# My puppy won't walk on a leash



## jmac (Jun 26, 2010)

Hello everyone,

I have an 11 week old little Golden. We've had her for 3 weeks now. Since we got her I've been trying to take her on little walks to burn off some of that puppy energy. As soon as we get out of my door, she plants her bum on the ground and refuses to move (sometimes she lies down). In the beginning I would coax her on with treats and call her name in the tinkliest voice I have. Nothing!! I went to puppy school and the trainer told me to igore her and face forward but pull on the leash a little so there is tension. When she starts to move, reward her with a treat. So I tried this and still nothing! She does not mind the tension, we will sit on the street for 5 or 10 minutes and she will not budge! Now I don't want to take her for long walks, just short easy walks, however they turn into sits ha ha. I really want her to like walking, I am craving great walking relationship with my dog. By the way, I forgot to mention, behind my house there isd an old logging road, and she will walk fine off leash. She just follows me everywhere. I put the leah on and nothing! I know the follow phase will be gone soon, so I really want her to like her leash. 

Any tips, suggestions, ideas???? Thanks


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## GoldenJona (Apr 3, 2010)

something my trainer told me and something I have done since day 1 (I've only had my puppy for like 5 weeks, he is 12 weeks old) is have the leash on him at ALLL times, the only time he does not have his leash on is when he is in the crate other than that, his leash in on him in the house outisde in the yard everywhere!

Also when you take him out to do his business outisde dont just open the door and let him roam around the yard until he decides to squat, use the leash even when just going potty.

My puppy has barely started going on short walks like a week ago. He still tries to sit like twice during the walk but I just give it a yank and he'll continue trotting along. I usually put the treat in front of him to get him to walk next to me. Just keep working at it, he'll get it eventually


p.s. I just noticed your dog is a she so sorry if I used he/him, I'm just use to saying him/he


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## jackie_hubert (Jun 2, 2010)

I wrote the same thing about a month ago when we got our puppy. He was always sitting down/lying down. I was so annoyed but he doesn't do it anymore. It's totally normal for many puppies.

I think your trainer is right in saying face ahead and keep moving. When you keep in mind how a dog learns, she should never be rewarded for doing that which you don't want her to do. Being lured by a treat when she's sitting will only reward that behaviour ("hmmm...I sit and I get a treat, how great"). Having her off-leash walking will also make things worse, as puppies would much rather be off leash all the time. For that reason it may be best to keep all "walks" on-leash, and only designate certain activities to being off-leash like playing games in a contained area or socializing with other dogs. 

Here's the method I've been taught and I used with Cosmo. When out for walk think of a specific (short) route in an area with little distraction and stick to it. Maybe around the house once. Start moving ahead. Make lots of exciting noise when she does move (leash loose only). As soon as she stops, go silent, face ahead, and tug lightly, 1, 2, 3 times. For some reason, on 3 she will likely go. If she doesn't go on three tug a big harder. Once she moves, lots of excitement. Repeat as necessary. Use a martingale collar for this.

Using treats is really hard because you have to give them to her as she's moving and she has to continue moving as she's eating them so I would use a squeaky toy or something instead, but only while she is moving well and has moved for at least a little while.

It's likely not going to be a quick fix (took us about 1.5 weeks) but when you're consistent you'll get there!

Good luck!


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## jwemt81 (Aug 20, 2008)

At only 11 weeks old, she's much too young to be going for walks. Walks are something that you need to gradually work up to over time. At this age, leash her up and walk her around your yard or take her to a park and let her walk around in the grass with the leash on. You can even put a small leash on her in the house and let her walk around with it on so that she can get used to it. Don't try talking her on any actual walks, especially on pavement, until she is a bit older. Everything is still brand new to her right now, so be patient with her and give her time to adjust to her new surroundings and being on a leash.


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## Florabora22 (Nov 30, 2008)

I think she could go on little 5 minute walks outside, but nothing more than that.

Don't worry too much about it. Flora did the exact same thing and it bothered me a lot, but now she's a great walker. Well... for me she is, but that's beside the point.

Your puppy is a baby. Give it time, and things will work out. If not, you can do what I did and finally go, "Enough is enough Flora!" and drag your puppy across the street until she gets onto her feet and moves.


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## jmac (Jun 26, 2010)

Thank you all for the great ideas!! I will let you all know when she starts walking. I will take it very slowly and get her used to the leash.


