Fear of the world ouside in open spaces

[DavidKelly]

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I have a 8 month old border collie that is fearful/stressed in open spaces. He is fine in the house, he is Ok in the small enclosed back garden, although he will bark at loud noises or other dogs barking in the distance but generally he is fine. Take him out the front for a walk and it’s a different story, he is lunging every which way and barking continuously. (BTW he is fine on a lead in the house and in the back garden its just open spaces that are an issue). We have had a dog behaviourist in, and he recommended taking the dog out the front and giving him lots of treats, and only taking a step forward if the dog accepts the treats. But what is happening is the dog is frantic barking and lunging on the lead as soon as me leaves the house, if I can get his attention he will gobble a treat often biting my hand in the process, then it’s instantly back to the lunging and barking. If I exercise him by playing tug or ball for 5 minutes before going out the front he is even worse. A little more info on the dog, we think he may have come from a puppy farm, and we now know his owner before us only had him for 5 days, and the owner before that was perhaps a week or so. He is a lovely dog but not being able to take him outside is a big issue. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[JoanneF]

You might find the article below interesting.

To Walk or Not To Walk

An acquaintance has a very fearful dog and realised that walking - or trying to - was highly stressful for the dog as well as for her. So she decided to stop. Now this dog gets plenty of exercise and mental stimulation but is a lot calmer and happier. Occasionally he will ask to go with her and her other dog but it is on his terms when he feels up to it.

If you do want to keep trying, I would suggest at least two days of not going walks before you begin. That is because the stress hormone can stay in the body for 48 hours and you want your dog to be as stress free as possible before you start. Adding more stressors just keeps topping up his anxiety levels so start with an empty stress tank. And for the same reason, I wouldn't play first.

Then it would be baby steps like your behaviourist suggested. Even just sit on your doorstep and reward calm behaviour. If he gets stressy you have gone too fast - the idea is to keep him from getting to that stage. And once he has reached that level he won't be able to learn anything because his anxiety levels will be the only thing he can think about.

You could also use an Adaptil collar.
It comes in a spray (for blankets etc., not for directly on to the dog), a collar and a diffuser. It replicates the hormone a bitch has after having puppies and has a calming effect on dogs. Or something stronger prescribed by your vet.


Good luck. It isn't going to be easy I'm afraid.

 

[DavidKelly]

Thank you.

 

[Josie]

Morning @DavidKelly - How is your Collie doing?