Strange dog behavior
Discussion
I'm wondering if anyone can help me about the strange behavior I've been getting (for a good few years now) with a collie dog I have. Every so often when I take the dog for a walk the dog will stop in his tracks and will refuse to walk further on to where I am heading. I try everything to get him moving, trying to dug his lead, but he will not move. When I decide to walk back to where I came from he will walk for a little while until he again comes to a standstill, sometimes he doesn't and doesn't he does. When he does this you're stuck trying to get him back home.
I thought that maybe the area that I walk him in as maybe triggered some kind of danger or has sensed something he doesn't like, but it can't be the case as he often does the same in other places I walk him, whether it be a field or a street. It's very spontaneous.
Has anyone else experienced this strange behavior with their collie or any other breed?.
I thought that maybe the area that I walk him in as maybe triggered some kind of danger or has sensed something he doesn't like, but it can't be the case as he often does the same in other places I walk him, whether it be a field or a street. It's very spontaneous.
Has anyone else experienced this strange behavior with their collie or any other breed?.
Yes my collie did this, it became more common as she got older (it wasn't something she did as a youngster)
She became worse after her first vestibular incident, I think she felt a bit vulnerable outside. It got to a point that she wouldn't walk down the road outside our house more than a couple hundred yards and would jump up at us and pull back towards home.
She was better if we went out in the car first to somewhere but she got to a point where she was happier at home pottering about in the garden all day (which is why she is now buried there)
A behaviourist may be able to determine if it is anxiety (not a rare trait in collies) and offer why and how to improve it. Sometimes anti anxiety meds short term can help but that will be dependant on the trigger that's causing he issue. (these products etc weren't really available when our girl was still alive)
She became worse after her first vestibular incident, I think she felt a bit vulnerable outside. It got to a point that she wouldn't walk down the road outside our house more than a couple hundred yards and would jump up at us and pull back towards home.
She was better if we went out in the car first to somewhere but she got to a point where she was happier at home pottering about in the garden all day (which is why she is now buried there)
A behaviourist may be able to determine if it is anxiety (not a rare trait in collies) and offer why and how to improve it. Sometimes anti anxiety meds short term can help but that will be dependant on the trigger that's causing he issue. (these products etc weren't really available when our girl was still alive)
Thanks for the advice, much appreciated, will take that on board.
I find this behaviour very odd to be honest, something which I've never seen with the previous dogs I've had (those being German Shepard's). The first time this happened was about 5 years ago; my dog is about 6 yrs old now, so he wouldn't have been that old when he started acting this way. It happened when I decided to walk him somewhere we'd never walked before, and because it was a very warm day I decided to walk a few miles from home. But once we got to a certain point, which unfortunately just happened to be on a country road, he suddenly stopped and wouldn't go further. I tried to walk back where we had come from, which he did for a few feet, but then wouldn't go the opposite way either. To make matters worse I hadn't brought my mobile phone with me which meant I was stuck so couldnt phone someone to pick us up. After several attempts (by now I had been stuck there for a good 2 hours), he, for some reason, decided to move and I eventually managed to get him back home. I'd assumed it was the heat that had exhausted him (he's a Rough Collie BTW).
Ever since this I have never walked him that distance and instead I just stick to the local area in case it happened again.
I find this behaviour very odd to be honest, something which I've never seen with the previous dogs I've had (those being German Shepard's). The first time this happened was about 5 years ago; my dog is about 6 yrs old now, so he wouldn't have been that old when he started acting this way. It happened when I decided to walk him somewhere we'd never walked before, and because it was a very warm day I decided to walk a few miles from home. But once we got to a certain point, which unfortunately just happened to be on a country road, he suddenly stopped and wouldn't go further. I tried to walk back where we had come from, which he did for a few feet, but then wouldn't go the opposite way either. To make matters worse I hadn't brought my mobile phone with me which meant I was stuck so couldnt phone someone to pick us up. After several attempts (by now I had been stuck there for a good 2 hours), he, for some reason, decided to move and I eventually managed to get him back home. I'd assumed it was the heat that had exhausted him (he's a Rough Collie BTW).
