Hi,

For the past 2 weeks, we have been having some trouble trying to walk our 13-14 week old Lhasa pup outside.  We keep him on a lead and he slowly walks around our car park and start to walk around the estate, but after awhile, he'll just stop and refuse to walk??  He was getting slightly better recently but more or less doing the same thing and refusing to walk after awhile, so I took someones advise and walked him without the lead and let him chase us around.  This really worked and he now walks happily around our estate off lead without even stopping.  He would stay on the pavement and walk behind us sniffing around etc and if he gets lagged behind, we would call him and he would come running towards us, in which we will praise him with a pet and a treat.

If I keep walking him off lead, I'm scared that when I do put the lead on him, he'll just not walk?  Shall I just continue walking him without the lead and slowly introduce lead walking to him again?

Also, we always attach the lead onto his collar, do you think a harness might work better?  Also, is it work getting one of those retractable leads that stretchs out to about 10M?

Please don't have him off the lead or use an extending lead near traffic. In neither case will you be able to stop him running under the wheels of a car. I've seen this happen (dog on an extending lead) and believe me, it wasn't a pretty sight.

Don't worry, where we take our dog for walks near our estate, there's a private footpath and only dogs and people walk there.  I think I might try the harness.

You must teach him to walk nicely on leash , off leash i o.k but i don't think your just going to walk him around your estate when he gets older. Remember cars kill dogs!

If he stops and sits give him a small tug , if it looks like hes tired or just scared then you've gone to far and probably into unknown grounds.

My Shih Tzu puppy was pretty much the same at that age, but as he has got older (now 21 weeks) he walks great off and on the lead, just keep trying with the lead and I'm sure as his confidence grows he will improve.

Hi John,
I found it does help to have a harness and extended lead. My one bitch, when she was a pup
would not walk. It is fustrating I know! But! when she went out with the male she has never looked back.
But! on a harness. When I took her to a dog show never though did I!! put her collar and lead on egh!!
She sat down what a battle hates the collar. My pup now is 16weeks old.  But! at 12 weeks I put her striaght on the harness and extention lead, she was off. and loves her walks.
She has now got to go to ring classes and to learn to walk on a Collar and lead.
"Try the harness!!"
Regards
Denese

Hi John,
I can totally sympathise with your situation. I have a 19week old shih tzu puppy who was exactly the same at that age. We bought a harness, but did not make any difference. It is only in the last few days that he has agreed to walk on lead with me. I have just let him take his time adjusting to outside noises. You will need to make sure he is on a lead and gets used to it as in a few weeks time he will want to go and investigate other things away from your sight. At the moment you are his total world and wil follow you everywhere. At about 16 weeks he will want to wander. I have had to be a bit tougher with him in the fact that if i feel the lead tighten I know he is about to lay flat out on the floor, so I give him lots of praise and say "walk on , good boy". We also tried treats as an incentive, but I did work out he was laying flat out so he could have a treat, cheeky chappie!!! Patience is what I have found to be a vertue. One night I got really upset as I felt all I wanted was to take my puppy for a walk and for it to be fun!! We are getting there, and so will you eventually!! All the best.

I'm so Happy.....

Last night, I went out and bought one of those 8m Flexi extendable leads for £10.50.......I got to say, it's definitely money well spent! :)

My Lhasa pup, Cookie, now walks happily on the new Flexi lead and I'm so happy.  Me and Cookie enjoyed the walks so much that we went out 3 times yesterday but only for like 10-15 minutes cos he gets tired after a while! :)  The problem I was having with my old 3-4 foot lead was that everytime I tried to walk, I would be held back by Cookie cos' the lead was so short and he would think that I wasn't moving.  With the new Flexi lead, I can start walking off and he would see that I'm moving and he would follow me.  When Cookie gets lagged behind, I still have control of him and with a call of Cookie's name, he would come galloping forward towards me and off we go continue walking again.

Flexi lead......great bit of invention IMHO. :)

Good for you John, glad you found a safe solution. One thing though, Cookie shouldn't really be doing 45 minutes of exercise a day at his age, so if you want to take him out 3 times them probably best to make them 5 minutes each walk. :)

Another good thing I find with a Flexi lead John is with little dogs like ours(I have a 21 week old Shih Tzu) ordinary leads constantly get caught under their legs because they are so low to the ground, unless you keep the lead tight which isn't practical with a tiny puppy because they run then walk then hop then jump, I spend more time trying to untangle Oscar from his lead than walking, but with a flexi it stays tight enough to stay off the ground but not that tight it's strangling him.So no tangled up puppy.

Well done John,
It's a lovely feeling walking with your new pup isn't it, Pure joy!!!!

Hi John I also use a flexi lead for Coco (hey she turned 14 weeks old today) and I love using it, think its great in the park as it gives Coco the freedom to explore a bit more than a normal lead does. Then when needed its locked into a short lead for walking on the pavements.

I think Ioxia and Tams talk alot of sense, they are well worth listening to John :D

Thanks Caz, your'e a useful mind of information too!!!!

I bought a flexi lead for my westie and he prefers that but doesnt like me shortening the lead near a main road so you may still have that problem when you need your dog to walk to heel. My trainer recommended the trixie classic padded harness which i have purchased - it is easy to put on and does also make a difference with the extend lead as it takes the pressure away from his neck area.