Czar is a 14 week old puppy. We got him in Dec and because of frigid temperatures, didn’t had good routine of taking him out much. Now since past 2 weeks we have a routine of going out for doing business. He is not interested to go for walks beyond our driveway. It’s such a struggle to tale him out of the court. We have heard this to be pretty unusual for a lab pup. First time pet owner..... need advice pls
Hi , do you know someone with a calm dog , who would be prepared to walk with you occasionally ?It is just a confidence issue , the big wide world is a little scary at first , so walking with an adult dog would really help to boost his confidence . Welcome to the forum by the way !
Thank you!! He does play very well with older dogs but even to take him to those homes is a struggle.
No, it’s not unusual at all at this age. If you can, get dropped off ten minutes from home, or carry him out and walk home- nearly all pups will walk home but plenty are not keen on walking out from the house. Once he’s a bit older he’ll be too keen!
Last week me and my 14 week old labbaby Ella near got run over by a large van as it mounted the curb since then its hard to get her to walk but lucky we have a 5 year old chocy lab and its helped to take both out
Gosh, so sorry to hear that happened to Ella, at a still vulnerable age. But it's great that you have an older dog to help her get over the scare. (And you).
Where do you live? I am from Midwest Minnesota, USA. It has been very very cold this winter. Zero and below zero.... With windchill making it even colder. Last Christmas we got our new puppy and he was not interested in being outside at all. Do his business and a walk around the garage to head back in. We also had a 2 year old and a 15 1/2 year old, both labs. One has thick fur and sheds a lot. The other has thin fur and barely sheds. No interest in long walks either. The thin fur 2 year old stands at the door begging to go back in. Once it warmed up, we spent more time outside. Is your issue the weather or something else? I sure as heck don't like to go for extended times outside when it's frigid? And you have a young pup.
My puppy is good to about 20 degrees F without an issue. When the temps drop below 15 deg F, he has no interest in being outside. I actually like that since neither do I, and so he's all business for Peeing and Pooing. Above that, even being treated to pee and poo, he takes his good old time(old as much as a 14 week dog can be old).
I remember our first Labrador back in 1990. Until about 4 months, I had to literally drag her to walk away from the house(she was wearing a harness not a collar). I just gave up and we walked around the house, which was a pain since the yard was pretty small. Then suddenly, she was into long walks away.
I was lucky when Rory didn't feel too confident I took my lovely old boy with us it really helped. I also just let him watch if he wouldn't leave the front garden. I never forced him and let him take his time. Stressing pups just makes them more stressed. When we got to far from home he would cry so I distract him with a games or toy. As his confidence improved we'd get further even without the old boy. There's no rush patience and taking things slowly work, they don't need the exercise so it just takes as long as they need.
I was lucky living in Florida that I always had warm temperatures. I took the first 3 weeks off after I got him and stayed outdoors with him greeting everyone who walked by my house for socialization purposes and when it was time to let him go potty I just kept walking him around the outside of the house til he got use to walking on a lease then started venturing out down the block. At first he didn’t and wouldn’t go far, maybe down a couple of houses, but little by little we increased his walk by going a extra house very slowly. Took some time but eventually it all worked out for us. Omg Blaser that’s horrible, poor Ella and you! Was the driver of the van not watching? I hope he stopped and made sure you both were ok. ETA: He’s an inside dog, I just stayed outside with him for so long so he could get use to strangers. Don’t want to make it sound like he was kept outdoors. This boy loved his AC, lol.
Hi I have a 15 week who is doing the same have only managed to get around the block about four times, sometimes just about get to the end of the road. have tried treats and a toy, and dragging but feel bad doing that. I'm sure in a few months they will be ok just feel she is missing out in socialising
Why wou Why would you drag her ? That causes so many issues and can hurt them physically. It also reinforces her fear for not wanting to go. Her cave dwelling ancestors stayed alive and away from the big evil world by instincts to stay in the safe cave away from predators while mommy was Hunting. This trait carries over still in today’s breeds. They will eventually go quit happily literally dragging you behind. There’s no rule that says “ I must walk my puppy xxx amount of distance”. If you need to walk her start at the finish and more than likely she will saunter Home quite happily to feel safe again.
It is absolutely not unusual. Just look around on the forum and you'll find countless people saying the same thing. Give your puppy time and she'll learn that the outside is an exciting place to explore. If you make it unpleasant (such as forcing her before she's ready) then the problem will go on longer and you may create more issues, both physical and mental. If she's happy to go to the end of the drive and then sits down to watch the world go by, that's great. She's habituating to her environment, learning what goes on there. Forcing her into something she's not comfortable with will damage her trust in you. As @Johnny Walker says, at this age she doesn't have to "go for a walk" - she still has so much to learn about the world, so give her a chance to do that at her own pace and you'll reap the benefits later. Johnny's tip to drive to the end of the walk is one that works for many, but I would be a bit wary of doing this with an uncertain puppy because you could make them feel very vulnerable in the big unfamiliar world. I say this from the experience of having an anxious dog and this would be highly detrimental to her wellbeing. At this age, you may not know if your puppy is naturally predisposed to anxiety or whether this is "just" a normal fear phase. In either event, I wouldn't want to be putting my puppy in a position of creating fear because that has been shown to be detrimental to lifelong development.
This. Another one for me to archive and bring out when the question is asked again. When my friend’s pup, Zaba, was 14 weeks old she phoned me in tears. ‘I got this pup to go for walks with and he won’t walk!’. You should see him now, five years later! He’s the most intrepid dog I know. My friend calls Tatze ‘Princess’ because she doesn’t have his adventurous, intrepid spirit
thank you will take a step back and just go as far as she wants. She has a lovely nature and would hate to destroy that. I had a male lab for 15 years and always had the opposite problem couldn't wait to go out lol
Thank you I will step back and go at her pace, She is always happy to walk back home. Also very happy when she meets people or other dogs.
I just kept walking mine around the outside of our house over and over again, he seemed to enjoy that, but once I tried walking him down the block, he refused. So... we kept walking around the outside of the house til he was ready. Our neighbors but have thought we were nuts, lol
