You're just out with your dog, enjoying a walk and and so SCREECH!… iii blocks from home, she puts on the brakes and refuses to take even 1 step further.
Why? Why does this happen?

Hither are 10 possibilities:

  1. Immature dogs have an instinct to stick close to dwelling. It is a genetic safety measure that keeps puppies from wandering off (just like the following instinct they have at this age). As they become more mature and independent they are more willing to go further from home base of operations. A young dog may not really sympathise walking on a leash notwithstanding. (That staying close instinct seems to go away overnight! This is why letting dogs off-ternion is dangerous until a recall is very strong.)
  2. Dogs that are fearful, stressed, or anxious can use stopping as a way of avoiding scary things.
  3. Your dog may be putting the breaks on because they know the walk is going to end soon.
  4. It may be your walking/preparation strategy. Often anchoring on walks is a event of our response to the dog's attention-seeking behavior. Luring, bribing, pleading, or negotiating with the domestic dog creates a difficult cycle to suspension. You do not want to teach your dog to end mid-walk for a treat.
    What do you practice when your canis familiaris puts on the brakes?
  5. There could exist a comfort consequence or health issue that is causing your canis familiaris to stop walking such every bit:
    1. Sore hips, backs, and muscles cause hurting, and this can crusade your dog to end walking. Check with your vet if you suspect this.
    2. Growing pains. If you have a young, fast-growing, large brood dog, this is very likely.
    3. Some dogs will end because the harness used to walk them is uncomfortable, ill-fitting, or has rubbed raw places at the armpit. See if your dog stops less when using a collar vs. harness.
    4. Physical discomfort: Dogs that are too hot, too common cold, who have an injured nail or a paw pad burned past hot cobblestone or snowfall and ice volition stop on walks.
  6. Did you know animals are superstitious? Is your domestic dog stopping at the same spot every fourth dimension? Information technology could be a spot where something wondrous has happened such as finding a one-half-eaten beige on the ground. It might happen once more.
  7. Information technology could also be something equally simple equally wanting to smell the bush every other dog in the neighborhood has peed on. Or squirrels hang-out nearby.
  8. Some dogs just don't feel like a walk. I'm looking at you, bulldogs.
  9. Over-exercise. Maybe your canis familiaris is just plain dog-tired.
  10. Your dog wants to greet some other canis familiaris or person and will not motion until allowed to do then. It's part of his mayoral campaign.

Information technology'south often more nuanced and a combination of the in a higher place. Y'all'll likely need to do some pet detective piece of work to sort this one out.

Hither are ten things you can try to get your dog upwards and moving again:

  1. Sit with your domestic dog if she'due south worried. Allow her work out her environs for a infinitesimal and be patient with her. Requite her a little pep talk.
  2. Contrary the usual walk route or mix it up a little.
  3. Walking around the domestic dog and marking/rewarding the butt coming up, treating once the domestic dog is walking (non before!). This is how to fix a learned behavior without necessarily finding the cause.
  4. It's a perfect opportunity to reinforce the "stay" and teach a release cue. Advantage your domestic dog only when they are moving to you.
  5. Merely leave. (OK, not actually.) Tie the ternion to something sturdy and simply walk off and go out the dog as if you lot don't care what they do. You practise demand someone else for this to watch and make sure the domestic dog is okay while you are gone. Yous can fifty-fifty accept the other person be the one to take the leash and stand in that location similar a post when you walk away. The idea obviously here is to motivate the dog to want to go with you and non be left backside. It also surprises them when you practice this!
  6. You could become out your telephone and talk to someone (or pretend to). Dogs understand that this means you have attention elsewhere and their behavior isn't as of import. Information technology takes the pressure off.
  7. Teach your dog to "Impact" (hand to the olfactory organ) and enquire your dog to bear on to get her to move. Reward by tossing the treat in the direction y'all want to walk. By rewarding the "Touch," you lot are not reinforcing the anchoring.
  8. Wait around. Maybe get out a volume? When your dog finally moves, mark, and toss a care for in the direction yous want to walk.
  9. Teach "Let's Go" past proverb information technology only earlier your domestic dog is about to walk anyway. Mark and advantage with treats or a favorite toy. A good one for worried dogs!
  10. Try this little exercise:
    • Go to the terminate of the ternion and kneel facing your dog. Y'all tin can have a care for or toy or not simply this may assist the process. Face up her and encourage her to come to you.
    • Usually, the dog will come forward when you are in this "new" kneeling position. All they have to do is move forrad that brusk distance and they get a reward.
    • When she comes to yous in the kneeling position, immediately movement back to the end of the leash again and repeat. This turns into a game quickly and she volition proceed moving forward just that ternion length to get their advantage.
    • When your dog is easily moving forward, begin to kneel sideways instead of facing her and start to walk slowly forth, rewarding as you go. If she stalls out, go back to the starting time.

Tips!

  • Don't pull with constant pressure on the canis familiaris. That just causes your canis familiaris to dig in, or become the opposite way.
  • Don't pull out a treat to lure your canis familiaris forwards. That may exist how you lot got here, to begin with.
  • Longer walks should be done when you have the fourth dimension to conceptualize this beliefs, otherwise, the need to rush will exacerbate frustration.
  • For success, practice these techniques before y'all need them!
  • If yous accept a dog who is stopping on their walks due to fear, get in touch. Nosotros can work on this together.