You, sir, are my god. Yesterday I tried to take my very stubborn puppy for a walk which consisted of carrying, bribing, pulling, having a fit, squirming and me giving up after 100 yards and coming home. Puppy won. Found your video when we got home and he was gloating at his victory. Today. A few tugs and 2 miles later he's home and sleeping it off. Thanks so much.
so how did you do it? she is 12 weeks old. we got her 3 weeks ago. she had no problem w the leash or harness. she goes outside n just sits thr. tugging her way back home
Please People, Be patient with your puppies, they are like infants, they will grow out of most bad behaviors as they get older., Patience Patience Patience
Thank you so so much!! My dog was being an absolute BRAT on his walk! He was laying down every few minutes for no reason, and it was really starting to tick me off until I listened to this. It started to improve the walk instantly when I was confident and did the pull and release.
Seriously that quick tug and release with forward momentum just fixed my puppy's stubborn stop and resist behavior! I watched this last night and tried it this morning and WOAH! He walked 2x as much as he ever has and he did it well! You mentioning "dogs respond to confidence" changed my mindset too. I thought I was being confident but your example up the upward inflection "lets gOO!" as the bad example of confidence made me realize I was doing that and then I was going the opposite way and being really strict and not making the walking fun. Thank you!
@@imloubat he never mentioned you HD to ue a training leash so I wouldn't assume you'd have to go buy something it's. Technique not a sale so I think a harness should work. I am dealing with a puppy that won't walk at night but does during the day and she's on a harness so we shall see. Lol
I moved three weeks ago and, since, my dog would walk with my husband, but not me. If I tried to go further than our block, she would pull back and start running home. I tried the pull-and-release technique after watching this video and IT WORKED!! We finally were able to go to our nearby park today and we were there for over an hour. THANK YOU! This technique was a total lifesaver.
My puppy stops on walks and sometimes just wont budge and will want to turn around. We used to just pick her up and get on our way. I watched this video yesterday and we took her out in the evening. When she stopped on the walk, we waited on her terms (keeping tension on the leash) then would do the tug, to get her moving and she would be fine! The important thing was to keep her moving forward, move forward, move forward! Thanks for the video!
I just started watching this video 30 minutes ago and I tried out these tips for my 4 month old Great Dane. These tips actually worked! My puppy is starting to enjoy walks now. We walked up the street from where I live as a starter and he only stopped once! My puppy used to be afraid of his leash but then I realized he just needed to try a different method of leash training. Thank you Fern for these tips, they were really helpful and I will recommend your channel.
Thank you!!! I was doing the ‘slow pull’ and she was NOT having any of it. She responded to the ‘pull and release’ immediately so we were finally able to have a nice walk! You’re the best! ❤️
Actually saw this video during my dogs first walk. Was fighting him for around half a mile, at which point I saw your video, and tried your strategies. Absolutely Amazing how well it worked. Thank you!
Thank you. My 40 pound,3 1/2 month old pyrenees/anatolian Sheppard/pit puppy is so scared of everything still. I've been trying to get him introduced to our front yard. Hes cool with the back yard but that's it. This is so helpful.
my dog always stops on our walks, sometimes even 5 minutes in. i don’t want to tug on his leash (not even a little) because i don’t want people driving by to think i’m abusing him. it’s frustrating, it’s like he’s trying to get on my nerves!
I feel your frustration as I'm going through the same. My dog stop as soon as we left the driveway and I kept pulling him knowing it might be wrong but I have no choice. It works but a lot of stopping and he does that a lot when cars passing by and I'm so scared that they're going to think I'm abusing my dog.
The only solution is to walk in the dead middle of the street so he has no grass to sniff. I have two dogs. They both pull unleash I put them both on a gentle leader. They are large dogs. And I’m 4’11’ @ 100 pounds so I’m pretty petite.
@@chanthana7694 then you guys really should ignore what people think. Its ok to tug just a little bit. Refusing to tug at all makes your dog think its in control. You are, and it thinking that can become a big problem later on.
