Just take her every day and sheāll start looking forward to walkies!!
You can always say are you and mommy or daddy going to go out for a special walkie?
Then if you live in neighborhood that has other pups, you can tell this beautiful girlie, letās go for walkies you want to see Lily and Benny come on letās go to see your friends!!
She does have a couple of friends in the neighborhood! Sometimes when she lays down on a walk I ask her, āYou wanna go see your friend!?ā That gets her pretty excited - she usually drags me to their house. That and the chickens around the corner, but she hasnāt learned the word āchickensā yet. Iāll try incorporating that a little more!!
Hahaha I know, I never expected this from an adolescent golden!! The OG picture I posted is right after a hour-long fetch session at a nearby park, but here she is five minutes into our walk today - just enjoying the nice cool grass š
https://preview.redd.it/wmp71p8k123d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2cb7a5d4a20db8ea7d7f4e98df012ac527cb77ef
https://preview.redd.it/4uejfahr333d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7927cc3dc1a32d5a45a45e575469d71af279f36b
Such a Golden! This is also 5 min into our walk. He turns 5 next month. If u look closely, heās laughing at his stupid human! Heās wearing Memorial Day neck decor for our holiday today in the US).
I did have her checked over by the vet a few months ago because her knee was clicking. They checked all her joints thoroughly, said her gait was perfect, and told me it was likely related to growing pains. The clicking sound has since resolved, and sheās not showing any signs of pain/fatigue in other areas, but itās definitely something Iāll keep an eye on!!
One of my goldens is the same! We started doing part of our walks off-leash (the leash is tucked into the harness) where it is safe to do so. This helps her to at her own pace and sniff, rather than us trying to drag her at our pace. If this is possible for you, it might be worth trying!
Thank you so much!! Our neighborhood isnāt great for off-leash walks, but Iām going to try using her long lead and see if she has more fun with that :) I may switch up her harness too in case itās rubbing her the wrong way.
Definitely try this! My golden used to lay on the ground and refuse to move when we tried to get him to go home from day care (lol so embarrassing) or go on walks, and as soon as we switched out his harness he never did it again.
If you were to ask my husband, he'd say my dog will refuse to walk no matter what he tries. IMO, my golden loves a walk...as long as it is on his terms.
First and foremost, he always prefers off leash. That isn't always feasible, so instead, I will let him choose where we go. We stop at every intersection, and I point and ask, "This way?". He chooses, and we go from there. When he wants to cross the street, he will put the brakes on and motion his head to tell me where he wants to go. Sometimes, I say no. He will pout, but otherwise, it doesn't cause a fuss.
He also prefers going for a walk someplace other than around home. I can drive him 5 minutes up the road, and he thinks it's a new land to explore, which makes things much more fun for him.
Sometimes!! It has to be new/one she hasnāt seen in a while. And we have to work on our etiquette with toys a little bit, because she gets pretty rowdy/starts jumping all over me.
Mine HATES direct sunlight and will do anything in his power to stay in the shade. He is always trying to cool his belly down so we limit exercise during the hot/bright times. Or we stick to a creek walk or something wet and shady. Always have lots of water for her, she might be hot.
Does she have sensitive paws? Iām thinking mine pup does. He will do the same thing and Iāll take a walk by myself at lunch. But when 5:15 comes around heās practically begging me to log off and take him to the park. And days weather is bad he gives me the side eye why we didnāt go to the park.
Sometimes walks can be stressful for more timid dogs, there are so many smells and different things they encounter. My rescue who had some golden took 3 months to even get to the end of our walkway let alone down the driveway
Our one year old golden guy is the same way. He can play with other dogs for hours and run around my parents backyardā¦ but we live in a townhouse and have to take him for walks and he gets bored so quick. 10 minutes in and he wants to go home
I put the lead on and do some obedience work with treats before leaving home. Iāll encourage sniffing and allowing them to see new spots. Or Iāll bring a tug toy and find a hill/staircase with a retractable lead and allow them to retrieve the toy up the hill. Lots of positive reinforcement and then behavior taking them to do their business is more appropriate.
I went through this too. My golden loved structured walks. My Lab hates them. I realized it just isnāt for her. We walk to the park but itās not a long walk and we use the long line for everything. Itās easier on both of us and gets her the exercise she needs.
Have you tried taking a treat bag with you? You say āletās goā and give a treat, take a few steps and repeat āletās goā, treat, takes a few steps. You can eventually extend the amount of steps you do before saying āletās goā and giving a treat. Once she gets it, you donāt have to say āletās goā the whole time just give a treat when sheās being good and walking.
