Eddie the 1year old schichon is refusing to go for walks

[Julie11/9]

Let me start at the beginning Eddie was socialised prior to injections as I bought a puppy sling to enable me to take him out and he seemed quite happy with this butoncehe was able to go for walks couldn't get him to walk away from the house we even struggled to get him to walk away from the car but wemanaged to overcome this over about 4 or 5 months. A few weeks ago we had an issue that when Eddie was taken for walks where he was running around off the lead within half an hour of being back he would be limping on his back legs but the vets couldn't find anything wrong and asked me to get a video of this but he hasn't limped since. Now last week he has decided hes not going to walk away from the house again we're struggling to get him off the drive which is 2 car lengths nothing has happened to him and we have had him since he was 9 weeks old. We have tried every time he sits to pull the lead then wait then lift him.by his harness and move forward 2 feet and keep this procedure going till he walks nd also letting him know we have a treat with us that he will get on his return but none of this is working. Please help!!!

 

[dogmatize]

Hello. I'd like to suggest that maybe as he is limping on both back legs that your vet should have been looking at his hips as a possible source of pain which may explain his reluctance to exercise.Did he have x-rays ?

 

[gypsysmum2]

Yes, first and foremost, rule out pain. Could be spinal or hips though vet should have checked all over him. Some dogs are very brave and will not show vet where it hurts. It is up to us to describe it as best we can.

If pain is ruled out then sometimes memory of pain can affect a dog. They think it is going to hurt and so will not move. This will just take time and patience. Make sure you give a reward for any tiny movement in the right direction. Unlike children dogs do not associate a treat at the end of something (like coming home) with the actual performance of the behaviour. The treat must come after one step in the right direction. Lifting and moving is not teaching the dog anything other than that you can lift and move him.

Try to keep your mood positive when training the walk. If you get frustrated the dog will get anxious and no progress will be made.

It is just possible that being carried as a puppy has caused the problem. The socialisation process can be quite specific. If he saw the world from a certain height off the ground then he is socialised to that view. He may need socialising and habituating all over again at ground level. This may take much longer now that the early socialisation window has closed. Just sitting on the doorstep while he takes in the view would be a good start. Then progressing to a step or two in the right direction. Never prevent him from retreating if he needs to. If he is anxious he will not learn so he needs to find his comfort zone.

If he is more comfortable being carried, could you sit with him on your knee somewhere? This would be a half way zone between being high up and down low on the ground.