Hi there, I have a 13 week old Labrador called Casper. I live approximately 400m from the beach away and it's one straight road from my house. He has developed this odd behaviour of not wanting to walk down that road. He just sits and stares at me and doesn't move. I have tried luring him with toys and treats but it doesn't seem to make a difference. He will come and grab the treat and then continues to sit down and not walk. The odd thing is that once we made it down that road he is happy to walk, tail up, sniffing happily along in the grass and sand. It is literally just that 5 minute walk leading towards it (which sometimes takes me a good 20 min). I have carried him for some parts of the road and tried dragging him on the leash (which is the worst option and doesn't seem to help either). He's getting fairly heavy now and i can't see how I can maintain this going forward. He's also a star walking back. No issues. I can't recall anything happening on that particular road that might have had an impact. Has anyone else come across this behaviour and has some advise on how to overcome this? If it would be up to him we would probably never make it to the beach from the first place (on rare occasions he does walk along with no issues) It doesn't matter what time of the day it is, mornings, afternoons or evenings. I just don't know whether i should just leave him until he's "ready" or to keep carrying down the road until he's happy to walk by himself. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks Caroline
Willow does this she is 6 months old she just stops feet from the house or on a walk on the bridleway. She doesn't do it in just her collar but does it in her harness. I have loosened it so it's not too tight and she still stops.
At that age it's likely to be a confidence thing. All our walk better going home than going away from the house at that age. If you can, I'd carry him (to break the habit and not reinforce his fear) for a week or so and make sure you have lots of off lead fun when you get to the beach.
Cooper decided that she did not want to walk down the entry road into our neighborhood part way through this winter. No idea why. We are working to sort it out. She has been going down this road for almost 4 years with no problem.
Hi my pup does this regularly,going and coming back home! She started doing it from 4months and still does it now,just suddenly stops and refuses to move. She's 13 months now and far to heavy to carry. I don't know if it's confidence,fear of just curious about her world but i found the only thing that works is to wait until she's ready to move. Not always good when you're on a time schedule!
And @CaroM13 Have you tried getting an assistant to drop treats along the path home before and after the spot where the problem behaviour occurs.
Hunter had a phase of doing this, he'd get outside the house then sit and refuse to move. I would get my 6 year old to run ahead being silly and jumping round and making fun noises, Hunter wouldn't want to miss out so he'd end up running up to her. I'd give him a treat and then we'd carry on going. It only lasted a week or two and he hasn't done it in ages and ages now
Hi Michael,thanks for you advice. I was encouraging her with treats but the training class we go to said not to do that in case she was doing it to get treats! I've never experienced this with any of my previous dogs,but then Isla has displayed lots of strange behaviours! She's very unique.
What we did when Chewie did this (at around 5 months I think) was wait for just one step in the right direction and then treat. I also used to carry around a piece of banana as a treat! He progressed very quickly from there to multiple steps, to the corner and around or across the road. He only refuses to walk now if it's raining. Lol.
Puppies normally run through 2 fear periods. Usually around 8-11 weeks and then again at 5 months. It is important not to force them to do anything during this time they don’t want too. It is also important to remove them for any situations that cause distress or they can have lasting issues. The instinc not to want to walk is common. It extends back to when momma left the den to hunt and this kept the pups alive by preventing them from wandeing too far from from home. This is why they usually have no problem returning from a walk but resist going for a walk. There is alway a reason a puppy won’t do something and shouldn’t be forced. It can effect the relationship you have with your animal. At 13 weeks it could be an extended or delayed fear period or something on the way to beach has scared her. Could be anything really, even a noise that they associate with that location. Maybe give it few weeks and see if things change but if you keep forcing her down she will not want to go even more later. You could also try a different route or driving there and then starting your walk.
