This seems like an issue that really only occurs when we walk him in our neighborhood. There are trails near our house and when I take him there he walks fine. But on our walks in our neighborhood Smokey will start to get nervous or ansty. He'll start pulling at his lead trying to go anywhere but next to us as we're walking, panting and drooling like crazy(even if it's only been a 5 minute walk). It's different from when he pulls ahead of us on a walk. Within anywhere from 10-20 minutes of this behavior starting he'll start to go to the bathroom(won't even stop sometimes, he'll just keep walking along side of us. Always a fun mess to clean off a sidewalk lol) . It's usually not a solid poop, like he has to force it or he doesn't have anything in him but still has to go. He rarely ever goes pee when we walk though. It almost seems like he's got pent up nervous energy. I try to play with him when I get home before we go on a walk, so some of his energy is already out of his system. I just don't know what would be making him nervous on our walks, since there's rarely anyone around at the time. Am I just misreading his behavior? I feel awful if I'm making him do something he's not even enjoying and I want to make sure I'm not forcing him into an uncomfortable situation. He's always excited to get the leash on and out of the house.
Hi there and welcome! Sorry you are having this issue with your pup, it must be worrying. I have a couple questions for you in order to get a clearer picture of what is going on. 1. Has this always happened on your neighbourhood walks, or is this something new? And can you pinpoint anything that might have happened one day while on a neighbourhood walk that might have scared or upset Smokey? 2. Are your walks on the trails on a leash or off-leash? 3. How old is Smokey? My guess from what you have told us is that this is not pent-up energy, but as you have said, nervous energy. In other words, he is very anxious while on the walk. All of the behaviour such as panting and drooling and uncontrolled bowels points to this. However, there is always a chance that this could have some kind of physical cause (pain could cause anxiousness) so I would recommend that you chat about this with your vet to rule that out. But I highly suspect this is anxiety of some sort. The trick is figuring out what caused it and trying to get him comfortable again. But in some ways the cause is irrelevant, because it seems to me that he is generalizing a specific thing that might have happened one day (frightened by another dog, a person on a bike, a loud noise, being out in a storm, etc etc) to a general fear of being out in the neighbourhood on a walk. The reason why I asked about the leash is because of your comment about your trail walks not being like this. If it is the case that he walks off-leash there, one possibility is that the thing he is anxious about is being on leash. There are things you can do for anxiety, from conditioning using positive reinforcements all the way to sedatives that help anxious dogs cope, but trying to figure out the cause is where you start (after the vet rules out anything physical). Sometimes you can’t find a cause, though. Don’t despair, even in those cases you can make a plan to help your dog get past it. It’s just if you know what it is (say if it’s a leash thing) you can more easily help him.
Other than the above, I'd also be interested to know what temperature it is where you are now. Could the tarmac be too hot for his feet? Or, at the other end of the spectrum, could there be salt/grit on the pavements/road surface that is hurting his feet?
Thank you both for your replies! Lisa- It’s happened for as long as we’ve had him outside walking. Which we got him at 9 weeks and didn’t get him out on outside walks until 6 months, due to him being behind on his first set of shots. The trail walks are mostly on leash. Unless we go far back into the woods and I’m positive we’re the only ones I won’t let him off his lead and leash. He just turned 1. Snow bunny- Our temps are currently fluctuating between 50-90F. I try to make sure the pavement isn’t too hot especially during our summer. I’m glad to mostly know where to start now. With some confirmation that at least helps me to know where I should start reading at least. I really appreciate this community!
Keep us posted on how Smokey is doing and don’t be afraid to ask more questions. We are here to help!