How nice to see I am not alone in this club ! my dog just stopped in the middle of the road and didn't want to move a bit. Will try what you recommended, thank you
My puppy Jasper doesn't like to leave home but when it's time to go back home after a walk he literally sprints back home 🤣🤣 but molly likes to explore...total opposites😩🤣
I realize this comment is over a year later but I have a 4 month old puppy at home that does the same thing. I'm curious if your dog ever grew out of that behavior or not. Thanks!
@@iam_croot Yeah he did. The key things I did were give him treats in during walks and made sure to walk him with my other dog Molly who loves going on walks. The more he saw Molly's excitement for walks the more his attitude change. Now I had to teach him to stop pulling during walks. 😂
This pull and release method works like magic! My golden retriever would lie down during a walk and no amount of pulling or cajoling would make him move. After a long time, like 10 minutes or more, it was clear he was just fine almost asleep on the road. He figured out that I would run out of patience and call my husband or ask a neighbor to drive us home. Bad situation all around. Now I try to project authority and do the pull and release trick - and voila he gets up and we walk on! Mostly I do not let him even get down and urge him to walk on. Thank you!!!
14 Week old German Shepherd Lab mix puppy who's definitely just has been testing his free will. He's not an insecure little dude at all. This was great info. Gonna try it now, thanks a ton! Also he loves the music- he's sitting beside me now and it always makes his head perk up
The only upsetting thing about this video is the fact that I didn’t find it earlier. This worked like a charm. Just like he said, tug a little bit, not hard. I was doing the exact same thing he described, sweet talk to my puppy until he came or I gave up. With a little tug and deeper voice, My puppy learned very quickly that he has to follow me. Again, do not tug hard bc you definitely do not wanna hurt your puppy. Thank you for this!
Thank you sooooooo much! I was on a walk with my 3,5-month-old bernese mountain dog and he wouldn't move, always wanting to return home. I was doing the exact thing you described with pulling slowly. After watching your video, I returned to him for a second round and it worked like magic. He resisted a bit at the beginning, but then just nicely walked. Thank you.
I volunteer at a local shelter and have used your tips in this video repeatedly with great success with thanks. An additional tip for those dogs that get stuck is to stand close to the dog, holding leash close to your body, with a slight bend you take 2 steps with the dog with purpose and confidence.. Same idea, you're jump starting the dog.
Hi Fern. I watched this video twice because you had me laughing the whole time. “ you do Not want to drag them” made me laugh so hard. You remind me of my childhood friends in Philly. Are you from the East coast? And love this vid. Looking forward to watching more, Thank you !
I was with my grandma...walking her dogs... I think it was 2 years ago, and one dog stopped walking...and my grandma saw a slightly broken shopping cart at the big trash containers thingy, she put the dog in it and we went home like that *BEST GRANDMA EVER*
I finally got my puppy to walk!! after several weeks of just sitting there I put her leash on and when she sat down I gave her a quick gentle snap while doing that I told her NO. then I told her come. if she didnt move I tapped her side with the tips of my fingers and put gentle forward pressure on the leash. she walks for half hour straight with no more issues....Im so happy.
Thank you so much for this video! My newly adopted dog on walks, would run backwards and freeze. This video is awesome! It got my boy moving! It’s all about the release…. Just the same as horses or in my case mules. If they don’t have something to brace against, they’ll “stumble forward” as you say. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! Suzanne and Dasher.
I literally just watched your video with my Luna putting on the brakes in the kitchen. I've been keeping her on a leash so she gets used to it around the house and yard and to help me keep an eye on her while I potty train her. This worked IMMEDIATELY. Thank you so much. I don't know what's so scary in the kitchen, but it was the one room in the house she wouldn't go for some reason.
I had a little Chihuahua who was terrified of the kitchen. She did not get over it. I think one time when she was tiny, she was near the dishwasher while it was running and something made a loud noise and she would starve rather than go in that kitchen. I had a very small kitchen, eventually I just found a better place to feed her, a few feet away from the kitchen on her own placemat.
