dog is afraid

    • Bronze

    dog is afraid

    Hi I have an eight month old male border collie and a few months ago he was really scared of thunder, he wouldnt go outside but then he was fine again. Now to the problem, last weekend was victoria day and there were fireworks all weekend Angry and my dog was scared then for the rest of the week he refused to go outside or show me he had to go to the bathroom and I had to carry him outside and use treats. The big thing is that he wont go for a walk, we usualy go twice a day and in the last week we have been twice. He just sits down and refuses to go. The first two times we went I used treats but now it doesnt work and the final time(early today) we went in a reverse direction but now he wont go that way either. HELP! any tips???
    Cliffs:dog heard firecrackers and now wont do for a walk
    • Gold Top Dog
    I am not a proffesional but may I suggest driving him to a safe location like a park or school with a enclosure that you will be virtually alone and safe. Try to engage him in a game of fetch or sit down with a book and just let him smell the roses.
    I have actually heard of people sedating their dogs when events like this happen but that hopefully you wont have to go that far. Its strange how some dogs are scared of random things like vaccums, balloons, and trash bags, although yours is on a much more scary level. I do know that this is a very real fear (as you have found out) and while we are not supposed to encourage this behavior by trying to comfort them verbally I'm hoping anotehr member will have some advice for you on how to make him feel more comfertable. Good luck, oh and here in my town we dont allow fireowrks, maybe you should come her for 4th of July, ha ha!
    • Gold Top Dog
    As a dog lover, I've really come to dread 4th of July.  My last dog would freak out for days, but eventually she'd calm down.  Hopefully that will be the case for your dog.  
    The 2 dogs I have now don't seem to mind much.  One will bark a little, but the other can sit 20 feet away from a big display (our neighbors love to do a block party thing - ugh)  and isn't phased at all.  She is afraid of the vacuum though, so it's not that she's a fearless dog, she just doesn't mind fireworks. 
    • Bronze
    Im hoping he calms down, we went for a walk already this morning but it took alot of time and we had to reverse our route. I thing hes just afraid of one street. He would be scared to go down it sometimes before this event and we would have to go around it. And in reply to fireworks its been going on since friday and I think I heard a few yesterday
    • Bronze
    Update: We went to wasaga beach this weekend and my dog went for a walk on the first day but on the second he was affraid to leave the front yard so I guess its not just our house. Any more ideas on how to get him going again?And cakana, when you said that your last dog was scared for days would it just not want to go outside? And how long did this last?
    thanks for the help so far.
    • Puppy
    I bought a CD from [linkhttp://www.happydogtrainers.com/]www.happydogtrainers.com[/link] - really useful. Not just sound recordings but also he tells you about ways to treat your dogs with drugs and other therapies. I liked the idea of nut having our Cindy doped to the eyeballs!. I'm v.happy with the result.
     
    John C
    • Gold Top Dog
    NO SPAM!