Ever since this I have never walked him that distance and instead I just stick to the local area in case it happened again.
Jukebag said:
I'm wondering if anyone can help me about the strange behavior I've been getting (for a good few years now) with a collie dog I have. Every so often when I take the dog for a walk the dog will stop in his tracks and will refuse to walk further on to where I am heading. I try everything to get him moving, trying to dug his lead, but he will not move. When I decide to walk back to where I came from he will walk for a little while until he again comes to a standstill, sometimes he doesn't and doesn't he does. When he does this you're stuck trying to get him back home.
I thought that maybe the area that I walk him in as maybe triggered some kind of danger or has sensed something he doesn't like, but it can't be the case as he often does the same in other places I walk him, whether it be a field or a street. It's very spontaneous.
Has anyone else experienced this strange behavior with their collie or any other breed?.
Can't believe somebody else gets this problem too, thought it was just me. My Husky, which i got from a rescue centre at 6 months old, does this but usually it was just the one particular place she done it(and still does it 5 years later!) I thought that maybe the area that I walk him in as maybe triggered some kind of danger or has sensed something he doesn't like, but it can't be the case as he often does the same in other places I walk him, whether it be a field or a street. It's very spontaneous.
Has anyone else experienced this strange behavior with their collie or any other breed?.
She would just stop dead, go no further and you felt like she just fell into an instant who in tbe hell are you? And where in the hell am i?
The first time this happened was 2 days afteri got her, i panicked as when i walked towards her she ran away from me, and i couldn't get tbe lead back on her, the worrying thing was we had crossed a main road on our way and we were heading back towards it, i would walk towards her, she would go further from me?
Then, suddenly, she snapped out of it on her own! And all was well again??
I simply put it down to her being new to me, and maybe something had happened to her before she was abandoned at 6 months old!
But, she will 'still' do it now!!
Interestingly she has only done this once in some other area apart from that one particular place where she freaks out!
My dog does this, but it’s explainable...
There’s a certain spot she won’t walk past. As you approach it she gets hesitant. Then she’ll stop. And will literally lay belly down in an attempt not to be moved. Of course, it’s the street entrance to the vets! I have to cross the road 50yrd beforehand if I need to take that route!
Second one is a corner of the local park. Every single walk, without fail, she’ll run to a specific corner and spend 30 secs sniffing around... yup, as a 6 month old pup, she found a half eaten burger there. And 4 years later, still obviously thinks it’s worth checking this place. And you just have to let her off the lead to perform this customary routine. If she’s on the lead she’ll try and take you there, and if you don’t go, she just lays down on her belly in protest!
Hilarious really, because she’s otherwise a very obedient pooch!
There’s a certain spot she won’t walk past. As you approach it she gets hesitant. Then she’ll stop. And will literally lay belly down in an attempt not to be moved. Of course, it’s the street entrance to the vets! I have to cross the road 50yrd beforehand if I need to take that route!
Second one is a corner of the local park. Every single walk, without fail, she’ll run to a specific corner and spend 30 secs sniffing around... yup, as a 6 month old pup, she found a half eaten burger there. And 4 years later, still obviously thinks it’s worth checking this place. And you just have to let her off the lead to perform this customary routine. If she’s on the lead she’ll try and take you there, and if you don’t go, she just lays down on her belly in protest!
Hilarious really, because she’s otherwise a very obedient pooch!
Could it be he's experiencing some kind of intermittent pain? A twinge in his spine or one of his joints?
One of our older dogs occasionally stands and won't move for a couple of minutes, usually when first getting out of the car after a walk, I'm sure that's what causes it with him although he shows no sign of being in pain or distress
One of our older dogs occasionally stands and won't move for a couple of minutes, usually when first getting out of the car after a walk, I'm sure that's what causes it with him although he shows no sign of being in pain or distress
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