My nearly 5 month old Tara has decided that, after walking happily for part of her walk, will suddenly stop dead, and not move. No amount of cajoling nor treats will get her to move. Then, all of a sudden, we are off again. This can happen several times on a walk - once even when in sight of our house, so not as if she has decided she has gone far enough. I was concerned that she might be in pain, but a vet check was clear. Is this normal?
Re: Puppy keeps stopping I think I have heard others mentioning this.....and racking their brains for a reason! It isn't something I have had a problem with at all, but I think the others dealt with this with patience, and it righted itself. I think NOT pulling or shoving or overly cajoling would be my tack. Perhaps just ignoring her for a minute then possibly just setting off in a different direction?
Re: Puppy keeps stopping What is she doing when she stops? Does she sit, lie down, or stand there staring? Sniff? Maisie might stop and stare at something - could be something small, like a bird in the distance, something she sees far off, etc. Sometimes breaking her sight line helps to get her moving on again. I also have a cue for Maisie that means "stop sniffing that/standing there and get on with it!" I say "move it!" in a high pitched tone and swing my hand in the direction we're going (it's kind of an exciting looking gesture, which I think she likes). I started this in the house, running about, getting her to come with me in each direction using the hand cue then adding word cue. You could work on a "move forwards" cue in the house and then try adding it when she's out, and then try it when she's stopped stock still.
Re: Puppy keeps stopping Molly did this at about the age you are reporting. It is very frustrating. Encouraging her with treats did the trick. I used to quantify our rate of progress as KPH. Kibble Per Hundred steps
Re: Puppy keeps stopping She does not seem to be looking at anything, just standing still. I have decided to do the same as her, and just stand there, but when she wants to walk, I will stand still, then move off when I want to, so she does not feel in control of me. Treats are eagerly taken, but no movement from Tara! Only really becomes annoying when we are on a narrow path, and people want to get by - she ignores them too.
Re: Puppy keeps stopping Hi there Bonnie has started doing this on the way home. With us I'm almost sure it's a sit-in protest that we're going home. Our choice of routes are fairly regular so I think she's become old enough to work out that this way means home. I do the same as you in that I stop, wait a moment and then breezily say, "okay" which is the same cue I use to release a wait. "Okay", for her, is associated with a nice reason to move on (from the wait) so she sort of takes herself by surprise when she realises she's walked on. Other times I use treats, today, I even had a little sit down myself (no one was around!!). That really surprised her (!) so she got up to see what on Earth I was doing! Basically, I'm keeping it light and varying the method, anything to keep her moving. The thing I don't want is for this behaviour to become imprinted. I wouldn't worry too much about her thinking she's in control. As has been said before, as long as you know where the food is stashed, you're always in control. Just keep her moving and excited to move on. If anyone has other advice I'd love to hear that too!
Re: Puppy keeps stopping I feel your pain. My boy (Myles) started this at about 13 weeks. I was prepared to deal with pulling but not stopping! I had to do some research on ways to get through this so I will tell you what has helped for me. 1) Switching him from collar to front fastening harness 2) Never pull him. If he stops I stop. A trainer told me not to face him when he does this but to face away from him (in the direction you're trying to move). 3) Wait it out 4) Eventually he would get bored and take a few steps. The key here is to wait until he was even with me (heel position) before I would start walking again (try not to be ahead of him) 5) Click/treat when he gets even with me and keep moving forward 6) Repeat repeat repeat Other things that have worked sometimes is figuring out if there is a certain place he does it more. For me it is usually on my street. So I bring higher value rewards when he gets this way around my neighborhood. He now seems to snap out of it the further we go. But there are key moments when I have to bring out the higher value rewards. Sometimes I can do about turns around him and get him to move forward again. For me I've had to really evaluate whether or not I am over correcting him on our walks and making him frustrated and not enjoying it. So I have to make sure I allow sniff time, walking in grass (rather than sidewalk), things that I can tell he wants to do. While not letting him walk me! It's a hard frustrating thing but it has improved much over the last 4 weeks. Let us know how she progresses!
Re: Puppy keeps stopping Hi Myles' mom and welcome to the forum! Pop along to the introductions section to introduce yourself and your boy - we always appreciate pictures, too! Thanks for sharing your experience.
