When it’s time for a walk, your dog remains lying in his basket. If you manage to extract it, it brakes four irons in front of the front door. His message is unequivocal: he does not want to accompany you. Several reasons can explain its blocking to which various solutions can be brought. Our advices.
Why does your dog refuse walks?
Generally, a dog loves to frolic in nature and sniff the multiple smells that dot its path. This is why a lack of enthusiasm during the walk can seem worrying. Several reasons can explain his prostration.
He was not used to going out.
If you have just adopted a dog whose history you do not know, he may have unexpected reactions. If he has spent his life tied up or in an enclosure, if he has been deprived of walks for a long time, he can tire quickly and not follow the new rhythm that is being subjected to him. The discovery of noises, objects and smells with which he is not familiar, is likely to disturb his routine;
He is afraid of the outside world.
In the case of recent adoption, you do not yet know your new companion well. A dog that has experienced a trauma with its former owner can remember this incident and this memory can terrorize it. But the animal may simply experience apprehension in the face of an unfamiliar environment to which it has not been familiarized. The effervescence of the cities, the bustle of the crowd, the noise of cars can frighten him to the point of refusing walks. If your pet has been feeling comfortable until now and his fear suddenly arose, it’s likely that something you didn’t pay attention to has frightened him on the last walk (a loud bang , contact with an aggressive congener, etc.);
He is tired , feels pain.
Walking your dog daily is an excellent habit for the animal and for its master. However, you must take care to spare your companion in case of high heat, for example, or if your hairball is old. A sudden change in behavior may be due to fatigue or pain. In this case, try to gently handle your dog to detect the origin of his suffering or entrust this mission to your veterinarian.
The walks must be done in a pleasant context. By taking the leash, collar or harness, adopt a dynamic and playful attitude. If you’re in a hurry, it’s raining, you can’t wait to get it over with before you’ve even left, you risk communicating your lack of enthusiasm to your companion. In addition to motivating him with your enthusiasm, you will have to respond to his apprehension through various actions:
- Consult a veterinarian. If your loulou shows signs of pain (lameness, squealing, vomiting, etc.), you must have him examined by a veterinarian who will make a diagnosis to solve the problem. If the refusal to go out is not related to a health problem, other avenues will have to be considered.
- Desensitize him. The work of desensitization or habituation consists in gradually confronting the animal with the origin of the disturbance so that it understands that this element does not represent any danger for it. For example, there are videos and audio documents on the Internet or on CDs that reproduce various sounds: car traffic, thunder, gunshots, firecrackers… You will then have to submit your dog without rushing him to the stimulus that triggers his phobia and associate it with to a positive response, such as a food reward;
- Divert his attention:
- Using treats. To encourage your dog to leave the house, take treats he likes with you. Your pooch will then focus more on what he is eating than on what is around him. The rewards – to be given to him only when he makes the effort to move forward – will motivate him to go out. When you are out for a walk and it freezes again, repeat the operation. Faced with his progress, be sure to space out the delicacies until you completely eliminate them when he has regained his confidence.
- With his comforter or his favorite toy. As soon as you leave, let your dog hold in his mouth a blanket or a toy that he cares about. If he does not want to take it, show it to him and take small steps forward to stimulate his desire to follow the object he loves. During the walk, do not hesitate to engage in a game so that he considers the walk as a moment of relaxation and fun.
- Change your habits. To motivate your doggie, one trick is to get him out of his routine through new experiences. For this, it is enough to diversify the places of walk so that he discovers new smells. You can also change the rhythm of the walks by favoring several short outings. If it seems to you that your dog’s stops are due to fatigue, take breaks to allow him to recover. In this way, he will no longer see the walks as an exhausting moment;
- Go out with friends. If your dog is sociable with his peers, consider organizing walks with other dogs who are comfortable on walks. Your pooch will focus on the presence of his friends, will feel reassured and will realize that the outside is not as scary as he imagined.
- Positive reinforcement is essential in training your dog. If, despite numerous attempts, you are unable to get your dog out of the house, the support of a canine behavior professional will be necessary.
