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Hi everyone,

Was wondering if anyone has some good tips on how to get a dog to go for a walk. As most of you know my dog had been poisoned and since that time he has stopped doing many of his normal things (like taking walks on a leash). I've tried now on several ocassions to get him to walk but he refused. I have his harness on with a leash and he lays on the ground and refuses to move. The other day I got frustrated and started dragging him down the street (I know, not very bright of me) and we both ended up exhausted. I just don't know what else to do. Are there are tips or tricks I can try that might make him want to take a walk again?

rainbowsmiles wrote: Hi everyone,

Was wondering if anyone has some good tips on how to get a dog to go for a walk. As most of you know my dog had been poisoned and since that time he has stopped doing many of his normal things (like taking walks on a leash). I've tried now on several ocassions to get him to walk but he refused. I have his harness on with a leash and he lays on the ground and refuses to move. The other day I got frustrated and started dragging him down the street (I know, not very bright of me) and we both ended up exhausted. I just don't know what else to do. Are there are tips or tricks I can try that might make him want to take a walk again?


How big is he? Can you carry him / take him in the car / a short way from home (somewhere he knows from previous walks) and play "I'm going to leave you"?

He's pretty small. He's a chihuahua and he USE to be 3-4 lbs but since he has an uncontrollable appetite now and doesn't want to go on walks he's pretty much a 9 lb chi He is miserable. He'll go out in the backyard but it just isn't enough exercise. I was reading that fat chihuahuas tend to get depressed and stop exercising and then its a downward spiral so I'm hoping to get him walking again. He acts like a depressed puppy and its sad to see.

I tried to do the "I'm going to leave you" thing on our walk and he just laid down. I tried pushing him from the rear and he didn't move. He even saw squirrels and didn't budge (which is out of character for him).

Awwww that is soooo to bad about how he was poisoned. Id be scared to do anything as well. Our dog is a Wolf/Giant Malimute and it took us weeks and weeks of just constantly trying to finally get him to go for a walk. We took him and stood on the driveway for hours and hours on end. But he finally just got used to idea of walking on his leash. We tried to get him to walk on a leash with a collar but he was scared because of the collar being around his neck so we got him a harness and now he walks great.

Hehehe I have quite the tip if you cant keep your dog off the road and if he wont stop running infront of vehicles. Heheheh our breeder told us this tip. You take old car tires and you run the dog over with them being somewhat playfull but at the same time not. If that isnt quite sucessfull than you can also take a car and and rev the engine right by the dog while runnin it over with the old tires. Now a workd of advise tho, dont use tires with a rim because that could hurt lol.

I wish I could be more help with the gettin your dog to walk tho I am sorry. I know with ours we started with small walks. We would walk to the store and back and drag him than he got nosey and curious and started stopping at every post of sign lol.

Good luck tho!!

Get him a girl dog, he'll run then.

Personally, I think you should take him to the vet and have a complete work-up done to see if there is anything out of the norm due to the poisoning. It almost sounds like he might have a heart condition. BUT - I am not a vet and I could well be very wrong.

Dogs aren't like people. They don't get depressed and usually drastic changes in temperment have medical roots. Once the root problem is cleared up (the poisoning) then behaviour should return to normal unless there is a scar or some other issue that is still affect the physical. Does that make sense.

I wouldn't push the walk. He may not be ready yet.

Change his dogfood. Look for high quality kibble with a lower calorie count. Canidae Senior might be a good choice. I believe that Merrick makes a weight control kibble. Science Diet's medical foods are good but their basic kibble is garbage. Rule of thumb - if you can buy it at the grocery store then it is like feeding your dog fast food burgers everyday.

LilacDragon wrote: Personally, I think you should take him to the vet and have a complete work-up done to see if there is anything out of the norm due to the poisoning. It almost sounds like he might have a heart condition. BUT - I am not a vet and I could well be very wrong.



Dogs aren't like people. They don't get depressed and usually drastic changes in temperment have medical roots. Once the root problem is cleared up (the poisoning) then behaviour should return to normal unless there is a scar or some other issue that is still affect the physical. Does that make sense.



I wouldn't push the walk. He may not be ready yet.



Change his dogfood. Look for high quality kibble with a lower calorie count. Canidae Senior might be a good choice. I believe that Merrick makes a weight control kibble. Science Diet's medical foods are good but their basic kibble is garbage. Rule of thumb - if you can buy it at the grocery store then it is like feeding your dog fast food burgers everyday.


:yh_clap



(While I might slightly disagree about the depression aspect... because

I believe in some cases they CAN be... this is really good advice!!)



I'd be a little concerned about fluid retention, too.



The only thing I can add is: You catch more flies with honey than you

do with vinegar. Get yourself little TINY treats, they can be skinless

boiled chicken breast, or pieces of baby carrot if your dog likes that.



LD's idea of the Canidae Senior is EXCELLENT... follow bag directions

according to your dog's weight currently and desired amount of loss.



You need to get the weight down, joint problems can and WILL follow.



Good luck, keep us posted!!



:-6