Waffle hates walks.
I got Waffle when he was 10 months old from a breeder who is fantastic in all aspects except for socialization. When I got him, I will admit I didn’t walk him very much. What I did instead was take him to the beach, take him to someone’s house, play with him in the house, take him into the backyard and play soccer, or play hide-and-seek, train him, teach him tricks, etc to keep him stimulated/exercised/exhausted. I take him hiking at least once a week for at least 4 miles, climbing rocks, crossing streams, navigating dangerous terrain, avoiding bears, etc. Obviously all of these activities are very stimulating and he has had little exposure to the leisurely neighborhood walk.
I’ve tried biking with him before but he hates it. He’s very capable of following my bike at a good speed for a good distance but he just doesn’t want to. The first time we biked, he ran a whole speedy mile with me before slowing down. His enthusiasm for the activity waned quickly. When we’re walking to the place where we bike—a high school track—he plants his feet in the ground and I have to practically drag him the whole way. Needless to say, we don’t bike anymore. I suppose running on a track isn’t very stimulating more than once.
Now, I wanted to get into walking him twice a day. When we get started on our walk, he plants his feet and keeps looking in the direction of our apartment—exactly what he did when he didn’t want to bike. I tell him to “come on” and tug on his leash a bit to get him moving forward, and he’ll go about 3m before planting his feet again and looking back. If I stand still and tell him to go where he wants, without fail, he will head back to our front door. Once we reach the halfway point of the walk, he is walking great—presumably because the latter half is more interesting and because he knows it’s shorter to keep going forward than it is to turn around. After 3-4 days of complete inactivity (I’ve been sick a lot) he is eager and even excited by the prospect of a walk, but the next day he is back to refusing.
He eats a whole prey model raw diet and has consistently for almost a year. He’s been to the vet to get his skeleton checked out and everything is great except for an extra chunky L7 and S vertebrae, which caused some limping after our most difficult hikes, but has been managed with diet/supplements and medication [Deramaxx 25 mg] which is administered only before very strenuous hikes. There is no reason for me or my vet to believe his mild condition causes pain on something as simple as a walk when everything else he does is orders of magnitude more intense and he performs without hesitation or signs of soreness afterward.
Is it possible he is just super bored with normal walks around the neighborhood to the point where he’d rather stay home? Does that happen? I think this is part of the issue, though not necessarily all of it.
He does have a fear issue with other dogs. He has NO confidence meeting new dogs and he reacts very fearfully to them, which is an issue I have been trying to address but may not be doing very well at. Whenever he sees a dog, I give him treats. This worked for a little, but now he is so focused on the other dog (often 10-20m in the distance) that he refuses to pay attention to me. I suppose I have accidentally been rewarding him for being dog-focused (instead of making the dog=good! association) and now I don’t know how to fix it. Would anxiety of seeing/meeting a dog cause him to want to avoid a walk? How can I reduce that anxiety since obviously what I’m doing isn’t working? It’s worth mentioning that his distaste for walks has persisted since before he grew so fearful about meeting new dogs. He was attacked by an off-leash pit a while ago which really escalated both his distaste of walking and his dog fear.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Melissa and Franklin! on
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Maybe try to mix things up a bit. Leave the house and go in the opposite direction you are used to, make each walk different. It is possible he is scared of other dogs since you frequently see other dogs on your walks. Maybe it would be worth trying really really short walks/trips outside, just to build his confidence back up? Like take him out and walk him to the end of the driveway, praise and go back in, walk him to the end of the block and turn around and come back, etc. That way he won't have it in his head its going to be a looooooooooooooooooong walk with loooooooooooots of scary dogs, maybe he will start to build a little more confidence and you can increase the distance every few days until he is walking willingly? I know Franklin doesn't much enjoy leash walks and will sometimes lag behind on a leash walk. If I tried biking I'd probably kill him, but I have found he enjoys rollerblading with me. I get really bored with the neighborhood walk so when we do hit the street for a walk its a new and different thing for Franklin. Maybe even try driving to a different neighborhood for a walk and see if that helps?
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Permalink Reply by Rachael & Waffle on
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Hmm, that confidence-building exercise is something that might just work. I'll give it a shot along with changing our route.
Unfortunately, driving somewhere new is exactly what he wants me to do, lol. The whole idea of the neighborhood walk is so, for once, I don't have to drive anywhere to get him exercised.