Literally saved me from my dog stopping for 5+ mins, she does this all the time as she is very anxious and scared of everything dog. I’ll try consistently with this one, thank you!
The thing I find hard is when to baby them and be super encouraging and being the master. I have a 5 month old Caucasian Sheppard mix, he is already big and stops after 10 or 20 feet.
First off...THANKS! I was skeptical, but, long story short... I tried it and it worked! It was such a relief. She's a 1 year old 3-legged full Labrador angel. Except when she just drops like an anchor with no advance warning. I've only had her for a couple of days and I'm pretty sure the previous owner, one of my neighbors, didn't have her on any consistent walking regimen. And for me it's weird to have to deal with stopping, vs pulling. (I tell her sometimes I think she's part Basset Hound.) I never had this problem with my pit bull. LOL. (The stopping; the pulling was almost always just on the horizon. It was hard to walk Brutus with a loose leash, but it is a pleasure to walk Flipper with a loose leash because she doesn't pull. But that doesn't work when she stops.) I agree with the posters who stressed patience. And discerning observation to really tune into your pet's needs/rhythms. But after I've determined that she's rested and well hydrated, a simple, firm snap on the leash, along with pack leader confidence energy, DID get her up and moving. And it did not appear to cause her any distress. Disclaimer: Every once in a while I still opt for a simple dropping of the leash, looking right at her. and telling her: "OK. Go find your new Forever Home", and that usually does the trick. But not always. This makes a lot more sense. Also, I try to avoid using treats as "bribes". But I might consider trying treats as a lure once in a while, to break that mental freeze she seems to enter. Epilogue: Now, even though it's only been a couple of days, every time I walk to the closet that has her leash she walks to the door, stays, and waits for me to put on the leash to go for a walk. She also listens when I tell her to keep staying until I walk out the door, then she follows. She's a great dog and she loves walks! And thanks to you I can better serve her needs and maintain a consistent and HAPPY walking regimen. Thanks again. Yeah. UPDATE: #1 way to get her moving? THROW TREATS! But, the quick snap technique is great. NOTE: I think what I'm dealing with here is years of poor walking techniques by the owners. They ALL have had experiences carrying her home. And apparently she's used to that. So for now, I'm taking more shorter walks, armed to the teeth with treats to toss. The funny part was...I thought holding the treat in my hand was effective. It was for 1 walk. I swear. She's part T-Rex. She figured that trick out and it got burnt. So I had to start tossing and I ran out. Then it was mind vs mind. I motioned like I was throwing something, and that worked. For a while. Then I threw a piece of dirt and she ran after that then it was: "Let's go home and get treats. 😀
the tug and release thing used to work lol it def wasn't a confidence thing. my dog is two and all of a sudden started stopping every time we go for a potty break...at least 5 times a day. he just plops over on his back or side and doesn't want to go back inside or home. It started after a run thinking he was extra tired then but think he just wants to sit out sit I the grass which is a reasonable desire. they are animals and everything does better in a natural setting, I love being outside too. We do not have our own yard but we have access to a park next door, serval walks and runs a week almost everyday, I take him to the dog park, the pet store, car rides, the mall, and friends house with a field. thousands spent on bones and toys. he get s tons of attention and time. my life revolves around this dog. he has everything but a back yard of his own to wander in as he pleases atm, so I get it but its a pets life. he cant just stop and not budge every potty break..he cant run the show for my life...I guess I have to go back to bringing treat with but I dunno if that will work.. he just really wants to take a nap in the grass. I can try to incorporate a "grass day" and sit with him for an hour or two but obviously dont have time for that everyday every potty time which is what he wants.
so, I did the gentle tug, as suggested rather than the pulling, and my dog ended up laying down 3 times along the walk or outlasting me in the patience game as he stared at whatever it was he was stopping to stare at.....btw this is an 8 year old rescue dog sheltie mix, not a puppy.
