14 weeks now. Will happily go up over the fields and into the woods at the weekend but come walking down on the school run he just freezes, stops dead and requires dragging! It is starting to wind mrs wson up 😆

I’d say it’s had a fright on that route and now doesn’t want to do it again.

Maybe try taking it that way when there’s no time pressure and you can dawdle and take time to praise it when it does walk and wait when it won’t?

Like toddlers – getting cross and dragging them along doesn’t really make them want to do it again voluntarily the next day!

What ^ said

Ours did the same. Just didn’t like foot paths but would happily run in fields. No fright/event that we could think of that would have caused it.

We would just pick it up, carry it 100m or so and then try again. Plenty of praise/treats soon had it wizzing along.

Different surface that he’s not used to? Or maybe traffic noise?

Rather than “force” the walk on him/flood him with whatever it is that’s (possibly) spooking him, try and identify what it is that bothers him (the whole walk or a certain section?) go as far as you can and then lay a trail of livercake (or similar) for a few paces (then turn around and go back home!). Gradually increase the length of the trail (i.e. increase exposure to surface/noise…) before fading it out.

Think I’ll get him out tonight, no frights been received, Mrs has the right bag on with him this morning 😆

cars are pretty scary, if you’ve never seen one before.

Take time, tonnes of praise, lots of treats, etc.

5 puppy thing that was on the tv told you how to cure this.
cos it is something new they are scared. it needs to be rewarded and it will realise it is a good thing.
dragging it will just make it more scared.

how would SHE feel if she was terrified of something and you made her do it!
do what no2 poster said and tell her to be patient, puppy is only a baby, would she be just as impatient with your children?
best of luck

My money is on it being traffic. Imagine living at exhause/wheel height and walking along side school run traffic. What’s the pup like if you carry him this route? Might feel safer higher up and closer to pack leader.

Pics of the pup please.

Getting mad and dragging / putting pressure on him will make it much worse and cause bigger problems in the long run. Lots of praise, patience and food treats.

Dogs also pick up when you’re stressed so if the Mrs is getting impatient then take her out of the equation as that will make it worse for the dog.

+1 on not dragging him. Especially on footpaths it will abrade/cut his paw-pads.

We had/have this refusal problem, ours hated the collar from the outset, then hated the harness. Then hated cars. Treats and promises of going to the pub or back home are the only things that work, well that and me hiding behind a tree until he relents, but sometimes he just sits down far behind me, and I then secretly wish to punt him over the hedge.

He somehow knows exactly where halfway point of any given walk is, and then happily trots the second half back to home/car. Hilarious (sob)

Could be so many things – good luck getting to the bottom of it, but don’t force the issue in any stressful way, it will make things so much worse/more ingrained. He needs to know that 1. he’s safe, and that 2. he is required to walk – you are the pack leader after all.

Dobbo
Pics of the pup please.

^^ This. Photo of it throwing a hissy sit down fit mid walk and bonus points if you get grumbling wife in the background.

Treats should work. Try walking the same route but at a quiet time, they do get used to things and there will be something unnerving him. Fin knows every gate on her regular walk where a dog would come barking and she will still try and avoid getting near to them. There is one that has quite a few strays that they take in and its took us 10 months to get her to walk past instead of cowering down.
If all else fails then I would give the route a miss for a couple weeks to try and break the pattern or walk him backwards and he will think he’s going home

One of mine just didn’t like the lead when he was very young. 12 – 16 weeks.

Would walk a short distance and then squat down and refuse to walk on it.

If you let him off he would happily walk along with you.

He got used to the lead as he got older and it wasn’t a problem.

I would obviously not recommend this where there was any traffic!

Obviously all puppy threads require pics as well.

My Schnauzer does exactly the same thing, if we start heading in any direction that doesn’t have a pub. 😀

“Can we have scratchins? pleeeeeeeeeeeees”

He’s scared. Don’t give him too much attention when he does it (this praises him for it), but give some space.

Take him back to where he was ok, and reward him when he’s being cool.

Gradually expose him to little bits of whatever spooks him – the lead, traffic, funny surfaces, different noises etc – and reward him when he doesn’t react.

Give him lots of treats whenever he’s being good.

He’ll gradually get over it.

Ours does the same occasionally but less and less each week – as above it’s mainly because something has spooked him. I realised that ours is scared of (in no particular order):

Wheelie bins
The noise of extractor fans / central heating outlets
Pedestrian crossings

He was also spooked by car lights when it was dark but seems OK with them now.

That said, it’s not always because he’s scared. He also stops at any dark estate car (because he thinks it ours and he needs to get into it) and at the cafe we take him to occasionally – even at 6am when it’s closed (because he knows the owner gives him a treat) – they’re not daft!

I’ve a regular route I walk him on before work and he tends to stop at exactly the same points, all of which involve one of the above!

I’ve been coaxing him to move with treats and then give him lots of fuss when he is actually moving. Seems to be working.

+1 treats