An “agoraphobic” dog in England finally left the house for the first time ever — thanks to a talented pooch psychologist.
Jack, an 18-month-old chocolate Labrador, was so scared to go outside that he would cry, shake and play dead whenever his owner tried to take him for a walk.
But the brave pup faced his fear last week after “dog whisperer” Lynne Marshall put him at ease, then used a snack to lure him outside.
“The family and I were beside ourselves. We wanted to help Jack get outside, but nothing we tried worked,” Judy Huddleston, 42, of Melton Mowbray told the UK Express.
“We don’t know what caused Jack’s phobia, but we think he was spooked by something when he was a young puppy,” she said.
“He was physically unable to step outside the front door.”
Huddleston tried using dog trainers but they didn’t work, so she hired Marshall, who specializes in the behavioral psychology of dogs.
Marshall managed to help the pooch over his phobia in just an hour. She placed a piece of cheese outside and allowed him to sniff his way to it, she said.
“It was fantastic to see Jack suddenly sniffing around outside the way a dog should,” Huddleston told the paper.