He freezes right outside/inside door

[Dex]

Hello! This is my first post here, but I've read and learned a lot from this great forum. Me and my girlfriend adopted a 2 year old racing greyhound about a month ago. We thought we were well prepared, having read a few books on retired racers, but now we need your help. Our boy is a very sweet and lazy dog (usually you find him in the sofa) that's been eating a drinking well. The problem we got is the walking part. At this moment he does not pee or poo inside anymore, which is great relief. However, after putting on the harness, and going down the elevator (sixth floor) he freezes. He usually gets out of the elevator, but then either just before or after coming through the main door to our apartment building, he wont go anywhere.

We have tried with lures which have been working about a third of the times. We have tried dragging him in the leech a bit, but he just refuses to go and seems a bit cruel (?). It seems like he's scared of the outside world. The solution that's been most effective is when me or my girlfriend gets out of the door and "disappears" for a minute, and then show up again. Usually our dog leaps towards that person which gets him out, but this means we have to be 2 people every walk. When we have managed to get out, he usually walks very good without stopping. However after he's got his business done (which usually happens near the home), he wants to go directly home. When this happens, he freezes when we we're walking another direction than home.

It should also be said that often when there comes another dog walking, or sometimes just a human, he usually gets a bit scared and tries to go away from the dog (which sometimes helps with the walking part if the other dog is coming from the right way).

All this makes the walking part very frustrating, and I feel we have to act now before it turns to a bad habit. Please help!

[Feefee147]

Ahhh The good old freezing issues. We've all been there - they can statue for quite some time when nervous (or lazy and stubborn ) 

It's a scary world out there for them, all strange new noises, and you'll likely find he also panics a little with any loud noises (sirens, mopeds...etc) that he hasn't heard before. 

I'm sure you'll get plenty of good advice from the pros on here. It sounds like you're doing brilliantly already (well done with the toilet training) and trying different things.

Personally, I have found that patience and routine are key to progressing. Our boy was, and still is sometimes, very nervous outdoors. Any loud bangs, dogs in his face or people trying to stroke him and he will still jump out of his skin and try to head home! 

Ours is food obsessed and this has helped HUGELY with training and confidence building both indoors and out. Smelly ham seems to trump scary and if he's fixating on an amazing treat he's suddenly surprisingly less fixated on his scary surroundings. 

I've also found that as the months have passed and we've built up a bond he now trusts me enough to lean in and walk with me rather than panic and freeze. And when we do encounter anything difficult or scary, or he is just digging his heels in, a lot of positive encouragement and praise with treat works wonders. Not helpful, I realise, but have hope that in time it will gradually improve! 

A good brisk pace, routine/sticking to the same route and keeping everything cheery and confident can help. I found early on that investing in a harness with handle helps a lot - encouraging a dog forward with a handle is a lot easier and gentler than trying to drag him (I found dragging seemed to have the opposite effect and mine just dug in more). That said, adding a slip lead also can work wonders as quite often they have been trained with them previously and understand that slip lead = moving. Worth a try? A lot of people prefer collar and lead to harness so perhaps you'll get some good pointers there.

Also, persevere. If you give in and take him straight home he'll learn that freezing and trying to drag you back to his safe zone works. Sometimes just standing next to him, not making a fuss, looking the way you want to go and just giving him time to process and assess may help. I've had many 5-10 minute standing sessions in the street...may have looked an idiot but he gradually realised we *were* going forward and the freezing periods gradually lessened before he would wander on.

Good luck!

 

 

[Dex]

4 hours ago, Feefee147 said:

Ahhh The good old freezing issues. We've all been there - they can statue for quite some time when nervous (or lazy and stubborn ) 

It's a scary world out there for them, all strange new noises, and you'll likely find he also panics a little with any loud noises (sirens, mopeds...etc) that he hasn't heard before. 

I'm sure you'll get plenty of good advice from the pros on here. It sounds like you're doing brilliantly already (well done with the toilet training) and trying different things.

Personally, I have found that patience and routine are key to progressing. Our boy was, and still is sometimes, very nervous outdoors. Any loud bangs, dogs in his face or people trying to stroke him and he will still jump out of his skin and try to head home! 

Ours is food obsessed and this has helped HUGELY with training and confidence building both indoors and out. Smelly ham seems to trump scary and if he's fixating on an amazing treat he's suddenly surprisingly less fixated on his scary surroundings. 

I've also found that as the months have passed and we've built up a bond he now trusts me enough to lean in and walk with me rather than panic and freeze. And when we do encounter anything difficult or scary, or he is just digging his heels in, a lot of positive encouragement and praise with treat works wonders. Not helpful, I realise, but have hope that in time it will gradually improve! 

A good brisk pace, routine/sticking to the same route and keeping everything cheery and confident can help. I found early on that investing in a harness with handle helps a lot - encouraging a dog forward with a handle is a lot easier and gentler than trying to drag him (I found dragging seemed to have the opposite effect and mine just dug in more). That said, adding a slip lead also can work wonders as quite often they have been trained with them previously and understand that slip lead = moving. Worth a try? A lot of people prefer collar and lead to harness so perhaps you'll get some good pointers there.

Also, persevere. If you give in and take him straight home he'll learn that freezing and trying to drag you back to his safe zone works. Sometimes just standing next to him, not making a fuss, looking the way you want to go and just giving him time to process and assess may help. I've had many 5-10 minute standing sessions in the street...may have looked an idiot but he gradually realised we *were* going forward and the freezing periods gradually lessened before he would wander on.

Good luck!

 

 

Thanks a lot for sharing your progress! Much appreciated. Regarding that harness, we do actually use one with a handle (the type with one strap around neck and two around chest). I haven’t used the handle though, but is it safe to “lift”/drag the dog even if he resists? Sometimes he freezes in the elevator where a more effective technique than waiting him out would be preferable.

[Feefee147]

2 hours ago, Dex said:

Thanks a lot for sharing your progress! Much appreciated. Regarding that harness, we do actually use one with a handle (the type with one strap around neck and two around chest). I haven’t used the handle though, but is it safe to “lift”/drag the dog even if he resists? Sometimes he freezes in the elevator where a more effective technique than waiting him out would be preferable.

Ah!  Can’t imagine you fancy riding around in an elevator for hours 😂

We have a Ruffwear Webmaster which goes around the shoulders, chest and the bottom of his chest/tummy. I was reluctant to move him using the handle initially but have found that gentle ‘encouragement’ (ie gently moving him but not yanking) doesn’t case him any harm or discomfort. Plus he doesn’t have much choice but to move with me if I use the handle.

I find giving him a tug and getting a bit of momentum going helps. I found it impossible to do that with collar/lead.... he was able to get the strength behind him to dig his heels in! 

[HeyRunDog]

Freezing is part of greyhound ownership initiation but with time patience and a sense of humour they do get over it. They seem to wait until you are at your wits end and threatening to take them back before they suddenly start walking as if nothing was a problem. I have been known to be seen carrying my greyhound 200 yards down the street to get her home. Much to the amusement of my neighbours.

Greyhounds tend to freeze until their brain works out what's happening and as Feefee147 says "It's a scary world out there for them, all strange new noises, and you'll likely find he also panics a little with any loud noises (sirens, mopeds...etc) that he hasn't heard before."

There is the collar grab technique that you could try which is especially useful if they freeze in a dangerous situation. I don't think it works with a harness though. You put your fingers through the collar and with a slight lift, take a step forward taking the greyhound with you as if tenpin bowling and your hound is the bowling ball and giving the command "lets go" keep walking. It's similar to how the trainers get the hounds into the traps before a race. I only had to do it three or four times to get Grace over her freezing.