Just wondering if anyone can help ... my 6 month old rottie pup refuses point blank to walk on his lead :( we have tried everything .. we own 3 adult rotties and even with them he wont walk .. he gets as far as to the bottom of the garden plonks his bum and wont budge for nothing :( he's brilliant out in the back he runs around with the other 3 brilliantly .... we have tried a harness as we know he doesnt like the lead attached to his collar .. we've tried bribing him with treats .. even had a trainer come and try with him and nothing :( .. this is really getting me down as we love being out with the dogs and i hate having to leave him home when we take the others ....:( his training has been brilliant in every other aspect and he is a really good pup .. trainer did suggest he could have a phobia of being outside similar to agrophobia .. is this possible ???
has anyone else ever experienced anything this and could they offer some advice please

yes we had this with one of ours when he was a pup, tried everything that we could think of and then for the last resort left him at the bottom of the path with a long line on and carried on walking about 10 yards down the path and sat and played with our other dog.  Making it look exciting etc.  After a couple of days curiosity got the better of him and he came out for a look, we just extended it from there to a further distance until we got up to the field and then there was no stopping him. 

Claire

Have you tried putting him in the car and taking him somewhere different, even if it is just up the road and walk back to your house.

Hi Cazzie have you tried a light weight collar the lightest one you can get and a light weight lead, my dog was the same she was always worrying at the lead.  Have you tried getting him used to the lead being on in the house with you watching of course until he gets used to it, then when he doesn't seemed worried about it, pick the lead up.  Then progress to the next level walk forward and call him to you then reward straight away.

Warm regards Susan

hiya cazzie,

i used to have my dogs wear a leader while playing with them so it had a nice association. Is it the leader or the going out thats the problem? If its the leader, i'd suggestion playing, feeding etc with a lead on but not holding it so its associated with something nice. If the problem seems to be going out, why not sit by the back gate with it open, pup leadered, and just let him watch the world go by. If he doesn't like it, then don't force it. Curiosity's bound to get the best of him eventually.

i had a smiliar issue a few weeks ago where my lab suddenly refused to go out. We've come to the conclusion that a noise has spooked her while she's been home alone (i work in the morning). For almost two weeks it was hit and miss to if she would go out, or if she did, if she'd stay out. I would just go at her pace, and if she didn't want to go, wouldn't force her and would come back in, then try a bit later. She would get down the drive, to the end of the front garden then just seize up. She'd start trembling, cower and breathe really quickly. It took over a week of patience, trying and re-assuring for her to go on her own accord. Every day she went a little bit further. Even now she's still a bit funny about it, but i keep a stick by the garage which i take on walks. Once she sees that she's more than happy to go! She's very wary about loud noises now though which she wasn't before. Someone was calling their dog today, and the tone he used made her go running back the way we been. I just turned it into a game and was all "oooo...what have i got? Come and see", and it'd distract her.

let us know how u get on.

nicola

we've tried all the different types of lead and collar .. the funny thing with him is he will walk on the lead in the back garden and around the house..as this was how we originally lead trained him as a little puppy,,  he's never liked the collar being attached to the lead so we opted for a harness as we found this easier with walking the other 3 ,they all have harnesses with being big dogs.... he just wont go outside to the street .. i dont drive so i cant take him in a car :( .. but i will definately try the sitting in the garden and wait see what he does hopefully it will work :)
thanks for the advice its much appreciated :D

Just thought id give you an update on this

after 6 months of constant trying my pup finally decided to come for a half hour walk with me on his lead tuesday :D:D:D i am so chuffed .. i dont know what did it .. i have taken all the advice given started putting him on a very long lead and letting him roam around the garden as i have always done and i just sat at the bottom of path .. next thing i knew he was half way up the road looking at me as if to say come on mum im bored with this lol

now whenever he hears his lead being picked up he does a dance by the door and cant wait .. the best thing is i dont need to worry about him pulling as he wont move from by my side the whole time we are out ..
i cant believe that it took until he was near 9 months old to get him to walk outside but i guess as they say all dogs are different and it all comes in time with a little persisyence and a lot of patience lol :D

thanks again to all who helped :D
cazzie xx

Great, glad he's doing better! :-)