Is my dog submissive or nervous?

UK0106

Hi all

A bit of advice needed please.

I rehomed a 6.5 month old Yorkie at the weekend. His previous owners told me that he was a bit nervous but when I visited him before bringing him home, I saw no real sign of nervousness around them, their other dog or even myself.

Now I have had him in the house for 2 nights; he's loving and likes to follow me every where but every now and then when something new happens, he starts trembling and his tail drops (doesn't go between his legs). He slinks along the floor and looks up at me with really sad looking eyes.

He loves to be walked and we have been on quite a few since he arrived (including a long one in the park). Sometimes during the walk, he'll just stop dead and refuse to walk any further no matter how much encouragement I give him. If I give him a small treat, he usually starts moving again but then other times, nothing works and I have to pick him up and bring him inside that way. Other times, he refuses to walk back into the building.

Whenever he wakes from a nap, I try to encourage him to go outside for a wee but because I live in an apartment, I have to put the lead on to do this. As soon as he sees the lead, he crouches really low and wees whereever he is (sofa, bed, floor) whilst looking at me. It's not a lot of wee and when I pick him, he stops straight away but then when we get outside, he doesn't wee again. He hasn't weed whilst on a walk and has only weed once outside since I got him (in my mum's garden).

I've had a look at some online sources and it seems that he could be submissive but could also be nervous (maybe both?). I'm just trying to figure out how to make him more confident so any advice would be great. I'll answer any questions.

Just to be clear, I do have him booked into the vets for a health check and microchipping tomorrow so will also ask there.

Thanks

nonnatus

From the brief details you've provided, it seems to me that your little guy associates the LEAD with something bad happening. The crouching and urinating are fear driven.


He obviously enjoys walks and loves spending time with you though, so I'm sure you'll get through it with patience.
Are you able to contact the previous owners? They may not tell you anything and they may even lie, but it would be interesting to ask them if they noted any odd behaviour in the puppy when he was put on the lead?


Perhaps they were very Impatient when training him on the lead and he had some bad experiences / was bullied. It doesn't take much I'm afraid for a dog to make bad connections between things. It takes FAR longer to get rid of those connections and make putting the lead on to be something he looks forward to with joy not fear...


Good Luck x

UK0106

Thanks for replying.

The previous owner told me that they were unable to get him to walk from their house to the woods where they walked him on the lead. She seemed to think it stemmed from her carrying him in her coat on walks with their older dog when he was a puppy. Almost as if he thought he wasn't supposed to walk out of the house on a lead.

She did say that he'd gotten better on the lead and honestly, once he's on it, with the exception of the few stop dead in his tracks moments, he's perfect. Walks to heel, doesn't pull and stops whenever I stop.

I thought that the weeing may be fear driven. I'm just not sure how to get him to not associate the lead with fear. I need to be able to get him out of the house to wee when he wakes up. Should I try doing it without the lead?

chris_n_tj

We were given a great tip which did work. Just chuck the lead on the floor and just leave it. We did this with the harness and after a few days it took the fear away.

Sorry for half a post my PC went on strike lol.

zaksmum

chris_n_tj wrote: »

We were given a great tip which did work. Just chuck the le

Did you fall asleep while typing this, Chris?:)

chris_n_tj

zaksmum wrote: »

Did you fall asleep while typing this, Chris?:)

Hehehe zaks naughty pc playing up big time today. x

chris_n_tj

How about taking him outside onto your landing then put the lead on? Are you using the lead he came with? If so might be a good idea to buy him a new one that looks nothing like the one he came with.
I would just use lots of praise and slowly does it. He will soon realise you are not going to hurt him and settle into a lovely life in his new forever home xx

elsien

Do you walk him using a collar and lead? Just wondered if a harness might be better - my neighbour who has yorkies says it's safer for them as there is less pressure on the neck. Plus it might also overcome any negative associations, as Chris says.

trolleyrun

As he's such a small dog, could you pick him up, take him outside and put the lead on him while you hold him? Lots of (small) treats and cuddles will help too. If you are planning on using a harness, let him have a sniff and play with it first, and possibly wear it indoors for short periods for him to get used to it.

Using a cue word for going out might help in the long run. With my rescue, I taught her "wee wee" from the start and within a short time I was able to use it as a "command". I ask her "Do you want a wee wee?" And she goes to the back door. When outside, I tell her to have a wee wee and she does it straight away. I'm still working on the #2, but she is very particular as to where she does those.

Good luck, I hope you get it sorted soon

UK0106

Thank you all for your helpful replies.

He came with a chain lead and I think the sound of it scared him so I bought an extentible lead instead, which he seems to prefer.

I always walk him with a harness on because I have also read that the collars can damage their sensitive bones.

I took him out about an hour ago and let him come into the hall before I put the lead on him. He was much happier and had a lovely walk.

Another thing I'm concerned about is that he won't wee whilst on a walk at all but seems to wee almost by accident in the house. For example, he was just sleeping in his crate with the door open and all of a sudden, woke up, licked himself and jumped out. When I looked, he'd weed on his blanket in there but it seems like it was in his sleep.

His previous owner claimed that he was house trained. Could this just be regression as a result of the change of home?

trolleyrun

The poor dog is probably confused as to what's going on, but once he gets to know you better, things will improve and he'll trust you. Previous owners might not have toilet trained him properly. You said earlier that you're taking him to the vet, so just make sure they check for any urine infections or similar.

When I first got Pipsqueak, she "saved up" her wee and would only have one huge wee and none whilst doing walkies. It took time, but she now has lots of little wees. She learned from her doggie friends more than anything, so if you have friends with dogs, maybe try walking with them if possible. A friend of mine has a rescue and he's been with them for 6 months now, but he still doesn't get the concept of "marking" or having lots of little wees. Then again, he's only just got the idea of weeing away from the garden so it'll take time.

Keep taking yours out every time he's had a wee indoors and use the cue word. Move around a bit, as that gets things moving iykwim. If he does another wee whilst outside, make it sound like that was the most clever thing in the world and give a treat with lots of praise. He'll soon get the hang of it. Think of it a bit like toilet training a child. Takes time and a lot of patience