We just got a 8 month old female black lab and we can't get her to be on leash or to go out side or go inside, she will just lay down and show her belly she acts afraid but at the same time she loves to be loved on. We dont know if she was abused but she comes to you with her tail and head down and acts like she is in trouble. What is the best way to handle this we don't want to scare her or make her afraid of us. Can someone please advise Thank you
We got her from an private home the woman had elderly parents and was afraid she was going to cause them to fall.....well we have had her 24 hours she is going outside and coming in no problem. But no leash she really seems to be afraid of it she will sit on command but she acts like she is in trouble. We just love on her and give her a treat. I agree it will take time just wanted to approach the right way and not cause any further trauma.
My dog had terrible problems with the lead when I got him (his previous owners used a choke chain and chain lead and I fear he may have been hit accidentally or otherwise with the lead at some point). I had to do a lot of practice indoors just clipping the lead on then feeding him, then taking it off, building up to walking a few steps to treats positioned around the kitchen. When I did start using the lead outdoors I had to take very high value treats out with me (tubs of tripe!) to allow me to connect a lead to his collar without being bitten. He's fine now and i can even use the lead for recall - he comes running over as soon as I get the lead out of my pocket.
