car wash, and I take her to friends/family homes so she gets used to going into other people's homes. I also take her to restaurants with outdoor seating about 1-2 times per week.
Lily does really well on yards in the yard around the house and pretty well around my small neighborhood. But she gets very panicky and frantic while walking anywhere else.
I was initially taking her to walks around a local lake, but she cried on the walks and would stop and refuse to move or start hopping and pulling against the leash. I thought that possibly the sidewalks around the lake were too abrasive on her paws or that possibly there was just too much stimulus (ducks, people, dogs, cars, etc.) at once so I started taking her to a local park with dirt trails with a lot less traffic. I take her about 5-7 days a week for about 20-30 minutes. She'll do ok for the first 5 minutes or so, usually walking right behind or next to me. But then something seems to set her off and she panicks. She'll strart crying, barking, whining, hopping, tugging at the leash, and trying to bolt in different directions.
I have attempted several things but don't know if what I am doing is helping or hurting. Usually I just stop moving and ignore her until she calms herself down. Then I'll call her to me and give her a treat and/or affection. Then start walking again. However, once she has panicked once, the walk is usually quite difficult after that as she tries to bolt back to where we just walked from or tried to get back to where we parked. When she does walk nicely I praise her a lot.
Additionally, whenever she sees another person or, especially, another dog, she tries so hard to get to them and will try her hardest to follow them. SHe cries and barks after they leave. I usually make her sit before we pass someone on the trails and make her sit so the person can pet her...it helps to keep her calmer, but when the person walks away she panics to try to follow them. If we continue walking, she literally strangles herself against her collar/leash.
I usually take her when she gets in that crazy energetic puppy modeto burn off that energy. I take treats with me that she sometimes will accept and other times ignores when there is something (person/dog) that she wants more. She also gets walked around the neighborhood once in the morning and once at night and plenty of play inside the house.
Any advice? Am I causing this behavior? or does she just sound too young/scared to be walking with me on the trails?
We have not attend puppy class yet as she needs her second round of shots first. But I do take get her out of the house and socializing in different areas as much as I can. I take her to the petstore just to get her used to being in the car and in different areas, we go to the lake and the park, she rides with me in the car when I go through the bank drive through or car wash, and I take her to friends/family homes so she gets used to going into other people's homes. I also take her to restaurants with outdoor seating about 1-2 times per week.
Lily does really well on yards in the yard around the house and pretty well around my small neighborhood. But she gets very panicky and frantic while walking anywhere else.
I was initially taking her to walks around a local lake, but she cried on the walks and would stop and refuse to move or start hopping and pulling against the leash. I thought that possibly the sidewalks around the lake were too abrasive on her paws or that possibly there was just too much stimulus (ducks, people, dogs, cars, etc.) at once so I started taking her to a local park with dirt trails with a lot less traffic. I take her about 5-7 days a week for about 20-30 minutes. She'll do ok for the first 5 minutes or so, usually walking right behind or next to me. But then something seems to set her off and she panicks. She'll strart crying, barking, whining, hopping, tugging at the leash, and trying to bolt in different directions.
I have attempted several things but don't know if what I am doing is helping or hurting. Usually I just stop moving and ignore her until she calms herself down. Then I'll call her to me and give her a treat and/or affection. Then start walking again. However, once she has panicked once, the walk is usually quite difficult after that as she tries to bolt back to where we just walked from or tried to get back to where we parked. When she does walk nicely I praise her a lot.
Additionally, whenever she sees another person or, especially, another dog, she tries so hard to get to them and will try her hardest to follow them. SHe cries and barks after they leave. I usually make her sit before we pass someone on the trails and make her sit so the person can pet her...it helps to keep her calmer, but when the person walks away she panics to try to follow them. If we continue walking, she literally strangles herself against her collar/leash.
I usually take her when she gets in that crazy energetic puppy modeto burn off that energy. I take treats with me that she sometimes will accept and other times ignores when there is something (person/dog) that she wants more. She also gets walked around the neighborhood once in the morning and once at night and plenty of play inside the house.
Any advice? Am I causing this behavior? or does she just sound too young/scared to be walking with me on the trails?
