Puppy won't walk

karen · 10-02-2007, 10:46 PM

Our now four month old puppy, will not go on walks. She will walk if I have one of the kids with me and they walk ahead of her. But she either starts darting between our legs, jumping up on us, it is not a relaxed walk. She will not walk at all with just one person. Help, any suggestions? She is a Dobbie mix.

tjmom · 10-02-2007, 10:58 PM

What kind of lead are you walking her on? She is too young to be given any kind of "relaxed" walk. She is full of energy and probably jumps all over the place. I would suggest training her to walk very close to your left side. This can be very frustrating at first as she will want to do it her way however with practice it will work. Start by taking up the slack in the lead. Do not give her enough lead to be in front of you. She needs to know that YOU are in charge and not her. This does not mean that you have to be mean with her just firm. Start her in a sitting position and you lead with your left foot, as you first take your step you can use a lead word like heal. Sometimes you have to start with short walks to get them used to the lead and the distractions but I will tell you that the practice will pay off. Hope this helps.

DLS · 10-02-2007, 11:00 PM

I think you should see if you can find a good puppy trainer to help you out.

karen · 10-02-2007, 11:11 PM

thanks for the information, I will try that when I have one of the kids with me. But how do I go about walking her alone, she will not budge, she doesn't want to walk at all.

karen · 10-02-2007, 11:12 PM

DLS, we do go to a puppy class on Fridays, I will ask the trainer what she thinks. Thanks

Lexxsmom · 10-03-2007, 09:22 AM

have you tried using a piece of her favourite treat as a type of lure? Hold it just in front of her nose to lead her forward ( make sure that by doing this though you keep her in a proper heal position, you don't want her running out in front of you, or jumping for the treat). Because she is so small you'll probably want to do this for short periods ( leaning over with the treat at her mouth level will probably hurt your back a bit if you went for a long time). Other than that, use your voice and make walking really exciting!

Bizzy & Howie · 10-03-2007, 05:15 PM

Are there any good walking dogs in the area? I trained the little guy to walk by using my older guy as a model. The little one will do anything his older sibling does. Maybe he could walk with another dog for a while until he gets the point. Also, I've noticed that pups tend to be better walkers as they tire out. We run and play first, then we walk. He jumps a bit in the beginning, but once he settles in for "a real walk" it's very relaxing for me!

Scoob · 10-03-2007, 08:31 PM

When my puppy would not walk, I put the leash on him and let him walk around. He soon learned that the leash was ok. Then eventually he let me hold the leash and I walked him...just my 2 cents.

Scoob (Jim)

tjmom · 10-03-2007, 09:34 PM

When I first put a lead on my girl she was off the chain. She was like " I dont know what you are thinking but I am not walking on that thing". You can try her out in the yard on the lead and just let her roam around until she feels comfortable. Once she is familiar with the lead then you start small walks. Hope this helps.

**ps4570** · 10-03-2007, 10:08 PM

LOL! Sorry, but you brought back memories of Lena at that age. She used to pull the, I'm not budging routine. Using a treat as a lure helped. She seemed to do okay once we got out of the yard. Though, I remember a time or two (or was it six or seven?) getting half a block down the street and she would go into a sit. She seemed to want to just stay at the side of the road and take the world in. I asked my trainer what she would recommend and she laughed and told me to sit down with her. She was just being a puppy and what was the rush? Apparently, one of her Dobes did the same thing as a pup. She had some funny stories about her neighbors asking her questions as she and her Dobe sat in the middle of the street.

I also found that Lena liked to walk with a Magnolia leaf in her mouth. I wish I had gotten a picture. I'm not sure whose idea it was. She would pick up a Magnolia leaf or I would give her one and she would walk down the street like she was performing a very important job. It seemed to act like a security blanket.

Now, just wait until its time to go for a walk in the rain!