[katieperez]

OK it's me again. So my husband walks the kids every day during the week since I don't get home for another 2 hours after him. He recently lengthened their walks. He called me today at the end of his rope. I guess Brandy will freeze up like a dag-gone statue in the same spot every single time they take the long route. On any other route, this doesn't happen. The easy solution would be to change routes, I know, but this one is most convenient due to sidewalks on the busy section of the street. Why in the world would a dog do this? He's tried, tugging her, being stern, being happy & encouraging, but nothing works. All the while Abram is getting fidgety and restless. He eventually picks her up. And she's getting too big for him to be doing that, she's 68 lbs. When they're a few feet away from that spot, she's back to normal. And it's a good chunk of road that's the busy section so that's not it. It's only one small spot on that road that she won't budge. The only thing we've come up with is there is a male dog that barks through the front door of the house she freezes up in front of. But even then, I can't tell you how many yards with chain link fences with barking dogs in them she passes just fine. Or other dogs passing by on a leash. She's certainly not dog shy. Or people shy. She's not in season obviously. Is it a smell? Maybe a loud sound went off right there that maybe Shane didn't notice that she remembers? What in the world? Am I close? Suggestions would be great, because my husband says it's awful humiliating. And it can't be too fun for her either.

[tickle]

OK it's me again. So my husband walks the kids every day during the week since I don't get home for another 2 hours after him. He recently lengthened their walks. He called me today at the end of his rope. I guess Brandy will freeze up like a dag-gone statue in the same exact spot every single time they take the long route. On any other route, this doesn't happen. The easy solution would be to change routes, I know, but this one is most convenient due to sidewalks on the busy section of the street. Why in the world would a dog do this? He's tried, tugging her, being stern, being happy & encouraging, but nothing works. All the while Abram is getting fidgety and restless. He eventually picks her up. And she's getting too big for him to be doing that, she's 68 lbs. When they're a few feet away from that spot, she's back to normal. And it's a good chunk of road that's the busy section so that's not it. It's only one small spot on that road that she won't budge. The only thing we've come up with is there is a male dog that barks through the front door of the house she freezes up in front of. But even then, I can't tell you how many yards with chain link fences with barking dogs in them she passes just fine. Or other dogs passing by on a leash. She's certainly not dog shy. Or people shy. She's not in season obviously. Is it a smell? Maybe a loud sound went off right there that maybe Shane didn't notice that she remembers? What in the world? Am I close? Suggestions would be great, because my husband says it's awful humiliating. And it can't be too fun for her either.

My walker hound, although probably older then your pet, has grown an aversion, on our walks, to the noise the public transit bus makes when going by. She cowers, I have changed routes but we are in a small town and she and I can hear the noise of the bus on our other routes. I can't pick her up, gosh, she is 60 lbs. and your hubby is going to hurt his back doing that to solve the problem.

If she is in season, that could explain the problem, probably a male dog barking that she knows would like to get at her. Their barks probably explain more to them then do us. Is this her first season? She could be nervous knowing what she must do sooner or later.

[katieperez]

No, she is spayed. And a good chunk of the walk involves loud traffic, so that can't be it. It's something to do with that spot. I'm just trying to figure out what could've happened right there to frighten her. Ok I'm gone for the evening, I'll check in tomorrow! Thanks guys!

[bushg]

I would take a treat with me, something yummy and right before I got to that spot I would start tempting her with it maybe hold it in his hand with the same hand that her leash is in balled up in his fist and let her sniff it as they walk past the house. Make sure he shortens the leash so it is near her face. Or get a wagon... a skate board or roller skates lol just kidding.

[tickle]

No, she is spayed. And a good chunk of the walk involves loud traffic, so that can't be it. It's something to do with that spot. I'm just trying to figure out what could've happened right there to frighten her. Ok I'm gone for the evening, I'll check in tomorrow!! Thanks guys!!

You may never know, they are not on the same wave length (at times) as us. I have beaten my brain over something bothering taffy to no avail and suddenly it doesn't exist any longer. I came to the conclusion its something particular in her head, some mindset at one particular moment in time that will come back to bug her at intervals at the same spot. She is a pretty smart cookie so I don't worry about it for long knowing it disappears as quickly as it surfaces.

[labman]

You never know what is going to set off a dog. I was walking through the lawn and garden section in Lowe's with Daisy. All at once she stopped dead. When I looked down, she was shaking like a leaf. She was looking at a bird bath with a cherub for a pedestal. It took a lot of coaxing to get her to go up to it. I think it was Gretchen that took a fright at a fire plug. Prince was afraid of women in broom stick skirts. I was afraid to follow the advice to go up to what the dog is afraid of and pat it.

That will hardly work if you can't identify it. Sometimes a dog will looking at the fear object. Other times if they can't get away, they turn their backs. Several of our puppies have done that at the fireworks displays. How long has she been doing it? Was the barking dog there before she started showing fear? How does she react if you approach it from the other direction? Is the sidewalk elevated there? Many dogs are afraid of heights. I would lean towards there once being an unusual noise, a car backfiring, a motorcycle blasting by, etc. A car could have even thrown a stone.

It is important to remain confident and not to console her. Doing so will reward her for showing fear. Be careful about treats for the same reason. She doesn't get the treat until she is past the spot.

