Hey all,

for those that didnt read my introduction post, i recently adopted a husky by the name of Shiro. Only 10 months old and we are already his 4th owners (me and my gf). He's been with me for 5 days only. I have worked as Musher and Kennel keeper with siberian huskies for 2 years (in the past)

Shiro is a very frightened dog and shows signs of abuse and/or trauma. He's very afraid of strangers(humans) however he's not afraid of other dogs. When taking him on walks, his tail is pointed all the way down through his hind legs and he's pulling like crazy. Sometimes he panics and runs backwards, trying to escape from his collar and leash (he wears both a harness and a normal collar and each attached to a leash i carry).

At night or really early in the morning when there is no one about he's walking much better and much more calm sometimes even wagging his tail about.

When i notice people walking past, he starts getting anxious so what we try is to make him sit or stop, and just stand there together waiting for the moment to pass and then continue. However we often run into the situation where his anxiety transforms into full-blown panic-attack, when he encounters too many stressors at once. Once this happens its insanely hard for him to regain his posture.

Any ideas on how to get him out of his panic attacks? Make him regain his posture?

thanks !

I have a similar problem with Luka - but he is only 11 weeks old. The further we get from the house - the more anxious he gets and wants to go back! Its very frustrating as an owner - but i'm just hoping he gets use to it as he gets older!

Walking him with another person is a different story though! I've walked him all the way into the town without a problem when I have my sister or my dad with me! He will happily come when called by the person who can walk 10-20meters ahead!

Maybe try walking Shiro together with your gf and have her go ahead, crouch down and call out to him to come in a happy excited voice?

As far as getting him out of his panic attacks goes - i'd crouch down next to him and give him a treat, pat him and tell him its OK, see, its OK, nothing to worry about, then divert his attention with an excited, cmon lets go (to your gf) again who's slightly ahead of you!


EDIT.

I almost forgot - when we first brought him home - he wouldn't walk with an extra person! He needed to be in a pack - I think 3 or 4 of us were walking him and now its doable with just the 1 extra person

Do you have another dog or a friend with a dog that you can walk with since he does better with dogs?

I would try to walk him at the times you said are less stressful, less people out etc. I don't recommend coddling when a dog is panicked. IMO it reinforces that behavior. Most important is to remain calm. Our dogs look to us and judged our reactions. If they see we are relaxed it helps diffuse the panic easier. If we freak out too, then we create a vicious cycle.

Instead of having him stop and sit when people walk by, have you tried to just keep walking and keep him focused on the walk?

I'm agree with Dee. I wouldn't reinforce his fearful behavior by petting and telling him it's okay (because it's not okay). Navi was very similar when we first got her. She would dart from left to right at the sight of any person or strange sound and would try to back out of her leash. Attempting to walk both her and Drogo at the same time was extremely difficult considering I'm not that strong of a person. What worked best for me was to completely ignore her when she'd start to panic and just keep on walking. It's important you maintain confidence in both mind and body posture throughout this process. Your sibe will gain strength and courage from you if you behave like a leader.

It didn't take long for her to improve immensely. She's not perfect yet but the difference is like night and day. She was also very scared of the doggie pick-up station in our courtyard. We couldn't even walk by it without having her scramble in the other direction. We would bring Drogo over to the station first and make him sit, then bring Navi over. All 4 of us would just stand there together without saying anything and wait for her to settle. She'd eventually end up laying down; at this point we would give her a treat to reward her non-fearful behavior. She has absolutely no problem with that thing now!

Just be patient and consistent. Don't reinforce anxious or fearful behavior. Be calm and confident. Dealing with this can be very frustrating and upsetting but hang in there!

What makes Shiro even more difficult is that he doesn't care about treats when on a walk at all. Its REALLY HARD / IMPOSSIBLE getting his attention!

Another thing is that it's almost like he doesn't care about attention too much. So i am having a hard time finding proper reward or motivation for him.

Sometimes when he gets too anxious to move forward in any coherent way i try to just stay in place (no petting no sweet talking). Backwards & Sideways pulling / jumping / dashing is rampant.

When possible i try to stay on the move.

Its so hard because he has had 4 other "bosses" before us, and they probably have all demanded different things from him and he's only 10 months old

I feel like he needs a new start.

I was just writing down what worked for Luka - not every dog is the same and now he walks fine, just like a dog should. I didn't see it as reinforcing timid behaviour, just saw it as showing him that there was nothing to be scared of :-)

Erinc wrote:

I was just writing down what worked for Luka - not every dog is the same and now he walks fine, just like a dog should. I didn't see it as reinforcing timid behaviour, just saw it as showing him that there was nothing to be scared of :-)

Very right you are. It is also very different when teaching a new puppy to walk on leash. The fear is a little different because it's all so new. With a dog slightly older, it's a different type of scared that you do not want to reinforce.

I think you're right, Shiro does need a new start. It's do over time. Stay consistant and confident and he will see you as his furever boss. Mine was about 7mos when I got him. I have no idea what his background was, but the bottom line he was with me now. It took a good six months before he trusted me and we began to bond. Then we still had lots more work to do, but it has been very rewarding. Now he knows he can fully trust me.

So today Shiro has been with us for a week. He starts to test his boundaries at home sometimes blatantly disregarding commands and he checks to see who is in charge and how they are in charge. He does his wait & come here commands well when i got his attention at home as long as there is food involved. Outside he doesn't care about food much at all.

Today we went on a long walk and he met a lot of other dogs and some new humans. He did okay overall, except the jumping/pulling, i think i should get the heel-command down quickly that would help immensely.

Oh apparently Shiro likes to dive for the roots of reeds and pulls them out. He likes to get dirty.

When we get home after a walk (even long ones) he first goes to "his place" for cookie, then soon he starts walking around the house making little whiney / crying noise very softly, not sure what is up with that.

Oh and we made a picture! yay!

thanks for the advice and welcome all !

Once he gets into a routine he'll understand that it's time to settle down. For the moment i'd just ignore the pacing and crying and he will stop. Once he goes and lays down just give a small easy "good boy."

While on the walk it may be beneficial to teach "watch me" and try and maintain eye contact while other dogs are passing. Or if that's too difficult you can also reward looking at other dogs, just be at a distance away before they go into hyper drive and stop comprehending anything you say. For what it's worth a squeaker (either from a maimed toy or you can purchase them separately) works well for getting a Huskies attention.