Magstar

I usually use the same path when setting off and he doesn't hesitate then. There is nothing in particular on that stretch that I can see that he would be scared off. But he was a bit of an anxious puppy so it could still be something making him anxious... I just don't know what! Or he jsut doesn't want to go home. But he has stopped in other spots as well. Sometimes he'll refuse to move because he wants to sniff something and refuses to walk until he has had a good smell of the area. I don't know any other dogs nearby that I could walk with You don't stop, you don't slow down and you don't look back. It's much easier to keep a dog 'moving' than it is to budge him once he has glued his butt to the floor. Do you walk your dog using a harness? If so try changing to a collar. If you are not achieving results with a flat collar then a martingale. Personally I'd use a prong collar, but appreciate that not everyone shares the same opinion. I usually walk him with a martingale collar. Sometimes a just a flat collar. Ok I'll try that. I think I usually just give long slow tugs, rather than short quick ones. I sometimes take him for a walk at my parents place, which is in a rural setting. He never stops when walking there, but it is a very different environment.

Yep Oscar does it at the entrance to the house as well. He will have a look up the street as if to say "No, I want to go back that way!" I try to keep walking, but when he stops it is hard to get him to budge! How do I keep walking when he stands his ground? I always reward him for moving forward. Yeah have tried all of those things. None of his toys are of high enough value to him. Jogging will often help keep him moving, but I don't like doing it on the hard surface. Good suggestions from others to check for any muscular-skeletal problems or any scary (to him) dogs on the way. But I admit I had a Tibbie girl, Angel, who'd do exactly what your dog is doing. She had no physical problems & wasn't frightened of big dogs. She was actually a small dog 'tester' for GAP. On a 'walk', she'd go for about 10 feet, then firmly sit on her bottom & refuse to go further. Treats & encouragement wouldn't budge her. Brockie, the tibbie next door, who used to come with us (& loved his walks), would trot back to her & lick her as if to say, 'Come on, Angel!'. No luck for him, either. After a while his attitude seemed to be, 'Leave the blonde & keep going!!'. Once I tried dropping her lead & walking on with Brockie. She won the bluff because she stayed with her bottom 'nailed' to the walking track....while we disappeared into the distance. Yep, back we went to get her. Weird thing was, that as soon as we turned to go home, she'll trot along without a worry. I used to try to trick her by going in different directions. But she must've had an in-built compass, because she always knew when the direction was towards home. Another weird thing was that in other settings, she never baulked at walking on a lead. She'd been a champion showdog & was a 'working' pet therapy dog (where she was brilliant). And she'd walk, trot & run, on lead, like a real professional when testing greyhounds (which she loved!). After a while, I accepted that I couldn't change her. And we used to do a form of the scout's pace.....I'd carry her for 10 feet then let her walk for 10 feet (or near enough!). I wish I could just pick Oscar up and carry him home! But he is a bit big....

Dropping his lead and walking away might work, but I don't trust his recall enough to do it near a road.

I'm pretty sure this is a behavioural problem rather than something physical. It's not that he doesn't want to walk. He just doesn't want to walk the way we are going.

Yes his movement seems fine. He often will run around in the yard after his walks so I don't think it is a fatigue or joint problem. He's been doing it for a few months now. But he seems to be getting worse. I can't remember the first time he did it. I was just hoping it was a phase he would get past. But I feel it is effecting our lives a bit more now.I dread walking him knowing that I will probably be stuck on the road somewhere waiting for him to move. There are a few dogs around that bark at their front fences. Unfortunately there is one at either end of our street so there is no avoiding it. He never seems nervous walking past them though. But I could be reading him wrong. He will quite happily keep walking... as long as we go the way he wants! He had his general vet check up only a month ago for his annual vaccination.

My 16 month old GR has become very stubborn on walks. He will just plant himself and refuse to move. It has made walking him quite difficult and unenjoyable sometimes. I don't know what to do about it. I can't pick any one reason why he does it. He seems to do it when we are close to home and I get the feeling he doesn't want to go home yet. Sometimes I think he is unsure of something up ahead (a truck for eg). Othertimes I think he is jsut being plain stubborn and wants to go a different way to what I want to. He is always the worst at the corner of our street when we are on our way back home. I try to lure him forward with treats but that usually only works for a few steps and then his bum is planted again. I usually jsut have to wait him out and hope for the best. It is very embarassing and frustrating. Today I was stuck for 5-10mins in the one spot trying to get him to move. I have tried taking him on longer walks, shorter walks and different routes but nothing makes a difference. I am sure I am probably doing something wrong, I just don't know what! Does anyone have any ideas how we can deal with this problem?

Yay! Thats good to hear

Try not to stress too much. How big was the sock? From memory I was told to feed oscar boiled chicken and rice when it happened. But I would probably wait to talk to your vet about it. Is she still acting normal?

Yes he was very lucky! We had 2 vets on standby in case it turned into an emergency. And of course this was all happening late at night... I should really get some liquid paraffin for our first aid kit... just in case it ever happens again.

Ah yes, our vet did tell us liquid paraffin, but we didn't have any so he said vegetable oil would be better than nothing.

My GR ate 2 socks at about the same age. We didn't realise until he vomitted one up and then we couldn't find the matching sock. The other one came out the other end a few days later. He was in quite a bit of discomfort as it was going through his system. Our vet told us to give him some vegetable oil to lubricate his insides to help it pass through. It was a very stressful experience as we knew he was at risk of a blockage. I'd call your vet and get their advice on the situation. It could be quite dangerous.

My GR's favourite toy is a stuffed bird thing. He has had it since a pup and it is still all in one piece. He also has a little blanket that he loves to carry around in his mouth.

I have been really slack and haven't taken my 1 year old GR to obedience training since he was about 7 months old. I only went to training at our local club for about a month and then stopped going because I wasn't happy there. I just found that the class was too big and so it was too hard for the instructors to really help people out. I also hate night classes. So I was hoping to get some information about either of the Wollongong based dog training clubs, even though it will mean a further drive for me. Does anyone know which club has smaller class sizes? Also, are the people friendly, helpful etc? Any information would be much appreciated

Thanks, I will definately do that.

Wow a lot of replies! Thank you everyone for your imput. I guess the thing that really annoys me is that he didn't even give Oscar a chance to comply. He was still groggy and was taken by surpise when the vet started pulling him by the lead and so put on the brakes immediately. It all happened so quickly that there was no way he could cooperate, he had no idea what was happening! So it wasn't because Oscar was being difficult or anything. He gave him no chance. I guess it may have looked worse than it was because he was groggy and therefore acting a bit uncoordinated, but I would be treating a groggy dog with more care, not less! But that could just be me. There is also a chance that I am being too sensitive/protective, especially since losing my other dog only a couple of weeks ago. I know he probably wasn't physically harmed, or even in any pain. I guess my main concern is that he will now have a fear of going to the vets for life. And as for the vet being busy, we were the only ones there, and so time wasn't an issue.