Petey can be STUBBORN! Sometimes Refuses to Walk?

[Smiley14]

Once in a while for reasons I have yet to discover, Petey decides he doesn't want to go for a walk or a run and will put on the brakes and refuse to move, no matter how hard you pull or how much you try to encourage/bribe him. Anyone else ever have that happen?

He's done this to me only a handful of times on walks, and has done it only once to my dog walker, so fortunately, it's not too often. But annoying when it does happen!

I was at my parent's house this past weekend and we took the dogs bike riding. My Mom had Petey on her bike and I had Belle on mine. Saturday we went for a few miles no problem. These pics are from Sat.

But yesterday, OH, he was a stubborn brat! It was only 70 degrees, so perfect temp. But we got out of the driveway and about a half mile down the road and he decided he didn't want to go anymore and put on the brakes. He brought my poor Mom to a dead stop! It took her a moment to figure out why she wasn't moving anymore, LOL! She tried and tried to keep biking, he is strong enough to keep her and the bike from going anywhere. He just SITS there refusing to move. So I turn around and we switch dogs and he does the same thing to me! Only when we turned around and headed back to the house, did he start moving again as if nothing had happened. So he seemed fine again so when we got to the house, we decided to keep going. Only got about 100 feet past the driveway before he put on the brakes again! Argh! So we ended up dropping him off and going out with just Belle. She LOVES it, so we have to watch her that she doesn't go farther than she can handle.

We are going camping/biking at Itasca State Park on Sept 6-9th, so I'm so afraid he'll decide to do this there! I have NO idea what I'll do if he does!

Petey with my Mom and her funny looking bike, LOL, on Sat:


Blurry pic of Belle running next to me. I'm not coordinated enough to hold the handle bars with one hand and the camera with the other, LOL!


These are the bike attachments we use by the way if anyone wants to know. Love them! We'll be bringing a bike trailer for Belle too since she can't run all day like Petey can...when he wants too at least! Ugh!

[kigndano]

i would vet check to make sure its not medical...

and after that, yes hes a stubborn dog.

[Chris21711]

Sometimes I really want to go home. I can be out and all of a sudden think, "that's it, I've had enough" so I go home. Sorry no advice, kinda cute tho

[Smiley14]

Originally Posted by kigndano

i would vet check to make sure its not medical...

and after that, yes hes a stubborn dog.

I'm assuming it's not medical, since I've had him for four years and he's done this a handful of times over those four years. I used to think it was during extreme weather, as he first did it on a very cold winter day, then again several months later on a particularly hot summer day. But then he did it about a month ago when I got him a new harness for his b-day. Spent over $100 on a Buddy Belt harness for him and he refuses to walk in it once we get past the driveway. So then my trainer thought it was a harness thing and we just decided to stick with the gentle leader, even though he has no need of an anti-pull harness anymore. He just seems to prefer that one and is the most relaxed and happy with it. And he did this one time last summer with my dog walker as well. So very sporadic and random over the past four years. And of course he is regularly vetted. His last blood panel/physical exam was just about a month ago and everything was normal as always. He is a very healthy strong dog and in excellent shape. He does have an extreme lazy streak though and can be thoroughly stubbon, which is why I now suspect it's dependent upon his mood apparently and not so much the temperature. Normally he'll go for miles and miles with no problem. He has very good stamina, as is typical for a GSP. This is the first time he's done this with the bike however and the weather couldn't have been more perfect, so I can't imagine it was too hot for him! I'm just afraid now he'll get in one of these moods at Itasca. Technically he could fit into the bike trailer with Belle as it can hold up to 100 pounds, but that would be really embarrassing to be seen with such a big healthy dog in a trailer, LOL! I find bike trailers kind of embarrassing in general, but we had to get one for Belle on the recommendation of her surgeon as she is still healing from her double LP surgery and can't go more than a few miles at a time. Even though she walks and runs just fine now, the knees need a good year to completely heal and be safe from re-injury. She will have to be coddled a bit from long distances her whole life unfortunately. Hence the reason for my breaking down and buying a bike trailer. We'll bring both bike attachments for her so she can both run and ride. But Petey, oh boy! Should be interesting! I just can't seem to find a way to make him "go" if he decides to be in one of these moods or don't know how to handle it. I might take him in for another blood panel just to make sure, but I'm pretty sure it's not medically related as I said.

[hazelrunpack]

If your vet uses a 4DX snap test, that might be a good idea. It tests for Lyme's, anaplasmosis, and ehrlichiosis. The reason I say that is that Lil Belle was originally placed in Minneapolis. We have her because her first owner complained that some days she wouldn't come out of the car to hunt. Some days she'd do fine, others she would be stubborn and refuse to move.

When we finally got her, we had her tested with the 4DX as a matter of course--turns out Lil Belle had undiagnosed Lyme's disease and by the time she came here, it was chronic.

A regular blood panel may not catch signs of Lyme's.

Another thing to check would be his hips. If he's experiencing any joint pain, he might object to long distances.

I hope handsome Petey is just being stubborn.

[Smiley14]

Thanks Hazel! The last 4DX was done about a year ago (They do them every few years here as part of the routine...just in case!), but I called my vet to schedule another one for tomorrow just in case. Good thought! I didn't think of that! I know his hips/knees/joints should be fine as we just tested those a month ago as well, but I might as well have her check everything again while we're there tomorrow just to rule out every possibility!

[Smiley14]

Well, everything came back clean and negative on the 4DX and the in-house panel. They sent away for the full blood panel as well, but we expect that to be totally normal too since the in house mini was clean and we just did the full panel a month ago and it was all perfect. Checked for joint and arthritis again and didn't see anything there either. So my vet feels it's behavioral and net medical as I also assumed. So YES, he IS that stubborn apparently! Argh! So next I'll ask my trainer for advice for what to do if he does that in the middle of Itasca!

