Can dog stopping on a walk be the same thinking as pulling? (terrier, skin)
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By stopping, is she simply saying, "I don't want to go that way" - not out of
fear, but just wanting to go where she wants to go?
My new rescue, Daisy, often just stops and doesn't want to move forward. Or she stops and turns around to face the other way. She'll happily walk in that direction if I go that way. Her body language doesn't seem to be showing fear. She does pull to follow a scent often, and of course the occasional squirrel. She's a huge sniffer and probably has some hound/beagle in her.
I've been watching her closely for weeks and I'm wondering if the stopping is just her asserting herself.
The trainer seems to think she does everything out of fear, but I don't see it. Could she just have a stubborn streak?
It's hard to tell without seeing her. I know you said she had a lot of fear issues before, so that's a real possibility, but if she has beagle or scenthound in her, following her nose is a strong possibility too. Is she tucking her tail, or ducking down, or showing other fearful body language? When she stops does she seem to be looking at anything in particular? One of my dogs, when I first got her, would sometimes seem suspicious of things in people's yards that weren't usually there, like a garbage can or something. Sometimes a parked car would set off alarm bells for her for no reason that I could see. In time she got more confident and things like this don't bother her at all.
Do you carry treats when you walk? I'd try treating her for walking ahead when she's reluctant. That way if something is scaring her she'll pass it and find that nothing bad happens.
Yeah, her body language doesn't seem fearful to me. It just looks neutral. When I wait her out and she finally decides to go my way, I do treat her. If I treat her to try to get her to move, it never works. She takes a few steps, gets the treat, then stops again.
I ask this question because she also stops (w/o pulling - just stops) when she wants to go down a certain alley that I refuse to walk through. We'll be happily trotting along and then instantly she will just stop. She does the same thing at a trail entrance into the woods that sometimes I'll go down with her, but it depends on the time of day. She'll just stop and if I won't go towards the trail, she'll turn around and face the direction that we just came from instead of continuing to go forward down the sidewalk.
I'm just wondering if someone has a confident, normal dog who stops like this and it's not out of fear. Just wondering.
Daisy has definitely gotten over that big regression that happened in August, and her walks have improved tremendously, but it's still a work in progress.
I've spent a lot of time with her lately and I think she feels an attachment to me now. She's showing a little bit of playful behavior now, too, which is great to see.
Anyway, just curious about the stopping and if normal dogs do this sometimes.
She probably is just trying to lead the walk her way, it sounds like. My dogs try to head a different way on occasion, but they do it half-heartedly because they know we're going my way. I just tell them no, this way and we carry on. The stopping thing might be a variation on this and when she finds she has to go your way anyway, she'll probably stop doing it.
Yes, Daisy just stops and PLANTS her feet, too.
She's not cowering, her tail isn't tucked. Sometimes she's just looking
at me, but most of the time she's looking in the direction that she seems to want to go in. If I go that way, she's back to trotting along seemingly relaxed.
Since I'm not supposed to tug at her collar, I either wait her out facing in the direction I want to go or I immediately change direction and go her way or a different way completely to make it look like I'm the one choosing where to go.
when dave does this, i can see signs of fear... i see it in his eyes and his ears are back and his lips are drawn back towards the back of this head.... he also turns and looks in the direction he wants to go... usually back toward the car or home....
the first 6 months or so that i had him, it was difficult getting him past a certain point in the park where we walk in the mornings.... we kept at it and it was like **poof** one day he was just fine going the entire circuit.....
before roxie joined our family, it was difficult to get him to walk in the neighborhood in the evening.... he would not go past the street light that is across the street and 2 houses down from me..... he has never been a fan of being out and about after dark or before daylight.... but this tiny rat terrier / beagle cross is pretty fearless and i have seen how she boosts his confidence on our evening walks.....
Thank you very much for responding.
Your experience with Dave sounds similar to mine with Daisy. I guess I just don't know how to read her yet. What did you do exactly when he would stop? I'm curious to know what worked for you.
Does he go wherever you want now?
I love the idea of finding another dog to do "parallel walking" with you and Daisy!
I'm thinking stubborn-hound - they tend to want to blow off owners and follow their noses.
Not to impede your good progress with the trainer you are working with, but why the no pulling or tension on the leash, since it's not something that is traumatising her? Maybe a harness (there are "no pull" harness and devices like Gentle Leader - never used either but perhaps an option).
I don't tend to be one who buys into drama, and I think thy "why" of the issue is less important than "let's go walkies my way, because I said so" school of training. Along with tons of reinforcement.
Daisy's "but I wanna...." is simply not as important as what you know is right, or even what you want. So she wants to stop and snack on a pile of KFC chicken bones on the sidewalk just because....I'm assuming you won't let her do that. (I hope not!) You would pull her away and keep going and praise the crap out of her when she follows along, right? Why not simply do the same thing when she decides she wants to go off in a direction you don't feel like going in?
I can pull Daisy away from things with a quick tug if she's just sniffing or pulling toward a scent, but the difference is when she stops and plants her feet or stops and turns around. I would have to pull VERY hard to get her going again. This just scares her and definitely doesn't help build trust with her.
I do agree with you that what I want is all that matters and the "why" is not important, but I'm just very analytical and need to understand the "why" of most things in life. I can't help it! I'm a scientist at heart, always asking why. Other than the alley and trail she wants to walk down, there seems to be no rhyme or reason to where she decides to stop. I'm trying to understand this dog so I can help her.
Thanks for your insight!
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