Help Tesla walk.

June 20, 2009 8:04 PM

Help me get my dog to walk again.

Tesla is a ~9-month old Golden Retriever, and generally a totally awesome dog. She's quite submissive, and lays down for any approaching dog or human.

Lately, though, she's become a real hassle on walks. She'll go anywhere from a couple of feet to 20 or so, wet, and then stop dead. She simply sits down and kinda grins at whoever is walking her. If you try to give the leash a friendly tug, she lays down. Usually she'll get back up if you head home, but not 100% of the time -- sometimes she'll just stay laying down for a bit. I don't think she's been around the block even in a few weeks now.

On the other hand, if she has 2 people walking with her, she's back to her old, happily-walking self, and goes on her normal-length walks without any real problem.

Extraneous details: she really doesn't love the muggy Wisconsin heat she finds herself in now -- she's much more of a fall/ winter dog. And I can't think of any kind of traumatic encounter she's had that might have caused her to fear walking, so I don't think it's that.

posted by wandering steve to pets & animals (16 comments total)

My dog gets like that, even up to the part where he walks quite happily with two people (as long as that's not totally routine). I sometimes lure him along with treats. We also try to vary his route quite a bit, so that he doesn't get too bored, and then just understand that walking in this weather is kind of unpleasant if you're wearing a big fur coat. Right now longer walks are around or after sunset.

He also enjoys it when he can get someone to just go outside and make a lap and sit with him. He'll hold his head up and you can watch his nose twitch while he sniffs and sniffs at the breeze. He just finds that more interesting sometimes.
posted by dilettante at 8:17 PM on June 20

Ah -- a couple other bits that might help: bribing her with treats only very rarely works (and she's quite food motivated); if I drop the leash and run off down the sidewalk, she'll chase me, but then want to turn around again when I grab the leash. When she does get back to the yard, she's all about a good game of fetch. So if that's what her summer routine is, cool, but I would like to be able to walk with her.
posted by wandering steve at 8:25 PM on June 20

There could be some kind of pain going on here. Older large breed dogs can have all kinds of joint and bone problems, from run-of-the-mill arthritis to very serious ligament damage and bone cancers. It may be that the novelty of having multiple walking companions or the fun of playing fetch makes the pain endurable, but for just your average walk around the block? Not worth the ouchies.

I'd suggest a consultation with an orthopedic specialist. At least that way you can rule out the more serious possibilities.
posted by Rock Steady at 9:32 PM on June 20

Maybe she doesn't want to leave the other person behind in the house. I've had several dogs that were very reluctant to leave the house without their main person in tow.
posted by fshgrl at 9:33 PM on June 20

Are you the normal walker? Or is there a summer routine switch that has happened?
posted by barnone at 9:43 PM on June 20

9 months is not so old.

My golden does that sometimes, too -- I think it's the heat. One thing goldens LOVE is water. Can you walk her along the beach? Or even a big fountain? When I walk my dog on the street by the convention center she perks right up, because she knows there's a big fountain coming up, and she she's going to run through it. I bet it is not technically OK to let your dog play in the fountain, but she's so cute and so happy that the security guards just let her play.
posted by Methylviolet at 9:56 PM on June 20

9 months is still very young. I would imagine this is a training or acclimation issue more than anything, and that she mostly needs some time to get the idea of walking. You might try changing leash styles to see if that helps, though. You could try a harness instead of a collar, especially if she has a tendency to back up when pulled by a leash, since this panics some dogs and could be causing a learned aversion. There's also leashes that have a harness part over the head/muzzle that offer more control if what she ends up needing is a little more firmness while being led.

Another idea is if she's strong in the retrieving instinct is to bring along a favored toy and just keep tossing it ahead of you on the sidewalk, and seeing if she will go to it as you walk.
posted by internet!Hannah at 10:18 PM on June 20 [1 favorite]

9 months is not so old.

