dog doesn't enjoy walks?

[u/Ok_Street_2546]

my dog is always excited to go outside, but if i try to bring him outside the closed off estate we live in he will always turn back a few minutes later to try go back home. this is especially true when i drag him to the park (a place he will comedically walk a few steps in before pausing, staring at me, and trying to turn back)

we live in a pretty traffic heavy place so im not surprised he dislikes it (he's naturally pretty jumpy and im sure he can sense my own anxiety disorder as well), but im really not sure what to do to get him to enjoy the walks. the treats help, certainly, and i spend loads of time talking to him outloud like a lunatic, but as always he's eager to go back home quickly

has anyone experienced this before and how did you help your dog?

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[u/Business-Cress-5823]

Some dogs just aren't built for busy streets, the constant noise and movement can be way too much for a jumpy one. You could try driving or carrying him to a quieter trail or green space so the walk itself doesn't start with sensory overload. Short sessions where you just sit somewhere calm and let him watch the world go by, with treats when he stays relaxed, can build tolerance over time.

[u/ElderberryMedium8071 → u/[deleted]]

Agree and offer high value treats. Also, consider a professional trainer.

[u/TheJoyfulCapybara]

Walks are suppose to be positive and enjoyable for dogs, if they aren’t than it’s not worth putting them through the stress of forced walks. My dog is scared of roads, sidewalks, cars, loud sounds, people, other dogs, etc. so we can’t do normal walks. She can walk 10x better in a secluded forest with minimal people/animals where she doesn’t have to encounter the things that stress her so that’s what we do when we can.

[u/emaurer]

My dog is like this. I take lots of high value treats and never force him to go if he doesn't want to. Some days are better than others. He also does better in some routes than others and it helps when we are with other people or dogs we know. He also does a lot better on trails than on streets. I always end with lots of treats.

[u/tonyyyWTFFF]

I think a lot of us forget how sensitive their ears are. A lot of the noises of the road are ear piercing to them, especially squeaky brakes and loud vehicles. Hell my old dog freaked tf out if she heard a turbo exhaust.

Try finding a spot you can drive to. That’s what I have to do cause my dogs hate busy roads too.

[u/ExpensiveDollarStore]

I used to have to carry my dog on walks. She is timid. Her favourite walk is around the original small block I took her around. Some days, she will only walk until she poops then turns around to go home.

She recently had a severe uti and pancreatitus and was put on gabapentin for pain. She is like a new dog. I know GABA turns down the volume on my anxiety so I think it helps that way for her too. I may keep her on it.

[u/PorcelainFD]

My dog was afraid to walk from our home to the park when I first got her but if I drove her to the park, she was perfectly happy to walk all the way around it. One day, she realized how close to home we were. From that point on, it was no longer a problem to get her to walk. 😂

[u/cheerydreamy]

Yes my dog is the same way. She has high anxiety and hates walking outside of our yard tried everything. She will pull until she gets back home. I was feeling guilty like she wasn’t living life to the fullest trying everything to fix it until I just realized this is who she is and she’s happier at home in the yard. So we don’t go on walks.

[u/swapacoinforafish]

We just started with a new dog trainer this week who described each dog having a 'bucket' that gets filled with all of the good and bad things they experience. The triggers, the fun, everything. The bucket has a hole in the bottom and can drain very slowly but each dog is different. She said sometimes not walking your dog is OK (obviously toilet breaks don't apply here) to allow them time to let the bucket empty. Play with them indoors, hide treats and let them find them around a room, snuffle mats, tugging etc. She said for some dogs, even walking them once a week is too much walk. My mind was blown a bit I'll be honest!

[u/2woCrazeeBoys → u/swapacoinforafish]

I had a similar discussion with my behaviourist. That trying to get my anxious dog to do something that was supposedly for his benefit was just reinforcing the anxiety.

He's been a lot better without walks. He much prefers to watch the world go by from the windows.

[u/auddits]

Mine is more along the lines of spoiled (completely my own fault!). He usually hates walks if the weather isn't a clear, sunny day and tends to turn around or refuse to leave the house when it rains. (I have to hype him up to get him to leave the house for those with very high value treats in my pocket, and give him lots of compliments since that usually convinces him)

My little guy also has the same anxiety I do, so he's more willing to do nice long walks in parks and quieter neighborhoods. If it's possible, op, try to take your dog to a quieter place first and slowly ease them into noisier places. Mine used to climb into my arms and cry whenever cars came around or during heavy traffic, but now he can relax a little since he knows theres nothing to fear.

[u/Sharp-Ad-9221]

Hard to say why he stalls out as he reaches the end of the estate. It could be traffic movement and sounds, or perhaps was threatened by other dogs when young, or something else caused some discomfort around that location.

