Puppy is stubborn when starting walks

Hi everyone. I have a 14 week old Pembroke puppy who is generally pretty good on her walks. Once she gets going she trots dutifully behind me with minimal sniffing breaks and distractions. The catch is the "once she gets going" part. When we are in sight of the apartment she tends to park her little corgi butt on the concrete and stare at me, or wander off and start sniffing. I can get her moving by offering treats or picking her up and moving a few feet, but it takes about 10 minutes to get her moving consistently, which cuts into her exercise time before I have to go to work.

Is this just natural behavior, or does anyone have any suggestions to get her going a little faster?

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Permalink Reply by Dax Baxter on February 1, 2013 at 3:20pm

Thanks everyone. I used Beth's tip about putting the leash across my legs and that helped to gently get her moving this morning.

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Permalink Reply by Jee on May 21, 2013 at 8:52pm

Wow. I'm glad I found this post because I was beginning to wonder why in the world Gendry refused to walk. He is a major balker. I end up carrying him 1/2 the time. I really hope it improves with age. I got a dog to spend more time outdoors exercising! I grew up with golden retrievers who naturally pull and can walk for miles. This is a strange turn of events. Any more tips and tricks would be appreciated. I've tried pulling, excitedly calling, butt patting, treats, toys all unsuccessfully.

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Permalink Reply by Anna Morelli on May 22, 2013 at 12:41am

Jen, just sit outside with him and watch the world go by. It won't be long that his natural instinct to explore will kick in. Encourage people to pet him and give him a treat, if they come by.

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Permalink Reply by Maria & Reggie on May 22, 2013 at 11:58am

That was what helped Reg and I the most. Everyone wanted to pet him. He loved it.

It was also finals week and the sight of a Corgi puppy seemed to transform everyone out of zombie mode. :p

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Permalink Reply by Bev Levy on May 22, 2013 at 8:33am

My first corgi was ALL corgi, both the good and bad. At my first class with him when the instructor said "walk" he yelped and planted all fours. I stopped horrified that I may have hurt him. She came over and said "He is not in pain, you have the collar on right but he sure got you to do what he wanted". Hmmm. A good lesson for corgi owners, they do like to control things and you have to be up for that challenge or your pup will be in charge. So keep that in mind but with puppies especially, try to be fun and don't overdo walking distance until they are old enough. Puppies feet are tender and they like to explore too but when you allow it not when they do.

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Permalink Reply by Maria & Reggie on May 22, 2013 at 11:55am

I had the same problem with Reg for a while. He now walks on his leash without a single problem. I think what helped him the most is that we started taking him on frequent walks (we live in the country) and it gave him the opportunity to sniff around and explore. Another thing that helped was having the two other dogs with us at the time. If you can get her around other dogs where she can see their behavior that might help and if you have time to work with her on the leash that will help as well.

As far as when Reg isn't around the other dogs and he plants himself...I just have to pull on the leash and keep walking. Once he realizes that he can't just sit there he'll start walking.

I would advise against the treats. I did that with him when I was house training him and the only time he'd go out is when he'd want a treat (whether he had to go or not) and I was going to try that with leash training, but once again, unless he got a treat he wasn't going to do it. I cut back on the treats and now he does everything without too much bribing.

Every dog is different. Good luck!

Oh, what kind of leash do you have? I had a horrible time with Reg until I got a retractable leash.