Chihuahua won't walk on lead

ktj1891

ktj1891

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I have a 9 month old puppy that will not walk on the lead. On grass in the field or on gravel tracks through a park she is fine but on tarmac/concrete in the streets she just wont walk.

She's a very shy girl anyways and she has come along way but is very shy by nature and we will start the walk off and she will be going a long happily and then will just dig her heels in and stop, then walk again and then stop and this will carry on throughout the walk, highly frustrating especially when we have 3 other dogs to walk too.

Sometimes I can go out with her and she will walk happily for 3/4 of the walk then start doing it, it makes no sense! I think its insecurity but I don't know why she does it, I thought it was traffic but she does it when cars don't come past as well.

I have tried taking her out on her own, following the other dogs, bringing treats, stopping when she stops so I don't catch her, dragging her and nothing works, wondered if anyone else has had this problem and what they did?

She is funny as if we hit a grass patch outside peoples houses she will jump on them and then run but stop again when hits concrete or some times she will stop on the grass again too!

Its so confusing I don't know what to try? Yesterday after dragging her I told my Dad to go ahead with the other 3 and she then started whinging and wanted to catch up so that worked, but again only for a minute and then she started stopping again. I think started making her stop when she wanted to walk so she was paying attention to me and doing fast and slow walks which helped a bit but she would still stop.

So yeah I am a bit despairing at the moment as I don't want to restrict her walks to just the field at the back of the house, I want her to explore and go lots of different places.
 
Reinforcement training works well, especially if she is food orientated. Give her a treat (cat biscuits are nice and tiny and very tasty) after a few steps, then shape it to treating after more and more and more.
 
Okay I will try this, she used to stop a lot at puppy class but the last one we went to she was loads better, so I will try on walks and always bring treats and hopefully she will keep her attention on me and keep walking.
 
at work said:
I suppose you've checked her feet aren't sore? If she walks on a lead on grass but not on tarmac?
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It could be this some dogs are sensitive to concrete if they are not used to it, my JRT is mostly walked on grass and woodland, and if I do happen to walk quite far on a pavement or road she will try and walk along the verge if there is one or she slows right down, this to me is an indication that her foot pads may be getting a bit sore, you may have to just build up your walks and do a bit at a time until her feet get tougher as she is still quite young.

How long are your walks?
 
If we do take them on the road its only a 10 min walk, she will stop right at the start of the walk too, I'm pretty sure its not her pads, it looks like it comes from insecurities but from what I don't know except she is a shy girl in general. our other Chihuahua who is the same age is perfectly fine.
 
ktj1891 said:
She is tiny and she wears a harness.
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Hmm, could the 3 other dogs be swamping her a bit and making her worried shes going to be stepped on? How big are they? I know the first few times when I took my little dog out jogging, she was wary of my feet running along and would try and stop a lot!
 
I was wondering nails as well. My little chi's nails seem to grow very quickly. Also, mine hates a harness, prefers a soft collar.
However, it does sound like it could be a confidence or stubbornness issue rather than a physical one from the examples you've given. Its difficult to know from the other end of a forum. Is she allowed to run free mostly and resents the restriction.
I can only suggest you make 100% sure she is comfortable physically and then gently continue to walk her out, several short walks a day if poss, being firm but recognising how tiny she is so not rough.
Unlike many others I'm not wild about too many food rewards, especially for a very small dog, doesn't take much to have them overweight,and cat biscuits may be tiny but have way to much protein for a dog.

I'd never had a chi before but I realised very quickly how good they are at training and manipulating us.
As I said, once your sure there is no physical problem, just gently insist.
 
I hate to say it but I tried the rougher approach by just pulling her and I scraped her paws feel so bad. She has always worn a harness and so does out other one, she doesn't like it when she feels the pull on the harness but is same in collar and as she's so small I don't want to damager her neck. Her paws are same as our other Chi and Yorkie, its only the parsons that has rougher pads. her nails aren't long and has never needed clipping so far on the other hand our other chi puppy did have long nails and she has had them trimmed. I think that she is just a bit of a madam and doesn't like the restriction of harness and lead as well as being unsure. She is fine in the field with harness and lead although if you do accidently pull her, if I'm running along with them she may dig her heels in occasionally too. I cant let them off the lead often as they are so small the risk with other dogs.
 
Just to put faces to names, this is Bambi our other Chihuahua pup
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This is Xena, our shy girl
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Both of them at Gatcombe, where she behaved herself in the main
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And our whole pack + one cat!
FDA5EEED-2B6D-4C4D-BB05-F9D37BA5515C_zpsmqcpwqvu.jpg
 
I would get her off the lead as much as possible. Small or not, they're still dogs and deserve to run as unrestricted as your other ones. That, surely, is her reward for walking with yo on the lead?
 
amymay said:
I would get her off the lead as much as possible. Small or not, they're still dogs and deserve to run as unrestricted as your other ones. That, surely, is her reward for walking with yo on the lead?
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But before you do that you need a decent recall - and the easiest and most certain way to teach that is with reinforcement.
 
I'm surprised you say she's never needed mails clipped at 9 months. Mine needs hers nipping every 2 or 3 weeks. I know what you mean about worrying over other dogs, but she does need to play free, I'm very lucky that mine has loads of private space to run around. She definitely doesn't like being on a lead but she accepts it as I won't let her loose in public.

Do I remember correctly that xena has always been timid, and was quite poorly soon after you got her. She is maybe extra sensitive and you will have to just persevere gently.

I've never had a problem with recall with mine, she is happy to trot about the yard but will leave anything to come back if I call her.
The many chi owners and breeders I've met since owning one all tell me that's the norm. They usually adore their owners and will come to them instantly called.

I'm sorry can't offer any help. It could be so many reasons and its impossible to guess without seeing her. Have you any chi people locally who could help.
What area do you live.?
 
JillA said:
But before you do that you need a decent recall - and the easiest and most certain way to teach that is with reinforcement.
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Oh, I absolutely agree, and we have worked hard on that with our 9 month old. She's pretty good, and is off the lead more than on.

And, yes OP, they are both gorgeous!! ♥♥
 
Thanks for replies. Yes Xena was very poorly. I'm sorry but we cannot have the risk of them off lead when other dogs are around it's just not worth it. When there's notjing around we let them both off to have a run and when I take them to the yard I let them have run too. It's impossible to have such small dogs off lead around others when all it will take is one bite or even just running into or standing on them will hurt a lot. We don't let our Yorkie off around others either now as both our older dogs are naughty around others. The puppies have good recall although Bambi does get distracted a bit more however I don't know what they would do if other dogs were around. I took Xena for walk on her own today and she was a lot better- she was really nervous to begin with but once we got going she was good and when she did stop I put food in front of her and it got her moving again. Btw Xenas never needed her nails done I have taken a tiny smidge off just so she gets used to it but her nails are short whereas baby needs her nails doing for second time now!
 
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