He hates walks

[Bluegirly01]

Hi,

My little Jack Russell/ Border Terrier cross is now almost 9 months old. I have problems with walking him.

I walk him on a non-pull harness (which doesn't work). When I get his harness out he runs away from me and it ends in me chasing him and getting annoyed. He doesn't like me actually putting the harness on either, my theory here is he may not like it because it goes over his head. Once the harness is on he does let me put his lead on. When it comes to leaving the house he will go out of the front door happily but he will get as far as the gate and then he doesn't seem to want to go out of the garden.

When we are walking he pulls terribly and he seems to get the better of me. I have tried stopping dead when he pulls but he just pulls all the more and I once nearly lost my footing and fell over. I've tried the changing direction technique as well and this doesn't work either. He doesn't like passing traffic, he doesn't like people coming up to him in the street and fussing him, he rolls on his back for them (maybe in fear?). It's like he wants to get back home as quickly as possible. When a motorbike passed us in the street once he hid under a nearby hedge. If I need to stop for a rest he won't sit by my side he just pulls and whines. Yet the second I walk him back into my garden he's a different dog, he walk calmly and usually has a wee on the grass and goes in the house all excited and with a wagging tail.

I get the impression he hates walks. He's always been like this since I started walking him 2 weeks after his last injections. He doesn't have a set schedule the only part of his schedule that is set is breakfast time at 7.30 in a morning with his second meal usually around 5pm.

Hayley

[Erica]

What kind of no-pull harness do you use? Some are really quite cruel in their methods of "stopping" pulling. Front-clipping harnesses, like Soft Touch and Easy Walk, are much nicer than others. The front clip makes it harder for the dog to pull, without punishing them for pulling. By the way you describe his behavior, I think you probably use something with strings that pull and pinch...very uncomfortable, and since he didn't ever learn that not pulling makes it more comfortable, he continues to pull.

Did you use the no-pull harness when you did the turn-around method? You could try reading our looseleash walking thread; if you stick to it, it does work. You have a very persistent and stubborn breed there; he found something that works for him getting where he wants to go and he'll continue to try using that for quite some time.

Also, is it possible to find somewhere to walk without traffic and people? It sounds like walks are very stressful to him now; it's good to get his stress levels down. It's hard for dogs to learn when they're stressed.

[Bluegirly01]

The non-pull harness I use is a sporn one. It's got a mesh with soft elastic running through it and there's covering on it so it's more comfortable on the legs and it's an easy fastener no fiddling about with those 3 pronged clips.

He is stubborn and I think walks around traffic do stress him out. He's also still jumps and nips and attacks peoples feet too. I was hoping getting walks so they're more pleasant and less stressful then he'd be more tired out and wouldn't nip and attack feet as much.

[Jack Monzon]

It sounds like fear to me. My dog had very similar problems for several weeks after adoption.

Have you tried driving somewhere and walking there? A park, somewhere without lots of people and cars.

[Erica]

Sporn harnesses rely on pain and discomfort to stop the dog pulling. You really ought to change the harness asap, preferably to a front-clip harness like I talked about before or another harness that doesn't have moving parts - roman or step-in harnesses are good as well.