Walking your bullie

ccurran

New member
Apr 17, 2012
163
5
Washington, D.C.
Bulldog(s) Names
Seamus
Hi all ... we have had Seamus now for a little over a week and everything is going great! He sleeps at night in his crate great and I get up once a night to take him out. No accidents since the first night (knock on wood)! He still has giardia, which doesn't seem to be getting much better. Need to call the vets again today. No explosive diarrhea or anything just very soft poos. He is on rice and chicken diet right now until it gets cleared up.

Since I work from home he gets to hang out with me during the day, playing and sleeping under my desk and I take him out usually every 3-4 hours.

The only real problem I am having with him is that he gets very very very distracted when we take him outside. We live in Washington DC where there are a lot of people walking on the side walks, lots of cars and we are near Union Station where there are tons of trains. As soon as we take him out the door he pees immediately but then he won't walk through the rest of the grass with us. I literally have to drag him or coax him along. Its sooo annoying. Then sometimes he will walk with me on the sidewalk and sometimes he will just stop. I feel horrible dragging him but I don't know what to do to make him walk with me. He doesn't ever pull forward, rather he just stops behind me and won't move so sometimes the hubby and I have to drag him along to get his butt moving.

I have a collar and a leash on him right now because he is in between sizes on the harness. I am going to go down to our local pet store this week and see if he fits into the medium harness. I don't want to hurt his neck when we are walking and know a harness is better for him.

Any suggestions on how to get him to walk better with us would be much appreciated! Thanks! We are going to get him signed up for puppy manners classes soon as soon as his giardia clears up.
 

Taylor

New member
Jul 10, 2012
237
14
Pittsburgh
Bulldog(s) Names
Miss Charlotte Elizabeth
Have you tried treats or positive reinforcement? Walk with him by your side (this is called the "let's go" walk) and tell him "Let's Go" and if he keeps walking verbally praise him in an excited voice. If he stops or drags behind, try bending down to his level and calling him to join you. When he comes, give him a lot of praise and encourage the walk to continue by repeating the command "Let's go". You can also keep small treats (training treats, or cut treats into little bits, or use tiny pieces of grilled chicken). When he walks for a little on his own, just reach down and give him a treat, or praise. Continue walking. Walking using reinforcement in this way keeps your dog focused on you instead of distractions. By associating positive reinforcement, your pup will learn to pay attention and keep up with you if he wants attention/treats. After you master this, if you wish you can continue onto the more formal "heel" command,but that's not entirely necessary if you don't want to.

While he's behaving this way, NEVER just turn back and let him back in the house if he refuses. If you think he's tired or done walking, encourage him to come a few more steps before you go back. This means that the walk ends with YOU want it to end. This will discourage him from just peeing/pooping and running back in the house, or refusing to walk.

Good luck!
 

LucyLou

New member
Jul 19, 2012
34
2
Bulldog(s) Names
Lucy
I completely agree with the very positive encouragement to get him to walk on his own and the use of treats in the beginning will help as well. We just got Lucy a little bit ago and at almost a year old she had never been walked on a leash. I only had to use treats the first two days and kept praising her over and over again and now she walks really well on a leash. I also signed her up for obedience classes (she just started last Thursday) and that has helped a lot too. Good luck!
 

ChanelnBrutus

Snookie ain't got nuttin on me!
Feb 6, 2012
4,928
181
New Jersey
Bulldog(s) Names
Brutus (EBD 6/4/11), Chanel (Pitbull 12/23/06)
We didnt really have this issue with Brutus as he loved to walk around. I agree with using treats to coax him to come to you! He will eventually learn to walk on the leash but right now the big bad world might be scaring him. I would try not to drag him as that may scare him or it could possibly injure his neck/throat. Hope he gets better soon and you can get the giardia under control....I have no exp with it but I have heard its quite a process to get rid of. Good luck with everything :hug:
 

Dubbiedog

New member
Community Veteran
Apr 29, 2012
963
65
Beautiful Sarasota, Florida
Bulldog(s) Names
Dublin
It's a "big bad world" out there for a little puppy with very big things and loud noises so it will take time. If he feels your anxiety then it will only make it more difficult. Absolutely, positive reinforcement and baby steps at first. If he only walks few steps give him a treat and praise him and then take him home and do the same the next day. Now miss Dublin here was the "best" She would gladly go anywhere in the car and then get out and walk no problem, but she would not leave our driveway to go for a walk. No way, no how. This went on for a very long time and I belive I made the biggest mistake by "forcing and dragging" her along. My anxiety was huge and i would often come back in the house in tears and totally frustrated and we don't live in the city but in a quiet neighborhood. I think we figured it out after a long time that she was afraid for whatever reason to leave her own surroundings so we would carry her a few houses down and then try to get her to walk. This took a while but eventually she realized that it was okay and that in fact she ended up at her own house in the end. To this day though she will sit in the driveway and watch everyone go by and doesnt' run away or after anyone and now she loves her "froggies and bunnies" walk in the evening. Have patience and soon you will have those great walks. Don't expect to get too far as most everyone will want to stop you and ooh! and a
hh! over your precious bundle:D
 

kazzy220

..........
Jul 31, 2010
8,556
441
Grafton, OHIO
Country
England
Bulldog(s) Names
Maggie (My Angel Baby 5/31/2012). Daddy (2 years). Linus (1year). Bella (4 years)
What great advice you have already been given .... reward and consistency is always the key. You will get there!! :yes:
 
