5 month old puppy goes nuts on walks

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ejpuglisi

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Parker has been walking on his leash well since I got him at 10 weeks. Last week he was fine, then went whacko- looked like an alligator doing a death roll. He wasn’t acting funny before he stop/drop/rolled. It was so intense I feared he would break his neck. I tried to restrain him and his martingale buckle popped open. Fortunately I was able to scoop him up and rebuckle it but I had visions of never seeing him again. New martingale arrived 2 days later thanks to Amazon Prime. No buckle. I get him used to the feeling of this new collar in his yard and at his puppy class and he’s fine. Sunday we go for our walk down my 1/4 mile driveway. Get halfway and he death rolls very violently out of the blue. He’s not acting afraid, there’s nothing to scare him. I physically restrain him because injury seems likely. Carry him home. He’s worse yesterday. So today I try his safety car harness that fits very well. He’s walking very relaxed, no pulling and then death roll. He gets his leg free, gets the harness stuck in his mouth, I’ve got a firm hold on him telling him “Stop! Shhh!” He lets me fix his harness and I carry him home. He’s calm the whole way. My knees are shaking so badly I can barely walk.
I’m at a loss for how to proceed.
 
Good grief, that sounds dreadful! And very odd since he's been leash trained and walking well until this began. Unfortunately I don't have any words of wisdom for you, but my advice since this has happened on numerous occasions with different types of leashes is to schedule a vet visit and have him checked for anything painful or injured. Puppies can do things to themselves that we aren't even aware of and I wonder if something that hurts is causing this behavior. Shelties are a stoic breed with a high pain tolerance, so you never know.

I've never heard of anything like this before so this is just a guess. Good luck and please do let us know what happens!
 
Ann said:
Good grief, that sounds dreadful! And very odd since he's been leash trained and walking well until this began. Unfortunately I don't have any words of wisdom for you, but my advice since this has happened on numerous occasions with different types of leashes is to schedule a vet visit and have him checked for anything painful or injured. Puppies can do things to themselves that we aren't even aware of and I wonder if something that hurts is causing this behavior. Shelties are a stoic breed with a high pain tolerance, so you never know.

I've never heard of anything like this before so this is just a guess. Good luck and please do let us know what happens!
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He goes in for a booster Tuesday so I’ll be sure to bring it up. Thanks!
 
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Definitely check for pain or injury, maybe a fit?

Other thing I'm thinking is adolescent fear period. Watch closely your surroundings to see if he is reacting to something and the death roll is him absolutely refusing to go near what's making him scared. When Tully went through her adolescent fear period she suddenly developed a fear of drains - walking over them or past them was impossible. She would drop and refusing to walk, or go in all sorts of directions, twist and wriggle. It took me a while to work out what it was as we'd been walking the same routes and suddenly all changed. She's now 11 and has never got over her fear of drains, despite tons of training.
 
Caro said:
Definitely check for pain or injury, maybe a fit?

Other thing I'm thinking is adolescent fear period. Watch closely your surroundings to see if he is reacting to something and the death roll is him absolutely refusing to go near what's making him scared. When Tully went through her adolescent fear period she suddenly developed a fear of drains - walking over them or past them was impossible. She would drop and refusing to walk, or go in all sorts of directions, twist and wriggle. It took me a while to work out what it was as we'd been walking the same routes and suddenly all changed. She's now 11 and has never got over her fear of drains, despite tons of training.
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I had thought it was a fear stage so I moved him to the more comfortable harness. He had been walking freely, we were weeding in the hay field, no distractions-I’m watching him and inserting calm activities for him. What he did looked more like a zoomie was what he had in mind but as soon as he zoomed the harness stopped him and he death rolled-think deep sea fishing for marlins. He was easily controlled but had he gotten loose that zoomie could have gotten him lost in a heartbeat. We’re surrounded by woods. At the end of the open hay field is a country road with traffic going 55 plus miles an hour.
Up all night over this. I’ll try again today and put both the harness and martingale on. If I see he can’t get loose, I can work on zoomie behavior a lot more effectively.
 
What about trying it with a long line on him? Not necessarily a flexi but a long line like the kind used to teach tracking. Perhaps that and a martingale could give him the freedom to run a bit but piece of mind for you.
 
I really think you should consult a positive method trainer immediately. This has the potential to escalate very quickly and take months to resolve. Every single time it happens makes it harder to fix. The sooner this can be addressed the better.
 
I can ask at his puppy class tomorrow for a positive trainer locally. Otherwise I have a friend about 40 minutes away who can help. He’s my fourth Sheltie and I have done much with the previous 3-this is a new problem for me.
I have a new harness coming that’s more suitable for him and will try long lining him with caution. My biggest worry is straight line flight and the attendant snap/jerk disaster or escaping into the wind. He did walk last night on just his martingale with loose leash. He had a couple zoomie thoughts- we practiced calm sits/downs and lots of positivity.
 
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Puppy class is over and he’s an AKC S.T.A.R. puppy. He was beautifully connected during his test and walked calmly past the other 6 puppies with owners for his distraction test without looking at them once.
At home: he has a new PetSafe Easy Walk harness adjusted properly. He didn’t react to it at all for several walks, just walking calmly and loosely. Tonight his walk was extended and he had his fit 2/3 of the way along. He was bored and tired and tried to run off. Not fearful or anxious. The Easy Walk allowed him to roll without restrictions and he couldn’t wriggle free either. I was able to stop him without getting mauled by his exertions, pick him up and carry him calmly for awhile, letting him back down after several yards to walk calmly the rest of the way. The behaviorist saw nothing troubling in his behavior, just a puppy being a puppy.
Next walk will be shorter.
 
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