Behavioral issue

[Kittygreeneyes33]

I am hoping someone can help me. I have a beautiful miniature schnauzer liver color he is 5 and up until I say the last month I would get him out for 4 walks a day I won’t say he was always very eager but when we got out we would have nice long walks 20-25 minutes. Suddenly when I get him out he refuses to walk or he will walk a few feet and then stop and refuse to go further until he realizes he is heading back home and then he will walk sometimes sometimes will stop on the way back too.I did bring him to the vet to make sure it is nothing physical and she said he is in perfect shape and that it’s behavioral. She asked if there was anything I could think of that would trigger this and the only thing my brother and I could come up with is that a week after the 4th of July on our last walk of the evening about 10:30 we were walking across from a basketball court and some idiot thought it would be nice to set off a very loud fire work that caused another much larger dog who was not far from us to get away from his owner and run. That is the only thing we can think of. Is there anyone who has come upon this similar issue and is there anything that can be shared in order to try and get him back to what he was? Please I could really use some help thank you

[zeta1454]

It is difficult when an unexpected event frightens a dog on a walk as it can take a while for the fear of it happening again to pass. A strong negative experience is going to affect behaviour and you may need to re-think your walks to try and help your mini overcome his reluctance to go out. You may find that he will cope better if you go to a new place for a walk - change the route or better still if you could take him out somewhere by car and then have a walk somewhere quiet but interesting with scents for him to explore. Just one good walk could easily compensate for several short walks.

You could also try giving him a break from the regular walks by doing activities at home instead to exercise his mind and body. It depends what outside space you have at home of course but if you have room to set up a kibble trail / scent hunt for treats or hide and seek treat game - hiding food in boxes, under empty plant pots etc. You could also do training exercises with him like dog parkour type exercises. Although dog parkour is generally done outside in parks or woods there is no problem in training the basic exercises in a back garden or yard with everyday items. I have put a couple of links below for you to see the kind of exercises it involves and we have found our dogs really enjoy these It may be that the more you distract him with games at home, the less anxious he may become generally and then gradually reintroduce short walks outside.

Another suggestion is if you have friends or family members with a dog or dogs that your mini enjoys playing with, you could try and take them all out together and the company may help relieve your boy’s tension and encourage him to walk further.

I would not push him to go out if he is really struggling to cope with the walks just now. It is good to know that he is physically fine and it is possible to keep a dog entertained and exercised at home especially for a short period without needing walks. Some dogs are just not that interested in walks especially in areas that have become familiar to them, even without a negative experience that may have shocked them. We have found that many of our young dogs enjoy a walk round our village but it is only a few that continue to enjoy the same routes every day once they become older. They will be very enthusiastic if we take them somewhere new but would rather play in the garden and snooze than have an on-lead walk round the streets. Individual temperaments (as with people) can affect behaviour and how keen a dog may be to go on repeated walks from the house.

* https://www.redpointydog.com/post/startdogparkour

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