Dog Community

Suddenly Fearful Beagle

Posted : 4/28/2006 5:59:33 PM

Our Beagle is almost 4. He has always has a somewhat fearful temperament and, as a puppy, it took us close to a year to get him to walk any distance from the house. However, in recent years he has happily gone for 1-2 miles walks and eagerly comes to get us if he wants to go to the dog park.

About a week ago, he left the house with my husband, for a walk, and, a few yards out, he become fearful and insisted on going home. This has now happened four or five times (both with my husband and myself, and on each of the several routes we take for walks.

Does anyone know what might cause him to suddenly have become fearful, across the board? (in the past, a loud noise might have made him fearful on a given walk, but the next time he'd be fine).

Thanks,

Susan

nigguysmom

Posted : 4/28/2006 7:10:25 PM

Wow, I would have no idea. Was there a change in the weather or something? I know that Sydney gets really upset during bad weather.

Buster's Mom

Posted : 4/28/2006 8:42:05 PM

It is possible that there is a smell from another animal that is spooking him.
We took our beagle on vacation & when I would try to walk him in
multiple areas, he would just freeze, tail between the legs, petrified.
This happened several times in different cities. I would have to pick him
up because he wouldn't move.
This was out in areas where dogs were not normally walked.
But he was fine in the dog walking areas where the rest stops were.

Maybe some other animal is marking their territory there.

Also, in our neighborhood, someone's poodle marks their territory
by peeing at the base of every mailbox.
Well, last week a lady was walking her dog & her dog starting barking
at the mailbox. She thought it was amusing, but then I explained to her
about the peeing poodle & she understood better.

If your beagle is anything like mine, a good sniff is worth a thousand words.
There is probably some free roaming animal out there marking that is
making him worried.

Susan Horky

Posted : 4/29/2006 8:53:01 AM

Thanks so much for the replies. Initially I had thought he was responding to a sound we couldn't hear, as he was acting as he does during thunder. When it happened repeatedly, I was less sure of that. But the sound and smell theories do seem good ones, since those are the two things that I do less well than he does (well, there's sleeping, too!). I'll pay particular attention to those possibilities.

Thanks!

Susan

Debbie R

Posted : 4/29/2006 12:05:25 PM

Susan are you sure he's not in some kind of pain, dogs hide it better then we do they must in order to survive in the wild and keep status in the pack, try touching him everywhere and see, ya never know.
I hate when they do things like this, it makes me crazy trying to figure it out aaaghhhh!

jessies_mom

Posted : 4/29/2006 6:58:54 PM

Welcome to idog Susan [

] , I was going to suggest the same thing as Deb; your dog may not be feeling well. In addition to touching him all over to see how he reacts, you may want to pay attention to see if you notice changes in his behavior; does he get up from a nap slower, is he less reluctant to play or does he play for a shorter amount of time, is he getting on the furniture less than he has before?