Should i stop walking this dog?

Dopeydapple

Dopeydapple

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Pretty sure I know the answer to this but wanted to check I wasn't having a silly knee jerk reaction....
Early last month I started walking a 6 month old rottie x American bulldog. He's very excitable and obviously still a puppy so still learning. The problem is he's very strong, I agreed to walk him as when I met him he was friendly and showed no nasty temperament and I've had and walked lots of big dogs before ( malamutes, gernan shepherd's, dobes etc) and whilst I've always known any of these are technically stronger than me they've always been fine. This dog has actually improved lots in the weeks I've been walking him and after the initial excitement of getting out of the crate and going for a walk he mostly mooches along on a slack lead sniffing. On occasions he has pulled a bit to follow a particular scent but if I stop and call him back to me he comes back quite well and walks nicely again, she problem is on occasions he has pulled a bit harder when I've tried to stop him and it's taken a few steps to get him back fully under control. These occasions are not often but the strength of him when he does it and the fact that he is getting increasingly excited when he sees another dog ( no nasty behaviour just whining that he can't join them) makes me worried that one day he's going to really pull to get to a dog / squirrel/ person of whatever and I'm not going to be able to stop him. I really worry that if he approaches another dog with so much energy and gets told by said dog to go away it could turn nasty and I'd be in over my head.
I feel bad saying I don't think I trust him because he has got better, is still young, and is generally a nice friendly dog.
 
To be honest I think your answer is that you have probably just invalidated your insurance by writing this. So unless you stop walking him, which is probably the right answer, you need to ask admin to delete this thread!
 
This dog doesn’t sound bad just not getting trained properly by owners
If you’re uncomfortable you’re well within right to not walk him

You can also ask owners to muzzle train the dog and resume walking once he is comfortable wearing one

What is he walking in? (Collar, harness, etc)
 
JBM said:
This dog doesn’t sound bad just not getting trained properly by owners
If you’re uncomfortable you’re well within right to not walk him

You can also ask owners to muzzle train the dog and resume walking once he is comfortable wearing one

What is he walking in? (Collar, harness, etc)
Click to expand...
That's the thing, he's not a bad dog, he is trying bless him, it's just the "what if" that scares me. I think a muzzle might be a good idea as at least if it does go wrong he can't bite anything. There's no signs of aggression from him just excitement, he's currently walked in a slip lead.
 
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Could you try him in a harness with a front clip?
When he pulls being clipped on the front will turn his body back to you instead of forward

I am saying none of this to convince you to walk this dog
Your safety is always first
 
Where I live rotties and any crosses are on the restricted list and legally have to wear muzzles in public anyway
 
Yes stop walking him. I’m sure there are plenty of other dogs who’d like a walk. Have you looked on the Cinnamon Trust website?! Also you seem to be aware of the dangers from big untrained dogs so obviously this is a concern to you. You don’t say why you agreed to walk the dog but if he’s spending a lot of time crated he’s obviously not getting much education.
 
This is why I would never pay/allow someone else to walk my dog.
Every. Single. Time that a young dog is walked the handler is training it, whether that is to be well-mannered or to ignore the handler is up to the handler.
When we had Rotts, they each wore a harness and a collar and had 2 leads. What do you do when another dog us aporoaching? I would sit the dog down and reward with food for paying attention to me.
The owner could provide you with better equipment to encourage the dog to not pull, there are several options available.

But if you are not confident to walk the dog in all circumstances, you should tell the owners that and ask them to make other arrangements.
 
I've messaged the owner and said that as much as I think he's a lovely dog he's just too strong for me, feel like I'm letting people down but I would hate to ignore the "what if" feeling and have something terrible happen later on. I really don't think people who work full time should have big energetic dogs if it means them crating them for such big chunks of the day, it just makes them too excited when they get to go out. 😥
 
They would probably be better with daycare for the dog! Could run around all day

Glad you sorted ❤️
 
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