# Puppy Stops Frequently on Walks/Jogs.



## leader (Apr 18, 2011)

Hello,

I have a 5-month-old female German Shepherd Dog puppy (Abba), who I have had since she was 2 months old. She had surgery about a month ago to remove dewclaws and get spayed, and if I remember correctly, this problem did not exist before that time.

The problem: Whenever I take Abba out for a walk, she stops--and won't move--for a few minutes. Recently, as I have been riding my bike with her to give her the highest amount of exercise possible in x amount of time, she has begun to stop even sooner. Before, she would stop a few minutes after arriving at the park, which is 2 minutes walking distance from my house. Now, while on the bike, she stops about 20 seconds after we leave the front yard.

I haven't noticed a consistent time to distance pattern of the stops. By this, I mean that one time she may stop, proceed a few feet after some time, and then stop again; other times, she is willing to do a lap around the park and then stop.

I have attempted to "correct" this behavior by (1) encouraging her to proceed towards me when she stops and then giving her a treat and praise; (2) giving her a treat while biking and before she stops; (3) waiting for her to move to me with the leash strained and me looking away from her; and (4) allowing her to jog beside me off leash. For number 4, she was fine and did not stop for a quarter of the lap but then she wandered away, even though I continued biking.

I do not believe this problem has anything to do with going to the bathroom or drinking enough water as I have tested both of these theories. This is how the morning jog went today: Abba drank water and peed at the house. After leaving the house, she stopped on the street leading to the park. When we finally made it to the park, she poohed (yes, I pick it up) after a few minutes. I gave her more water and supplied it until she wouldn't drink anymore. She wouldn't budge, some time passed, and then we continued the jog. A few more stops, I get frustrated, and we go home.

I don't tolerate this behavior, so I spend at least an hour with her trying to figure out what the problem is and how to fix it. Of that hour, she probably is exercised for 20 minutes because of the periodic stops. That 40 minutes is wasted time as I have things to do. This is why I am starting to feel like I shouldn't take her out for jogs anymore and instead let her continue to roam in the backyard--but this would most likely result in a miserable dog.

Please help!

-DJ

P.S. Abba does not stop in the backyard unless I stop, and I apologize if I posted this in the wrong section of this forum. Also, I posted this on this website's sister forum, Germanshepherds.com.


----------



## Labmom4 (Feb 1, 2011)

I'm not sure about the stopping, but a puppy that age should not be jogging. 
Guidelines for a 16-20 week pup are a 20 minute walk a day, plus off-leash play time.
20-52 weeks - walks up to 60 minutes at a time, plus off-leash time.


----------



## leader (Apr 18, 2011)

At what age is it acceptable for the puppy to jog? Also, I thought herding/retriever breeds need plenty of exercise.


----------



## katielou (Apr 29, 2010)

They do need exercise but you will destroy her joints by running and biking with her at this age. 

She shouldn't be doing that kind of exercise until about 18 months.

She needs mental stimulations, training, games ect. Short leash walks for socialization and plenty of free play time.


----------



## leader (Apr 18, 2011)

katielou said:


> They do need exercise but you will destroy her joints by running and biking with her at this age.
> 
> She shouldn't be doing that kind of exercise until about 18 months.
> 
> She needs mental stimulations, training, games ect. Short leash walks for socialization and plenty of free play time.


Okay. Thanks. Any suggestions for dealing with the stopping problem.


----------



## palmtree77 (Apr 5, 2011)

I think she's testing you. I would just confidently keep on walking. She doesn't get to dictate when you stop and go. Be prepared for her to throw tantrums; if you don't give in she will give up the fight and go with you. I've seen that work with many dogs.


----------



## Cracker (May 25, 2009)

Most puppies go through a stage at around 4 1/2 to five months that involves..walk ten feet, stop, sit. Gets urged on in some manner or shakes it off, walks another ten feet, stops, sits. It's a NORMAL stage for most pups and they will in most cases they grow out of it. At this age, there is often a lot of changes going on hormonally/chemically in the brain and this is also the stage where distractions become an issue in training. I believe that it's a stage where the puppy gets a bit overwhelmed with all going on around them and they just kind of shut down for a bit...luring the puppy along with a toy or even just simply waiting them out til they shake it off and continue works...and then within a month or two the behaviour goes away..just like that. But that will require YOU to develop some patience with your pup...honestly, you DON'T have better things to do than be patient with the young life you are shaping. The first two years of a dog's life are ALL about patience, about repetition, about protecting them and leading them and teaching them so that the next ten years after that can be wonderful. There will be several stages of your pup's life that will try your patience and you are just getting started...so this is the part that means you yourself learning how to learn along with your pup. Take the time to understand your dog. Don't push it except when the pup is ready.

