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Hi there! I'm fostering a very shy 6 month old puppy named Scotland. He is confident inside the house and yard now, but once he leaves his comfort zone, he's not having it. I've never had or fostered a dog with leash trouble. When the leash is on inside or the yard, he's fine. So when we try the front yard or sidewalk, it's a no go. He puts the brakes on and shuts down completely. High value treat (multiple kind) do nothing. He refuses to take them. We keep sessions short, about 5 minutes. We've also tried leash tension, release, but that doesn't work either. So, how can we help this little guy? I'm open to anything suggestions!

 

Thank everyone!

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You don't say how long you've had him in your home, but it's possible he just needs more time to develop confidence.

 

Keep rewarding positive experiences even if they're in your home and routine. Maybe try just taking him to the door and rewarding. If he has trouble when you open the door, just start with leading hm to the door, then reach for the knob, then open it just a little, etc. baby steps. He's till a baby himself, so hopefully he'll gain confidence fairly quickly.

 

Best wishes to both of you.

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I've had him a week and few days. I have yet to find a reward that he will go for. In the house and backyard, no problem taking treats. Once we're in the front yard, he takes them and spits them out. He isn't big on praise either. It's just sad because he practically melts into the ground if he is not in our home or backyard. We'll keep trying!

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I sent you a PM with instructions on how to take is slow with this little guy.

 

Keep tempting him with different things for treats until you find something he is interested in.

I had had Kelso for weeks and he had no interest in treats or praise, but when I finally tried liverwurst it turned him on like a light switch.

 

Be very, very patient with him

Kelso did not understand praise. He'd never had any.

So I started out really gently, just a tiny little stroke on the neck or under the chin and soft, slow words.

No high-pitched sounds, no heavy patting, no excited tones of voice, nothing loud.

 

Kelso would not go out the front door, either. It took weeks, but he finally overcame his fear. One very tiny baby step at a time.

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Tried just sitting with him in the front yard. He plants his but and puts his head low. Harness didn't help either. Drove him a few places and it didn't help. He's overcome so many obstacles inside our home, and this is his biggest fear. We even took my other bc he plays with non stop outside and had him run and show him how fun being out there can be, and nope. Didn't matter. I don't want to lose his trust by pushing him too hard. We will try little by little and see how it goes. Not sure what happened in his past, but I'm assuming he's traumatized by going from a shelter, to a rescue, to me. Maybe he feels like if we go in the front yard, or in the car that I'll be dumping him somewhere. Very sad.

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There's sitting and sitting. Sitting while talkng to the dog,or offering it treats doesn't increase confidence. Take a straight chair and a book. Read book. Sit on leash. Until dog relaxes.

 

Donald McCaig

This is what I was thinking. 5 minutes and treats isn't going to work.

 

I was going to suggest a lawn chair, long line on the pup, and bring a book or iPad out with you and plan to stay for a while. I'd sit out there for an hour and just let the pup be while putting the leash on my wrist/under the chair leg. Repeat each day. At 6 months old I feel he can only freak out so long before he realizes he is fine. Definitely plan to be out there reading for more than 5 min intervals though.

 

I used to sometimes take Levi out and just sit on Main St in our busy Small town. He was 2 years old at the time we got him and not a puppy but he was so scared of everything. Had never been anywhere before. Just sitting and watching/listening to cars, people for 30 min on a bench then walking back to the car. It didn't take long before his tail stopped being tucked and of course now, he can walk in a dense large city street and is completely happy.

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Agree with the many helpful suggestions above.

 

I have had my experience with a foster almost-feral dog, and definitely will confirm that nothing happens the first time, or second, or tenth time you try it. Slow, slow, slow up. Driving him to different places is not likely to help at this stage. You have overfaced him.

 

Let him tell you when he is ready for the next step. I concur with just letting him observe from a comfortable distance. Love the idea of putting him on a long line and sitting out in your yard. You could open the gate and let him stay in the back yard while you sit just outside the gate - 15, 30 minutes or longer. Throw the occasional treat at him while sitting.

 

The turn-around will take longer than you are expecting (maybe months). It will happen on his timeline, not yours. Once the break through happens, you will know it, and you can move the training along a little faster

 

 

Good luck.

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I like Mr McCaig's suggestion. But I think that it would work for some dogs and not for others.

It would not have worked for Kelso, but of course Kelso was an extreme case to say the least.

 

If the dog is confident and happy in the back yard and the house, then just sitting in the front yard like that might work to settle him down, and if so it would take less time than my suggestion of taking the approach to the yard in tiny baby steps.

 

I always try to approach things the slow way with frightened dogs, and it always works eventually. It is possible that with some of them, a more direct but still very calm approach such as Mr McCaig suggested would work. I will give it a try if I have a foster one day for whom it seems appropriate.

 

I think in your case, Laura, you need to evaluate the dog carefully to figure out what approach would work best. If you think the dog might respond to the calm sitting technique, try it. And, if he doesn't settle down after a half hour to 45 minutes sitting still in the yard, then you can retreat to the slow baby steps.

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Miracles do happen with time and understanding. A shutdown dog that my daughter pulled and kept a week or two, and that I transported and kept a few days, just this last year did a cross-country road trip with one of his owners.

 

You'd have never known he was a dog that as an adult from the shelter found it so hard to cope that he spent every moment on his belly. Apparently he found that being noticed by just moving brought bad consequences in his previous life.

 

It infuriates me to think that such a sweet soul was so terrified of being noticed by people. Now he is a dog who finds joy in life, thanks to a great rescue and a super family who love him for who he is.

 

With time, care, and patience, I hope your youngster figures out Tha life on the leash in the big world is a very good thing. Very best wishes!

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Agree w/what the others have said. It takes a longer time than anyone would suspect for some dogs.

 

Keep it up, let him set the pace, reward quietly & calmly for any tiny steps in the right direction, ignore and let him go his own way the rest of the time.

 

Behave normally towards him when he's in his comfort zone. If he's boisterous and a normal dog in the house, treat him as such in those places. When you expect him to get used to something that freaks him out, slow down to glacial.

 

Being someone who is more like this dog than not, I sympathize. And it never worked for me to be coaxed or offered rewards, I just had to get there at my own pace.

 

Good luck,

 

Ruth & Gibbs

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Driving him to different places is not likely to help at this stage. You have overfaced him.

 

 

 

Just to be clear, I was not suggesting that she do this. I was simply asking if the behavior was the same in front of her house as it was someplace else. Is it the road in front of your place thats scary, roads in general, being too far from the comfort zone. etc.

 

I like to do a bit of observing and problem solving when I see behavior that if a problem. Sometimes careful observation will tell you something you didn't realize before.

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Thank you everyone for your advice. I'm going to give it some time before trying again. We just learned more information about his past which definitely plays a roll in why he is the way he is. We are going to continue to give him the support he needs. There are some not so great people out there and don't care about dogs the same as us dog lovers. I hope I can gain his trust in humans that he has never known before. Poor little pup.

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