My dog won't walk unless my son comes!!!!!

Hi everyone

I'm in a real pickle with my staffy who is 1.5 years old. He's a great dog and is really friendly. His realtionship with my 2yr old son is excellent. He has a tendency to sometimes jump up at people when he's over excited but he never does this with my son. They're very close.

The main problem we've got is walking him. We live in a terraced house so when he needs the toilet we take him to a small green across the road and he's fine with this. However, if we want to walk him any further than that he simply goes to the ground (sometimes shivers) and refuses to walk. We've tried for ages to get him to walk and he simply won't budge.

However, if my son comes on the walk the he's fine and will walk with us no problems. Because of work commitments and my partner being heavily pregnant I can only walk him with my son on weekends, which is obviously nowhere near enough.

I'm kind of confused now and have no idea of what else to do to get him to walk without my son being there. Any ideas would be much appreciated!!!

Hi & welcome to the forum. It'd be great if you could introduce yourself here...
https://staffy-bull-terrier.niceboard.com/f7-new-member-introductions

Do you know anybody who has a nice, well behaved dog that you could go for walks with? Sometimes having a doggie friend will encourage a reluctant walker.

How often does your dog go for a walk, and how long are they?

Sounds to me like he protects your son, and may be worried about leaving you son. They are not called nanny dogs for no reason.

I also agree with Caryll about trying to get another well behaved dog to walk with.

2nd dog to walk with is a great idea , as long as you are borrowing one but I am assuming at the moment he is not getting his walks through the week and he must have these so a quick solution is needed to your problem, have you also tried other methods such as high value treats ??
What about the car , will he get in that alright , you could try putting him in the car and take him somewhere where he can run and have fun and walk him from there

I'm with Dave on this, popping them in a car and going somewhere new might be exactly what is needed, hi and welcome

The car ride is a good idea as well as treats. You could also try brining something with your sons scent on it

how are you reacting when he plants himself? If you are coaxing him and trying to get him to come to you you might be inadvertently praising his behaviour. Have you tried just grabbing the lead, making no fuss andd just walking around the streets and not sticking to your routine of going to the green? There may be a lot of other dog smells there. a more nervous dog will not want to go to somewhere a stronger "smelling" dog has been. its only natural.