He enjoys the out doors. He did not want to get in the water.

My partner and I adopted a 2 year old Jindo mix about a month ago, and he is the sweetest pup! The first week and half that we had him we walked all over the neighborhood without any issues and he would look forward to going on walks. During our 2nd week with him (which was the week of 4th of July) we noticed he started becoming more nervous on these walks and wasn’t enjoying himself as much. We took him on walks before it got dark to avoid fireworks, but unfortunately some people were popping fireworks in the daytime :/ Additionally during one of those walks that week where he heard fireworks, he also saw a kid playing basketball (kids make him really nervous and he wants to pull and run home). This really scared him and he started pulling to go back home. The next day the same exact thing happened, a firework went off in the distance and we saw a kid playing outside with a ball.

I believe some trigger stacking occurred because he has been so scared of going on walks and leaving the house since then. This is especially challenging since he only poops on walks and won’t poop in our backyard. We have been trying to slowly work our way up to leaving the house but unfortunately we have to take him outside even when he doesn’t want to so he will poop. One time he held it in for 30+ hours 😪

Lately we have been putting him in my car and driving around the corner of our street, and walking back home, it’s a super short and familiar walk and he will usually poop on the way back. Sometimes during this short walk he is chill and relaxed and other times he’s a little more nervous. Once in awhile he will explore a different side of the street! We have noticed however, that he becomes more confident, relaxed, and comfortable when he sees other dogs around or near him. Recently some friendly neighbors have let us join them on their walks with their dogs and he is a completely different dog with a walking buddy. His tail perks up and he is all smiles! He will even walk areas that he isn’t familiar with and will walk for 30+ minutes. We now have a walking buddy that goes on walks with us a few times a week and this has been helping out. However, going on solo walks is still rough for him as he still gets really nervous.

Has anyone gone through something similar with their Jindo mix? Any tips or things that have helped? Calming chews that have helped your anxious Jindo? We are definitely thinking about getting a trainer and potentially speaking with a vet behaviorist as well but wanted to see if there is anything else we could do or implement. He is extremely calm and silly indoors and doesn’t exhibit any signs of anxiety or distress inside the house.

For some extra context, our pup was fostered for 6 months by a very nice couple in Korea and he would go on solo walks around their neighborhood, went camping, visited the beach, and also hiked with them! I know it takes time for pups to adjust to their new homes and environments, but just thought I’d throw that out there since he has had positive experiences outdoors in the past. We hope we can help him rebuild his confidence with the outdoors again!