# My puppy hates walks



## Bella's Mama (Jun 12, 2011)

She's 4 months old, and she hates to take walks. She won't move at all or will protest the whole time. I'm so confused!


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## Judi (Feb 26, 2007)

Is there a "Puppy Kindergarten" that you can enroll your puppy in?


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## Rainheart (Nov 28, 2010)

I am having somewhat the same problem with Beamer. I haven't really found anything that helps except time. I'll be checking this thread to see if there are any other suggestions. Beamer is 4 1/2 months old and we have already completed puppy class.


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## jojo61397 (Jul 24, 2011)

I have raised 6 dogs, all large breed, not all Golden Retriever. Start early. We have walked all our pooches on leash starting right away at 8 weeks old. Just walk her, she will fight you, she will gag herself, but in a few weeks maybe a month she will love it.


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## bernadettet (Aug 7, 2011)

My lucky female also is4 months old to and she hated walks for a while to she would protesr cry and pull leash back towards the house,i just completed puppy class and enrolled in intermediate to she got over it you have to just keep it up have patience and go a little longer each day i go in the am and pm now we r up to 40 min. Each time now she doesnt cry anymore but she gets that whitw soapy looking foam on her mouth which means shes still prob nervous but she loves it now and knows the schudule it took about a month but youll get threw it keep trying bring treats to i did


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## Bigguy (May 26, 2011)

We have a 15 week old golden....We started the walks when when hes was 10 weeks. Little ones....then a couple of weeks ago he decidedly would not go for a walk...he would do everything to avoid it. It was a pooper...I really look foward to that time. So- I tried something different. I didnt force it to happen..if he didnt want to walk- ok. Back in the house we go. Then I let it go for a week or so...no daily walk. He then began to let me know when he needed to go for a walk. So lately, I followed _his _cues....and we have got a few walks in. He also HATES the heat....which when it was really hot, I would only walk him to the end of our driveway- 1000 ft. - he would then be ready to go back. Which was fine. Its supposed to be fun for all...right??? They grow and learn so fast, that if we just have patience it all can change very quickly....and the challenge we had last week is gone, and a new has arrived ! :-/


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## inge (Sep 20, 2009)

Do you expect her to walk 'nicely'? I mean, when Tess was that age, I noticed a huge difference between walking in our neighbourhood (not interesting, just a road) and walking in the state park around the corner (sniffing, climbing on rocks, running around: Yeah!). In the park I had her on a longer leash and let her more or less pick the pace and the route, she loved it and still does. It was easy to introduce several short training sessions during those walks, that helped with the walking in the street.


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## Bella's Mama (Jun 12, 2011)

I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one with this problem. We've been trying to walk her since she was 7 weeks old. She'll walk just fine anywhere but out the front door and down the street. (When we get to the end of the street and turn around, she tugs like mad to get home.)

She's in her 5th week of puppy class and has gone from the worst student to the best student, per her teacher  There's something about being away from the house that she hates. We'll keep working with her.


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## jackie_hubert (Jun 2, 2010)

Young dogs are really focused on getting back home if you walks in your neighbourhood - this is totally normal. 

I would not suggest you simply keep moving, gagging the puppy. 

Do try to drive to a near park or beach or busy touristy area and you'll usually see a completely different puppy usually.


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## Rainheart (Nov 28, 2010)

Bella's Mama said:


> I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one with this problem. We've been trying to walk her since she was 7 weeks old. She'll walk just fine anywhere but out the front door and down the street. (When we get to the end of the street and turn around, she tugs like mad to get home.)
> 
> She's in her 5th week of puppy class and has gone from the worst student to the best student, per her teacher  There's something about being away from the house that she hates. We'll keep working with her.


This is EXACTLY what Beamer does. He doesn't do it if we are anywhere else but the neighborhood.


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## KatieBlue'sMidnightSky (Feb 22, 2011)

Bella was slow to like walks too, and would prefer to sit and observe the world instead, or sniff around like mad. She still does this from time-to-time, but in the beginning, I just took it slow. I allowed her to sit, and I would sit with her, then I would encourage her to go further, then sit together and watch the world hahaha!. When she was insistent on going home, we went home. I wanted her to trust me that I would meet her needs. I just would try to encourage her to go further- even a few steps, before moving towards home. Treats worked well to get her moving. Tiny little pea-size treats are best, so they don't fill up.

Good luck!


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## Usha Maceio Brazil (Apr 21, 2011)

All of my furry babies did not like going for walks at the beginning. I guess they are just afraid of all the new things. Kelly is no exception. I only started walking her last week because of her need to be protected by all the diseases stray dogs carry. She does not like going around the block, but I brought her to the beach. First she was not sure, then she decided was fun to walk on the sand. She even wags her tail and tries to eat the seaweed! But still, her favorite time is getting back to the car! She is the first one in.
BTW - she is in awe of babies and toddlers. It is a first for me. My other dogs were partial to teenage girls (and all their squeals).


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## Usha Maceio Brazil (Apr 21, 2011)

How do you deal with the dog crossing in front of you? Since Kelly is afraid she stays close to me, but keeps bumping and crossing from side to side. Any tips?


