# Lizzie won't go on walks-grrrr



## Lizzie'sMom (Oct 13, 2010)

I usually walk Lizzie down to the bus stop every morning and then at night we take another walk. Lately she won't walk. This is the first morning she hasn't wanted to go to the bus stop. We walked across the street to the sidewalk and she just stopped. For only being 10 pounds she can sure dig her heels in. I picked her up and carried her and then put her down. She walked the rest of the way there. At night she will get around the corner by her little friends house and stops. We have to pick her up and carry her quite a ways and then she will start walking. It is the weirdest thing. She always walks home, though.

She LOVES sitting on the chair on the porch. She could sit there all day. My husband thinks that is what she would rather do than walk. But she NEEDS a walk!!!

Any suggestions as to what her problem is?


----------



## Leah00 (Oct 21, 2011)

I have no advice, just wanted to let you know that I have the same problem with Jasper. He's never wanted to walk though.
I took him to the park a few weeks ago and we were there for over an hour and I don't even think we went half a mile. He was much more interested in looking around and sniffing stuff. 
I think I'm going to have to borrow someone else's dog to get my exercise!


----------



## sprorchid (Mar 30, 2010)

before I got my 1/2 hav, I never new there were dogs that didn't like to walk.

One trick one of my trainers showed me, to get my pup to walk at a heel (he's a mad puller), go to a craft supply store, get a 3 foot stick and stab a moist treat at the end of it, hold it at a heel position with your non leash hand to motivate your pup to walk.

Gosh, all my dogs LOVE their walks. they about tackle me at the front door when I'm putting on their leashes. I walk all three together, I'm quite the spectacle. good luck.


----------



## tokipoke (Feb 13, 2012)

How is your body posture when you are trying to get her to walk? Sounds like she has you trained well  - I would discourage this type of behavior because then the dog calls the shots instead of the human.

Don't directly face the dog and pull on the leash. Directly facing them actually makes them stop in their tracks, and the pulling only makes them resist even more. Turn to your side, clap, and say "come come come!" very enthusiastically. When she moves keep moving along and give her a treat as you are moving. You can also practice this around the house without a leash, it will be just practicing the "come" command. Make sure you repeat whatever "come" cue word three times - repeating a word in quick succession three times initiates action. If this method does not work, set the collar high on the neck (like how they do for show dogs) and slightly lift the leash and just walk. Walk with a purpose to wherever you are going and don't worry about whether she will follow or not. She will!


----------



## Flynn Gentry-Taylor (Jan 17, 2008)

I have had dogs who only want to walk till they do their poops, and then will turn around and drag you back home. I have a dog right now who does not want to walk if it is too hot, or if it is raining, or if the pavement is still wet, his sister will walk through a mud puddle..lol...
Have you tried your dog with others and seen them play and RLH? How old is Lizzie? 
I will have to say my dogs walk better in the winter..or early morning or late night, if there is no dew on the ground...but when Sir Winston gets tired, he will plant his feet too, or he will head toward home.. 
As long as Lizzie gets exercise someway...


----------



## jabojenny (Sep 18, 2011)

Timmy has been that way too. He's on and off with the walking thing. He walks great with his doggie friends, but when it's just me it's hit or miss. Sometimes what works for me is to turn around and make a circle to go back in our original walk direction. Since Timmy is only 7 months old, and working in loose leash walking, I sometimes carry treats that I will throw in front of him to get him started. Last night we tried to take a walk and he too was digging his heels in the street until I just turned around and walked home and not five minutes later a big storm blew in so he must have sensed something. Is it hot where you are? It's been hot here lately and I think that has something to do with Timmy not wanting to go out to walk too. Good luck, I know it's frustrating!


----------



## Lizzie'sMom (Oct 13, 2010)

Lizzie is 2. She will just stop when walking behind us. I notice some days it is hot and other times she is sniffing in the air. Not sure if she smells animals or what. There are certain houses that she just will not go past. We have a string of houses with larger dogs who have invisible fences that she won't go by-but that is further in the walk. The not wanting to walk while nearer to home is new.

She does like the smaller dogs in the neighborhood and will run with them BUT only if it is cooler than 70 degrees!!