Lol had the same probem today with my Pupp, so as soon as I got home I did a RU-vid search and found this great channel. ok I was doing it all wrong :) Thanks for your advise Im ready for next walk armed with new knowledge. :)
Hi - I'm keen to try anything! Our rescue greyhound walked fine for the first week, went everywhere with no problem, but the last two weeks, sometimes he won't even leave the driveway. But I am the "c'mon Teddy, lets go" softly type talker, will try more confident voice and the 'tug and release'. Thanks.
Have a rescue greyhound who walked wonderfully the first week but after that he stopped or he just wanted to go in one direction which i didn’t want. I tried literally everything, treats don’t interest him, pull won’t work so I figured I wait it out. I turn my back and i don’t move. It takes time but he will give in when he sees that he won’t get it his way. I’m hoping that in the future it’ll take less than 15 minutes though...
Enjoyed your video. I was wondering what you consider a high value treat? I am considering adopting a large dog and am trying to figure out what are healthy treats I can have for her. Also, looking for something that takes time to chew that is healthy without causing issues like the rawhides. Any advice is appreciated.
My dog is 8 and was rescued from a puppy mill. I'm a first time dog owner so I wasn't prepared for the behavioral issues. They don't think she's ever been outside before the foster parent before me so walks were still very foreign to her. After a little time with me she started walking fine on a leash! Then fast forward three months and she suddenly stopped again. She got to the point where she was excited to go outside and now she will barely walk out the door...unless it's nighttime. I think maybe with the quarantine there are too many people out/sounds or should I take her to the vet?
ive seen many people have problems with their dog pulling on leash and before i bought my puppy i thought it was easy to solve. so i bought my puppy aaaaand.. he just stands in one place and just likes his yard more than the outside. even after applying this mans tips, he is still not moving
Hi Ferndog! Our dog will not walk with me or my partner independently if he knows the other person is at home - he wants us both to walk with him! He is a rescue and is extremely attached to us. We have a routine where now where one of us will leave the house and hide first, before the other takes him outside. This will stop him putting the brakes on and allow 1 of us to walk him fully, but its not sustainable, have you ever experienced anything like this? And what would you recommend?
have a nine week old simoyed... only moves forward when i run and there is no distraction.. otherwise its paws forward and head down.. tug and treats dont work.. could it be the body harness im using... would i have better results if it was a neck collar..
I think it could be, my dog rarely stops, then the last two days I have used a new harness and he is stopping and standing his grown through the entire walks, had to lift it home lol.
My great dane is 7 years old now, and we have 2 people going for a walk with her. She always wants to follow her route with the second person and stops at those intersections. As she weight about 70kg there's no way of creating momentum. What does work is trying to command her, when that doesn't work I start to ignore her for about 2 min but stay put, I then command again and that usually works. I don't know if I'm actually hurting the situation or not though. Any tips?
Hey , I just got a 8 week husky who doesn’t like walking or going up the stairs and makes me carry him or I will just wait until he would walk but he would lay down and it would take so long for him to walk I tried what you said but he would just sit there .
My beagle puppy is different. She walks, but does a lot of sniffing and she is holding me up every second. Loves to sniff, and I let her for a couple seconds and then say “come on”. I don’t want to fully prevent her from sniffing, but I want her to know that when I’m walking she needs to go with me.
I take my dog out regularly, but when we are getting to the front porch/porch stairs, he doesn’t want to go up them or stops halfway the grass(close to stairs), this started after we cut his hair, he’s a Shih tzu btw, he was in a serious Matt but we cut his hair and, idk if that’s the problem...
What if you’re at a sausage truck? I had a situation where the dog was very excited as he found droppings. I don’t think tug and release was going to work.
