Walking fear.

So Ruby is approximately 17 weeks old now.

We went to puppy preschool on Saturday and she was quite good although got very rough with a timid Doberman and had to sit out for a few minutes, till more pups arrived.

Any way now we are able to get out about more for proper walks I have noticed that she appears to get spooked for no reason. She parks her behind on ground, pushes her ears back and won't budge. There is nothing obvious setting this off and I am hoping it is just a phase? If I can't coax her to me I usually pick her up and keep walking then put her down and try again.

This never happens when we are around kids or a lot of people because she is a firm believer that everyone wants to pat her. Haha.

She also doesn't appear to toilet at all on her walks which is kinda weird.

Hello
My vet had said they go through fear stages while young and mine certainly did and still does at times and shes 15months.

It first started with us one random day when we walked the same way as always and she freaked and didnt want to be near the inside wall. Then bin day became a problem totally out the blue she wouldnt go near bins on the kerb!?!?!?

I kept thinking she wasnt quite right!

I dont know why she wont pee when out.....os her housetraining going well? Has she got a spot in he garden? She maybe only wants to go there?

Sounds like a stage and she is being stubborn. I wouldnt encourage picking her up too much. Perhaps take a favourite toy or tasty treats to coax her. Making it fun certainly helps   

Gordon did this a lot when he was younger and still does now but not very often, I just encourage him with his ball or some treats     

Inez Maria wrote:Sounds like a stage and she is being stubborn. I wouldnt encourage picking her up too much. Perhaps take a favourite toy or tasty treats to coax her. Making it fun certainly helps   

Agreed I think they all go through somethig like this. When Suki was a pup she was terrified of trains and wouldn't cross a track. We would just have her sit near the track to get used to it and use a treat to encourage her to walk on.

I have to agree with the above.  When we had Meg, she hadn't had her second shots, so we had to keep her on the garden for 2-3 weeks (can't quite remember-seems so long ago now, ).  When the day finally arrived I could take her out on her walk, I had to literally drag her through the gate to the path!  She was terrified.  I had got her used to the collar and lead before hand and was happy to let me lead her around the garden, but it was a different matter on our first walks.  It's just a case on encouragement, talking to them in a nice voice and being patient.  Treats help alot too!  Because I live in a village, the first  walk near the busy main road was another experience that Meg didn't like, and she still isn't keen on traffic, but tolerates it on our walk to the local farm shop (only because one of the butchers makes a fuss of her and gives her a tid bits!).  She also took her time in toileting outside the garden too.  It will come in time and Ruby will get the hang of things, but I would also say don't give in and keep picking her up!

Zeus done the exact same when we first started to take him out, he'd be petrified of everything and just wouldn't move. What made it worse was the constant worrying about him and giving him attention (like picking him up), this made him worse and most probably emphasized the fact that theres something to be scared of. After a few weeks, he was ok with it and what really helped was our tone of voice and body language etc.

We visibly got very excited before a walk and were speaking with high pitched tones etc, this in turn made Zeus very excited, tail wagging etc and he almost forgot about his fear.

He's fine now but still gets scared of random things on his walk.. e.g. loud noises/bangs which is understandable but what gets me is when he sees 1) paper/cardboard moving around because of the wind and 2) anything which is blue and is big, he's absolutely terrified of!

Thanks guys. Toilet training is going fairly well. Still a few accidents occurring but more my fault than hers obviously.
Took a different approach yesterday and went after the kids were home from school. She went fabulously and it was so wonderful to see her enjoying it like she should. We went much further than I can get her on my own and she only stopped twice very briefly as the kids seemed to give her a lot more confidence to keep moving on. Weird but maybe she felt safer with all of us? Was awesome and will be off again shortly. The kids are 10,10 and 8 so it's good for them too!

She will be more confident as her 'pack' is with her (safety in numbers, y'know!)   

Valentine did tins as well. Then one day, she stopped. Don't make a big deal about it and don't get upset. Our trainer suggested we just keep walking and pay it no attention. Then praise her when she moves on. Don't reward the stopping with attention. Reward the movement with praise.