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## KatieBlue'sMidnightSky (Feb 22, 2011)

How cute! My girl seems like grannies (she adores our 80+ yr old neighbor and runs to her house every day to see if she is out in her front courtyard), toddlers+ (loves to visit our other neighbor's 4 yr old little girl who is actually a bit afraid of dogs - but is learning to feel safe with Bella) and teens (my son and all his wild and crazy friends)....but really EVERYONE... even the postal delivery man and UPS guy! hahahaha!




Usha Maceio Brazil said:


> BTW - she is in awe of babies and toddlers. It is a first for me. My other dogs were partial to teenage girls (and all their squeals).


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## Maddie'sMom2011 (Apr 26, 2011)

We initially started walking Maddie around our neighborhood and she would pull, but never just refuse. Then, because we pretty much take her everywhere with us, to parks, recreation areas, etc. she's gotten used to all sorts of smells. We have a local place we go to fish and (unless it's too hot to take her) walk with a long leash, she sniffs, chases butterflies & grasshoppers and pretty much has a great time. Of course, we stay away from the tall weeds--ticks. Now, when walking around the neighborhood, on a much shorter leash, she walks like a good girl. Of course she is 7 months old now. We'll see what tomorrow brings, gotta go back to work. Summer's over!


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## Judi (Feb 26, 2007)

Rainheart said:


> I am having somewhat the same problem with Beamer. I haven't really found anything that helps except time. I'll be checking this thread to see if there are any other suggestions. Beamer is 4 1/2 months old and we have already completed puppy class.


Is there a continuing class for you. Reinforecement helps.


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## tobyzmom (Aug 14, 2011)

Question for everyone. I haven't started taking Toby on walks yet other than those in the backyard due to what I've read about waiting till his full shots. He will get the 2nd shots at the end of August. Should I be concerned about walking him round the neighborhood. I'd love too but worried about those horrible diseases.


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## jackie_hubert (Jun 2, 2010)

tobyzmom said:


> Question for everyone. I haven't started taking Toby on walks yet other than those in the backyard due to what I've read about waiting till his full shots. He will get the 2nd shots at the end of August. Should I be concerned about walking him round the neighborhood. I'd love too but worried about those horrible diseases.


Do you mean third shots? 

The primary socialization period ends around 12-14 weeks of age. It's best for a dog to experience everything he will experience as an adult before then - in a positive way. The awesomest socialization checklist ever - Free Downloads from drsophiayin.com | Animal Behavior and Medicine Blog | Dr. Sophia Yin, DVM, MS. 

There are a few vets who suggest you don't take your puppy out to walk around until after that...but unless you live in an area with an unusally high incidence of disease that suggestion seems outdated to me based on what we now know about socialization.

Stay away from areas like dog parks and such but otherwise happy exploring!


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## jpajinag (Nov 25, 2010)

Our 8 month old is a puppy we kept from our own litter. We started taking him for car rides with us at 3 weeks because we were supplementing with bottle feedings ocassionally and it always fell right when it was time to pick up the kids from school, so we took the pups with and bottle feed in the parking lot (our girl had a litter of 13, 12 surviving birth and could not possibly keep up with that many huge pups). We continued taking him everywhere with us but carried him if it was an area where any unvaccinated dogs could be. We started letting him walk in "clean" areas after his first shots, and more places still after 2nd and 3rd shots. He never had an issue leaving the house or walking on leash but I attribute this to the fact he just always went everywhere with us. He also has 4 human siblings to run and play with so who wouldn't find a walk fun. The more variety you add you may find her intrest perked. I think the idea of a car ride to a park for a walk is a good idea since you started she does great in puppy class (I assume you drive there??). I also agree that forcing her till she gags is a bad idea. I am not against a little pressistant encouragement but make sure not to create a situation that upsets her. Good luck. She will get the idea eventually.

Another idea: Do you have any kids or friends with dogs or pups to walk with to change things up or make it a little more fun or interesting?


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## aerolor (May 27, 2011)

Taking your puppy out for walks before being fully vacinated and protected from disease is a real risk - personally I would not take that risk. This doesn't mean you can't take your puppy out - he can go for car rides, meet other dogs who you know are vacinated and get used to all sorts of things, including being happy with his lead and collar, without taking him for a walk round the block. 

If I were a young pup - had a collar and lead put on me, dragged round the streets and "gagged" if I didn't comply - I wouldn't want to go and would resist. Puppies need to learn that the lead means something interesting is going to happen. To me that means leaving road walks for a while and first getting them used to being *on* and *off* lead in the park or countryside. The wider world is a fascinating but often frightening place for a puppy, but when a pup is young it will usually happily follow - he doesn't want to lose you, so I let the lead trail along behind and the pup follows. Several short sessions a day at first and then pick the lead up and encourage the pup to follow you without dragging or gagging it. The least resistance on his neck the better. You don't have to be going anywhere - he is just learning that the lead means fun - play games and get him confident on his lead. Don't expect him to walk nicely at your side until later on when he is older and has fully acceped the restriction of a lead.


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