OP
ccurran

ccurran

New member
Apr 17, 2012
163
5
Washington, D.C.
Bulldog(s) Names
Seamus
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #7
Thanks for all the advice. We will try really hard with the positive reinforcement to get him to walk. Its easier for me than my husband I think. He is very inpatient with the lack of walking. Its also very hard since we live in the city with tons of things to distract Seamus. There are always people walking by saying something to him or cars driving by or some kind of noise. I definitely need to get him into puppy manners classes to work on these issues.
 

KaidasMom

New member
Jun 25, 2012
132
7
Anchorage, AK
Country
United States
Bulldog(s) Names
Kaida
Wow - I'm sure walking in DC must be very distracting. I don't live in an urban environment anymore (just moved in May) but Kaida's done great with the let's go - walk.

On another note - with you being in DC and us in Laurel, MD - maybe we could set up a puppy date after the pups go through their vaccinations? I've joined the DC area english bulldog meetup group, but would love to make as many connections as possible.

-Tina (KaidasMom)
 
OP
ccurran

ccurran

New member
Apr 17, 2012
163
5
Washington, D.C.
Bulldog(s) Names
Seamus
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #9
HI @KaidasMom ... we would love to have a play date. Seamus love other dogs but probably really misses seeing bullys since there aren't any around our building as of yet. I need to wait till he gets his rabies shots to take him to the park but that will be on August 7th so maybe we can do it after that?
 

KaidasMom

New member
Jun 25, 2012
132
7
Anchorage, AK
Country
United States
Bulldog(s) Names
Kaida
Sounds like a good plan. Kaida doesn't get her rabies shot until September 1st, so after that we're all in!
She hasn't been around any other bullies either. I actually have not seen one in person where we live, or where I work in Baltimore city (but everyone I work with sporadically tells me they see them around here!). I'm sure she'd love to be around another bully pup! :)

Are you on fb? if so - you can find me at [email protected]. There are too many Tina Brown's out there!
 

BIJAH

New member
May 28, 2012
70
1
San Jose CA
Bulldog(s) Names
Ari Gold
You take your Seamus out into the unfenced world already?
My Ari hasn't seen anything except my backyard and he's about to hit 4 months haha. My vet didn't even let me walk him into the office, I had to carry him ever since he was 8 weeks! And I still am carrying him as his final shot is on Monday. Then another week for his antibodies to kick in. Luck you!
 
OP
ccurran

ccurran

New member
Apr 17, 2012
163
5
Washington, D.C.
Bulldog(s) Names
Seamus
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #12
Seamus got all his shots at his breeders and now we are just waiting on the rabies shots. We live directly in the city, near Union Station, in a high rise apartment building on the 7th floor. It is a super dog-friendly building with a lot of other dogs. Unfortunately there was no avoiding other dogs so luckily he had all his shots when we picked him up!

He is doing much better with the walking. I had originally started taking him out back to a grassy area and then it would take 30 minutes to coax him out of that area onto the sidewalk. I think there were too many smells and too many dogs to distract him there so he wouldn't walk. Now I take him to another area to go pee and poo then onto our walk. He is doing much better! He learned to sit near my feet when we are waiting at a cross street and walks pretty well.

Thanks for all the help!
 

KaidasMom

New member
Jun 25, 2012
132
7
Anchorage, AK
Country
United States
Bulldog(s) Names
Kaida
Congrats on the wonderful progress Seamus has made! That's wonderful :)
Seamus got all his shots at his breeders and now we are just waiting on the rabies shots. We live directly in the city, near Union Station, in a high rise apartment building on the 7th floor. It is a super dog-friendly building with a lot of other dogs. Unfortunately there was no avoiding other dogs so luckily he had all his shots when we picked him up!

He is doing much better with the walking. I had originally started taking him out back to a grassy area and then it would take 30 minutes to coax him out of that area onto the sidewalk. I think there were too many smells and too many dogs to distract him there so he wouldn't walk. Now I take him to another area to go pee and poo then onto our walk. He is doing much better! He learned to sit near my feet when we are waiting at a cross street and walks pretty well.

Thanks for all the help!
 

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