Walking new puppy on leash

My yellow lab puppy, Jack, is 10 weeks old and I have had him for 2 weeks. The first couple of days he was really great about running around the field behind our house and walking with the leash without pulling. In the last week or so if myself or my husband walk him alone he pulls really bad at the start of the walk but then when we turn to come home he is happy as can be and running full speed. Then he just wants to go in the backyard and play. It is frustrating to me and I am confused. When we walk him together he does not demonstrate this behavior as much. Any advice to motivate him to walk further when we are alone with him. Thanks

 

A lot of puppies don't really get the "going for a walk" thing. The usual advice is to make it really fun for him by bringing along treats and coaxing him along. You can also carry him down the street and then put him down and walk back toward the house with him. You can also do things like getting him to walk with you in the house (on leash or off) by carrying treats with you and giving them to him when he is walking near you.

Don't worry, he will outgrow this and he'll love to go for walks! Then you will come here asking how to get him to stop dragging you down the street. Do try to not let him start that. It's easier to teach them not to pull when they have never been allowed to do it to begin with.

 

Yeah, I wish someone had told me that before I ended up with 70lbs of dog pulling me down the street, lol, although their getting better, since for a while I walked them on short leashes and now they're back to their long ones.

Anyway, back to the original question, I had the same problem with my dog Ranger. I could either drag him down teh street (which was not only tiring but the poor puppy couldn't breathe, but he was too energetic to not go on the walk lol!) or i carried him. I would usually carry him to the turn around point, or I would carry him to a new place and then he didn't really know which direction home was and was simply content to follow me.

 

Your dog may have been scared and wanted to act good on his first couple walks. Then he got really excited. You might want to show some dicepline(sp). Make sure when he does bad that he knows that he does wrong. Keep at it and walking with him. He will most likely get the hang of it! 8)

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Killerbee