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Stubborn dog doesn't enjoy walks.
Scosglen
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I have two Jack Russel Terriers, about 10 and 12 years old. The oldest for the past few years has been something of a pain to take for anything but the most token of walks. She doesn't get excited about walks anymore, sometimes even will avoid me if she knows I'm about to take her on a walk, but the biggest problem is that she "puts on the breaks" frequently during walks in an attempt to make me turn around. She'll try to pull me onto paths that lead home more quickly if I have a longer walk planned, and even if she doesn't try to stop me she will drag behind me and it's a constant battle to get her to keep up with my pace. When it becomes obvious to her that we're on the way home though she'll magically pick up her pace and maintain a perfect heel.
The younger is a polar opposite. He goes apeshit for walks, would probably sprint with me for the entire duration of the walk if I wanted to, and I've had to work on keeping him from darting ahead of me and taking me for a walk.
If it's relevant, both dogs were somewhat overweight for about 5 years. My parents had fallen into a habit of constantly keeping bowls with food out for them. During this time is about when I would say the elder started to become troublesome, although the younger has always been very energetic even when he was a fatty. I've had them on a more regulated diet for a few years now and they're much healthier looking now, although admittedly not athletic lean.
Any suggestions on what might be the issue, or possibly ways of coaxing her into coming along more readily are welcome.
The younger is a polar opposite. He goes apeshit for walks, would probably sprint with me for the entire duration of the walk if I wanted to, and I've had to work on keeping him from darting ahead of me and taking me for a walk.
If it's relevant, both dogs were somewhat overweight for about 5 years. My parents had fallen into a habit of constantly keeping bowls with food out for them. During this time is about when I would say the elder started to become troublesome, although the younger has always been very energetic even when he was a fatty. I've had them on a more regulated diet for a few years now and they're much healthier looking now, although admittedly not athletic lean.
Any suggestions on what might be the issue, or possibly ways of coaxing her into coming along more readily are welcome.
Scosglen on
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If all those are yeses, then the dogs don't really see you as a master. Try to just keep your arms relaxed and walk like you would even with out the leash.
(just some basic tips I got from that show "Dog Whisperer")
Keep doing so until you just give her a treat at the end of the walk.
I'm concerned that it might be arthritis, and she's going to the vet soon for something unrelated anyway so I will be sure to ask about it. Does arthritis still make sense if she is otherwise excitable and will readily bolt around the house chasing after the cat, various neighborhood critters, play fetch, and "air dry" herself after getting a bath, goes nuts when the pizzaman rings the doorbell, etc?
No there isn't such a thing as "selective arthritis", your dog either has it all the time or not at all. This sounds like a behavioural problem anyway. I have a 14 year old Alsation who has such bad arthritis she can barely support her back legs but she still loves her walks. Try going the training route old dogs can sometimes learn new tricks. :P
my dog will do the exact same thing but she just wants things her way, but she usually gives us once we get out of sight of our house
Don't push a dog that doesn't want to go for a walk. There could be a medical condition causing discomfort of some sort. Was this a sudden change in the dogs behavior or did it happen slowly over time? Has the dog always not enjoyed walks?
Although, the vet isn't a terrible idea. A checkup wouldn't hurt. they might be able to give you some tips as well.
...That's what animal training is?
She used to love walks. We have kind of a ritual before the walk where I ask "Do you wanna go for a WALK!?" and they would both get very excited. The older one stopped getting excited during the ritual gradually about 5 years ago, around the same time they started becoming a little obese.
Problem solved.
Also please read your bag of dog food. They vary wildly in calories per cup so saying that half a cup a day is appropriate for a small dog may or may not be true depending on how many calories per cup your dog food has. For instance my dog is only 25lbs but he is very active and does agility and generally has a high metabolism and I would guess needs probably 4-5 times the calories that your dog does but we have him on a calorically dense dog food so he only needs 1 cup per day.
It sounds like you have the weight issue under control but if your dogs are acting hungry green beans or canned pumpkin (not pie filling) are both high fiber low calories additions that will help your dogs feel more full. Most of the "weight loss" food is just normal food with low calorie fiber added so it is usually cheaper and healthier for the dog if you just cut down on their normal food and add some healthy filler yourself.
Also small pieces of lean boiled chicken breast are healthier treats than most of the crap that is sold as dog treats. I'm always confused when people say no people food. Veggies and lean meat are just as healthy for dogs as they are for people and if you take into account their calories there is no reason dogs shouldn't have them.
For anyone who doubts that dogs can learn to work without food present if they are trained with food try watching this video. It rocks! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crmD_B8ERzk
Here is an article where he discusses his training methods.