Hello, I am after advise . Our pup is 6 months old and is doing fantastic on his walks, until we are on the road where we live. He will sit and not move to walk home. This happpens if we have had a long walk or shorter walk. Tried luring him with treats which helps but feel like we are rewarding this behaviour. Tried to ignore him until he is ready to walk but we could be stood there a long time as he is very stubborn. Any advise would be appreciated! I have had labs before and never come across this issue, he sometimes sits and will not move on walks but this is mainly if he sees another dog however we are getting better with this. Getting him to walk however when we are on our road back home is proving difficult.
Hi Emma. It sounds like he's associating getting home with something negative (the end of the fun!). Can you build something fun on your return home into his routine? Supper, or a game of tug etc?
I like Sammie's suggestion. Maybe try the Premack Principle. Walk say 5 metres away from your home and then return. Reinforce the return with a walk away from your home of say 15 metres. And so on building up the distances gradually with the proviso that the distance away from your home is always much further and really exciting (he gets to play ball or carry a tug toy). It might be worth thinking about whether you approach home always from the same direction. Is there something along that route he is wary of? Was he frightened along that route to home when he was younger?