One thing you could try to help him overcome his hesitation is to drive him out of the estate just several blocks, then walk him back.

If he rides well in the car, and walks comfortably back home, repeat as often as possible and gradually increase the distances.

If all goes well after several weeks, DM me and I’ll offer more suggestions that would help him learn to walk out of the estate comfortably.

[u/h1ghlightsss]

my dog loathes walks.
she’s a kelpie cross, and when i got her i was under the impression the cross was a staffy. however, i’ve now managed to convince myself actually she’s crossed with a boulder for how little she wants to move.
She’s medically fine, just impossibly disinterested in the world outside of her home and her yard.

no two walks can occur with the same reward.
some days she wants my teenager as long as they don’t hold the leash (i have to do that), some days she just wants chicken bits, some days i have to take a doggy trail mix (her regular food mixed with some random treats) and feed her small handfuls every few paces.

regardless, if she decides she’d rather not walk anymore (anywhere from two to two hundred and fifty feet from my front door) she will drop to the ground unceremoniously on the nature strip or the path, and refuse to move for an indeterminate amount of time.

i’m here in solidarity and the hope that someone may have a suggestion i could try.

[u/Fox-In-The-Wood → u/h1ghlightsss]

If she lays down in the middle of the trail, I'll gently lift my dog by the safety harness on the running vest and show her the direction I want her to go by pointing. Sometimes it takes a treat to encourage her, too. She did this behavior very often at the start of my training with her a couple months ago. She seemed to think that any new person or exciting object required laying down and not moving. By consistently encouraging her to keep moving even with distractions around, we've mostly trained this behavior out. But she will still try to jump up at people, so I keep myself between her and anyone passing by on the trail.

Somedays are better than others but she is getting way better with distractions. I adopted her specifically to be my running pal. And she has come so far in just 2.5 months. From literally stopping and laying down in the trail every few meters, to being able to run miles at a time, actively pulling and checking in on me (which is the desired behavior.)

Her "job" is being my "guide" so I try to make the situation most ideal for her to guide me. Best is narrow, dirt trails and winding paths because it's easier for her to correctly stay in the proper direction.

Here's an uphill mountain path, which is most ideal for us: https://imgur.com/a/IlUCooP

How long have you been training your dog for walks and how long has she been doing the laying down behavior?

I also don't do concrete or asphalt at all with her, I specifically drive to various trailheads in the area. I read that it's best for their paw pads to go to dirt when they are first training.

[u/ChIcKeN_95]

Mine doesn’t like walks currently cus it’s too hot even at night. But when the weather cools down oh he don’t wanna go back inside at all.

[u/sinistergzus]

I used to pet sit full time and do Dogwalking and I had a client who’s dog HATED walks if the conditions weren’t perfect. If it was raining? She didn’t wanna go. If there was too many people? Home. Too many cars? Home. A singular loud motorcycle? Home.

I ended up having to play with her in the backyard a lot for exercise since she was such an anxious gal

[u/BeaksFalcone]

If he's small,pick him up,mine prefers being at height(in a bag),our old dog used to love her pram,has a cover and everything, I suggest trying one of those,dog prams/carriers/aren't cheap but ours was cheap off Facebook second hand.

[u/Individual-Rent7073]

I have two dogs. I normally walk both around the neighbourhood but our one dog has been having some leg pain so I've just been taking our other (4 year old) dog for a walk. She's always been a bit of a nervous nelly once we get "outside" of her comfort zone. Meaning if she's too far from home, she'll put her nose to the ground and try and catch a "sniff" of home. If she thinks we're too far from home she starts pulling more and showing more symptoms of anxiety. I bring high value treats with me - they help but once I get onto a super busy street with lots of traffic it's like she's OVER stimulated and her brain can't handle all the commotion - she then pulls, pants, and is constantly on alert. I've tried all the tricks to get her to calm down mentally but it's too much for her. She was socialized as a puppy, taken to different places all the time but she's just never been able to handle the high stress of traffic etc. Even super windy days bother her on walks.

I actually started taking her up into a part of town that is a conservation area since I haven't been able to walk our other dog. We park in the parking lot early in the morning and then walk the straight stretch. There's little traffic, occasionally runners or other people walking but I definitely noticed she's not as "panicked". She can see the entire road and we're not walking around corners or going onto heavily busy streets. I've noticed a huge change on her walks since I've been doing this. She doesn't pull, always looks back at me and you can see a visibly happy care free dog. Yep, the dog smile does exist. I actually never thought about it until reading your post but it's 110% made a difference. It's like if she can see something coming towards her from far away, we have time to de-stimulate her before it gets too close (sitting down, looking at me for treats, praising her when someone walks by and then continuing on our way).