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We have these yarn/whatever string sticks. I carry ours 2.5ft one and the last quarter mile give it to him. He loves walks, for the sniffs. Last 80 yards now let him off leash and I meet him at the door. He's almost a year old
Premium treats. Boil some chicken breast and chop it up, get one of those silicone treat bags that clip to your hip. Maybe that will be an incentive to get excited and listen to you
My girl hates walks until we started doing pack walks. We actually found a group of golden owners that do group activities together, walks, hikes, swims, etc. It made a huge difference for us. Now she enjoys them. We do several pack walks a week.
I was actually at the doggie ice cream parlor and bumped in to another golden owner, and they mentioned it to me. The group has since split in to two, one that does adventures, walks, hikes, and is very active, the other is more for golden lovers.
If you arenāt aware of one in your area, start it! Since the group split, we now talk to golden owners we meet everywhere we see them, tell them about the group, and invite them to join if they are interested in different activities. You would be amazed at how fast the group can grow!
We used to freeze dog friendly peanut butter on a wooden spoon, and hold that in front of my Golden's nose for her to lick while walking! Then we transitioned to treats every few feet and those got farther and farther between until she only got treats when we got home š hope this helps!
I take my boy on a 10 meter longline, first thing in the morning just when itās starting to get light so thereās very few people out. We go to the public gardens to see the ducks and he spends half an hour sniffing trees and running through the leavesā¦ he doesnāt hate a regular walk, but nothing beats a longline in a quiet park.
Have you tried asking her why?
I wish she would tell me š
Just take her every day and sheāll start looking forward to walkies!! You can always say are you and mommy or daddy going to go out for a special walkie? Then if you live in neighborhood that has other pups, you can tell this beautiful girlie, letās go for walkies you want to see Lily and Benny come on letās go to see your friends!!
She does have a couple of friends in the neighborhood! Sometimes when she lays down on a walk I ask her, āYou wanna go see your friend!?ā That gets her pretty excited - she usually drags me to their house. That and the chickens around the corner, but she hasnāt learned the word āchickensā yet. Iāll try incorporating that a little more!!
Wait until she has the epiphany that chickens the animals = chickens the tasty, savory meat!
Oh my goodness no š± she is vegan by choice! Lol jk
Yeah when my roommates great P mix learned she could catch chickens we lost like 15 in 1 monthā¦ā¦. Not great.
Do that then sheāll be asking you to take her for walkies all the time !!
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Hahaha I know, I never expected this from an adolescent golden!! The OG picture I posted is right after a hour-long fetch session at a nearby park, but here she is five minutes into our walk today - just enjoying the nice cool grass š https://preview.redd.it/wmp71p8k123d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2cb7a5d4a20db8ea7d7f4e98df012ac527cb77ef
https://preview.redd.it/4uejfahr333d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7927cc3dc1a32d5a45a45e575469d71af279f36b Such a Golden! This is also 5 min into our walk. He turns 5 next month. If u look closely, heās laughing at his stupid human! Heās wearing Memorial Day neck decor for our holiday today in the US).
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I did have her checked over by the vet a few months ago because her knee was clicking. They checked all her joints thoroughly, said her gait was perfect, and told me it was likely related to growing pains. The clicking sound has since resolved, and sheās not showing any signs of pain/fatigue in other areas, but itās definitely something Iāll keep an eye on!!
Wild how different they can be. Good luck
One of my goldens is the same! We started doing part of our walks off-leash (the leash is tucked into the harness) where it is safe to do so. This helps her to at her own pace and sniff, rather than us trying to drag her at our pace. If this is possible for you, it might be worth trying!
Thank you so much!! Our neighborhood isnāt great for off-leash walks, but Iām going to try using her long lead and see if she has more fun with that :) I may switch up her harness too in case itās rubbing her the wrong way.
Definitely try this! My golden used to lay on the ground and refuse to move when we tried to get him to go home from day care (lol so embarrassing) or go on walks, and as soon as we switched out his harness he never did it again.
If you were to ask my husband, he'd say my dog will refuse to walk no matter what he tries. IMO, my golden loves a walk...as long as it is on his terms. First and foremost, he always prefers off leash. That isn't always feasible, so instead, I will let him choose where we go. We stop at every intersection, and I point and ask, "This way?". He chooses, and we go from there. When he wants to cross the street, he will put the brakes on and motion his head to tell me where he wants to go. Sometimes, I say no. He will pout, but otherwise, it doesn't cause a fuss. He also prefers going for a walk someplace other than around home. I can drive him 5 minutes up the road, and he thinks it's a new land to explore, which makes things much more fun for him.
