Zara is a 2 1/2 year old GSD. In the house she is generally obedient, biddable and a nice dog to be around. She knows all the basic commands and will respond to them accordingly. Her diet suits her (after much fiddling around to get it just right), she is now on Burns Fish and Brown Rice. She is great with the kids and generally a pleasure to be around.

BUT the moment she is taken for a walk, or even suspects she is leaving the house, all hell breaks loose. In the morning, she will start shaking, panting and whining to extreme levels when I start to get my children dressed. This reaches fever pitch when I go to put shoes on to leave the house. When we are walking along the street, if my son walks in front, she becomes APOPLECTIC. I am now conscious of people looking out of their windows as we walk by because of the noise and commotion that taking the dog for a walk creates.

Today, I put a Thundershirt on the dog and we tested it out by the whole family going for a walk. OMG, she was the WORST I've EVER seen her. She was so bad with the anxiety that I feared she would collapse, pass out or someone would contact the police for animal cruelty.

I DO NOT KNOW WHAT TO DO. I have had GSD's all of my life and NEVER come across a GSD that displays anxiety to this level. When we go further afield for a walk and have to put her in the car, it is an absolute nightmare. I fear the distraction from the dog's antics could result in a car accident.

Once the dog is off the lead and running free, she's a bit hyper, but she's fine. She'll do as she's told, come back when called etc. At the end of a walk, she'll happily walk on the leash calmly or go home in the car quietly like any other dog.

I have been in touch with 3 dog behaviourists, I've tried the thundervest, the dog is walked at least 2 hours a day (with lots of "fetch" to tire her out). I've played around with her diet, I've tried Zylkene. She has been checked over by the vet to make sure there are no physical issues - there's not. I feel like I've tried everything to lessen the anxiety she experiences when out with the children and I really don't know what else to do. I am tearing my hair out, I have never felt so at a loss as to what to do.

Final point, when it's just me and the dog - no problems.

I now challenge ANYONE to come up with a solution to help Zara. I am at the point now where I do not know what to do.

How old are your children? Are they old enough to learn not to walk in front or for you to walk her when they are in school? With a thundershirt you get the dog used to it before you start using it in stressful situations or they associate the shirt with the stress. These are just short term solutions but once she is more calm going on walks then the children could perhaps come on the second walk.

Hi Jobeth,

Thanks for the reply. The children are 3 and 1 so not in school yet. I can only assume that the children are the trigger for her anxiety. When I first tried the Thundervest on the dog in the house, she was great with it and flopped down in the corner. I took it off at that point and put it on for another 5 minutes later in the day and got her used to it that way. When I first used it in a walking situation, I put it on her prior to putting the kids shoes on, but to no avail. Maybe I've just got to accept that the dog is the way she is and we just have to put up with it because so far, despite trying new things, animal trainers, behaviourists (the list is endless), her behaviour is becoming worse instead of better.

Hopefully someone with some advice that makes a difference will come along x

Hmmm, I'm no expert by a long shot but this is what I would try.

Walk her without the kids, give her a good run and when you get back to the house, go back out with the kids too. First time go down the drive and back (or whatever equivalent you have). No further. And return home.
Limit her exposure to walking with the children to this, day after day for as long as it takes to get a better result. When you do get a better result very very very calmly praise her and reward her/treat her.
Slowly, slowly, slowly build on that foundation - a couple of steps further each time you feel you've made a little progress.
I don't know if thats something you can do with the kids? And it certainly wouldn't be a quick fix

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Lifes too short for drama and petty things, so kiss slowly, laugh insanely, love truly and forgive quickly

I have heard of this before. The dog becomes distressed that the children (her people that she is responsible for) are not under her protection because she is `trapped` on a lead.
One of my GSDs used to herd my children when they were little and I assume your dog has a very severe form of this?
If this sounds feasible, what I would do is to train her to defer to me around the children in the house. (It won`t hurt her to go without walks for a while)
To get a dog to defer to you (that is, have them accept that it`s your job to control the kids , not hers), do some basic training in the house and reward, When that is strong, get the children to leave the room, put the dog in a sit and reward, Call the child back, dog must remain by you in the sit, then is rewarded.
A good excercise is the `watch me` command - reward when she looks at you. Hold the gaze for a few seconds and reward when she`s got the idea. It helps get the dog to focus on you.
I would then use a Halti and your Watch me while in the garden with the children around, then on the front step, then in the pavement outside... gradually building up the control.
Take your time - you have years of fun ahead once she`s got over her fears.

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You say you have "been in touch" with 3 behaviourists, what does this mean exactly?

And how did you contact them?