Oh for crap's sake. I read that as 9 years old. Nevermind.
posted by Rock Steady at 10:26 PM on June 20

Can you take her to unfamiliar territory to walk her? Drive to a different neighborhood or to a park or somewhere she is not used to?
posted by JohnnyGunn at 11:07 PM on June 20

Our dog so does this. She will not walk for my bf at all if I'm home and not on the walk and only recently has started walking begrudgingly when with him when I'm not home. We just chalk it up to dogs are weird and let it go. Getting into a power struggle with a pug is a no win situation. To compensate we play lots of active games with her, indoors, in the AC.
posted by yodelingisfun at 2:42 AM on June 21

Our dog does this for a variety of reasons. Sometimes, she does it when she doesn't want to go back inside, so it's civil disobedience. She'll just allow herself to become a thirty pound bag of sand, and we have to carry her inside. I think she likes it. She's six years old. Sometimes, when she's off leash, she does it at the last minute on the way back in the house because she wants me to put her leash on her. That's a new thing and it seems to be specific to when I also have the baby in the Bjorn, and I think she feels like the plastic snapping sound of those buckles coming together connects us all together and she becomes rejuvenated and trots inside with us. Sort of cute. Sometimes she does it in order to get her stomach scratched and then she's good to go again. It doesn't seem to be a single reason she does it, because the fix varies depending on the situation.

If it were my dog, in the instance you describe, I'd think she was hot and bored and not having fun and wanted to go home. I think your instincts are right. If you can get her to a place where you can walk her off-leash, with water, I bet she'd love it. Retrievers love to swim. Our dog (a mutt) seems to really appreciate being able to go for a quick dip and then get back to walking in the hot weather.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 4:04 AM on June 21

My mother's dog--older and a bit neurotic now--does this when it's raining. It might genuinely be too hot for your puppy--would you be able to exercise her inside, and just take her out for, say, a walk around the house so she can do her business?
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 7:00 AM on June 21

This is kind of a dumbish suggestion, but: could you do some things to mitigate the heat for her? Get her a shorter haircut, and make sure she drinks water before. You could also bring along one of those collapsible dog bowls and a water bottle if needed.
Another thing is to take her on longer walks only in the morning or at night when it's cooler. I have a lhasa apso, a breed definitely not made for the heat, and he does the same thing when I try to walk him during the hotter times of day. I'm just able to force him along because he's much smaller than your dog. We switched to only walking him before 10 am and dusk or later with bathroom breaks in between. During the daytime, we take him out, he pees almost immediately, and wants to go back in right away. We're in Texas, though, so the sun beats down pretty hard in the daytme. Not sure how bad it is where you are.
posted by ishotjr at 7:59 AM on June 21

ishotjr beat me to it regarding getting her a haircut. My neighbors do this every summer for their Golden and seriously, she just loves it. She comes home with a new bounce in her step. They call it the "puppy cut" at the goomer; YMMV with the name.

Maybe you could train her to know that there are fun times to be had after the walk. Take her for a walk (and if the only way she'll go is with two people, that may have to be it) but make it a short one. Then go home and immediately play fetch or whatever game makes her happiest. Do this every time you go for a walk. It may take a while but could be worth it in the end.
posted by cooker girl at 8:06 AM on June 21

Bribe her with treats. When your puppy stops like that, get out a little tid-bit*, and encourage her to come and get it.

It could be the outside scares her, or she's uncomfortable leaving the house so far behind, or she's decided that her territory just doesn't go that far... dogs are simple creatures, and will forget such worries when there's something delicious involved. Anyplace where they can get a treat is a place worth walking through.

(*Hot dogs or cheap string-cheese sticks sliced into little medalions work well, as do bits of cooked, diced chicken, or similar. They sell training treats at the pet store if you're just not in a DIY mood. Something much smaller than a regular reward treat, so you can give her a lot of them if you need to, but just as tasty.)
posted by Slap*Happy at 8:49 AM on June 21

I walk a 12 month old Golden and one thing that breed has is goofiness and intelligence in spades. In the case of my hairy pal it's play, fun and mischief he's after. He lays down and hey look, he gets a fuss made of him, mum/dad stops and gives him attention, passers by coo at how funny he is and want to pet him and then to top it all he gets a treat for his behavior. You see where this is going? He's getting constantly reinforced and rewarded for laying down.

Best way to deal with it is, in a really nonchalant way, grab her collar and heft her up in one gentle smooth movement and then walk briskly on. Don't make eye contact, don't say anything, don't give her the reward of interaction.

Break the reward cycle and stop the fun and treats she gets when she throws himself on the floor and she'll soon forget to do it as it doesn't improve her life any. Then wait for her next trick!

Good luck!
posted by merocet at 9:11 AM on June 21 [1 favorite]