Refusing to move forward on walks.
My new rescue dog loves going for walks.. after the first 2 blocks are behind her!
The second she leaves the house she is raring to go--until we reach the front of the house. She usually poops immediately (convenient!) but then refuses to move forward. If I don't try various methods to encourage her to move, she will lay down in the grass and belly crawl while whining piteously to go home.
Things I have tried with various levels of success:
- Carrying her for a block or two (last ditch only - she loves being held but I don't want to encourage this)
- Squeaking a squeaky toy (worked a few times only)
- Throwing a cookie on the sidewalk out of her reach in the direction I'd like to go (works but requires multiple cookies and throws to get her really going)
- Crouching down and calling her to me and petting her when she comes (works but like cookies, takes multiple tries to get anywhere)
- Ignoring the behavior and waiting on the end of the leash until she gets bored (whining, crawling away, leash biting, drama)
- Redirecting to another direction that isn't directly back home but also isn't where I really want to go (can be successful when combined with waiting and ignoring but you better have a lot of time on your hands to get anywhere)
- Leash correction mild to strong with verbal encouragement (most forceful and quickest method but I don't enjoy it. I would prefer not to create a tug of war espcially because she is a great loose leash walker 90% of the time)
Am I missing any methods? What should I try next?
Try chicken something she doesn't get all the time. let her get a sniff it then slowly walk while holding it in her eye sight. if she walks a Bit give her a very small bite as to not lose her attention.