Dog Stubborn On Walks

[Magstar]

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?

[persephone]

is he otherwise fine and relaxed in his movement? can he jump/run/sit happily ?

How long has he been doing this?

Are there any aggro dogs behind fences or anything?

[poodlefan]

Has he had a vet check up recently?

[Magstar]

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.

[Akay]

My dog used to do exactly this and he has since been diagnosed with Hip dysplasia. He would tug on the lead and be impossible to move and would always want to go back home. I feel bad now for forcing him because he was obviously hurting. Since he's lost quite a bit of weight he's happier to walk for longer, but now I know how far to walk him because he starts pulling up lame if I go too long. I'm just happy that he's comfortable enough now to walk at an ok pace for around 45 minutes, the weight loss helped a hell of a lot because previously he would walk only 5 minutes.

[mumtoshelley]

I don't know if this would work Buddy my 12 year old golden retriever use to do this when he was younger, He wouldn't move not even for food. I did find a way to get him to move what I did was drop his lead kept on walking saying bye to him. This will only work if the dog doesn't like being away from you.

Does your dog like chasing moving objects? if so maybe dropping his lead and runing in the direction you want to go might work, I would only do these things tho if your dog has got good recall. Have you tryed just continue walking and gently tagging on the lead saying come.

[Magstar]

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.

[Magstar]

I don't know if this would work Buddy my 12 year old golden retriever use to do this when he was younger, He wouldn't move not even for food. I did find a way to get him to move what I did was drop his lead kept on walking saying bye to him. This will only work if the dog doesn't like being away from you.

Does your dog like chasing moving objects? if so maybe dropping his lead and runing in the direction you want to go might work, I would only do these things tho if your dog has got good recall. Have you tryed just continue walking and gently tagging on the lead saying come.

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

[poochiemama]

My goldie does this too... I don't think she has hip dysplasia, she walks beautifully. It's usually a combination of being tired and not wanting to go home. For instance, she will be running around happily with other dogs at the park, but when we start to go home, she will drop on the ground at times. It's easy to get her walking again though, we just say in a cheery voice 'Hanna, up!' and she'll jump up , wagging her tail. She doesn't appear to be in discomfort. She is growing out of it a bit now. She also used to do this at the entrance to the house, making me think she just wanted to stay out rather than go back home, as she had been walking along well until then.

[Red Fox]

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.

I'd take him to a chiro first just to be sure.

If it is purely behavioural (ie, he simply doesn't want to go home) then don't tollerate it. No stopping, no slowing down. If he plonks his butt down you pop the leash and tell him "come on" in a confident, upbeat voice - and continue walking. Every time you slow down, look back, or stop and plead with him you're just re-inforcing the behaviour.

[Nekhbet]

if there is nothing medical just keep walking and pop the leash quickly to get him up and walking. The trick is not to stop just keep going or he's getting the best of you. Reward him for getting up and following.

[MalteseLuna]

My dog has a similar 'issue' - her's is behavioral. I call it her "special" temperament... she is actually very good now if being walked by me but if walked by other people she does stop alot (i.e. drops to the ground, refuses to go near objects i.e. drains and potholes). She acts kind of like she has OCD sometimes i.e. wants to walk a certain path around something or walk on one side of the street/path. I notice that when she is going outside for her "potty" she likes to take a certain path around the garden before walking on the grass and she likes to walk near walls - she is just a little special ;) I also notice that she gets used to a certain route to the park and then gets used to objects and paths along the way, and stops behaving silly when she knows a route.

I do tend to giver her a very gentle tug on the lead i.e. not dragging her so much as encouraging her to follow me and she resists initially but then walks normally again. I also try not to gush over her as I feel this is giving her attention for the wrong reason. This works for us... but she is 3 kgs so getting her moving physically is much easier than I can imagine a GR would be!