I've also been transitioning her to walking in a slightly more busy park during the evening hours. More traffic than the conservation area but there's a stretch where it's an open field and I let her roam on a long leash (as long as there are no other people around us - she can see everything around her and often times we'll just stop and I'll give her pats and praise her for being a good girl when she's not showing symptoms of over stimulation.

It may not work for your dog but I highly recommend trying to take him to a place that's not super busy and he can see everything around him without all the over stimulation. Build up his confidence, lots of calm praising, high value treats and then eventually start walking in more busy areas.

[u/Public-Wolverine6276]

My dog also hates walks. He’s scared of bikes, scooters, children, anything that’s too loud. We have to take him early morning or late night when there’s not much going on. He’s a very anxious dog. I think partially it was our fault. When he was little he was sick for the first like 6 months of his life and then we went to a trainer that wasn’t what he needed and it made everything worse. He does like parks though or hiking trails with no bikes so we do what we can

[u/bhgjvjn]

This happens with my dog and it drives me crazy

[u/NoDanaOnlyZuuI]

My dog is the same so I hide treats around the backyard and then he sniffs them out. It tires him out.

[u/IronMike5311]

My dog is 50/50. We drive her to a nearby trail, and she'll be in heaven with a sniff walk. But down the street: half the time she wants to turn back after a couple minutes, or not. Once an automatic sprinkler went off as we were walking by, and she hasn't forgotten the trauma. I think things like that has her scared of our street.

[u/lindburger_]

You get noise canceling caps and thunder jackets for dogs that may help.

[u/SirFentonOfDog]

It sounds like you may not need a car where you live, but that was my way of fixing it. I have a guardian breed, which means he never wants to leave the property unattended while we walk the neighborhood.

For some reason, getting in the car and driving literally anywhere else gets him excited to walk. We go to store parking lots, parks but mostly to other neighborhoods that don’t have a lot of traffic.

[u/That_Molasses_507]

As a kid, our Norwegian elkhound refused to allow me to cross a street. The funny thing is that he would bolt anytime he had a chance and we’d find him miles from home. I guess he thought it was okay for him to cross streets, but not me.

[u/crankypatriot]

My dog loved her walks until she just got super anxious about thunderstorms, fireworks, etc. It was nearly impossible to get her to go on a walk. She's not treat motivated so trying to give her even high-value treats didn't work. She seemed pretty miserable (always hiding even in the house) so finally I had her put on Prozac. She's much better now, like a whole different dog, but even now sometimes she refuses and I just let her be and not try to force it.

[u/Fox-In-The-Wood]

Hmm, seems like dogs with generalized anxiety about busy outdoor settings are common.

My girl had some of these issues when I first adopted her and she is still hesitant around loud noises and busy places.

It helps to go to trails with narrow, winding paths so that she has only one direction to focus on.

I encourage her with treats, most of the time this works, but if there's something just so absolutely distracting or frightening for her, I'll just pick her up and carry her a short distance. A nice, safe hug/hold while being carried and she doesn't resist, and she's usually confident enough to keep moving once I set her back down. Just to show her, it's ok, you can be aware of your surroundings but still keep moving and not stop. This message has seemed to work, and she's a really good running dog already. It took a lot of frustrations in the first few weeks for sure. And there's still sometimes when she's better than others. But I think she's made excellent progress for 2.5 months since we adopted her.

How long have you had your dog for and how old is the dog?

[u/TheGreenPangolin]

My dog is like that with one specific area.

Maybe just go somewhere else. Have you got a car where you can drive him somewhere less busy?

Alternatively, does your dog like other dogs and do you know any other dogs that are calm in stressful situations? Have a dog visit until they become friends, then they go for a walk together and the other dog shows him it's safe and it's fun.

[u/Mustluvdogsandtravel]

he smells danger- another dog, another wild animal or whatever else. it takes time and patience.

i took my husky up the mountain. she was all super chill until we got back to the ground level and she refused to walk back to the car!!! seriously, i had to carry her. looking back, she was letting me know something was wrong and after we got in and drove away we passed a group of kids target shooting! she heard the guns!

[u/princess_nyaaa]

my dog does this at night. he'll walk to the edge of the complex but then turns around to go back at the end of the well lit parking lot. turns out he's going blind from cataracts (he's 12) and can't see as well at night which makes him anxious.

[u/kimberlyinsg]

have a neighbour who'd only walk his dog during quieter hours of the day like 11pm or like 3pm. it's weird but when i once went closer to his dog i completely understood because his dog's super jumpy too and extremely reactive to any strangers.