Fear of walking on a leash

Question
QUESTION: I have a 2 1/2 year old male chi.  He was never a big fan of walks, he would start out lagging behind, but would eventually work his way to walking in front of me.  We did not walk hardly at all this winter cause it was so cold.  I went to go for a walk a couple weeks ago, and he now won't walk with leash on.  He will walk a couple steps and then lay down and cower and shake.  I coax him to come and try to tug lightly on the leash and he will eventually come to me and walk a little further and then lay down and cower.  I don't know of anything scaring him on previous walks.  I've been told to just keep walking or I'm would be playing into his fear.  Once he lays down he doesn't want to go, and I literally drag him all 4 feet braced trying to stop.  Also tried letting him walk around without the leash to be comfortable and then put the leash on to go for a walk, he would walk around the yard alright and then as soon as the leash was put on he lays down and cowers.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.  I would like to be able to enjoy taking him with me on walks and hikes again.  Thank you.

ANSWER: Hi Irielle....

The first question that comes to mind for me is if you're using a harness to attach his leash to when walking him? You should never use a collar to walk this breed as they're very susceptible to a collapsed trachea and they can actually experience severe pain due to a collar being used for walks.  Another question I have is if you've had him examined for luxating patellas?  If a dog has luxating patellas in one or both back legs, he will cower when being forced to walk and shaking can be a sign of pain.  I really think that you need to have him examined for physical problems before considering this to be a behavioral issue.  All this being said, you should never drag a dog that won't walk.  I'm not criticizing, I'm just saying that it can be very dangerous for the dog both physically and emotionally.  If he has nothing at all physically wrong with him (or even if he does) and you drag him, he's going to associate going for a walk with the fear of that happening again.  And, if he's got a medical issue going on, you could be doing further harm for sure.  Again, not a criticism...I know that you want to do your best for him or you would have never written.

Write back and let me know about the harness vs. collar issue and if he's been examined for medical issues.

Jo Ann




---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you.  I have tried using both collar and harness with the same experience.  I do understand about not dragging him along, I only did it for a little bit and it seemed very wrong and that it would hurt him and make it more of a bad experience, which is why I went in search of further help.  I have noticed that he will sometimes carry one of his hind legs more likely his right, but his left periodically as well.  I have not been able to get him to a vet to have it specifically diagnosed, but have been keeping an eye on it and it does not seem to be causing him any pain.  I take him out and let him run around the yard freely and he runs around full bore hardly ever carrying a leg, it's more when he's inside the house.

ANSWER: Hi again Irielle and thank you for getting back to me so quickly.

Of course you went in search of further help and didn't want to traumatize or injure your dog.  I understand.  Unless you want to put a special collar on him for "show only", toss those collars and use a halter/harness only for walking this little guy.

Now this information about how he carries his back legs is making sense and indicates luxating patellas.  Generally, Irielle, it's not painful if they're not crying out, but that can't be guaranteed and I'd put money on the fact that he's resisting going for a walk due to the patella problems.  You need to see a qualified veterinarian when you can and have the patellas graded in severity.  For this, you need a vet who is experienced with small breed dogs (specifically Chis if you can manage it) as large breed dogs are graded differently and lots of mistakes are made when a dog is mistakenly graded (wrongly graded) using the wrong criteria.  

The reason that he sometimes does or doesn't favor his back legs is because different surfaces make a difference in how the "ball" rotates in the "socket" and causes the patella to dysfunction.  Simply google "luxating patellas" and learn as much as you can about this health problem.  It's quite common in Chihuahuas.  The higher the grade of patella luxation, the more surgery is indicated.

I have a nine (almost 10) year old Chi that has luxating patellas in both hind legs and has had the problem since he was about two years old.  He's graded as a 2 in both legs.  I opted not to have surgery as my research years ago showed that he may stay the same and that surgery may induce arthritis later.  That's not to say that YOU should do what I have decided to do.  You should research the condition and consult with the best doctors possible.  Your dog's problems are individual and may not be at all the same as what my dog has experienced. My dog mostly has problems when he's being walked, when he walks on anything other than a hard surface like cement (meaning when he walks on bark, uneven dirt and grass) and when he runs on floors in the house.  I've had to put down carpet runners and area rugs all over the house due to this problem.  Now, Curtis doesn't favor his legs like your dog does - he kind of continues on with the knee obviously out of the socket and like he's pigeon toed (with the knee painfully obvious as being out of the socket).  In my opinion, if they favor the leg, that usually means a fair amount of pain, so you need to have him checked ASAP.

Luxating patellas are just one of the many reasons I advise people NOT to breed their Chis without having them medically certified as being sound as they pass this problem on to the pups they produce.  This problem with Chis is just horrible these days with so many backyard breeders getting into breeding. Dogs like yours and mine pay the price and it's just so sad.

Take baby steps with him and have him checked out.  I know you'd like to go hiking with him, but I'm afraid that you could worsen his condition and truly feel that it's the patella problem that's making him reluctant to walk and cower & shake like he does.  Poor little guy.

Let me know what you think of this and if I can be of further help.

Jo Ann



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you very much.  I will definitely work on getting him in sooner than later then.  That does make a lot of sense.  Would you have any recommendations on how to find a doctor that would specialize more with small dogs or just start calling local vets?  Again thank you very much, it gives me a better direction to start working towards to make life better for my little guy.

Answer
Oh, you're most welcome!  And I have to say how much I respect you for wanting to work towards making a better life for your little guy!

It's SO hard to find good, reputable veterinarians these days (in some parts of our country) and I'll just try to give you the best tips that I can.  Yes, do call local vets and ask if they have experience with the Chihuahua breed and ask how long the doctor has been treating Chihuahuas and how much he knows about luxating patellas and the proper anesthetics used for this small breed.  Also, when you do find a vet that you're comfortable with, don't be shy about asking if he's had any fatalities when doing neuters, spays or dentals on dogs as small as your little guy.  An experienced doctor should not have a record of fatalities.  

Stay away from vet hospitals that are located inside large chain retail pet stores.  Do you have any dog parks near you or places where dog owners are known to congregate with their dogs?  You can meet other Chi lovers at places like that and share vet information.  Also, google "Chihuahua Club of America" and write to them and ask for reputable breeders in your area and then contact them and ask where they take their dogs for veterinary procedures.  Also, there's a site on the web called "meetup" and you can join and type in "Chihuahua" and find "Chihuahua meetups" in your area.  Go and talk to other Chi moms and find out who they take their dogs to and ask lots of questions about the vet's skills.  Here's a link to their website:  http://www.meetup.com/

Here's another idea:  Do you have a university in your area that has a Veterinary Medicine department?  If so, you can just about go to any vet and ask for a referral to the university where you can have your little guy seen and have his "knees" examined.  Are there Veterinary Orthopedic Specialists in your area?  Any vet can give you a referral to them and in some instances they may let you make your own appointment.

Last, but not least, you can let me know what city & state you live in and I'll check with the people on one of my Chihuahua Yahoo groups and see if they know of a good, experienced vet in your area.

Hope this helps.  Please write again if I can be of any help at all.  And, best of luck with your little one!  I'd love to hear back from you anytime, but I really do want to hear about his exam and the potential for patella problems.

Jo Ann