As for biking and jogging. Both of these, as mentioned before, are very hard on your dog's growing bones, ligaments and joints. Any running should be during free play with other dogs or with you so that she can regulate her exertion and be able to move in different directions and should be done on soft ground. Working breed dogs do need exercise, but not just of their bodies..they need to work..which means working their brains, working on training and working on developing a strong bond with their owner. Any mental stimulation, exposure to new places, people and things is work. 

Palmtree. I have to disagree with your post. Dealing with distractions looks like testing, but it's not. Keeping on walking while a dog struggles at the other end of the leash only triggers a stronger opposition reflex (and reflex is a reflex, not a conscious decision)...leashes are not for dragging a dog around, just like they are not for a dog to drag the owner around..they are there for safety only. Training through rewards and figuring out WHY the dog is stopping (pain, exhaustion, the need to defecate or urinate, fear or discomfort, distractions etc) is more important as that teaches a person to read their dog, figure out the problem and deal with it through training, health care, a chance to void or whatever. It's not about winning a tug of war.


----------



## lisak_87 (Mar 23, 2011)

Well, as mentioned above, jogging and especially biking with your pup this young isn't a good idea. But I'll stop telling you what everyone else already sald 

That being said, when my 3 month old pup simply cannot STOP pulling (usually meaning he wants back to our "yard" for a potty), I'll run with him (no more than 20 seconds though) back to our yard just so he doesn't pull for 20 minutes -.-

My puppy also does the stopping thing a LOT on walks. I tug him along a little bit (gentle tugs and "let's go" to remind him we are moving! no dragging), recognize his favorite spots, and when we reach those I tell him "go sniff" and give him full leash. 30 seconds later, I tell him "let's go!" and tug him along again. He doesn't dead stop so long as I keep going and tugging him along (gently). He gets treats for walking nicely beside me. While walking. I don't stop. I bend down and treat him while we keep walking.

Worse comes to worst, I stoop down (looks like a play bow) and say "Brady! Ready??!" and then we run for about 5 seconds just to move away from the distraction lol.


----------



## osdbmom (Feb 15, 2011)

Zoey used to do this when she was little like that. it can be frustrating bc as a human, you want to walk and get where you are going, but your dog doesnt have that mindset. To them, the walk IS the prize, not the destination, like it is for you. They like to stop, see stuff, smell things, listen to whats going on. And thats good for them. Sometimes they can go through fear phases, and she might be stopping bc she feels like she's getting too far from home. 
When Zoey did this, I would let her sit a minute, and then get really excited and yell, "Look!" and point, and then "cmon! lets run!!" and she would get excited too and run with me.


----------



## xxxxdogdragoness (Jul 22, 2010)

Jo did that for a little bit so I got a squeaky toy & that was the turning point. I 'charged' it by playing with her using it a lot & making sure the toy was only associated with positive things, when she would soil up, I would just squeak & she would snap right out of it, I would play with her a bit with it, then we would go about our walk. I did the same thing when she suddenly became afraid of our utility vehicle we have here & it worked.

You will get all kinds of advice here some of it is really good, Cracker is one of the best to get advice from she helped mr alit when I was having issues.


----------



## leader (Apr 18, 2011)

Sorry for the late response. I intended to respond back a few days ago but it slipped my mind.

The puppy problem has become nearly nonexistent. What I did to reduce the amount of times my puppy stopped was use a tug of war rope (two times), which is something I used to build her prey drive, and put it on the opposite side of the bike handle bar. If she was on my left side, the rope would be on the right. This dramatically reduced the amount of stops as she only stops 1-2 times now for a mile jog. I no longer have to use treats or an object to encourage her to continue the jog.

I will take the biking advice into consideration. I was going to cease biking until she got older, but it seems she is very enthusiastic about jogging now. I attempt to keep a steady pace, but she always likes to go faster now, which usually results with her being in the lead.

In case anyone is interested, here are some pictures (imageshack web player). The pictures are of Abba at 8 weeks and 5 months.


----------

