Leashing Conundrum?
I’m sitting for a dog that was rescued from the streets in Afghanistan. She is the chilliest dog I’ve ever encountered, she just sits on the couch and wants pets. I sat petting her for hours, then she got up and went to the top of the stairs leading to the outside. I thought she was telling me she needed to go to the bathroom so I got her leash (she wears a harness all day) and went to attach it. She snapped. She growled and got my arm in her mouth but didn’t bite down. I carefully backed off and left her alone. I tried again later, approached carefully, sat down next to her, gave her pets - Went to attach the leash, she snapped. I don’t want to keep upsetting her so I gave up and just left her alone. Unfortunately she is not food or toy motivated. She doesn’t care about treats and doesn’t play with toys. So I am utterly at a loss for how to leash her to get her outdoors to go to the bathroom. Owners say she is just stubborn or lazy and they don’t seem too concerned.
If she was a wild dog and has not been leash trained this is a normal response. No animal starts off excited with a lead/leash example, horses do not like to be joined up with a lead and saddle. Forcing her to go outside and pulling might not be the way to go, Associate it with positive like food.