Hi all, I am having a problem with one of my dogs and can't seem to find a solution. She is a 10 year old Miniature Pinscher and she has walked well on a leash since she was a puppy. Recently while on a walk, she suddenly stopped walking and looked a little spooked. I carried her home and inspected her to make sure nothing was wrong. Since then, she has started doing this on every walk. She suddenly stops walking and refuses to go anywhere, in any direction, and if I approach her, she wants to be picked up. If I force her to walk, she is fighting against me the whole time. I started noticing that before it happens, she sometimes flinches/blinks and then slows down, as if something is spooking her. We let her off the leash while walking a trail at the park to see if the leash was causing the problem, and she did it then too. She is small (4lbs) and sometimes gets spooked by leaves or garbage blowing in her path, but I can see nothing to cause this during our walks, and when it is a leaf or something, she flinches, but then walks normally once it is gone. She runs around the house and the yard with no problems, and she is extremely excited when we take out the leash for a walk, so she clearly wants to go. The vet checked her out and everything seems normal (no signs of pain, arthritis, etc.).
I am not sure how to address the problem. I don't want to leave her out of our walks, but I don't want to give in and carry her when she does this because I don't want to encourage it. At the same time, the strategy of just continuing on when she stops (which worked to train her on a leash when she was a puppy) is just not working. Any ideas or tips would be appreciated!
I am not sure how to address the problem. I don't want to leave her out of our walks, but I don't want to give in and carry her when she does this because I don't want to encourage it. At the same time, the strategy of just continuing on when she stops (which worked to train her on a leash when she was a puppy) is just not working. Any ideas or tips would be appreciated!