As for getting her past it, you could try what works with puppies new to the leash. Run past them in baby steps calling ''Go, go, go!'' in an excited, happy voice. Some of my advice is best applied without an audience, ''Nice bird bath, what a great bird bath, good birdbath.''

[RubyPitbull]

Katie, I think to be able to narrow it down it is important for your husband to make a note of anything and everything that is going on with the dog and the surroundings. Is she sniffing the air or the ground? Is she shaking? Is she looking off into space or is she focusing on something specific? Is the hair on her back standing up? Are her ears going back? What position is her tail in? Does she sit or stand? Body posturing is very important in figuring out what is triggering it.

[froggy7]

I have a rescue greyhound, and have also encountered the "statue" issue. Greyhounds are somewhat notorious for freezing when exposed to strange new situations, which can be quite often when they are just off the track.

What I have found works is to just stand there for a while. If you can, totally ignore the dog. Admire the scenery, enjoy the breeze, sing to yourself. The dog's playing statue, so it's not like you have to be worried about what they are doing. And then, I just say "come", "let's go", whatever you normally say when heading out on the walk, and she'll normally just go along at that point. I don't know why it works... maybe because I'm not stressing out about the situation at that point, so the dog just naturally calms down and follows? Obviously, this is something that you would have to work on without the kidlet along, since it's not reasonable to expect the kid to be calm and happy just standing around.

[labman]

''The only thing we've come up with is there is a male dog that barks through the front door of the house she freezes up in front of.''
''Suggestions would be great, because my husband says it's awful humiliating. And it can't be too fun for her either.''

Likely the people with the dog are thinking ''Why does that turkey stand out there and upset our dog. ''

[katieperez]

Wow, awesome tips. Thanks all. I've concluded that I need to take this route WITH my husband to see exactly what she's doing. I've seen her "freeze" stance before and it involves, tail tucking (she's got a long dock for a rottie so she can do that :) ), her head is like half down and kind of looking up at him and only him with those "uh oh am I in trouble" eyes. She does this also when she picks something up off the ground outside that she's not supposed to have, like a rock or leaf. She'll look at us with those eyes like, "did they see me? Are they going to tell me to drop it?" Anyway, she doesn't shake, and she's pretty much seated but not quite. Her little bum is not exactly touching the ground but she's in the sit position. She's done this every single time they take this route. My husband said that the barking dog wasn't there the first time, but a white van was parked on the street where she froze. No one was in it and it wasn't running. That is the only thing that he can remember being there. I've been down this road before and the sidewalk is flat. My thoughts are more leaning towards what was mentioned earlier, like a motorcycle or a stone being kicked up by traffic. Of course Shane says none of that happened but how in the world would he remember? Or maybe she is just strange. I told hubby to wait until I get home from work today and we'll walk them together so I can get a better idea of exactly which spot it is and how she acts just before she reaches it. I told him she could be feeding off his energy now every time they approach it, but he says he doesn't even look at her. We'll see. We may just change routes but I'd love to be able to correct the behavior. I'll let y'all know how it goes after the weekend.

[froggy7]

I actually ran across on my walk today. For some reason Trink decided to freeze when she saw some people loading up their SUV. Across the street and about 5 houses down. Why she had an issue with that, I don't have a clue. The waiting thing worked some. But the other thing that I remembered was changing sides of the road. Which is entirely counter-intuitive, since that meant we were walking even closer to the spooky thing, but hey, it got her moving again. Or I guess that she could have been worried about something on the near side of the street, and just staring at the SUV so that she didn't have to see what was bothering her.

[Megg]

From all the answers here this will sound odd. I will go in more detail if asked. I personally believe in pharanormal. I also believe dogs an cats have a keen senses. Therefore possibly sensing pharanormal phonomina. The animal freezes or barks. Depends on the personality of the animal really. He/she might be sensing something odd in the energy or area around it.

[katieperez]

Here's an update. So I went with on Saturday and yesterday. Guess what? She didn't do it either time :p He took her and I took Abram on Saturday then yesterday he took both while I lagged behind to watch. And nothing. I laughed my butt off :p He said oh great, now I look like a liar. I told him that maybe she's just more comfortable knowing that mama is close by. Who the heck knows. But I told him all the awesome tips and advice that y'all gave me so if she continues to do it when I'm not there, he can work with her. Thanks everyone for the ideas! He'll need it!

[RubyPitbull]

LOL. Very funny Katie. Thanks for keeping us posted. Hope this is now a complete non-issue.

[labman]

OK, you take your car to the shop, or have the geek come to your computer. Will the problem show itself?

[RubyPitbull]

Hahaha. THAT is funny labman. You have a point there. LOL.

[katieperez]

Labman, or how about you feel like crap for weeks until you step foot n the doctors office! Worst comes to worst, he'll change routes. The fact that she didn't do it those 2 times puts me a bit at ease, pretty much a complete non-issue, yes Ruby :D

[labman]

The doctor then prescribe $3 a piece pills for what isn't bothering you any more.

[katieperez]

LOL! Oh and can't forget the bill for the diagnostics the shop boys ran on your car only to come up empty handed. "Sir/Ma'am, we couldn't find the problem you were talking about, but here's what you owe......" :p