Greyhound Training Tip- Freezing on walks
Greyhounds often freeze on walks for no apparent reason and most of us have struggled with four long legs firmly planted in the ground. Or maybe your greyhounds just flops to the ground and refuses to keep walking.
Our greyhounds perceive the environment differently than us. Objects, sounds and smells that we are so used to can scare your newly adopted hound to the point that he or she is freezing or otherwise refusing. So what do you do?
We can try to force our greyhound to keep walking by pulling on the leash however, forcing a dog to overcome its fear will take away all control from him and activate the fight/flight system. This could result in a dangerous situation if the dog goes too far over threshold and increase the chances of both dog and you being injured or it may cause the dog to shut down emotionally.
Luring a dog with food or a toy into overcoming its fear can work on occasions. It can also create conflict in the dog as he values the food that you are luring him with and he may push himself too far before realising he is too fearful and want out. Again, this can be dangerous.
Reinforcing exploratory behaviours from point A to point B at the greyhound's own pace activates the seeking system, reduces stress and eventually may over time change his mindset if fearful. The dog can approach and retreat as it chooses and is bridged (clicked) and given something nice with every advance it makes toward point B.