Chester is a 4 year old black lab who has suddenly decided that he will not walk the way you are taking him. He stops suddenly and then sits down and refuses to budge. I have tried luring him, about turn walks, the only thing he will do is go back the way we have just come. We are also having problems every time he sees a cat, he goes absolutely mad, literally dangling on the end of the lead and where we live there are cats at every turn. He is not obviously hurting, no limps and is eating and pooing fine. Don't want to start putting him in the car every time we go for a walk as we live fairly close to very nice woods. He hasn't been scared by anything. This morning I had to do an about turn, walk a completely roundabout way to the woods where he walked as usual. He always walks home fine after our walk. At a bit of a loss!
Just addressing the not walking situation , I would do this : Put Chester on his lead , take him out and before he decides to stop , walk back home again and repeat ! Labs can be ultra sensitive , my own being no exception , so its likely that something has spooked him without you even realising it ! Years ago , my Sam saw a motor bike where it shouldn't have been , he refused to walk past it and then refused to go down that road for a few days , until it dawned on him that it wasn't there all the time ! So , yes , set off as usual but then go home , it will be a pain to have to repeat, but it might just make him feel more secure that all walks lead back home,eventually !
Nothing to offer except sympathy. We also have this problem. Yesterday, I was dragged across someone's front lawn after a non-existent cat - Coco just thought he saw one, because he's seen one in the same place before.
