I adopted a 5 year old female Australian Shepherd who is a wonderful dog but has one problem - she is not walking well. This happens mostly on leash but occasionally, off leash.
We've had her for 3 weeks now. For the first week, she walked great. I did up to 2 hour walks with her. But, in the last two weeks, she has been very inconsistent. When I have her on leash, she will walk a block then suddenly stop and refuse to walk further. I try quick little tugs on the leash to give her the message but she won't move. She is also reluctant to leave our property. She will walk to the driveway and then stop.
In the evenings, before bedtime, I take her out to pee and don't bother with the leash. We live on a quiet road so I try to get her to follow me for a half block or so but she just stops at the edge of our property and won't move.
There is nothing physically wrong with her, I'm sure. I haven't seen a vet because of the current shutdown but I can take her to the park and she'll chase a tennis ball for an hour, leaping and running freely.
I was hoping it would just be a matter of time but she is actually getting worse. Here's what I've tried:
For an Aussie, she's rather low energy. She seems content to lie at my feet all day and get the occasional scratch. When I play ball with her, she'll run for 30 minutes or so and then slow down. She will still chase but she'll come back to me slowly. She may be 5 pounds overweight (working on that).
Do I need to just be more patient or is there something else I can try? If I let her walk off-leash (in a safe area), is this reinforcing her behaviour?
We've had her for 3 weeks now. For the first week, she walked great. I did up to 2 hour walks with her. But, in the last two weeks, she has been very inconsistent. When I have her on leash, she will walk a block then suddenly stop and refuse to walk further. I try quick little tugs on the leash to give her the message but she won't move. She is also reluctant to leave our property. She will walk to the driveway and then stop.
In the evenings, before bedtime, I take her out to pee and don't bother with the leash. We live on a quiet road so I try to get her to follow me for a half block or so but she just stops at the edge of our property and won't move.
There is nothing physically wrong with her, I'm sure. I haven't seen a vet because of the current shutdown but I can take her to the park and she'll chase a tennis ball for an hour, leaping and running freely.
I was hoping it would just be a matter of time but she is actually getting worse. Here's what I've tried:
- Positive commands, crouching down and calling her towards me.
- She will come to me very slowly and then stop.
- Short, quick sideways tugs on the leash.
- Does not work at all.
- Treats. I will hold the treat out to her and urge her towards me.
- She walks slowly to the treat, eats it and then stops.
- Toy. She loves chasing a ball so I show it to her or bounce it in front of her.
- This works about 25% of the time but if I use it too often, the effect seems to wear off.
- Remove the leash.
- This usually works (about 90%). She will follow, sniff around and move at a brisk pace. Obviously, I cannot do this all the time and I feel like I'm conditioning her to walk off-leash only.
For an Aussie, she's rather low energy. She seems content to lie at my feet all day and get the occasional scratch. When I play ball with her, she'll run for 30 minutes or so and then slow down. She will still chase but she'll come back to me slowly. She may be 5 pounds overweight (working on that).
Do I need to just be more patient or is there something else I can try? If I let her walk off-leash (in a safe area), is this reinforcing her behaviour?
