Going For Walkies

[teacher]

Our 5mth Maltese male has been going for a walk for a couple of months now. We always take him down the hill and onto the same road, walk for about 15 minutes and turn back. He's always so excited and can't wait to get down the hill - pulls a bit. Once we get down on the straight he would normally walk happily and do alot of marking along the way if we let him. He is being neutered today so I guess that will stop.

Anway the past week he has got about 5 minutes into the walk and he stops, sits and refuses to go any further! He usually has already had a good pee and a good poo. This puppy is little, cute and has big personality.....and when he is sitting there on the side of the road refusing to go any further I wonder WHO IS IN CONTROL HERE>?? He actually pulled to go back the other way (home). I picked him up and walked a little way and then put him down and encouraged him "walkies, good boy". He went fine for another 5 minutes and did the same. It's so annoying - me carrying the dog!!!!!!!

When I gave in (after realising I was needing to drag him), I turned and started for home and he was off-like-a-shot....trotting away like he was a professional! When we got to the hill to go up to home he was so happy!

Is he being lazy? Do I pick him up and persevere or give in at the 5 minute mark?

I usually take him for a walk after he's been home alone all morning, and he gets really excited when I put the lead on, so I can't work it out. He has lots to drink during the morning and it's only just starting into summer here - not hot at all.

[Erny]

Before I proffer a suggestion I'd like to rule something out. Look at your youngster's body language. Does he appear fearful at all?

Edited November 13, 2008 by Erny

[Jigsaw]

In addition to Erny's advice of looking at pup's body language - is he looking at something in particular when he stops? I would also ask is the pup also bonded to someone else (or another dog!) who is left behind at the house? I had a similar situation with a previous dog, my OH tried to take him for a walk without me and had to drag him to the shops but when turning around to come home had to just about run behind him! Just another thought.

[Garden Girl]

Good question - my boy has started doing this recently - he's nearly 10 months old. He digs his back legs in and refuses to move - so I pick him up and carry him for a bit (check his feet for prickles too) then put him down again. Sometimes I think its when he knows we're headed home and he doesnt want to go home yet?????

Looking forward to DOLers comments.

[Dame Aussie]

Our chi x boy does this now he's started getting older. We'd start walking and half way he would turn back and look longingly back towards home, as soon as we turned round he'd bolt. His sister is the opposite.

He never had fear problems, but he did have patella surgery and has little problems sometimes now he's older so I think it's a mixture of being older, uncomfortable and a bit lazy (trust me he is)

[poochmad]

My 5 month old pup started doing this very thing! Of course one day he chose to do it as we were crossing the road and I had to quickly 'drag' him and then run over and pick him up before he was run over!

At the time we were using a head halti (as years ago this was the 'done thing') and yesterday I tried a flat collar (as that is what they use at dog training) and he didn't stop once!

Of course, he pulls now on the flat collar, so we are in the process of stopping everytime the lead goes tense and after 5 mins of walking way he had almost stopped pulling.

(Before anyone says anything, I'm not teaching him to 'heel' as my training club teaches it in a particular way in the next level up and I don't want to confuse him. If he can learn to walk 'freely' without a tense lead then I'm happy with that at this point in time.)

[teacher]

Thanks for the replies

No he doesn't seem afraid of anything - if a bus or noisy car goes past he may stop and look but never cowers or runs away or whines.

It's either me or one of my children who take him and they have noticed the same problem - in fact it puts them off wanting to walk him :-)

He can be trotting along just fine, then just stop and sit and stare at me...just sit there and refuse to move!!! Then he may try to just trot in the opposite direction (toward home).

How long should I be walking a little 5mth maltese puppy? I was thinking I would take him on a brisk little trot for 20 mins.

[boxerbob]

20 minutes of walking is not excessive for that aged dog IMO. My boxer pup was about the same age several weeks ago and did this. She just plonked her butt down and looked at me as if to say "I ain't going no further". With a little bit of encouragement and coaxing I got her walking again without trouble. She has done it once or twice since but she doesn't stay sitting for long. She also knows she isn't being picked up.... 15 kgs of dog is a bit much to carry home. I think they are just testing us out.

[Erny]

Teacher, as Boxerbob has suggested, it *sounds* as though your little one is trying you out. When she balks, use your lead not to drag her as such, but keep walking with little 'pops' on the lead. If you only pull, opposition reflex is likely to kick in. ETA: Couple this with encouragement and praise when she gives you any forward movement. And avoid turning around to directly face her as that can serve to 'block' her forward movement rather than encourage it. Face her more on an angle. As a form of encouragement, use your hands to clap and have them at her eye level.

Is it possible that there is some connection that she's made between *going home* and *meal time* ? If there is, this could be the very reason why she wants 'home'. Dogs are very clever at 'playing' us. Of course, they aren't doing it to be smarty pants, it's just that they work out very quickly where (what they perceive to be) their advantage lies.

Edited November 15, 2008 by Erny

[BigBen]

Have you tried to change directions, when this happens? Maybe not 180 degrees, but 90? or less?

Maybe next time you can take her/him a bit further?