Seeking Advice w/ Timid Spoo

732 Views 9 Replies 5 Participants Last post by appalachiancurl, Aug 18, 2020

appalachiancurl

Discussion Starter · Aug 18, 2020

Hey everyone! Louie is our 4 month old spoo. I’m reaching out to you all because this forum has already been such a great help to me. Louie is pretty slow to warm up in new situations. He would much rather stand back and observe a situation than dive head first. This is no issue. I do my best to let him feel things out so that he can become comfortable. Once he warms up- he’s great! The time I see this behavior the most is on our walks, and this is where I need the advice.
We go out each morning to a section of our local greenway (it’s usually pretty early- around 6AM). Almost every morning, Louie refuses to move... UNTIL he sees someone else. It could be a biker, runnner or another dog walker. When this happens it’s like he thinks “oh! This is what I’m suppose to do!” and he’ll start to prance his little prance, but until this happens it’s almost impossible to encourage him to move. He will also stop and listen every bird ch, dog barking in the distance, babbling brook or leaf falling to the ground. He notices EVERYTHING, and it all seems to make him feel uneasy. I do not pull him, provide him with lots of praise when he walks, and I always bring high value treats, but even these aren’t always enough to convince him.
On the weekends we go on our walk a little later, the greenway is busier, and he acts like he owns the place. Unfortunately, during the week it’s less populated. It’s important to me that he get some exercise before I head out to work and he’s in the crate. So I’m wondering- how can I help him gain more confidence in these walks. I’m trying not to feel defeated.

Thank you in advance!!

I’ve attached a picture of “the prance” 😂

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Dianaleez

· #2 · Aug 18, 2020

When our mini was Louie's age, he refused to walk down the street that runs on the side of our house. Nothing could persuade him to go, and if I carried him down the hill, he practically ran up the hill to get home.

Now at 11 months, nothing bothers him. He prances down without a care.

At 4 months, if a neighbor's dog barked at him, he wanted to go home. Now, he could care less.

Time may help.

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JDagno

· #3 · Aug 18, 2020

Jax does the same thing, he is now 11 months old. If the whole family is out for a walk theres no problem, but if it's just one of us trying to walk away from the house once we cross the street he just stops and sits and won't budge. I must admit I pull him a bit and try to show him that he needs to keep walking. I hope he outgrows this as it is a little annoying ;/

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cowpony

· #4 · Aug 18, 2020

Pogo and Galen were similarly timid at 4 months. We found both were much better if the whole family went on the walk. They seemed to find safety in numbers. Eventually, once they got bigger and more familiar with the neighborhood, they became comfortable walking with just me. At the 5 month stage I was able to lure Galen a few feet further with a treat. He was also happy to go anywhere with Pogo. Pogo wasn't able to be bribed with treats; he wanted Snarky to come along.

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appalachiancurl

Discussion Starter · #5 · Aug 18, 2020

Dianaleez said:
When our mini was Louie's age, he refused to walk down the street that runs on the side of our house. Nothing could persuade him to go, and if I carried him down the hill, he practically ran up the hill to get home.

Now at 11 months, nothing bothers him. He prances down without a care.

At 4 months, if a neighbor's dog barked at him, he wanted to go home. Now, he could care less.

Time may help.

I am hoping you’re right! I think some of it has to do with age. We will keep working on it!

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appalachiancurl

Discussion Starter · #6 · Aug 18, 2020

JDagno said:
Jax does the same thing, he is now 11 months old. If the whole family is out for a walk theres no problem, but if it's just one of us trying to walk away from the house once we cross the street he just stops and sits and won't budge. I must admit I pull him a bit and try to show him that he needs to keep walking. I hope he outgrows this as it is a little annoying ;/

yes!! It’s the exact same thing with our family. He’s so confident if he is with all of us. However- no one wants to get up with me at 6am to walk him 😂😂 I’m hoping he will continue to grow some confidence.

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appalachiancurl

Discussion Starter · #7 · Aug 18, 2020

cowpony said:
Pogo and Galen were similarly timid at 4 months. We found both were much better if the whole family went on the walk. They seemed to find safety in numbers. Eventually, once they got bigger and more familiar with the neighborhood, they became comfortable walking with just me. At the 5 month stage I was able to lure Galen a few feet further with a treat. He was also happy to go anywhere with Pogo. Pogo wasn't able to be bribed with treats; he wanted Snarky to come along.

Thank you for sharing your experience! I feel like their hesitation comes from their intelligence- just so aware of everything. Hopefully he will realize sooner rather than later that he’s safe.

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Dianaleez

· #8 · Aug 18, 2020

We had a small Jack Russell terrier who made of a point of always keeping his back to the wall if he slept outside. I think that they're aware of their small size and are smart enough to protect themselves.

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PeggyTheParti

· #9 · Aug 18, 2020

Do you have a yard? If your goal is to tire him out before work, you could play with him for ten minutes instead. That would take some pressure off the walks.

As his confidence grows, his bubble will grow, too. Puppy instincts don't really encourage them to venture far from home......but adolescent instincts sure do!

Just keep him on a loose leash and encourage him to sniff and explore, even if you don't get past your block. It's all about building confidence at that age, and sniffing is an excellent confidence builder.

Read up, too, on fear periods if you haven't already. Peggy went through a couple of doozies.

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appalachiancurl

Discussion Starter · #10 · Aug 18, 2020

PeggyTheParti said:
Do you have a yard? If your goal is to tire him out before work, you could play with him for ten minutes instead. That would take some pressure off the walks.

As his confidence grows, his bubble will grow, too. Puppy instincts don't really encourage them to venture far from home......but adolescent instincts sure do!

Just keep him on a loose leash and encourage him to sniff and explore, even if you don't get past your block. It's all about building confidence at that age, and sniffing is an excellent confidence builder.

Read up, too, on fear periods if you haven't already. Peggy went through a couple of doozies.

We do have a nice size fenced in backyard, so you might be right. Maybe I will get him out there in the early morning.

Funny enough I took him back to the same spot on the greenway this afternoon and he was a whole different dog. Leading the way and acting on the verge of silly

I’ll also check out the fear periods. I wasn’t aware of these. Thanks for the tip!

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