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## Jamm (Mar 28, 2010)

Joey went for his first walk two days ago and he is also 11weeks, he seemed very eager to go and was very happy when we finally left our property. He did not do the sit down and not budge, but he did stop and get a good snif of just about everything, but that is pretty common. All i can say is be patient and show her outside is fun times! Does she come to you when you get down to her level and clap your hands and stuff? Joey does so if we were having that problem with him, i would probably go in front and get down and call him and then when he came i would give him a treat.


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## limekilncanyon (Apr 27, 2010)

Yes, don't worry too much about the walking for now. A short 5-10 minute walk is more than plenty and if you can, try to walk on soft surfaces (grassy areas or dirt) that's better than hard surfaces like concrete sidewalks or paved streets.

Our vet strongly believes in not over-walking a golden puppy or any dogs with breed-specific genetics that's prone with hip dysplasia, until the age of at least 6-8 months, even up to 11 months. On our vet visits, she and her assistant pull and test the pup's rear legs to look for any weaknesses (so far, so good).

Her reasoning from her experience is that the bones of a gloden puppy is still growing. Walking too much is not good for the hips, it's like having a 1 year old human baby walk a mile every day. It's too much on the bone structure and joints.

This also applies as the golden gets older, don't over stress the hips or its hip sockets. It will come back against the dog's health later on and just cause more misery for the dog and a strain on your pocketbook.


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## Cowtown (Sep 23, 2009)

Hi!

I know your pain. I have a 7 month old boy that is just starting to be a good boy on a leash and I've been working since day 1 (8 weeks). He wasn't horrible but he liked to pull a bit.

Just keep at it, be consistent in what you expect and work work work at it.

Take treats on walks to reinforce good walking behavior and every time they make eye contact with you, be sure to reward.

Good luck!

Jeff


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## weezie1953 (Jul 17, 2011)

*Squawks on walks*

Interesting comments in this thread. Our new golden, Daisy, is 3 months old now, and our puppy class instructor said we should start taking her for short walks. At first, we used the regular collar and leash, but switched to a mesh harness when she wanted to bite at the leash (spraying the leash with Bitter Apple did seem to help). The harness worked better, and we were able to take her for a short walk or two for a few days using lots of praise and encouragement when she walked along with us. After the first few days things have not gone very well, and she now flops down on the ground and refuses to move once we get to the end of the driveway, and whines if we try to coax her up. We live on a very quiet street with no traffic. I've tried the treat to get her moving (prefer not to use treats as our former instructor discouraged it, preferring that we use lots of praise and attention), but once that's eaten, she's a "no go." Should we just abandon the effort and wait a bit longer? Most of the other pups in the group seem to be taking walks at this point in time.


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## Brady Ian (Aug 11, 2011)

Brady will be 11 weeks old this friday. He lays down on his walks sometimes, so this thread is helpful because even though he may run to the door and bark for a walk, maybe I need to shorten them. Aside from that though, as an another poster said, I keep him on a leash most of the time in the house. I don't hold it, he just drags it-and rooms are either babygated or closed off, so that he can't hurt himself. i think some trainer told me years ago that the floor acts as a 'leash holder' so to speak, and makes it easier not just to walk dogs, but also deter them from getting overly rambunctious in the house.


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## bcumming (Jan 18, 2013)

un oh. my puppy is only 12 weeks old today and i've taken him on walks that last 15 - 20 minutes. too long, huh? sometimes he wants to walk and sometimes not, so i guess after reading all this i just need to go with short walks. I work and have to crate him most of the day, so am tryin to get some of the puppy energy out. yes, i do have a neighbor i am paying to take him out in the morning and the middle of the afternoon and play for 1/2 an hour.


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## ally1h (Nov 27, 2012)

I share your pain! My 5 month old puppy was exactly like that a couple months ago. It took a long while for him to realize walks weren't scary. Now it's a work in progress. He'll walk with me now, but only on a path he recognizes. If it is somewhere he doesn't know he sits and doesn't want to budge. Sometimes even on his familiar path he will sit, but because he is distracted by something... Usually birds, airplanes, passing cars, passing people and dogs, etc.


It's a work in progress....


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## Brave (Oct 26, 2012)

The first month we had Bear I would bite off more than I could chew on our walks. Taking him too far. He'd get tired and as soon as I noticed it I immediately carried him home. The most we've walked is for 45 mins at a super slow pace because we were smelling the roses and socializing the whole way. I think we covered 1/2-3/4 of a mile (which i think is pushing it distance wise). 


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## weezie1953 (Jul 17, 2011)

Thought I'd never get Daisy to walk..she'd chew on the leash, flop down, or just refuse to move. Wish I hadn't tried so hard when she was only a few months old... She's now 20 months, and has had two total hip replacements, and YES--she's fine, and loves her walks now!


