I would love if anyone is able to give me an advice. Bear with me Basically this really goes back to fireworks going off right where we were walking, now around this very same area in the last week or so, we have had a couple of horse trailers which made a bang noise and a big lorry banging noise also, so Buster is very scared and pulling like mad to get home as quickly as he can, now with a 30kg dog it is not easy to try and control when he is in this state. So I have brought loads of treats to entice him with treats until he walks nicely again. So we were thinking we've done it before and helped him overcome it we can do it again, then 2 nights ago while walking over our local cricket pitch a grumpy old dog attacked Buster although it never actually bit him and it took a few seconds for me to able to grab the other dog, understandably Buster was shaken but after a few mins of talking to the owner Buster went in the bow position as if he wanted to play so I stupidly was thinking this is great he's shaken it off, we continued with our walk but exactly "where the bad bang noises happen" Buster was pulling like mad, he couldn't focus on the treats so we just had to try and get him home as fast as we could whilst still having a little bit of control. So we decided that we would drive to the cricket pitch for a while so he can have a run of lead, so that we can avoid the scary part of the walk.just during the week until we can take him out some where different. Now tonight we have literally got out of the house and Buster just refused to move he was looking at one of our cars, we did manage to entice him just for a few minutes, hubby wanted to carry (drag him) I said no we need to go home. Phew, are you still with me I'm basically after any help/advice any one can give me. Should we avoid that area completely for a couple of weeks Any advice on how we can help him snap out of that state where he can't focus on anything My hubby wants to force him to carry on (drag him) but I am strongly against this as he has Elbow Dysplasia and I just don't think that is the right thing to do to any dog when they have this fear. Should we not take him out in the evening for a couple of weeks. I do hope we can help him through this blip. We did take him to our local woods yesterday and he was happy as anything off lead the whole time staying near us as he always does. We will seek professional help if we don't get any change, but I would be very very grateful if anyone can help.
I can't offer any advice but I'm sure other members can. I hope you can help Buster through this. I agree with you, I wouldn't be dragging him past the scary area.
Please do not drag him at all, whether it's to get past the scary place or not and has nothing to do with his ED. It will only make his fear worse and potentially escalate his response. Have you tried taking him to the area during the day or only at night? As you have discovered trying to entice him (or bribe him) with treats is not working as the fear is overcoming any other thought. One way of helping him is by walking towards the area, as soon as Buster shows a slight sign of distress, get him to sit, do a watch me and click and treat. Every time he is looks away from the "scary" thing click and treat. If he is calm try a step closer with the look at me, click and treat again and then I would turn round and walk back home. Hopefully by taking time, and lots of high value treats, you will slowly help him overcome his fear and be able to walk past the area with out any problems. It may be worth consulting a behaviourist for their advice, but ensure that they use only force-free, positive re-inforcement .
Thank you, I certainly wouldn't be dragging him any where, I will try this tomorrow, we do walk him this way 3 times a day during the week, I just hate seeing him like this, obviously the dog attacking him has just made it worse.
It won't be a quick fix as you need to ensure that you stop before Buster shows any sign of fear or distress.