Re: Puppy keeps stopping [quote author=Mylestogo link=topic=10640.msg157884#msg157884 date=1429578789] For me I've had to really evaluate whether or not I am over correcting him on our walks and making him frustrated and not enjoying it. So I have to make sure I allow sniff time, walking in grass (rather than sidewalk), things that I can tell he wants to do. While not letting him walk me! [/quote] I know exactly what you mean!
Re: Puppy keeps stopping Tuppence sat down frequently when she was little so, like Ericka, I bought a front-fastening harness as I didn't like pulling on her collar when bribery didn't work! She seemed happier with that (with the bonus that I didn't have to worry about her wriggling out of her collar either), so combined wih treats we made progress. She did it again once recently, but I've still no idea why. She's a bundle of energy, so I don't think she was tired - just probably wanted to go somewhere different!
Re: Puppy keeps stopping Dexter had a phase of doing this when he was younger.I can't remember what age it was but it was mostly when we were wailomgand past somewhere he wanted to go eg my friends house ( has a spaniel) or the entrances to the park....I used to get him going with a treat ,if he was really dug in with his feet I used to walk backwards talking to him and making daft noises ,treating him when he moved and was still moving. My husband dealt with it by throwing a treat on the floor,Dex would walk and stop,throw a treat on the floor,Dex would walk and stop.....I watched it all the way up our road once until I could bear it no longer....and banged on the window ;D ;D ;D ;D yet another chapter of our dog ownership and marital bliss.Now at 2.5 he will still try it on with me if we aren't going the way he wants but a quick tap of my leg and his 'heel' cue gets him moving.......usually with a sigh and a very hard done by expression ;D
Re: Puppy keeps stopping Bouncer, Just want to mention this is an ongoing struggle with us too. Just had a terrible time with it today. Do share if you find something that works!
Re: Puppy keeps stopping Partially solved - I think! Took Tara out on my old Spaniel's flexi-lead, as we were going up the park, with plenty of room to run around. No problems at all, and we practiced recall on the whistle too. Later went out with her standard lead, and she was stopping almost immediately. Seems like she prefers running around, rather than being under close control. Not scientific, and only based on today, so will see what happens tomorrow.
Re: Puppy keeps stopping Always good to experiment a bit to trial different things that might work Glad you had a good walk.
Re: Puppy keeps stopping I'd noticed Bonnie was doing this at the same places on the way home. I tried giving her a bit of lead to wander and it seems she'd found something interesting to sniff. Now I just let her sniff and she's much better. I wonder if she'd realised pulling was futile so had taken to stopping. I don't think it's the full story as there are other occasions - with us, I'm almost certain it's to do with her wanting to go somewhere other... and having learnt pulling on the lead jus' ain't ladylike n' more....
Re: Puppy keeps stopping Myles has finally gotten much better about this. I learned I have to be very careful when I click/treat him. I got so caught up in C/T when he would look at me, but this was working against us when he was stopping. He would slow down and look up at me, so I would C/T thinking good job for looking at me. For him I have to wait til he's looking and moving forward, head up (not nose to ground). I try to c/t that whenever I can. Has become much more automatic with him now. He still stops to watch things, but it's usually just a few seconds then he's ready to go again. I also now have varying levels of rewards. One pocket has medium to low value rewards for the majority of our walk, but I save the juicy good stuff for high distraction times or when I feel like he may want to not move forward (I hardly ever need for this anymore). These things in combination with patience (never pulling him), allowing him time to be free to sniff and watch things, and some fun off lead (for us it's just a dropped lead) seems to have made a big difference.
Some great tips I will try Mabel was stopping every few yards on her way home today when we were more or less in sight of the house, it's not particularly getting worse but it's really not improving. Must admit I had gently pulled her but it only makes matters worse. I took her off the lead as it was safe and she didn't move. I think I could have walked home and she would have still been sitting there now. Least I know I am not alone.
Well, Tara no longer stops!!! She has been running free with her pals in the park, and I think it has been the freedom to run/stop/look/run again, that has taken the need to stop away. Perhaps it is a message to me, that the same walk is boring. Funnily enough, a 3 week older Lab was doing exactly the same, and the owner was getting frantic, as she needed to get home. I was able to put her mind at rest, and now, a few weeks later, he has stopped stopping, and is running free. Again, not scientific, but interesting.
Ah glad to hear that....and that's she's enjoying her free runs....My fella at 3 still tries to stop now if he decides he's not happy with the walk I'm doing and wants to go in the direction of the free runs! He starts to dawdle a bit and lean towards the direction he wants to go,cheeky boy!
