Expert: Jill Connor, Ph.D. - 1/10/2008

Question


"Hello, I have a German shepherd/Irish wolfhound mix, he is 11 weeks old. He doesn't seem to like going for walks. He whines and pulls to go back into the house, and when we go into a shop he whines quietly all the time as though its the worst place on earth.Even though hes a man and like all men hates shopping, this cant go on. I have tried everything. Walking positively as though nothing is wrong and NOT stopping..., waiting to see if he will go on on his own to explore, comforting him, enticing him with puppy snacks, playfully going for a walk with toys, balls etc.
Help me please. Is it normal?Will he grow out of it? I've had him since he turned 8 weeks.At home he if fine, he loves people and children, even other dogs.
Help me please
Thankyou
Liza"

Answer
You might be "flooding" this puppy with far too much stimuli in places too heavily traveled by other people, dogs, noise, etc.  At about ten weeks of age, a fear response develops in puppies; this is to protect them (in the wild) as this would be about the time the wild canine leaves its den and goes out on its own to explore under its mother's tutelage.  Do NOT force the pup to go forward on leash.  Do NOT comfort him, do NOT food reward him!  You don't KNOW what your reward is REWARDING!  Before you reward a dog, you must know what he's thinking/feeling by reading body language.  You might very well have inadvertently rewarded his fear.

First, associate being on leash with something very wonderful.  Put leash on inside but don't hold it.  Sit in front of him on the floor about five feet away.  When he turns to come toward you, praise him and when he gets to you, give him a food reward.  Repeat once.  Several hours later, increase the initial space between you to 10 feet; repeat above exercise.  Do not do this more than twice in a row as pups this age have short attention spans and don't do it more than three times in one day.  When you can get him to freely run around the house with the leash, pick it up and back away.  When he comes toward you (he has learned this will reward him) throw a treat (make them very small treats) and back away; treat him again when he follows you.  Stop.  Repeat this exercise 3 days in a row until the pup has associated following you on leash (with you holding it) as a rewarding experience.  Next day, go outside.  If you observe him suddenly develop a fearful attitude, turn your back and move away from him to the end of the leash.  Turn back toward him.  If he comes toward you, jackpot (several small tidbits of food reward) and go back inside.  Repeat a few hours later and for several days until he can happily follow you outside (in QUIET AREA, don't do this in heavily congested places).  Now, time to take him somewhere else and try it again.  Go very slowly with all of this, pairing the natural drop in his fear response (because of his age) with his acquired positive attitude toward the leash.  If you cannot accomplish this alone and you see an increase in fear, find a credentialed behaviorist (NOT just a dog trainer! beware of fakes) to assist you.