# Need help with Chihuahua afraid to go out in the cold



## zieo92 (Jul 25, 2014)

My friend is a dogwalker for a woman in a nursing home and has been having issues with the chihuahua recently. It's been below freezing here for weeks, so it's understandable that the dog doesn't want to go out, but she has been causing issues for her dogwalkers. 

She hides under the table when she knows it's time to go and won't let anyone put her harness on. She only has 2 molars, so she's pretty harmless but she did try to bite a dogwalker once. While she hides under the table and looks obviously anxious. Her shaking increases as she gets more worked up and once she got so upset she hyperventilated and my friend was afraid she would pass out. I went with her yesterday, the dog was a little more responsive when I tried to get on her level but she still retreated under the table. She didn't respond to bribery either. We had given up and were going to let her owner put the harness on her, when she finally came out in hopes of getting more treats and let my friend get her ready for the walk.

Her owner is elderly, and doesn't discipline the dog which is probably part of the problem (the dog just ignored her when she tried to call her over). We are also thinking that the dog is unhappy since they just moved into a nursing home and dogs aren't allowed outside the apartments except for walks. She uses puppy pads in the house sometimes, but it's not a replacement for a walk outside.

Any advice?


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## kksrats (Jul 25, 2014)

Honestly, chihuahuas will be chihuahuas. I have one that is decently trained and WANTS to go for walks, but if I get her harness out she bolts even though she's perfectly fine after it's on. If she doesn't allow me to put her harness on, she stays home while I take the other dogs (and she watches at the window and whines), but we also have a yard, so she gets exercise that way. I can't really give you much advice other than be consistent, especially if the dog's owner isn't providing any sort of discipline. If treats are given, it needs to be made clear that she's getting the treat for good behavior (such as allowing someone to put her harness on, on return from the walk, etc.) and it's not a treat for hiding under the table since that's reinforcing a negative behavior. Lure with a treat, but don't give the treat until proper behavior is performed.


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