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## DanaRuns (Sep 29, 2012)

Just had my first "walk" on a leash with Gibbs. He's 9 weeks old. I coated the lead in bitter apple, put it on him, and basically just followed him around for several minutes. Then, I started walking and calling him to come. Because he comes reliably when I call, we were able to make it all around the local hardware store, even though he would occasionally stop and fight against the lead.

No way would we have made a "real" walk.


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## mddolson (Jul 10, 2012)

We started our Bella leash/walk training at 11/12 weeks. Just 10-15 minutes at a time around our yard (1 acre) on the grass. ( a good guide for walks is 5 minutes/month of age)
Bella had same issues, would sit /lay down & refuse to move, resisted treats, & any light tugs on the collar. We switch to a Sporn no-pull harness & she's been great ever since. A gentle lift raises her chest, move forward she's on her feet & "Lets go" we're on the move.

Mike D


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## Grinandbeerit (Jan 27, 2013)

My 11 week old golden is the same way. She started off strong, willing to go anywhere we went, but since last week she has just shut down if we try to go anywhere off our short path between potty and home. She doesn't tug much on the leash anymore, except if we try walking anywhere new. Treats can sometimes lure her away to a new spot, but once the treat is eaten she runs right back. We'll just let her get a little older and at 4-5 months start introducing her to new walking routes outside of the neighborhood.

These are all excellent suggestions, thanks!


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## Allie (Nov 30, 2008)

Great - all good suggestions. 
I'm using a double leash- with a swivel - with my older golden Allie - and while Bailey is pulling this way and that - the double leash AND Allie, keeps her in line a lot - I'm so glad to hear that we shouldn't push our pups. 
We stop a lot and work on substance versus distance.. Bailey is a couple days shy of 16 weeks old.


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## quilter (Sep 12, 2011)

Dogs automatically pull against pressure on the collar. There are a couple of nice videos here about how to train your puppy to respond to the pressure: Video Clips | mysmartpuppy.com

Casper is 18 months, and walks really well on his gentle leader. He does well on his flat collar when there is nothing interesting going on. However, I can't move him around the house by grabbing his collar, because I never did this training! I move him around the house using verbal commands, so it's all good, just strange. With my last dog, I was the only one that could move him around by his collar. He wouldn't budge for the rest of the family. Now I finally understand why.


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## carlypup (Jan 10, 2013)

Our 13 week old, Carly, has been doing the same things. She is terrible until we get around the corner from our house then she walks loose leash like she's the queen of the neighborhood. So how am I handling the sitting and refusing to move? Well, I realized right away that pulling her gets us nowhere...she just fights against it. We have been working on "heel" with her, so to get her moving I hold a small treat low beside my left leg, face forward, give her one slight tug and say "let's go". She may only move a few feet...but then we do it again. I always keep moving as I'm feeding her the treat. We are using a front latch harness for now, but a regular collar all other times. She is getting much better...still not perfect, but she'll get there soon I hope! Also, she does GREAT on short hikes away from distractions, so maybe do some "practice" leash walking on the back road that she already loves.

Good luck!


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## Dwyllis (Nov 22, 2012)

Loki used to do that when he was younger. I did not walk him in public areas until 14 weeks, ten days after his third vaccination. Initially, he enjoyed walking, & we started out with just short one block walk lasting about ten mins. We gradually increased to two blocks, & then three as he got to about five months old .....at 6.5 months he averages four blocks, but sometimes does three & sometimes does five. At around four months, he would always stop & rest in a certain place, on the homeward walk ...just two or three mins. Never bothered me. But it frustrated my husband, & obviously Loki picked up on that tension, so that when my DH went to take him on his evening walk, Loki would get outside the house & then sit down & refuse to move, no matter how much coaxing ....then he started to do that with me as well. So we did not walk him for a few days, just played in our back garden instead. Then I resumed the morning walk & apart from stopping to rest at least once, all was well. He would head off on his evening walk with my DH & they would get two houses down from us, & Loki would lay down & not budge, until my DH turned around & began walking back home, at which point, Loki would get up & trot happily back home with him! On one walk, when my DH managed to coax him further, Loki plopped himself down in the middle of the road & refused to budge, & my poor DH had to pick him up ....all 64lbs of him .....& carry him back to the pavement! After that, my DH felt worried about walking him, so he will play in the garden with him instead, & Loki only gets two walks a day when I am at home in the evening ....my DH will walk him & I will walk our papillon. In mornings, he will walk eagerly & well for me for half an hour straight. So I think the whole sitting down & refusing to budge thing, is not all that uncommon in Golden pups lol


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