----------



## rokipiki (Oct 15, 2010)

Check Lizzies paws - pads, in between toes, nails, dew claws! Once Roki didn't want to walk. Paws were OK, but, my God, his dew claw on left foot was all red and inflamed and the reason was that groomer forgot to cut the nail on that dew claw so it became quite overgrown. We went to the vet. She cut the nail and we washed that paw in antiseptic shampoo and put some antibiotic ointment to the claw. Three days later he was his old self again. 
My friends spaniel sparined her muscle and poor girl didn't want to go out at all. Vet gave her some pain killers for couple of days and some kind of muscle relaxant and everythin was OK. The funny thing was that she was not limping or yelping or doing anything that could signal that she is in pain. i have read that the can have back pain or any kind of other bone or muscle pain like we have from time to time. 
Marina&Roki


----------



## Pipersmom (Jul 27, 2009)

I think it could be heat or humidity. We walk every day at lunch time but starting around this time of year she refuses to walk more than half a block and I have to switch to early morning or evening walks.Even some days that don't seem too hot to me she does not want to go. I figure she's the one wearing the fur coat so I'll let her decide if it's too hot  It took me a while to figure out what was going on. They are from Cuba, right? lol


----------



## Lizzie'sMom (Oct 13, 2010)

It is nice and cool this morning (59degrees) and she trotted right down to the bus stop and even got to see Roger the chocolate lab!


----------



## goiter6 (Mar 6, 2010)

I have noticed Chewy walks better when the whole family is on the walk. If someone is missing she wants to go home to check on them. One time a friend tried to walk her while we were home - she simply wouldn't leave the yard until one of us came with her.

Chewy will also gas out when it is hot and find a nice shady spot to lie down. She does this whether we are heading home or heading away from home.


----------



## LJS58 (Mar 23, 2012)

Lizzie'sMom said:


> I usually walk Lizzie down to the bus stop every morning and then at night we take another walk. Lately she won't walk. This is the first morning she hasn't wanted to go to the bus stop. We walked across the street to the sidewalk and she just stopped. For only being 10 pounds she can sure dig her heels in. I picked her up and carried her and then put her down. She walked the rest of the way there. At night she will get around the corner by her little friends house and stops. We have to pick her up and carry her quite a ways and then she will start walking. It is the weirdest thing. She always walks home, though.
> 
> *She LOVES sitting on the chair on the porch. *She could sit there all day. My husband thinks that is what she would rather do than walk. But she NEEDS a walk!!!
> 
> Any suggestions as to what her problem is?


Sorry, I don't have any advice about walking. Joey hates to walk too! We have to toss treats along the way to keep him moving.

Anyway - I'd love to see a picture of Lizzie sitting on the porch chair! That sounds so cute.....


----------



## FancyNancy (Oct 7, 2009)

I can tell you why - IT'S TOO **** HOT!!!!! What a smart dog you have!


----------



## gelbergirl (Jun 9, 2007)

How are Lizzie's walks going?


----------



## MerryMaeFlower (May 26, 2012)

If you have another dog you can walk at the same time and tether them together that has always worked incredibly well for me. I even trained a dog that had an extreme fear of being on a leash that way and she was completely reformed after just three walks while tethered to another dog and walked beautifully on her own after that. Whether the dog is a puller or just wont go, I've been able to quickly fix any problem this way. Obviously it needs to be a dog yours gets along with and needs to be rougly the same size (though err on the larger end since you don't want your dog ruling the other), but its worth the effort to find one in my opinion because it works so quickly and so well.


----------



## jabojenny (Sep 18, 2011)

How are everyone's walks going? Is Lizzie back to wanting to walk again? Timmy is driving me crazy!!! I think I've tried just about everything to no avail. He will walk with his dog friends, when we're at the beach, in town but not with me alone around our neighborhood.
1- Switched my walking times so it's cooler outside.
2- Switched from harness to collar and collar to harness.
3- Resorted to trying treats, works sometimes but mostly not.
4- Checked feet and pads for anything odd.