[hazelrunpack]

Whew! I'm glad he came back clean...even if that does mean that he's just being lazy...

Maybe you just need to tease him about being slower than little Belle...

[VIOLET0019]

Originally Posted by Smiley14

Once in a while for reasons I have yet to discover, Petey decides he doesn't want to go for a walk or a run and will put on the brakes and refuse to move, no matter how hard you pull or how much you try to encourage/bribe him. Anyone else ever have that happen?

He's done this to me only a handful of times on walks, and has done it only once to my dog walker, so fortunately, it's not too often. But annoying when it does happen!

I was at my parent's house this past weekend and we took the dogs bike riding. My Mom had Petey on her bike and I had Belle on mine. Saturday we went for a few miles no problem. These pics are from Sat.

But yesterday, OH, he was a stubborn brat! It was only 70 degrees, so perfect temp. But we got out of the driveway and about a half mile down the road and he decided he didn't want to go anymore and put on the brakes. He brought my poor Mom to a dead stop! It took her a moment to figure out why she wasn't moving anymore, LOL! She tried and tried to keep biking, he is strong enough to keep her and the bike from going anywhere. He just SITS there refusing to move. So I turn around and we switch dogs and he does the same thing to me! Only when we turned around and headed back to the house, did he start moving again as if nothing had happened. So he seemed fine again so when we got to the house, we decided to keep going. Only got about 100 feet past the driveway before he put on the brakes again! Argh! So we ended up dropping him off and going out with just Belle. She LOVES it, so we have to watch her that she doesn't go farther than she can handle.

We are going camping/biking at Itasca State Park on Sept 6-9th, so I'm so afraid he'll decide to do this there! I have NO idea what I'll do if he does!

Petey with my Mom and her funny looking bike, LOL, on Sat:
Attachment 40750

Blurry pic of Belle running next to me. I'm not coordinated enough to hold the handle bars with one hand and the camera with the other, LOL!
Attachment 40751

These are the bike attachments we use by the way if anyone wants to know. Love them! We'll be bringing a bike trailer for Belle too since she can't run all day like Petey can...when he wants too at least! Ugh!

My dog does this very often during the past few months. Although the Vet checked her, sometimes things are not just black and white. When my dog cannot walk any longer, I need to pick her up and carry her. I try to put her down every so often to get her to walk again (as I myself am ill and this is very difficult for me to do)......the Vet said it is probably Arthritis....and I definitely believe that 100% - that is what I myself diagnosed her to have! Plus lately she has severe seasonal allergies and her poor little pawpads are so puffed up and swollen from the itching and licking ......that this is another cause of her not being able to walk.

My advice is if she cannot walk, then please just respect that. They cannot tell us in English what ails them, how they are feeling, where they have aches and pains.....but, we must learn to accept their "messages", and let them have their peace.

[Smiley14]

We're pretty sure it's not arthritis or joint problems. He has very tight knees and hips and the x-rays came back looking VERY good as well. Nice cartiledge and such still. He is a young dog who is very energetic and shows none of the typical signs of slowness or stiffness or lameness. This is a dog that leaps out of bed after a long night's sleep with no hesitation and that will happily run for 12+ miles in a very short amount of time when off leash at the dog park. As he is also almost 60 pounds, I can't carry him if he decides to suddenly stop in the middle of nowhere.

My best guess is that even though the temp was cool, he might have been too hot. He had been sunning on the porch for about an hour before we left and it was much hotter in the sun. We only went a very short distance when he decided he didn't want to go anymore. As soon as we headed in the direction of home, he suddenly and happily picked up the pace again and only put on the brakes again after we passed home again. This is why my vet believes it's behavorial or possibly temperature based. He was telling us he really wanted to go home! Which is of course exactly what we did with him then. So of course we don't force him. My fear is what to do if he does this in the middle of the national park. Yikes!

I suspect temperature based as the few previous times he's done this was during extreme temperatures. I didn't have his cooling vest on him either, so I will for sure bring that to Itasca as well! So possible temperature based or partially temp/partially behavorial. Arthritis is still possible of course, but not very likely from all we've seen. My vet did recommend adding in the joint supplement I have Belle on for Petey as well, just in case. So we'll give that a try as well. I use BiologicVET BioJOINT for Belle with great success. I'll start Petey on a low dose supplement as well just in case. But we're pretty sure that's not the issue. I sure wish they could talk and tell us what's wrong!

[hazelrunpack]

Originally Posted by Smiley14

I sure wish they could talk and tell us what's wrong!

Wouldn't that be just ?

I forgot about those cooling vests!

[Smiley14]

Originally Posted by hazelrunpack

Wouldn't that be just ?

I forgot about those cooling vests!

The cooling vests are a marvelous invention! All I can think to do if he does this in the middle of a trail is put him in the little bike trailer thing for a while. It would be embarrassing, but I think he would fit in there. It's supposed to hold up to 100 pounds at least! But it looks so flimsy, I can't imagine it holding his weight! I will definitely get a picture of that if it happens. We're going to stick with the shorter trails as well just in case.

[hazelrunpack]

Embarrassing for you, maybe --but I'll bet Petey wouldn't mind one bit! That's called 'traveling in style'!

[Smiley14]

The vet called and said the full panel came back clean. There was a slight decrease in the lymphasid (sp?) count from where it was a month ago, but still in normal range. She said it's possible he could be recovering from a viral infection, but still thinks it's most likely behavorial. So I guess I'll keep on eye on him and hope he doesn't decide to balk in the middle of nowhere!