dog walking help

[Gerryg]

Join our free community today.

Connect with other like-minded dog lovers!

Login or Register

i have had a shi tzu (my first dog) for nearly 2 years ..he is just over 2 years old but walking him is a chore as he is so easily distracted ...stops and stares at everything and everyone all the time and the new latest thing is that he refuses to go the way i want him to go ...he plants his feet and wont budge...i am giving him small treats to get him going the way i want or indeed going at all....he is in a doggy day care 1 day a week and has grea fun with the other dogs but i try to avoid other dogs when i have him out as he barks all the time at them although he is only excited...i see other dog owners out and their dogs are walking quietly by their side and i am thinking how great that would be...instead i have to stop evey 50 yards....avoid dogs and be in a mexican stand off every time i reach a street corner (apart fromt hat everthing is alright lol)...any advice on even getting him to stop continuously stopping and also to go the way i want him to go ?

 

[JudyN]

The place to start might be to treat walking by your side as a 'trick', like teaching him to sit or shake paws. This could start inside your house, or in your garden, and might progress to a few steps outside your house, building up distance. Patricia McConnell describes the process: Making Leash Manners Fun for Your Dog - The Other End of the Leash

When you go out, you'll have to work on being more interesting to the dog than whatever normally distracts him. This is a tough call, but really high value treats help - and any sort of training or games that mean that he learns that focusing on you is a good thing will help.