The reason I ask is that this is not a protected term and anyone can set themselves up as a behaviourist.

A reputable behaviourist will generally not see you until and unless they have received a vet referral.

They generally belong to either the APBC, COAPE or UKRCB, I think you need the help of someone who can come along and see exactly what is happening and give you strategies to put in place.

It's definately the kids that are the trigger for her. I had exactly the same with my Dane to the point that I point blank refused to walk him if my youngest was there because would act up so much! I've been through all the food changes, like you, behaviourists etc. I so know how you feel hon & I sympathise immensely.

My kids are older than yours, so i imagine that the 1 year old has to be in a push chair and the 3 year old walking alongside or a double buggy? In your situation what I would try is the following (I'm assuming that a buggy of some sort will be present here), this is more or less what I did with mine.

1.Take her out early morning if poss alone to give her a good run and burn a bit of energy off.

2.Grab the buggy (minus the kids) and her lead and take her out walking with an empty buggy. If she starts to get anxious when you approach the buggy, drop the lead & go and put the kettle on and ignore her until she's calmed down. When she's calm, grab the buggy and lead and try again. Repeat until the buggy is no longer an anxious trigger for her and she can remain calm around it. When you can walk her around the block calmly with the empty buggy, move on to step 3.

3.So, she's ok with step two and she's had her morning run, let her see you start to dress the kids. If she reacts and starts to get into a state, stop, put the kettle or go tidy up or something, ignoring her until she settles, then try again. Repeat until she remains calm the whole time the kids are being dressed.

4. Once the kids are dressed she'll be expecting you to get the lead, so don't! Sit down with the kids and do some drawing, keeping an eye on the dog. As long as she is calm, get up without looking at her and go and get your shoes then sit back down and continue whatever you were doing with the kids.

5. Assuming she is still calm, put the kid(s) in the buggy. If she starts to react, take them out again and go and sit back down. Do this as many times as necesary until she remains calm throughout the process.

6. Once she is calm with a) Kids dressed b) your shoes on and c) kid(s) in buggy, go pick up her lead. If she starts to react and stress, put the lead down & take the kids out of the buggy, go do something else and ignore her until she's calm and then try again.

7. Lead her up (only if she's calm) and walk out the door. If she starts reacting, turn around and go back in again. You may only get a few steps but stick with it because the next time you'll get a couple more and so on.

It sounds long winded but it really isn't. The thing to remember is patience and changing her reaction to learned triggers. Having to take the dog out when you are busy and have small kids is stressful and she will pick up on that. Seeing the kids being dressed, you getting your shoes, probably in a rush, chivvying the kids etc will add to her anxiety and each little action will become a trigger for that stress so you need to change that association. If she's not calm before you leave the house there's no chance she will be once out walking.

Don't worry if you feel that she's not getting out as often as you want her to. If you have an hour window in which to walk her and it takes her 50 minutes to be in a calm state, then that's what you have to do. It won't last long and she'll very quickly become comfortable and realise that she'd best behave or she'll not be going anywhere

Be patient, breath deeply,don't stress and repeat every step as many times as it takes. Don't rush her. Put in a bit of time to do this (as longwinded as it seems) and you'll have no problems with her walking with the kids in the future.

My Dane was a sodding nightmare to walk with my little one (now 6) and would freak out and rear up at the tiniest little thing when he came to us, but now he'll run and ask her to come out with him and walks fantastically when she's there. The only thing we haven't gotton over yet is his refusal to advance if she gos into the park - he'll plonk his hairy old behind on the floor and point blank refuse to move until she comes out We're still working on that! Good luck

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Dear DaneandRottieMum,

First of all, I would like to thank you for taking the time to construct such a detailed reply. Some reactions to my plight have included: It's your own fault, you're not spending enough time with the dog, or, You need to train the children, not the dog. hmmmm, let me think about that one!!

I have been around GSD's for the past 30 years and never experienced anything like the reaction that we get from Zara and you're right, it is absolutely soul destroying.

However!!! Today, we started training (again!!) in earnest. I have pretty much done everything you suggested. We even all got in the car and drove to the beach (the biggest trigger ever!) and promptly drove all the way home again (think the kids are getting confused, never mind the dog!). All day, I've had the lead on and off the dog, she's been in and out of the car, up and down the street (not got as far as a full blown walk yet!) round and round the garden. There are tiny improvements every time....

I'm determined to make this situation better - I'm so grateful for yours (and others) kind response. I'll keep a post of progress.

Thank You,

Katie

That's excellent news!!! Keep with it and if you ever need a chat PM me your number or i'll send you mine. I know exactly what you're going through but you will get there. Baby steps!

Jo

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