Won't let others walk him???

[leli]

Hello,
We have a house guest, my boyfriends "brother" (best friend since childhood, grew up in the same apartment building, were never apart if they could help it) who is staying with us this week. He's been here since last weekend. The other day both Pete and I were at work, and I mentioned to Dave that if he didn't mind, he could take Max out for a short walk, so he could have a pee. When I talked to Dave that evening, he said it didn't work out. Apparently, Max would NOT let Dave put on his lead (wouldn't be still, ran around away from him).....that's not surprising, since the dog isn't a fan of it. So, Dave just put the leash on the collar. Max followed him to the door, but when Dave stepped out of the apartment, Max stopped as though rooted to the spot. He absolutely would NOT leave the apartment with Dave. Since we got Max at the SPCA, I was surprised to hear this.....at the shelter, he was probably walked by a different volunteer every day.

Is this just a loyalty behaviour? He's happy to accompany Dave onto the balcony, just won't go out with him alone. We've only had the dog for just under 3 weeks......is this quickly for him to have bonded this strongly? Do any of you have dogs that are picky about their walker?

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad the dog has bonded to me and Pete, I just found it a little odd....

 

[lee]

Funny, about 3 weeks after we brought our dog home from the pound, we had to travel for a week and had a pet sitter come in. She could not get NEAR our pup, and actually got bitten when she tried to touch her! When we returned, our dog was thrilled to see me, but afraid of my husband. It seemed that the more confident she got in our house, the more she bonded with me (I was doing all the care-giving) and the more she rejected everyone else. I subsequently got training for her and the feeling is that she was not socialised adequately as a pup and is therefore nervous around people.

In your case, maybe leaving the house without you makes your dog insecure? Maybe your dog thinks his job is to guard the house when you're not there? I am sure there are lots of different reasons.

 

[pushylady]

I've experienced a couple of dogs that refused to go on walks with me (I'm a dog walker). One dog has some serious anxiety issues, real problems, poor fella. The other dog was super friendly when I returned a few hours later to try again. She just got nervous when she meet me for the first time.
I would suggest your friend going with you when you walk Max, then giving him the leash for a bit and see how that works. Maybe this dog has some trust issues (not surprising) and just needs a little positive experience with other people.