scared to go outside

Question
I have a beagle who is 18 months old. He is a good dog but recently whenever I take him outside he gets scared. His tail will go in between his legs and he will try to run away. It's gotten to the point where it is hard to walk him. What can I do to solve this problem?

Answer
Hi thanks for writing.... well first we need to try and determine what happened to make him react this way... was there a loud noise, did someone do something to him, did he hurt himself, does his collar hurt him, did another dog attack him? Some thing has to have happened for him suddenly not want to go out anymore, especially a beagle, who LOVE to walk and run and play. I think it is important to try and pinpoint what it is that he is afraid of so you can desensitize him from it. Does he act like this in any other situations?

In the meantime each time you take him out and kind of have to drag him along it reinforces his fears and tells him that taking a walk is a bad and unenjoyable thing. This is not good. Please try to identify what it is that happened and what he is afraid of and write me back and then I can help you to work on the issue.