His latest behavior is biting my pant legs, or legs, which makes me stop and say "No.", then he'll turn around and want to head home. Nine out of ten times we'll end up going home where he walks fine sometimes carrying the leash in his mouth. I don't like giving in but I can't drag him the whole way either. Timmy's trainer thought he might be afraid of something and to keep a keen eye out for ear and tail position which I've done and he just seems mad that I'm making him walk. :frusty: I'm trying to think outside the box and coming up with nothing. He's eating fine, going to the bathroom fine, no excessive sleeping or anything else odd going on so what would I say to my vet if I decide to call? Could there be a health issue? He really needs his exercise, I take him outside where he'll run around and play fetch, but I WANT TO WALK! Help


----------



## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

jabojenny said:


> How are everyone's walks going? Is Lizzie back to wanting to walk again? Timmy is driving me crazy!!! I think I've tried just about everything to no avail. He will walk with his dog friends, when we're at the beach, in town but not with me alone around our neighborhood.
> 1- Switched my walking times so it's cooler outside.
> 2- Switched from harness to collar and collar to harness.
> 3- Resorted to trying treats, works sometimes but mostly not.
> ...


What about STARTING the walk somewhere completely different? Like taking him to another neighborhood to walk> I'd also find somewhere really fun to walk TO in the middle of the walk. (like a place you can let him run off leash for a few minutes) Another thing you can do is to get a really fun tug toy like the long plush snakes they make full of squeakers, and put it in your back pocket. Pull it out intermittently for a quick game of squeaky tug. Save the toy JUST for this, and don't use it on the way home (or back to your car) only on the way out or the mid-way point.


----------



## The Fussy Puppy Gang (May 21, 2007)

Pepper is 6 years old and he has never wanted to walk more than a 1/2-mile under his own power. In his stroller, however, he LOVES going for our 3 to 4-mile walks! His flat out refusal to walk past that 1/2-mile mark is why we got the stroller in the first place. 

I suspect, in our case, Pepper's refusal is partially due to discomfort in his step when he starts to tire out. His right foreleg is straight but his left one is pretty crooked and he develops a visible limp after we've walked a while. Rather than hurt him by insisting he keep up with me, I bought him a chariot so he can ride along on our brisk walks. That way he's not left behind. :biggrin1:

Of course, when we walk to the park he loves to get out and explore but even then he's only interested in one or two loops around the park. He's definitely not one for endurance sports. ound:

Hopefully Lizzie is just being picky and not in any discomfort when she puts the brakes on.


----------



## jabojenny (Sep 18, 2011)

krandall said:


> What about STARTING the walk somewhere completely different? Like taking him to another neighborhood to walk>


I'm sure he would love that, like I said he likes walking anywhere buy my neighborhood with only me.


krandall said:


> I'd also find somewhere really fun to walk TO in the middle of the walk. (like a place you can let him run off leash for a few minutes)


This is pretty much only an issue for his morning walk since it's usually only me. We walk with my neighborhood gang most afternoons. I really like walking in my neighborhood, it's convenient, pretty and not much traffic. There's not really anywhere off leash we can go. Usually after our morning walk we will either go out back and throw the ball around or hang out on the front lawn where Timmy likes to lay in the clover.


krandall said:


> Another thing you can do is to get a really fun tug toy like the long plush snakes they make full of squeakers, and put it in your back pocket. Pull it out intermittently for a quick game of squeaky tug. Save the toy JUST for this, and don't use it on the way home (or back to your car) only on the way out or the mid-way point.


That's actually a great idea. I don't really like the idea of having the bribe him with food all the time. I know I can bring treats and sometimes do, and reward him along the way but sometimes that works and sometimes not. Morning walks are usually after breakfast so he's not that hungry.

This evening I went for a walk with Timmy and my daughter and Timmy found an apple on the ground from one if my neighbor's trees. We rolled the apple down the road which Timmy chased after. We were laughing so hard. But once again we turned around since Prince Timmy had enough. He turned around with the apple in his mouth and walked all the way home. 



The Fussy Puppy Gang said:


> I suspect, in our case, Pepper's refusal is partially due to discomfort in his step when he starts to tire out. His right foreleg is straight but his left one is pretty crooked and he develops a visible limp after we've walked a while.


That's what I worry about but he doesn't limp at all. I'm not sure if it's worth bringing him to the vet for a check since he seems fine except in this one location. I joke that maybe he's bored walking the same loop and he doesn't mind if he has better company, his other dog friends, other then me.


----------

