[merrymissmary]

My boyfriend and I have a 3ish year old terrier mutt rescue dog that's been with us for a year now. He is everything you would expect from a terrier...very energetic and gets into plenty of trouble.

Boyfriend and I share the responsibilities of caring for Maverick, but Boyfriend walks him about 85% of the time. He is usually very eager to go outside, getting excited at even the slightest hint of a walk (putting shoes on, jackets, etc). We have walked him on a fixed-length leash the entire time we've owned him, until my mother bought him an extendable leash earlier this week.

His first walk on the new leash was with me and he acted as he normally does. I locked the leash out at a reasonable length shortened it only when I needed him to stay close to me for crossing streets or walking past other dogs.

However, Boyfriend's first two walks with Mav on the new leash did not go well. Suddenly Maverick would only walk behind him and would cower and put his ears down if Boyfriend stopped or spoke to him. I went with them last night so observe the behavior and he was much better, still not walking far and occasionally looking concerned, but fine for the most part. Then Boyfriend went to walk him this morning and when he called me in to observe his behavior, Mav hid behind me and refused to walk with Boyfriend.

We tried switching to the old fixed length leash and Boyfriend said he did a little better, but still not great. The question is, what could have suddenly changed his attitude so dramatically toward walking with Boyfriend? He will still sit and cuddle with Boyfriend on the couch etc., and Boyfriend did not hit or verbally abuse him in anyway between the good walks and the bad walks. Does anyone have any ideas or advice for how to deal with this sudden change in behavior?

Thanks!

[CorkyMax]

Don't know why your dog started acting that way but please read this link on retractable leashes--and be sure to read the whole page--ALL the comments too.---: Retractable leashes pose problems for people and their pets

Another good site to read about retractable leashes: 4 Paws University Information About Retractable Flexi Leash I had one of these myself a long time ago. I did not like it and evidently my dog at the time didn't either as he would always try to chew through it every time it was on him. He managed in time (very little time) to chew almost completely through it before I got rid of it.

[merrymissmary]

Thank you for your response. I have heard things like this before about retractable leashes, which is part of why we did not own one previously. I intend to stop using the retractable leash, but after this morning's events I'm not sure that it will solve our problem. I don't know whether the new leash had anything to do with the change in behavior or not, but reverting to the old leash didn't seem to solve the problem.

At this point I guess we're looking for suggestions on ways to reintroduce and make him comfortable with his old leash?

[Lunareclipse]

I hate walking my dog and some moron with a retractable leash allows their dogs to just run up to mine because there is very little restriction on how far a dog can go on those things. they can also run out in traffic and get hit. I do wish they would quit selling them. They are dangerous. And they also break fairly easily.