You adopted a “slightly insecure” dog from an animal shelter and prepared yourself for the fact that he would need time and patience.
But did you expect that he wouldn’t be able to go for walks at all, or that he would suddenly refuse to continue walking, or even run away in panic if he wasn’t secured double or triple?
You didn’t expect this, even with the best will in the world, and you’re slowly running out of ideas?
Then you’re in the same boat as many dog owners with (anxious) dogs from animal shelters and sometimes even from “breeders.”
Over the years—decades—centuries with our dogs, we humans have somehow developed the expectation that “dogs go for walks.”
But actually, this is more of a human need.
Dogs in the wild do not wander around very much. They cover an average of about 2 km throughout the day.
Now, wild dogs can only be compared to our purebred dogs to a limited extent when it comes to their need for exercise. However, most fearful dogs are often much closer to their wild relatives than to our human purebred creations (depending, of course, on whether they are adopted street dogs or dogs that are somehow descended from purebred dogs and have grown up in families).
So we can conclude that not every dog has a fundamental need to walk for hours on end.
However, fear before or during a walk is not pleasant for any dog, and we need to do something about it.
To do this, we can start by looking at where the fear comes from.
Do we have a dog that generally feels uncomfortable/insecure and expects the next monster attack at any moment?
Is the dog afraid of a certain place? If so, what is he afraid of? Is it recognizable? If not, it could be a certain smell, or our fearful dog may have associated the place with a traumatic experience.
We know this from our own experience when, after watching a particularly scary horror movie, we suddenly avoid places that look similar to the scenes in the film, or when we have skidded in the car and feel queasy when we come to the same spot, even though the road conditions are completely different and the car shows no signs of skidding.
Perhaps your dog doesn’t freeze at a specific spot, but whenever you encounter something/someone, or when he hears a certain (or various) noise(s).
All this information is important in order to be able to work on it in a targeted manner.
Until you find out exactly what the problem is, you can start by integrating games and exercises into your dog’s daily routine to boost his general confidence.
Obstacle courses are a wonderful way to do this. However, not the typical high-speed agility courses, but courses that are completed slowly and deliberately, so that your fearful dog can get a better feel for his own body.
After all, if you have good control over and a good feel for your own body, you can also feel more secure in your environment.
A little pro tip: never lure your dog over an obstacle with food, and certainly don’t force them to go over it in any way. Either use a hand target or hide food throughout the course and let your dog work freely (there should always be bits of food between the obstacles so that your dog really has the choice of whether they want to overcome them or not… this is true voluntariness/non-coercion).
Old car tires and wooden pallets (available for free) are suitable as obstacles, but you can also incorporate your home furnishings.
Your dog can only learn that it is safe if there is a way out. The moment we force him, the brain can only switch to emergency mode and learning becomes difficult to impossible (the logical part of the brain is switched off and affect and emotions take control).
Furthermore, the moment we take away their ability to act, there is a high risk of retraumatization. We must not forget that the key to experiencing trauma is whether the victim feels that they can improve the situation on their own at that moment.
If you hold your dog back in a situation that is terribly frightening for him and he feels helplessly exposed to it, trauma is very likely to result.
That doesn’t mean you should let go or panic yourself.
And of course, I’m not talking about doing this in the middle of the street. Common sense and all that. But normally, fearful dogs that just stand still show some signs beforehand that something is scary or that they feel uncomfortable. A video can help you recognize these signs.
If you don’t want to let go of the dog in the first place, see when/where you can recognize the first signs. Does he start to appease or become agitated when you get ready?
Does he hide when you reach for his harness (this could also be due to the harness itself)?
Does he come with you into the garden, no problem, but as soon as he realizes that you are navigating toward the garden door, that’s it?
Does he take cover at a certain time (typical walking time) as a precaution?
We have to adress every one of these moments in training specifically and reprogram it.
But that only works if the walk after has a different meaning. So it’s combination.
First, your dog needs reassurance that they will not be forced into overwhelming situations (anymore), i.e., no new negative experiences.
Then they need different associations with the triggers (places, sounds, smells, situations), more overall confidence and specific exercises that are so positive, that they work even when things get scary.
The latter is very individual, but basically we can rely on what is natural for dogs.
Targeted sniffing exercises are usually a great way to start.
Introduce them at home in a safe environment and reload them in the same safe environment again and again.
That way they can really do their magic outside