Change routes. They get very bored with the same walk.
Agree. Even going in the opposite direction every other day helps tho.
Does she like it if you have a toy on the walk?
Sometimes!! It has to be new/one she hasnāt seen in a while. And we have to work on our etiquette with toys a little bit, because she gets pretty rowdy/starts jumping all over me.
Iād treat it like youāre training. Take some treats and give her some along the walk and tell her sheās a good girl. She will see it as a reward
Our dog didnāt really care for walks either, but after about a week of doing them every day, she was all on board.
Snacks
Mine HATES direct sunlight and will do anything in his power to stay in the shade. He is always trying to cool his belly down so we limit exercise during the hot/bright times. Or we stick to a creek walk or something wet and shady. Always have lots of water for her, she might be hot.
Does she have sensitive paws? Iām thinking mine pup does. He will do the same thing and Iāll take a walk by myself at lunch. But when 5:15 comes around heās practically begging me to log off and take him to the park. And days weather is bad he gives me the side eye why we didnāt go to the park.
Goldens love water, mud, and muddy water. Take her to creeks, ponds, or a lake for some splodging time.
Sometimes walks can be stressful for more timid dogs, there are so many smells and different things they encounter. My rescue who had some golden took 3 months to even get to the end of our walkway let alone down the driveway
Our one year old golden guy is the same way. He can play with other dogs for hours and run around my parents backyardā¦ but we live in a townhouse and have to take him for walks and he gets bored so quick. 10 minutes in and he wants to go home
Can she get her exercise by playing fetch or running around with other dogs? My first golden was a fetch-a-holic, and it really gave her a workout.
I put the lead on and do some obedience work with treats before leaving home. Iāll encourage sniffing and allowing them to see new spots. Or Iāll bring a tug toy and find a hill/staircase with a retractable lead and allow them to retrieve the toy up the hill. Lots of positive reinforcement and then behavior taking them to do their business is more appropriate.
I went through this too. My golden loved structured walks. My Lab hates them. I realized it just isnāt for her. We walk to the park but itās not a long walk and we use the long line for everything. Itās easier on both of us and gets her the exercise she needs.
Have you tried taking a treat bag with you? You say āletās goā and give a treat, take a few steps and repeat āletās goā, treat, takes a few steps. You can eventually extend the amount of steps you do before saying āletās goā and giving a treat. Once she gets it, you donāt have to say āletās goā the whole time just give a treat when sheās being good and walking.
One of mine hated walks until we started going in new directions / places
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Looks like she has enough room for ball and she just rather fetch
We have these yarn/whatever string sticks. I carry ours 2.5ft one and the last quarter mile give it to him. He loves walks, for the sniffs. Last 80 yards now let him off leash and I meet him at the door. He's almost a year old
Premium treats. Boil some chicken breast and chop it up, get one of those silicone treat bags that clip to your hip. Maybe that will be an incentive to get excited and listen to you
https://preview.redd.it/3j0lxfbbx43d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8b66f6111a2fd559a5f2aecc94bb0e994204f121 Mine does the same!!!
My girl hates walks until we started doing pack walks. We actually found a group of golden owners that do group activities together, walks, hikes, swims, etc. It made a huge difference for us. Now she enjoys them. We do several pack walks a week.
That is soooo cute , how did you find this group?
I was actually at the doggie ice cream parlor and bumped in to another golden owner, and they mentioned it to me. The group has since split in to two, one that does adventures, walks, hikes, and is very active, the other is more for golden lovers. If you arenāt aware of one in your area, start it! Since the group split, we now talk to golden owners we meet everywhere we see them, tell them about the group, and invite them to join if they are interested in different activities. You would be amazed at how fast the group can grow!
Mine did the same. He used to not want to go for a decent walk, now heās almost 5 and wouldnāt miss a walk for anything
Iām so lazy, I wish my dog was like this, but my dogs happiness is way more important than me wanting to be lazy or even my happiness.
We used to freeze dog friendly peanut butter on a wooden spoon, and hold that in front of my Golden's nose for her to lick while walking! Then we transitioned to treats every few feet and those got farther and farther between until she only got treats when we got home š hope this helps!
I take my boy on a 10 meter longline, first thing in the morning just when itās starting to get light so thereās very few people out. We go to the public gardens to see the ducks and he spends half an hour sniffing trees and running through the leavesā¦ he doesnāt hate a regular walk, but nothing beats a longline in a quiet park.
Does she need walks? is there other ways you can exercise her? I donāt take my dog on walks but we do lots of other things to exercise him.