Not Walking on Lead

Hi All,

So when we first got Hank he had been walked on a lead only once or twice. When we took him home he was good for the first few days at walking on the lead, not pulling or biting.

The past couple of days he gets outside on his lead to go for a walk, might walk a little way, do his business and then just stops dead. Wont move forward, if i crouch down he will run to me/OH but that is it. I take treats on the walk with him but once he gets to where the myself and the treat are he just stops.

As soon as I turn around to go back home he will start walking or, he will pick the lead up himself, turn around and walk himself home (which is quite cute) but still frustrating!

Any tips?

thanks

Hank is adorable! , have you ever tried just putting the lead on him when he is in the house and walking around with him on it? if not get him some roller skates , there will be no stopping him then lol

Maybe he's just trying to tell you that he's tired and wants to go home and nap. He is still only a baby.
Or that you need to find a more stimulating route to explore

It may just be a lack of confidence thing but I would be careful that you're not building up a habit, in effect that he's training you that when he says 'no' you say 'ok'.

The first thing, just in case, is to avoid trying to pull him as that will only make him want to go back and will knock his confidence even more. Instead, I'd do what you're doing with the crouching and calling, but maybe play and praise rather than treats every time which can become a bit of a hit and run thing.

I would also use going home as a reward for having gone further, but you turn around when you want rather than when he does.

Where are you walking? Is it somewhere that you could sit with him on a longer line without walking as such but just letting him bumble round and explore? If so, I'd do that for a bit, maybe scattering a few treats to encourage him to start moving, and take the pressure off him to go forwards. Sometimes we can block animals from doing something simply by the pressure they feel of us trying to get them to.

Thanks for your responses all!

We have a lake (more like a big pond) about a 5/10 min walk away that can be walked around (if we get there). It is not a long walk.

I am pretty sure it is not always because he is tired because sometimes he does it first thing on his morning walk.

In between the lake and home there is another open area of grass that he likes, sometimes he wont even go there. Yesterday when we got there i took the lead off him and threw his ball around and he ran around after that.

We are not pulling him as I dont want him to be anxious about the lead or going outside.

He walks very well when both myself and my husband take him, it seems he dosnt want to leave one behind at home but that is not always going to work!

HankStaff wrote:
He walks very well when both myself and my husband take him, it seems he dosnt want to leave one behind at home but that is not always going to work!

Ah, now the question would be
Is this a reason or an excuse ?
Especially taking into account the high intelligence of a staffy !

Possibly an excuse but I am not sure I know the answer haha!!! Or how to fix it!

Seriously, I would do the above. Don't fix on 'going for a walk', more of being outside with one of you having fun. Take him to somewhere that's within his happy range and play with him and, as you're playing, move a bit further away. Keep the interaction between you going and keep him focussed on you so he's not thinking about what he's moving away from.

Start to incorporate running further away from home into the games and make that really fun, then start to walk bits and pieces of your play time.

You might also want to begin doing some training when you're out and about, that's great for keeping focus on you too.

By the way, don't worry too much. This isn't uncommon and it does tend to sort itself out as long as you keep relaxed and keep inventive.

Tried taking Neeko for his 1st walk today, he was having none of it lol. Ended up carrying him on the school run, but he did get to interact with a few other dogs at the school which went well, but he would not walk on a lead at all. Just sat down and looked baffled about the lead.

Larry have you practised with the lead in the house and your garden first or is this the first time Neeko has walked with the lead? As we had the same with Hank but we would pretend in the house and garden more and then he got used to it and was fine

Larry, Paris beat me to it but I was going to ask if you had set Neeko up to succeed walking on the lead or if you had grouped a load of new experiences together (wearing collar/harness, adding lead, taking outside to unfamiliar surroundings - maybe with added new noises like very close traffic or pedestrians, etc)

Maybe try to decompose all of these new experiences and try to introduce them to him one by one.

(Decompose might not be the best english term to be using ... I mean to break it down into smaller parts)

Tried his lead in the house at 1st and he wasn't happy about it. Then tried taking him out but he just sits down and backs up. He seems to be getting more confident outside in the garden but still hates the lead. It's only been a few days though so I'm not to concerned, I just don't want him to think having his lead on means it's time for a carry lol.

So Neeko is about 12 weeks old, I think.
When you say trying his lead, is that just clipping the lead to collar/harnes or is it the collar/harness wearing too ?
In the garden without lead, does he follow you around ?

What I did was spend most of my time at first just letting Nifty follow me in the garden - it’s a reflex for puppies. Then I put her harness on and we continued to play follow-me. Only then we clipped on the lead but made sure it was always slack, still with the follow-me game.

What is it about the lead that he doesn’t like ? If you’re using a collar, maybe try a harness ? Nifty hates the collar but loves her harness

Great advice!

Nifty staffy wrote:So Neeko is about 12 weeks old, I think.
When you say trying his lead, is that just clipping the lead to collar/harnes or is it the collar/harness wearing too ?
In the garden without lead, does he follow you around ?

What I did was spend most of my time at first just letting Nifty follow me in the garden - it’s a reflex for puppies. Then I put her harness on and we continued to play follow-me. Only then we clipped on the lead but made sure it was always slack, still with the follow-me game.

What is it about the lead that he doesn’t like ? If you’re using a collar, maybe try a harness ? Nifty hates the collar but loves her harness

He has had a collar on for a few weeks. But whenever we attach his lead in the house he either started doing cartwheels or ran away before attaching it. The 1st day he was allowed out he didn't want to go out at all and I don't think trying his lead was helping matters, so i just carried him on the school run so he could get some experience. Whilst there another dog owner turned up with 2 dogs, so i put him down and they all got on fine. He wouldn't walk home though lol. The next day though he was willing to go in the garden on his own, but was still not entertained by his lead, just sits down or backs up. Day 3 (today) still won't won't on lead but is getting braver exploring in the garden.

I'm not worried about the lead issue, I just don't want him to think it's carry time every time he has it on lol, I'm sure he'll get used to it soon.

hi
i cant say we ever experienced this with our dogs, Buddy was just so laid back as a pup nothing new phased him and with Nancy she had another dog to follow on walks which im sure helped!
Great advice given from everyone though it all makes sense, im sure you and Neeko will crack it eventually!
( he is rather adorable btw)

Larry, before you want to attach his lead call him and put a good treat between your feet then attach the lead, this way after a couple of goes he sees it as a positive as he gets a treat with the lead.

He started walking with his lead on today, stops every now and then but with a bit of encouragement he gets going again.