My 6 month old pup Rosie has decided to lay down and not move when we are on walks. Sometimes she will do this on a nice patch of grass and I can usually lay treats down far enough away she has to get up to reach them and we continued on, but it’s worse when we have to pass another dog on the road. She just plants herself and waits. It can be very exasperating as nothing works to get her attention on me, even treats which normally she is all over. What should I be doing to discourage and stop this behavior? Today was mildly embarrassing as she plopped herself down in front of a man’s house who was having a conversation with a woman across the street who had her dog on leash. Rosie plonked down and wouldn’t move and I was left trying to do everything to get her up while these people basically talked over me. Any suggestions or ideas?
This is quite a common problem with young puppies and the most common cause, is the owner trying to 'get' the dog to walk using the leash. If the leash goes tight, the dog will automatically pull back against it in the opposite direction. This usually results in the owner pulling more, in turn. So, for starters, whenever this happens, it is really important to keep the leash loose. You can use your voice, body, treats, encouragement, to get her to want to walk - but not the actual physical leash in an attempt to pull her. Second, sometimes this happens because the dog is hot and the grass is in the shade and nice and cool. I don't know what the weather is like where you are, but if it has warmed up after the winter, it might be a factor. You can wet the dog down with some water before you go out - just wiping over with a cloth. Or walk early or late in the day. With other dogs, lying down is frequently a greeting behaviour between dogs: A young puppy will lie down in an 'I'm not a threat' way, on seeing another dog approach. Sometimes they roll on their back and show the other dog their belly if the dog reaches you. Sometimes, if they are more confident and boisterous, they want to charge at the other dog in play from the lying down position. Either way, if she does this in response to another dog, she is at that time communicating with the other dog. Personally, I wouldn't really want to allow this to continue because it's a short step from that to lunging around on the leash in an attempt to communicate and interact. For me, leash on = other dogs out of bounds. I want my dog to focus on me and training in the presence of other dogs, not to be in social mode... To achieve that, the dog needs to be food-motivated and needs to want to earn the treats I have, more than they want to engage with the other dog. If the dog doesn't want my treats more than she wants to interact with the other dog, then I have a problem - a lack of food motivation - and that is pretty urgent. Even if usually she is really into the treats, she is telling you that in her reinforcement hierarchy, she values greeting the other dog more than treats. Things are not going to go well, when I then attend class or competition or basically anywhere there are other dogs around and want to see responsiveness to me. So: I would be training with all meals. That means, if feeding kibble, that the dog is earning every piece of kibble training with me - and if she walks off and isn't interested, we stop training and she gets no more food until the next meal time. Food is not 'free' and freely available, it is a valued resource and it is worked for and earned. I would reduce the amount I am feeding, to improve food motivation. And I would increase the value (tastiness) of the treats I use outdoors whilst keeping their size as small as possible - because I don't want the dog to fill up on the tasty outdoor treats and then not want to eat their regular meals. I would find a distance from other dogs, on leash, where my dog can focus on me and I would work at that distance until the dog appears to be completely ignoring the other dog, before getting slightly closer - and so on. Lastly, with frequently lying down, pain is always a possibility to be kept in mind. In which case a vet visit is in order and maybe some preliminary hip and elbow x-rays when she is old enough. But from what you've described there, I think there are other more likely causes.
My 3 year old lab has done this since he was a puppy! It used to really embarrass me but now I just have to laugh it off. Sometime we will be running and next thing I know he has thrown himself on his side. I wish I could say there is an easy fix but at least with mine there wasn’t. I tried the treat thing but I think that made him do it more because he wanted food. Now I just turn my back to him for a minute, let him do his thing, then just say “let’s go” and he pops back up. He is so stubborn! You just have to laugh and not be embarrassed by it. I’ve found other people think it is really funny too.
