# Puppy doesn't want to walk



## lovely_rea (Jul 28, 2015)

I have a 4 month old puppy who refuses to go on walks. We have been going on 'walks' for once or twice a day for a month now and every time is the same. She just sits or lays on the ground and doesn't move. We tried treats and when she sees we have a treat she begins to walk towards it, so we give her the treat and then she sits again. We always end up carrying her back home and as soon as she gets home she starts running around the house and playing and being really hyperactive.

Once, I waited around 45 minutes for her to start walking because someone told me I shouldn't carry her. She didn't start walking so I just picked her up and took her home. 

By the way, I tried taking her to calm and busy streets and there's no difference. In calm streets, she does sometimes start walking and sniffing the grass but as soon as I'm not going where she wants to go she just sits there again. 

Does this mean she will be forever like this? I feel like she hates walks. She is not scared of the leash by the way because when I put it on at home she completely ignores it and walks normally.

Did you experience this? What should I do?


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## maggieh (Dec 16, 2007)

lovely_rea said:


> I have a 4 month old puppy who refuses to go on walks. We have been going on 'walks' for once or twice a day for a month now and every time is the same. She just sits or lays on the ground and doesn't move. We tried treats and when she sees we have a treat she begins to walk towards it, so we give her the treat and then she sits again. We always end up carrying her back home and as soon as she gets home she starts running around the house and playing and being really hyperactive.
> 
> Once, I waited around 45 minutes for her to start walking because someone told me I shouldn't carry her. She didn't start walking so I just picked her up and took her home.
> 
> ...


Were you in one place holding the treat? If so, she is equating the treat with walking towards you not with walking in general. The treat needs to be moving. With little ones, a small dab of peanut butter on the end of a long-handled wooden spoon that you are carrying as low as possible can be the right height to keep them moving.


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## LOVE_BABY (May 5, 2015)

My boy Baby did this too as a puppy. I want to encourage you to not give up. I kept at it bringing him out over & over & eventually he would walk a short distance & then lay down or sit so I would stand him on his feet again & he would walk a short bit & do the same thing again. I kept at it even though it was very frustrating. I gave Baby lots of encouraging words & talk to him the whole time saying things such as "Good Boy Baby!! Walk-walk!! Baby go walk-walk!!" I said things like this in a high screechy voice which I'm sure entertained my neighbors quite a bit lol. 

Another thing to point out is that sometimes Baby won't walk when he has to 'go potty', sometimes a dog will stop walking because it has to 'go'. Try putting your dog on the grass & tell to 'go potty'. Whenever my dog doesn't want to walk nowadays as an adult dog needing to potty is usually the reason. With my persistence & time Baby has turned into a pretty good walker most of the time. He will make it about 1/2 way around the block & then tries to lay down in the grass, but that is because Baby loves nothing better than laying down on any cushy green lawn, he has a thing for plush grass lol. I just get him back up on his feet & we continue on. He has improved so much since those puppy days. I think Maltese puppies are notorious for not wanting to take walks outside at first. I recommend don't give up --because it most likely will get better!


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## Kathleen (Aug 4, 2011)

You could also try practicing in the house where there are fewer distractions.
You can let her wear the harness and leash in the house for a while too (while supervised) so that she is more accustomed to the feeling of moving with it on.
With a few of mine, I have had to start with real baby steps. Stand next to her, lean forward and hold the treat right in front of her nose and try to get her to take just one step forward. If she does, give her the cookie and eventually she will get it that with every step she gets a cookie. Then increase to a couple of steps then treat and gradually space the treat out so that she gets them intermittently as she is walking forward. 
At first, even if she won't take a step forward, even if she leans forward reward her with the treat. It really is baby steps and rewarding small movement. I have found that if you do it this way, and are very patient, they seem to "get it" pretty quickly. It seems to just click.
Good luck!


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## LOVE_BABY (May 5, 2015)

*P.S.* 
I want to add this, what I left out of my other post: 
I didn't make the walking training sessions too long when I was first trying to get Baby to walk & not lay down on the sidewalk. I would work with him out in our neighborhood for about 10 minutes at first & then stop for the day. Puppies have a short attention span & I didn't want to make the experience into something unpleasant for my boy so I kept the training sessions short.

Also, I got Baby used to the harness & leash by putting it on him every single time we go to his potty spot in the back yard {& I still do that now that he is an adult}. So Baby was very used to wearing his harness & the leash by the time I started trying to train him to walk on the sidewalk. We started trying to train him to do that very young at about 6 mos. old or so. In case you don't' know already, it's recommended to put a harness & leash on your dog rather than a collar because Maltese are susceptible to an injury called 'a collapsed trachea' an injury where the trachea in the neck actually permanently becomes crushed and the dog can't breath. Small breed dogs are especially prone to this especially Maltese. {although from what I hear large dogs can have it too --my sister has an adopted Chocolate Lab-Bloodhound mix and he came to her with a collapsed trachea}.


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## lovely_rea (Jul 28, 2015)

Thank you for your advice! Today we went for a walk again, we got to this one street we've never been before and she just started walking. I praised her for it and she walked really well. She seemed to really enjoy it there. I don't know why though, it's not that different from where we usually go, but never mind. 

I'm wondering should I take her to that street every time we go on walks now or should I go somewhere different? That's the only area where she wants to walk. When you walk your dog, do you take the same route every time?


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## LOVE_BABY (May 5, 2015)

Great! I'm glad she found a street on which she feels comfortable walking! Since you asked, I think if it were me, I would go back to that same street where she liked to walk before & walk her there again regularly, but every time you walk her there at the end of your walk perhaps venture a little bit outside of her comfort zone each time slowly getting her accustomed to some new areas. And every now & then perhaps try beginning your walk in a completely new area just to see how she does with it so you can tell if she's gotten over her fear of walking other places or not. 

As for walking my own dog, he will usually walk anywhere I take him but as you already know he gets moody occasionally along the way & will suddenly stop at times to lay in the grass, and also once in a while still lay's down for 'no apparent reason'. He will also do this if he hears a loud scary noise such as loud truck or something go by, then he will cower to the ground & 'hit the dirt' as my Husband & I say. Baby is not a 'perfect' walker but he is so much more improved from when he was a puppy. I think if we had just kept him in the house & had given up & stopped trying back then he probably wouldn't walk at all outside now, I think it's because we kept at it & didn't give up trying that he finally got conditioned to it & got used to it. I'm glad we kept at it because we can take him anywhere with us now.


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