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Permalink Reply by Carolyn and Gracie on
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Omg, these are funny replies! And I'm so happy it isn't just my dog that is a mule sometimes. I take her hiking and we've not gone the equivalent of two blocks and she stops, sits, smiles at me and refuses to budge. I encourage and beg, give her bottom a push with my hand and she'll go along a bit more. Then it's a flat out lay down in the dirt...again with a big grin. This usually happens when other hikers are passing by just to make me feel more ridiculous as I cajole and explain to my dog that hiking is fun! Other times she enjoys the hike and runs along ahead of me. I can't figure it out. I've been so frustrated I've picked her up and carried her a ways...she seems to enjoy it, with loopy grin and paws flooping about as I'm near to dropping with her weight.
It's a mystery.
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I've tried carrying Waffle and that usually encourages him to walk just because he hates being carried... lol. Good thing, too, because he's 31 pounds and I can't carry him very far in this mountainous terrain!
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Permalink Reply by David on
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Chewie used to hate walks as well. I persisted, and I gave him treats afterwards. He knows now, only when he finishes his walk then he will get treats. Now, he waits at the door at the walk time!
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This is something I do too... If only it were so simple for Waffle!
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Permalink Reply by Ludi on
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I'm not sure how to get him to "love" walking, but I did deal with the exact same problem wrt other dogs. Ace was fearful-reactive when seeing another dog, even if they were down the street, and he would begin to tug at the leash, breathe heavily, and bark. If the dog was heading towards us, he would plant his feet, and then cower behind me. In general, he was not a social butterfly. He would also flop over onto his back if he were in an off-leash park with other dogs, and pee himself out of fear/submission.
I worked through it by breaking his attention each and every time his Stranger Dog senses would tingle. This required pretty much constant vigilance from me, and it was really tiring at first, but gradually it became less and less difficult to redirect his attention toward me, or a toy I had in my hand. I remember when the only toy Ace would react to was a cat fishing pole. I had to haul this thing around with me on each and every single walk in order to get him to face me, and not spaz out. I'd say it took a good 2-3 weeks before finally I let him start approaching other dogs while on the walk.
When he did get to meet them, I made sure not to look at him nor coddle him. He was allowed to sniff, to circle around, and sniff again. After that, it was time for goodbyes and moving on. I made sure that his meeting other dogs never escalated into fearful behavior. A few tentative sniffs and that's it - with no help from me. Gradually, Ace grew accustomed to meeting other dogs, to the point where I could stretch out the duration and not see him flip himself over in fear. It was time consuming and made walking a bit of a chore, but it was worth it. Now Ace loves to meet other dogs, to the point where he's happiest when he can frap around with one in tow.
** The key to redirecting the attention is distance. If Waffle is seeing dogs 20 metres off and refusing to look away, start at 25 metres while still maintaining your walking pace. Whistle, call his name, do a squeaky noise, use a toy, a treat - anything before he actually spots the dog. The instant he sees it, don't let it escalate into hackles raised, back fur bristling, etc. - if you notice his ears perk up, immediately break the focus by doing an about-turn and heading the other direction. He'll probably be looking back over his shoulder, so do whatever noises and distracting behaviors until he shifts his focus to you. Praise thoroughly when this happens! I looked like a damn fool doing 180s every time Ace caught whiff of another dog, but it really helped me in getting him to focus on something else. Sometimes just a head-turn isn't enough - you have to literally shift his entire body to get him to do what you need.
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Thanks so much for the detailed advice!! Waffle's favorite toy is a fishing pole cat toy, too, so I might bring that with us to break his focus. Calling him and even tugging on the leash can't break his attention now that I've accidentally rewarded him for being super focused. He is excellent at learning EXACTLY what I am teaching him!
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Haha, I know what you mean! The fishing pole toy can really help if Waffle loves it as much as Ace does. Ace will drop everything, even a chunk of his raw dinner, to chase it. It's the ONLY toy that I know he likes.
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Well... it didn't work. lol. Nothing I could do or say made him look at anything other than the offending dog. We'll try again tomorrow and I'll remember to turn around instead of standing there and waving a cat toy around like a fool.
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Aw darn. :( Try the 180 and see what happens. :) You can incorporate the cat toy if he insists on looking back over his shoulder!
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Permalink Reply by Beth on
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You need to work on Watch Me at home before you are in a distracting situation, just like everything
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