Walking

When I take Dante for walks, I never know what to expect from him.  Sometimes he'll walk great, and sometimes he won't even leave our driveway for anything: praise, treats, toys; nothing.  Most of the time he will walk towards our house, but not away.  Other times we'll get down half our street, and he will refuse to budge in any direction. 

He has to stop to play in the leaves...

to check out the drains...

to lay down...

to watch the birds...

to try to paw off his gentle leader...

but 99% of the time, just for the sake of not wanting to go any further.

I have been watching him to see if he's afraid of anything, but he doesn't act like there's anything the matter.  He just doesn't want to move!

After taking him to a few places to walk, he does great in different settings, but he won't even come out of the driveway at home.

We have been playing a lot of "follow me," but as soon as we step on the sidewalk, he stops dead.  I was at a loss of what to do with him.  But today I was determined to take him on a walk.  I took Dante on the his 15 ft. leash (and Becca for back-up), and we started calling his name really excitedly, we had his favorite squeaky toy, and started jogging (and squeaking ferociously) down the sidewalk.  I'm sure the whole neighborhood thought we were maniacs, but he finally followed us!  We ran all the way down our street and then turned around, and he walked with us all the way back!

Now to see if he can do it tomorrow...