[Sasha2008]

Hi,

Does anybody have any idea why we can put Bogart in the car and drive somewhere , either to a park or downtown and he'll walk fine on the leash ......yet if we bring him for a walk from home you practically have to pull him all the way, then on the way back he's running and pulling ahead to get back home. This is very frustrating as we'd like to be able to bring him for walks without having to get in the car and go somewhere. He's not scared of the traffic, so that's not the problem.

Bogart's Mom

thanks

 

[kess&ellie]

My Kessler is very similar to that. When we're up north on the weekends and drive to the harbor or town, he will walk just fine and for any distance. When I go from home, he doesn't want to walk far at all. He'll walk longer if we go right out of the driveway and keep to the dirt roads than he does to the left which becomes paved!! I've never been able to figure it out. I don't have a problem with him pulling either way, but he just stops dead in his tracks on the way out and we have to turn around! He's the first GSD I've had that hasn't liked to walk!

_______________________________
Kessler, 9 year old black sable
Ellie, 6 year old red and black

 

[scannergirl]

My puppy Lucy was like that as well at that age. She's over it now. What I realized was that she'd be hungry when we left, I'd leash walk her, there was no fun involved for her, and she'd get fed when we got home. Pretty much made sense. Now I walk her to the reserve, where she can go off leash, and I feed her first. Problem solved.

 

[Sasha2008]

Hi , it's not that he's hungry as the walk would always be after he's already ate breakfast or supper. He just seems to experience anxiety that comes with physically walking away from the house...and on the way back he pulls and runs like his life depends on it. Again , this is much different behaviour then when we go in the car somewhere.

 

[Sasha2008]

I just took him for a short walk (10 min) , figure perhaps if I do it everyday , he'll get used to it? I tried also the idea of making the destination fun and took him over the weekend to a fenced in school playground down the street. Unfortunately one of the houses next to the school has a GSD out in a kennel who was barking at Bogart , so instead of wanting to chase the ball he stayed sitting between my legs. This is also unusual because when we walk at the park he loves to say hi to other dogs.

 

[Superpup]

My Cody did this as a puppy. We got him at 8 wks and he refused to walk away from home. He would just sit down or lay down and not walk. I tried treats, I tried forcing a little, nothing worked. Until one day, he just started walking. My DH came with us that time, maybe the fact that the whole pakt was with helped, but at first I experienced the same thing. Still to this day I have no idea why he refused to walk like that. I used to take him to work with me and it was the same thing, he refused to walk anywhere. Then it changed

My other puppy Brandie was not the same... she would walk with me, be a little hesitant, but when I called her she would walk with me. Not for very long at first, but she would not totally refuse to walk.. maybe it just has to do with how the puppies are, and also if they are going through a fear period or not...
But I can tell you, after that couple of weeks that Cody did not walk with me... then he would ALWAYS wanna walk and go where ever I went. Never showed fear or anything. just did not wanna leave home.
Good luck with your pup!!

 

[IsisUnselke]

I had a similar experience with my last dog, a GSD. He always lagged behind me away from the house and as soon as we turned towards home he would pull and want to get home as fast as possible! However, when my DH and daughter were walking with us, he was like a different dog. He was much more playful and happy when the "Pack" was all together. I guess that is just the way some of the GSDs are wired!

 

[frenchie27]

I go thru the same thing. Got my gsd when he was 3 mos. Now he's 5 and a week and even though he has gotten better when walking back to the house, he still chokes on the collar a little bit. I kind of can't figure it out because I am sure it must hurt them to do that. But, I do have to admit it has gotten better. I even bought the leader collar for $20 at Petsmart after reading all the great reviews. It was worthless. It even left marks on his face for which I felt horrible for. I returned the thing. However, I do have to say that after he used that collar, he got better. Still needs lots of improvement though.

 

[MaggieRoseLee]

http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum/ubb...true#Post640181

They are having the same issue!