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Andrea.Melton

Hello and welcome. You will be very busy with a puppy. We'd love to hear more about him/her.
 
Hi everyone. My puppy is a Golden retriever named Lula, Lula-belle when she is naughty. She is 11 weeks old, & quite a handful.. My main issue at the moment is she won't go for a walk she refuses to walk when I first take her out, but enjoys it when she does finally walk/run, it's taking two of us to walk her at the moment. One to hold the lead & one to coax her. Any advice on how to get her moving would be fantastic.
 
The outside world is pretty scary for puppies.

I'd suggest that when she wants to turn for home, you just let her and go back. That means she will learn you are listening to her and respecting her fears, and with that her confidence will grow because she knows that she won't be pushed beyond what she feels ready for.

Don't look on walks as being walks as such, think of them as being little training exercises. If you only get as far as the first lamppost, that's fine. Just try again 30 minutes later. Maybe you will get further, maybe not, but the more you do it, the more relaxed, brave and inquisitive she will become.

You can also spend time sitting at your front door, letting her see what's going on and getting used to the sounds and sights outdoors.

If you have a friend who has a calm dog, maybe occasionally walking with another dog would help build her confidence too.
 
Andrea.melton said:
Hi everyone. My puppy is a Golden retriever named Lula, Lula-belle when she is naughty. She is 11 weeks old, & quite a handful.. My main issue at the moment is she won't go for a walk she refuses to walk when I first take her out, but enjoys it when she does finally walk/run, it's taking two of us to walk her at the moment. One to hold the lead & one to coax her. Any advice on how to get her moving would be fantastic.
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Oh pups are never naughty...they are being just..err..pups with their sharp teeth and nails, and all their 'leaks', and chewing and stealing and playing 'chase me' and and :D;)
I don't have no idea how big your 11 weeks old is, but when mine was that age (smaller breed) when ever we went to somewhere new and I detected some hesitation, first few times I carried her and we explored things together. The confidence soon grows as they get older and braver.
Fist encounter near busy road near our home I walked mine to the point where she would show first signs of "muuuum, I'm not confortable anymore!!" and I would pick her up stand there for some time watching the traffic going by and I would talk and talk and point out other dogs and birds and so on and as soon she would be properly relaxed and interested of her surroundings we would walk back few steps before putting her down again to return home. After few trips like that we would were able to go little bit further and further, eventually go to next street and so on.
 
Thank you.. Everyone.. She has been well socialized, cars, buses, big people, little people ( I have 6 Grandchildren) she's played with another 7 month old puppy..She will willingly go in our garden, wach birds, the trees blowing in the wind, nothing seems to be too scary for her. But will not set off on a walk without resistance..
 
Andrea.melton said:
Thank you.. Everyone.. She has been well socialized, cars, buses, big people, little people ( I have 6 Grandchildren) she's played with another 7 month old puppy..She will willingly go in our garden, wach birds, the trees blowing in the wind, nothing seems to be too scary for her. But will not set off on a walk without resistance..
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All that sounds really good, but it is only 'first' steps, though very big ones for her. At 11 weeks life is only just begun and there is still so much to learn and experience. At some point they do seem to take some steps backwards in their confidence and development too..some might experience few of these 'set backs' and with others it is more and less plain sailing as soon as they learn something. It ain't that much different what those 'little people' go through when they grow up...at certain age they appear very bold and brave and then soon they will turn shy and hide behind their parents legs.
When your little one is hesitant to get going, it is normal behaviour...just guide her gently, little 'go on' nudges for encouragement won't hurt but forcing her to do something can cause set back to get over for a some time. Even pup's mum do gentle nudges ;)
 
Trust in what she's telling you - doesn't matter why she's reluctant, there's something about it that's scary for her. Sure, encourage her gently, but I wouldn't even try to move her on with treats - she may be distracted by the environment because of the treat, but once it's gone, she's now in a scary place a long way from the safety of home (even if it's just one yard further). The more 'scary' experiences she's put in, the scarier the world in general becomes, and she also knows you will make her face the scary stuff. The more happy experiences she has, and the more she trusts you not to make her go into scary situations, the more confident she'll be.
 
Our dog did the same on his first lead walks – so many new sights, sounds and smells. It didn’t take long before he was full steam ahead, desperate to get everywhere fast and then I rather missed the days when things were at a slower pace:rolleyes:
Any chance of some pictures of Lula (belle) – I’m sure she is adorable :)
 
Andrea.melton said:
My puppy is a Golden retriever named Lula, Lula-belle when she is naughty.
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Just a thought - if when you call her Lula-Belle you say it in a 'You've been naughty' voice, I would stop that now. You don't want to make her worried about her own name.

Training methods nowadays never involve 'telling off' anyway - it doesn't work, particularly on a baby, and there is always a better way to approach the issue.
 
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