To me it sounds like your dog is just having too much fun at the park :D perhaps taking a different route to and from the park or on the walk would help as he wouldn't "know" when he was close to home and thus turning back. Also perhaps walk past the house on the route to the park (double back) so that he stops associating "going home" with the end of his fun/walk.

Edited July 26, 2011 by MalteseLuna

[juice]

My BT does it too if we do road work, she hates it!

She doesn't just sit though, she throws herself onto the ground laying on her side, not an easy dog to move

I have found dropping the lead and walking on works, but i can't do it on a busy road, so avoid them.

I have a trainer comming next week, and its one of the things i am going to mention.very embarassing standing on the side of the road with a dog that refuses to move.

[ruthless]

Angel used to do this. I just kept soldiering on and now (4yrs later!) she'll lag behind but doesn't do the sit down refusing to move stuff anymore.

[sas]

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.

You could avoid these dogs by putting him in the car and taking him somewhere if you want to see if this could be the problem.

[Odin-Genie]

I don't know if this would work Buddy my 12 year old golden retriever use to do this when he was younger, He wouldn't move not even for food. I did find a way to get him to move what I did was drop his lead kept on walking saying bye to him. This will only work if the dog doesn't like being away from you.

Does your dog like chasing moving objects? if so maybe dropping his lead and runing in the direction you want to go might work, I would only do these things tho if your dog has got good recall. Have you tryed just continue walking and gently tagging on the lead saying come.

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

My GR tries to do this as well. It's because she wants to continue walking and not go home!!!

When she tried it in the oval when I headed home, I dropped the lead, turned my back to her and walked away. She promptly followed me.

At other times I give her treats when she moves in the right direction.

[griff]

have you tried walking on the other side of the street ,

taking a different route home , encourage forward motion with favourite toy or jogging home .

beside trying different things to coax dog on I have no answers sorry .

[mita]

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.

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!).

Edited July 27, 2011 by mita

[Magstar]

My goldie does this too... I don't think she has hip dysplasia, she walks beautifully. It's usually a combination of being tired and not wanting to go home. For instance, she will be running around happily with other dogs at the park, but when we start to go home, she will drop on the ground at times. It's easy to get her walking again though, we just say in a cheery voice 'Hanna, up!' and she'll jump up , wagging her tail. She doesn't appear to be in discomfort. She is growing out of it a bit now. She also used to do this at the entrance to the house, making me think she just wanted to stay out rather than go back home, as she had been walking along well until then.

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!"

if there is nothing medical just keep walking and pop the leash quickly to get him up and walking. The trick is not to stop just keep going or he's getting the best of you. Reward him for getting up and following.

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.

have you tried walking on the other side of the street ,

taking a different route home , encourage forward motion with favourite toy or jogging home .

beside trying different things to coax dog on I have no answers sorry .

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.

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.

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....

[Akay]

I must admit that even though my dog did this because of hip dysplasia he also does the same thing when he's anxious and this is usually at dog parks or in places where there are a lot of people. I know it's not his hips because we haven't been there long enough, but after about 5-10 minutes of being at the markets or the dog park he's tugging on the lead and wanting to go home and will not let me walk any further in any direction that is AWAY from the car or home. There was one time that all I wanted to do was pop back into the markets to get some quick takeaway lunch and he would not budge. He dug his little feet in and leant back as far as possible with the lead in his mouth tugging on it. There was a lovely lady watching on who asked if I wanted her to hold him so I could go back in for a couple of minutes and I took her up on the offer!

So yeh, now that I think about it more, because my dog suffers from both, it's either a physical soreness problem or an anxiety-related problem... since you said you don't think it's physical it's most likely some type of anxiety about something. Your dog may just not like the noises outside, or the cars or what other people have suggested. In Bailey's case if he's anxious he will not accept food so that wouldn't help, so I just take him where he's comfortable.

This is Bailey at Woofstock when he decided he wanted to go home. He gets a really anxious look in his eyes (the doggy readers can probably see that) and then he tugs. The pic doesn't show him at his tugging best tho lol