Refusing to walk

Hi,

I'm a dog walker for the Cinnamon Trust and walk a pair of Dachshunds twice a week. One is an old lady coming up for 15 and the other is about 4 years old. She had limited experiences as a very young dog and is thought not to have left her previous owner’s garden. Consequently she had to get used to all the outside world brings from the age of about 2, when her current owner took her on.

She's done really well until recently but now refuses to walk if I try to go a way she doesn't want to. Instead she becomes completely flat to the floor and if I pull gently on her lead to encourage her she rolls over onto her back. This behaviour started with having to be carried to leave home but once a few metres from the house she would happily walk. Now she will only walk a few metres from being put down and then stops. I used to be able to get her moving again by simply changing direction and taking a different route for the walk but now she will only go a few metres in any direction before stopping dead. I end up carrying her until we're about half a mile from home and then she will walk home.

She appears very anxious when out of her home environment. She will not take food, talk to people or other dogs and likes to walk right by the edge of the path or against the bottom of a wall. She has no physical problems which would stop her walking.

Any suggestions on how to help her to enjoy her walks again would be much appreciated.

Best regards,

Louise Wilkes, by email