Hi fern. Super glad to have found all your resources!!! We are fostering a dog right now. He refuses to move forward and becomes aggressive/reactive with the leash. He will halt, get a look in his eye. If there is any tugging of the leash he will bite, growl, and shake (not for play). If I ignore he will turn the other way. The only way I have gotten him to move forward is to distract with nibbles and high energy running to get him to overcome the obstacles in his head. Is this the right approach? Should I be doing something different?
I would agree with your approach. Since he becomes grumpy while on leash you don't want to force him. Keep it light hearted and jam packed with food and fun.
Hi Fern, thanks for this tip, it worked a few times but now my 26kg dog has learnt to pull against this technique by putting more of his weight in his back legs and rear. Any ideas? I don't want to yank him about, and even hard tugs aren't working anymore. This makes me think it is behavioural rather than medical because of the strength he can exert, though we are going to the vet this week. The reason he does this is that he wants to wait to say hello to random dogs, which he does in an adult way, no overexcitability. I have no issues with him socialising, the problem is we can be waiting for a good 5-10 minutes for these random dogs to arrive, most of the time they're not even within eyesight, he has just smelt them coming. This is happening 10-15 times per 2-3 hour walk. Treats and toys don't help for the most part. I am going to try putting a long lead on him and rolling a treat balls to get him moving today. He has to stay on a lead in certain areas of the countryside we live in because he will run off hunting for a good 2 hours. But then on the other hand he will lag 10m behind me on walks. I don't get it. He is extremely well behaved in the house, he has the run of the house because he is so well behaved. He is also super-affectionate. I love him so much.
There were fireworks in my neighborhood every single day for about 6 months (super annoying) and that seemed to have scared my dog so bad that she hardly ever wants to go out the door. I don't know what to do to make her feel comfortable with the idea of going for walks. I took her to the vet when she stopped wanting to walk to make sure she was physically OK, she was fine thankfully. What are the best ways to get a dog walking again when they are psychologically opposed?
My dog (pomsky) 1.5 yrs old. Suddenly stopped walking with me but she continues to walk with my mom and her husband. She would walk happily with me for the year and a half and one day on a normal walk she just stopped. Its been 4 months ive tried everything and anything and she still doesnt show any signs of improvement
My 9 month old German Shepherd won’t eat treats and I’ve tried just about every brand. (We will not use human food for training so no deli meat) when I take her out. After she does her “jobs” I reward her with words and head scratch/pat. (She loves that) then I try to get her to explore and walk or run but she will put on the breaks and cry’s at me. I’ve tried fetch and playing with sticks or toys and honestly I’ve tried everything I can think of and NOTHING gets her to move. So I go over and pick her up put her on her feet and say come. If I’m lucky it works for a few minutes.
My beagle keeps trying to go to the same spots, one being across a busy road and onto a senior home property. Im trying to get him to burn energy so I can focus working from home. Ill also have him out for 45 mins and he'll get back up to my apartment and pee in the hallway
I'm going to try this on my dog. I have an adult corgi and walks have always been frustrating and a constant tug of war. If I stop walking or give him slack he'll lay down on the ground in seconds and refuse to continue walking, and this can start within 3 minutes of the walk beginning. Let me know if anyone experienced anything similar and how to help break him of this habit, because other than this he is an absolutely wonderfully nice and obedient dog but walks are just frustrating.
I have a very anxious saluki whom i rescued over a year ago ,she is hyper sensitive to noises sudden bikes doors slamming and sometime refuses to poo when there are people on the street , she has taken to just freezing she does not respond to treats whilst on the street have tried the pull release and it is not working does anyone have any suggestions
i have a beagle i say mudhoney to all dogs. anyhow she went for a walk with tenant farmer 2 days ago. i have a phone app tracker on her. shes moving north at the moment 60 miles away
I wish I saw this video when I first adopt a dog. Not sure what his background was but he hates going outside (only for bathroom breaks). He doesn't know what to do with him self, not even hanging our in the yard like normal dog and let alone walking. It doesn't help since I'm a first timer. As soon as we left driveway, he keep stopping, sitting down and look back at the house. Walking in short distance took forever but once we heading back home he's in a marathon mode.
