Dog Forum banner
Status
Not open for further replies.

Dog won't walk without additional family member present anymore

12K views 4 replies 3 participants last post by  riathir 
#1 ·
I adopted Wolfgang (1 1/2 years old, female, spayed, presumably boxer+jrt mix) from a local shelter back in February after fostering her for a month. From day 1 of fostering her she was always excited to go for walks, wherever they may be- near our house, further away, new route, familiar routes. We'd walk 2 miles in the morning and 2 miles in the evening (she injured her leg in April, so we cut down to one mile and half to two mile walk daily to let her heal, and never got back to two walks a day, but nothing changed then about her desire to go for walks).

So six months of mostly consistent daily walks and then I took her with me out of state to visit my dad for two weeks. She had some trouble adjusting (long car ride, new place, all new people and smells except for me and the stuff I brought, had to be crated for a while bc she was barking+lunging at my 4 y/o brother nonstop and I couldn't tell if she would bite him) but was eager to explore my dad's yard, and we took some walks to learn the neighborhood for a few days, alone in the morning but 2 or 3 times with my dad or stepmother+4 y/o brother.

My dad and I walked her the fourth or fifth night to a neighborhood further away than I had been taking her alone. The next night, I took her to the same place by myself, and found that she wouldn't go down one of the side streets we'd previously gone down. I couldn't 'trick' her into it by taking her to two other entrances to that street, and iirc she didn't want to go down a new street, either- she just wanted to go home. If I tried to get her to walk further she dug her heels in and just stared at me, and would only start moving again if I headed back home.

The day after that, I tried taking her for a walk, and she wouldn't leave the driveway- dug her heels in, stared at me. I let her be and tried again the next day. Same thing. Still wouldn't leave the driveway a third day, and I decided not to bother trying for the rest of our stay at my dad's, as she seemed just fine without the walks (normally, she gets pretty crazy without at least one daily walk).

So we came back home a week and a half ago, and she won't walk unless my mom or brother walk with us. I bring our 12-year-old terrier with us normally, but that's not enough to get Wolfgang to walk. I can take her as far as the bottom of our hill (about .02 miles) and then she'll dig her heels in and won't go any further- unless my mom or brother are with us, and even then sometimes they have to start walking away (further into our route) before she'll move. She doesn't lower her tail or anything, doesn't seem afraid at all to me- she just won't go.

98% of the walks she has taken since I adopted her were just with me, or with me and our terrier. Since her leg healed, she's had no problems, will run around like a crazy dog if I (and now our necessary partner) take her to a nearby baseball field to run around.

She has some fear of strangers (most of the time will only bark if people are doing strange things as we walk by, or if someone pays attention to her; she has snapped at a few people who reached down and tried to pet her suddenly), and I suppose some fear of certain dogs (at first she always seemed eager to meet new dogs, but as time has gone on, she seems to have developed fear for 1. more than one tiny dog barking at her, 2. dogs bigger than her at a distance, and 3. several dogs bigger than her approaching), but in the course of our walks at my dad's house, we didn't meet a single person, and the only dog Wolfgang met was a tiny pup who came to the middle of the road to say hi. I can't think of anything that would have scared her then, and I don't understand why she won't walk with just me now that we're back in familiar territory.

One difference between my dad's and where I am now is that my dad had a fenced-in yard that I could let her run around. My yard is not fenced in, so I can't let her out without putting her on a tie-out cable, which she never runs with. She still needs to get some kind of exercise, and taking her down to the local baseball field lets her run, but my brother doesn't like walking with us and no one else really can at the times we can walk safely in this heat.

I don't understand :confused: what is going on
 
See less See more
#2 ·
While you did mention that she runs around sometimes, the fact that she has had a previous leg injury may be a clue to her current avoidance of exercise. Prior to trying behavioral fixes, I think she should be checked out by a vet to make sure that the previous injury has not flared up, and that she is perhaps avoiding exercise because of pain issues.
 
#3 ·
You mention crazy heat -- are you making sure that the cement/asphalt isn't too hot for her to walk on? You can test by placing your hand palm-down, if it's uncomfortable for you to keep your hand there, it's too hot for your girl's paws.

The only other thing I can think of is that she's going through her adolescent fear stage. It's pretty normal for dogs of that age to begin being less outgoing and more apprehensive of strange/larger dogs. Most dogs give puppies a pass and view them as non-threatening annoyances/playmates, but will see adults and adolescents as potential threats and she's going through that transition age right now into young adulthood and can probably sense it. I notice the same with my girl, she's becoming more selective about who she runs up to greet/play with and is significantly more nervous about groups of dogs approaching then she ever used to be.

If it's not her injury flaring up again, it's not the heat (don't walk her in the late morning/early afternoon -- always try to walk her when it's below 80F in the mornings and late evening), then you might need to try tough love and just keep walking letting her drag a bit behind. When she walks forward willingly, stop and give LOTS of treats and praise, then turn around and walk home. You're teaching her that walking forward gets her what she wants (going home) and that balking gets her the opposite of what she wants (moving forward).
 
#4 ·
Lucillle: When she injured her leg, she had a slight limp when it was really hurting, and would whine and lift her leg at times. Last night my brother and I took her to the baseball field and she ran around and around and around without pause, happy as can be. She hasn't shown signs of the injury flaring up again. If I thought she was hurting, I might take her to the vet, but I'm reluctant to as long as she seems to feel fine. When we brought her in for her post-adoption check-up, she was absolutely terrified of the vet. She was barking with her tail between her legs, ears back, backing into the corner... we had to muzzle her because she bit the vet's hand, and even then she was squirming and crying like she was wounded so much that we just got it over with as quickly as possible. I'm not sure how much the vet would be able to do even if we sedated her.

travelingswift: I'm being possibly more cautious of the heat than I need to be. I won't take her out for a walk til the sun's been down for at least an hour or two, and the other day the humidity was so bad even then that I kept her inside. Maybe it is fear, I dunno. :( Or I should say an increase of fear.

Once she decides she's not going any further, she just stands there and won't move again unless it's to go the way she wants. I can walk to the end of the leash, but that's it haha. I can pick her up and carry her a short way (she's 35 pounds and I am Weak) so I might try carrying her a little further away from the house to see if she'll walk then... Otherwise/first I may try just trying to slowly increase the distance she'll go with me alone.
 
#5 ·
Thought I'd leave an update. The heat wave passed, and we've walked a little earlier a few times (before dark). Wolfgang seems to cooperate more when we leave while it's light; she still pauses at the bottom of our hill, but I can get her to move again with a few treats or by picking her up and carrying her a little bit (I carried her tonight haha).

We've also started walking after dark a few times, and she's more stubborn then. More reluctant to get started. I've had to drag my brother out with us those times so she would move on wwww///

I'm still not positive it's fear, since once we really start the walk she's happy as a clam for the most part (there are a few times when she'll stop, but the rest of the way her tail is up (resting position for her) and her mouth is open and loose, like she used to be all the time on walks). I'm also pretty positive she's not in any pain. She's not shy about telling us when she's in pain. I suppose fear is still the most likely, though.

At this rate, I suspect she won't treat walks completely 'normally' again for a while, but I'm glad she's let me take her on some alone (with our other dog, of course, but without my brother) in the end. Even if I have to resort to bribes. :')
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
You have insufficient privileges to reply here.
Top