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Is Abby being Stuborn?

G

Gillian

Guest
When I take Abby out for a walk she walks just a little and then lies down and refuses. I have tried enticing her with treats, Just saying come on girl , thats a good girl in the meantime tugging on leash. I have also tried dragging her. Which works for a bit as she takes off and then stops again. Any suggestions as what to do. { of course she is wearing a harness] so noone thinks I am dragging her by the neck :? Is she just being stubborn.?
She would have slept plenty so she is not tired.
 
I've forgotten how old Abbey is. I think she's around 3 months? When i first got Zack he was just under 4 months, and the first night i had him, i put a leash on him (attached to a collar) and started walking. He sat and wouldn't go. He would go a little bit, and then sit down again, and refuse to go.

This is normal behavior, they generally don't know how to walk on a lead, and when they feel pulling, it's a natural instinct to resist, they're not being bad or stubborn, they just don't know how to walk cooperatively and they don't know what else to do but resist being pulled and drug.

I had a book called Puppy Pre-school, and i just did what it said in the book--practice a little bit each day, maybe 5 minutes, don't start out trying to go for a walk. Just start out with practicing the skills of walking together. The puppy will want to walk on its own a little bit, so which ever way the puppy goes, you go with the puppy, while holding the leash. If the puppy stops, you stop. When the puppy goes, you go. You can beckon the puppy to come rather than wait for the puppy to take the initiative to walk, but no forcing. If the puppy doesn't come when you beckon, don't insist.

The general idea is, in this preliminary stage, to let the puppy choose when and where to walk, so that it's fun and the puppy develops happy associations to having the leash and you attached to her. Only do it a short time and you can do it two or three times a day. You can also let her wear the leash around the house, just to get comfortable and to not think of it as something to resist.

If all goes as hoped, very soon, you will be able to walk and choose the direction of where to walk and the puppy will just go with you, and probably will pull you forward.

Zack was walking on a leash and enjoying walks within a day or at most two of doing the above. It wasn't like a difficult thing for him to get. But the first time i put the leash on him, he did what you describe. Then i read that part of the book, Puppy Preschool, and i just took him out and let him decide when to start and when to stop and pretty soon he shifted over into letting me decide.
 
Like Judy said, don't worry about it, it's completely normal. Almost every puppy we have had has reacted this way. Just keep working with her. You can leave the leash on her for a while in the house and let her drag it around, keeping an eye on her. Before you know it, she will pulling you around ;)
 
Gillian--are you able to take Kayla and Abby walking together at times? If Kayla is already leash trained it may help Abby to get the hang of it. Mia took to the leash immediately when I walked her with Wrigley. She'll follow him anywhere and so the leash wasn't a bother to her at all. She got used to it pretty fast that way.
 
H'mm- what do you do if your three year old has suddenly taken to doing the same thing?! I won't be walking Holly and the puppy together for the very reasons outlined above. Holly's not consistent either- she's done it on the harness, and she's also done it on a normal lead. Then again, a friend was watching her last week and she said Holly wouldn't move on the harness,but walked beautifully on collar and lead. With me, she pulls on the lead- but maybe my definition of 'pull' is stricter than my friend's. Once she gets going, she's fine on the harness. I don't think it's bothering her- she'll play fetch and run happily with it on. she's being a bit like the girl with a curl- when she's good, she's very, very good, but when she's bad she's horrid!
 
Thanks a lot for all replies and advice. But I forgot to say that she is fine walking with Kayla. Abby is 4 1/2 months old.Actually she will be five months on the 30th Sept.
We started puppy school yesterday so hopefully she will do better . I havent tried yet on her own.
Thanks again. I will let you know how she does.
 
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