Scared dog?

If you re-homed a giant breed dog that was 18months old and never been outside it's back yard and even after a couple of years trying all sorts of different things via trainers / qualified behaviourists etc and the dog was still very unhappy and scared when out walkies, just didn't enjoy them at all, would you be happy to just exercise it in the garden? Via training and chasing toys etc where the dog is very happy to charge around and play in??

Would it be cruel to continue trying to walk the dog outside where it's afraid or to confine it to the garden where it's happy??

As long as he is fit and happy who is it hurting .?

Will he be cared for the rest of his life in the same way ?
can he do car journeys to vets and such like ??
Would he cope in another enclosed garden if it came to it ...?

As long as the dog is happy I don't think it's cruel to not take it for walks. It would seem crueller to force a dog to keep doing something it is genuinely afraid of. It may not be ideal but if the dog is that unhappy on walks then it's probably for the best.

Hmmm. I have to say our boy Dan was never happy on his walks as a pup, but persistence has paid off and he enjoys his walks now. I don't take him to busy places because he would hate that and he doesn't like walking past schools or any other busy and noisy place. I think 18 months is too young to write the dog off, but he obviously needs to be exercised in very quiet places. I'd probably want to try some rescue remedy and skullcap and valerian and take a bag of chicken or liver out and try to make him associate the walk with the nice stuff. Two years ago Dan wouldn't eat any food outside the house at all but now he will take treats. He still doesn't like the dark so I leave him at home if I'm going to walk in the dark. We'll have had him 3 years in May and he's improving slowly but steadily. Sometimes it takes a really long time.

ETA: If the owner thinks that the dog really isn't going to improve any more though, I don't think it's the end of the world to know when to stop trying and accept that he's not going to be walked.

I may be mistaken but I think the dog is older than that. Never left his back garden until he was rehomed at 18 months old and is showing no sign of improvement after a couple of years of trying to get him over the fear.

That's the way I read it anyway.

Yes, you're right. I read it wrong.

If the people have really tried and its just too stressfull for him then I think sometimes other people have broke a dog to badly for him to be totaly normal - but he can be totaly happy with his restricted life
Sometimes you just have to deal with the limitations you have

I thought as long as the dog is happy then does it really matter whether it's walked

A woman approached me when I was out walkies today - Well I say me it was Bailey who she really came to see after I'd asked her to keep her dog away from him and explained about his sight issues, she had a complete mongrel with her, lovely little thing it was and she mentioned that she also had a dog bigger than Bailey at home that she 'rescued' from a neighbour, the way she told it sounded like she took the dog and flatly refused to give it back as she'd literally watched it grow up in a back yard with minimum human contact, never taken out walkies etc she'd tried reasoning with the owners to no avail.

She took the dog in about 2 years or so ago and when she tries to walk it it just about manages to walk it's heads down tail tucked under and it just quivers as it walks, it's more of a crawl than a walk She had various people out to see it but it just can't seem to overcome it's fear so she's given up forcing him out. Luckily she has a decent sized garden so the dog can run amok and play and they do some training etc to tire it out. I must say she sounds like she loves the dog to bits but is quite disappointed that she can't walk it as she loves to walk and thinks the dogs missing out. She sounded completley devoted to it though

I just wondered what you guys thought, I'd be quite disappointed too I reckon, I love to go walkies but I'd ultimatley do what made my dog happy

I agree that after two years of trying to see him still quivering and scared out on a walk I would just let him play in the garden where he feels happy and secure. He would still be loved and well cared for and not put under any pressure.

I think if he's happy in the garden not showing any signs of boredom, then I would choose the garden.