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Hmm...this might be a possibility. The last time she willingly walked with me to the far side of the property, there were 6 steers on the other side of the fence. She whimpered at them, so maybe. A heeler afraid of cows.... I tried walking in other areas but that didn't work either. Unfortunately, there are no dog behaviorists around here that return phone calls. She's healthy but I'll check with the vet anyhow.
FWIW, I have a "heeler" (actually an Australian stumpy-tail) who is afraid of just about everything except all people and other dogs strangely enough. Dropped socks, kitchen activities, weeding the yard, setting the car's parking brake, you name it. A real cow would literally give her "a cow".
A fear period seems likely. It does sound as if she's "learned" or discovered something new recently that has affected her self confidence and she's become unusually vigilant about it.
You're telling me. I trained my young Aussie mix to fetch and now she will chase the ball, and turn around and come back without it. Total head case.
After having several heelers I realized that for them, the game and the fun is the chase. The retrieve, not so much. They don't feel the drive to bring anything back to the den. Once the prey is caught the game ends. Whenever possible I prefer playing fetch with a neighbor's retrievers...THEY will fetch until they drop. MY dog learns the game of "herd the dumb retriever". I ask the neighbors if they want me to wear out their ball fetcher. They are usually delighted to oblige. Everyone wins that way.
After having several heelers I realized that for them, the game and the fun is the chase. The retrieve, not so much. They don't feel the drive to bring anything back to the den. Once the prey is caught the game ends. Whenever possible I prefer playing fetch with a neighbor's retrievers...THEY will fetch until they drop. MY dog learns the game of "herd the dumb retriever". I ask the neighbors if they want me to wear out their ball fetcher. They are usually delighted to oblige. Everyone wins that way.
Ha. My lab was a lousy fetcher. Not much of a herder either, lol. He was pretty much a prima donna.
Aussie girl was really doing well at fetch, but then remembered she's a head case. I just have to retrain her again with treats, then she'll fetch again. For a while.
Heelers are "head cases"? heh heh. After owning only labs in the past, heelers are very different. She's walking with me again, although continues to hesitate, turn around to look behind her so I just forge on ahead trying to display total confidence in where I'm going. Fortunately, the neighbor's cows are not visible these days and I'm sure they frightened her.
Heelers are "head cases"? heh heh. After owning only labs in the past, heelers are very different. She's walking with me again, although continues to hesitate, turn around to look behind her so I just forge on ahead trying to display total confidence in where I'm going. Fortunately, the neighbor's cows are not visible these days and I'm sure they frightened her.
Aw, don't feel too bad. A couple of nights ago I let my little ninny out one last time before bed. The grass was wet...she doesn't like wet grass...it either has to be dry or snow covered. The house eave overhangs the deck slightly, leaving a narrow dry strip. She'll squeeze down the dry part of the deck steps with her butt in the air trying to scent-test the humidity level of the grass without setting a foot on it. She tried to avoid the grass and started to hop sideways into the flowerbed under the house eave where it was also dry. I made a mistake...barked at her telling her "NO, don't crush the bleeding hearts!". She hasn't gone out that most convenient door to pee voluntarily since.
My young heeler mix suddenly won't walk with me anymore. Living on 100+ acres, my heeler has walked with me off leash twice a day for the past year and she had a great time running and exploring. Now she refuses and wants to stay at the house, usually under the front porch. I've tried putting her on leash (and giving treats) but she really resists walking away from the house. She needs the exercise and I like the company. Her health seems excellent. Suggestions?
My first thought upon reading this was that your dog might be afraid to venture out over something that may have frightened her. While I don`t have a heeler (mine is a border collie) my last dog was a heeler mix. She didn`t display fear the way that my BC does, but both dogs went through `ornery teen periods` as well. It could be fear; it could be the terrible twos. You might want to take her with you on a leash next time and see if she hesitates at any point. If she balks a lot, I`d suggest that something got into her psyche and she`s convinced that a murdering zombie is lurking somewhere in the tall grass (perhaps those cows are zombie cows!!) and she`s taking precautions. Or she could just be going through `I don`t wanna do this any more!`.
If your pup has no health issues, then this would be my best guess. Now, picture this: When my border collie was young I used to take him with me to the local coffee shop after his playtime so I could pick up a cup on our way home (for anyone questioning safety, he`s tied where I can see him, and just about everyone who patrons the shop at that time of day knows me and Iz, so they keep an eye on him with me). One day however, right after I untied him and we were about to head out, Izzy acted as though he`d been stung by a bee...he leapt straight up into the air, letting out a huge YELP!!!!!, and then danced around on the ground as I tried to steady him. I thought he`d been stung, but there was no sign of an insect anywhere, or of a sting on his body. After a minute or two he calmed down, and we headed home.
A few days later we went there again. And as soon as we crossed the street to go into the shop`s property, Izzy completely, absolutely refused to go another step. Another note about Izzy: he has an eye condition, so he`s supposed to wear glasses (Doggles) whenever it`s sunny out. On that particular day he was wearing his Doggles - which in itself tends to draw stares and giggles from passersby - but that, combined with the fact that he completely shut down, laid down on the sidewalk and wouldn`t move - was a bit, well, embarrassing. I tried bribing, cajoling, convincing him that he was in no danger, but he would have none of it. So finally, I got down to his level, lying on the sidewalk as his lay there in front of me, telling him what a brave dog he was, and how proud I was of him. And though I tried to block it out, I couldn`t help but notice that traffic had slowed down considerably, with people pointing and laughing as they slowly went by, watching the crazy lady lying on the ground, attempting to convince her four-eyed weird doggie to get up and walk. It took a while - 10-15 minutes - but he finally did get up and walked the rest of the way to the shop with me. He`s been fine ever since. Me? I've been hoping that nobody notices that we were the ones putting on an unplanned side show that morning.
Oh, and I once had a rabbit who was terrified of cows bellowing - this after I had been watching 'Gene Simmons Family Jewels' on tv and a rather boisterous bull began callout out loudly. I didn't know that Yofi, my bunny, was in the room, lying behind the furniture, until about the 3rd bellowing session began. Suddenly all I saw was a blurry cream and white bolt of lightning scrambling out from the recesses of the sofa, running so fast that he slammed into the wall before exiting the room. I found him moments later in his room, as far in the back of his cage as he could get, WHUMP-WHUMP-WHUMPING those huge back feet of his in absolute fear and anger.
Ha. My lab was a lousy fetcher. Not much of a herder either, lol. He was pretty much a prima donna.
Aussie girl was really doing well at fetch, but then remembered she's a head case. I just have to retrain her again with treats, then she'll fetch again. For a while.
Cut a hole in the tennis ball and stick some treats in it. Just make sure she can't get them out herself. She'll bring the ball back to you to have you take the treats out for her. It's great for teaching fetch and building a bond.
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