Even if he’s not currently in pain, his system will be programmed to expect pain if bumped into. Feeling ‘delicate’, he will have learnt over the years to avoid physical interaction with other dogs.
Like many people, they have believed and read online that more exercise and stimulation is needed to make him ‘good’, when actually it’s the very opposite. Winston needs more mental enrichment and just as much time spent on him – if not more – but what they do during this time needs to be different.
It’s after his third walk, before their tea, that the trouble starts.
Winston’s taxing behaviours are all symptoms of the same thing. I would call it mainly lack of motivation. He’s not being stubborn for the sake of it.
Acting ‘stubborn’ gets results. He is under-stimulated both mentally and physically.
Although bold and friendly with people and other dogs, she is unfortunately becoming increasingly fearful of certain things, with new fears being added to the list as time goes by.