We have a nearly 5 year old rescue Jack Russell. She walked wonderfully when we first got her. She now stops to sniff all the time, and on the home stretch, she just sits and won't move. I can coax her after a minute or 2, but she quickly sits again. it's not making the walks enjoyable anymore. She always wants me to walk her everyday. I'd love some answers if anyone can help. Thanks for your video.
This sounds EXACTLY like our dog. She's about 2.5 yrs old and used to walk wonderfully, too, when we adopted her in January. But since around June, she's been such a pain in the butt to walk. I dread it every time I get her ready to go out. I just found this video and will try the tug-and-release method. Hopefully, it'll help. I'll let you know. ;) *fingerscrossed
My 8 month old dog didn’t want to go walking after a few incidents with other dogs barking at him. Before that he was perfectly fine. He always pulls towards now and I’m concerned about his exercise levels. What should I do about it?
I have a Yorkie she isn’t a puppy anymore I wasn’t able to walk her as a puppy bc of how small she was I had to carry her recently she’s been on the leash since she was able to walk without a leash but I live in Florida now and I don’t dare to due to the wildlife around I’ve tried everything she just won’t walk or she does then stops and it’s mainly when people are walking around what do I do
Tried it all. None of it worked. He's supposed to be taking 20 minute walks to heal his leg but the best I've got it 3 minutes. I'm surprised he didn't go for the treats but he didn't.
TheGreatRedWelshDragon my dog broke his legs when he was barely a year old, and I had the same problem. For me, it worked if I we had walks with other dogs. I would always go walking with my friend and his dog. maybe you should try it out if u want. I wish u good luck
I live in India where there are a lot of stray dogs and stuff which prevent us to walk anywhere. So I started making predefined paths based on number of stray dogs and vehicles and stuff. But I think my dog started getting bored of these paths over time. We have no dog parks here and idk what to do and where else to walk her.
so we found puppy in forest when it was snow and very cold. rn he is about 3,4 months but he is big and fluffy. we couldn’t found his people so we take care of him. maybe he is scared of snow or agoraphobic... puppies usually are crazy but this one is very slow, sad and depressed. vet said that he is ok... idk how to get him out of the house...
My dog is just in love with certain dogs along the way. He flops down flat and from there he won't budge. He's a big mutt, so carrying him isn't an option. Treats.. nope. He won't even get up for them. Any tips?
My Labrador is 3 and 1/2 months and we have had him for two weeks and he only walks down our driveway, unless I bribe him with treats or my brother runs in front of him, what should I do? He stops and sits
Watching this 5years later lol. My dog likes to walk but stops every time there are other dogs or people or basically anything and won’t walk anymore. She just turned a year old and it’s so frustrating that sometimes she won’t go pass our neighbors house:((
my dog doesn’t want to walk, but comes home hyper and wanting to play. He’s 1. He’s a normal weight. No matter what, i didn’t pull, but he just sat down and wouldn’t move until it was the direction to go home. I really don’t know what it is.
I will try the 'short tug' technique. Hopefully it should work ,fingers crossed. My dog is weird. If I'm walking her on my own she'll freeze but if someone is with me she'll go anywhere! I don't treat her bad, wonder why she does it?
Fern dog training answer me# I having 1 month gsd puppy and she destroying home things , don't follow commands ,toilet in home , don't come to walk. What should I do????
my grown dog, roxy, keeps pulling home on walks. Every single walk, everyday. She does this before we even leave my estate. She walked perfectly fine before but it only started happening in probably September 2021 or earlier. Its getting very annoying as i want to enjoy time with roxy and she only walks fine with my dad or older sister. I havent changed my walking route either so i dont know why shes doing this if shes used to the area as we walked mostly everyday for the past 3 years?
the pull and release doesnt work either for me. She also wont accept treats when shes in her pulling home stage. Its like something clicks in her to pull back home
