Why do I have to drag by English Bull Terrier whilst out for a walk??

dhut117

Does anyone else have to drag their EBT's up the street while out for a walk.  My beautiful 2 year old girl quite often refuses to walk down certain streets in our local area, resulting in my having to drag her by the lead/collar to get her to move (which I absolutely hate doing and makes me look like the worst dog owner in the borough!)  When she is good and walks without dragging I praise her and treat her with kibble.  I have no idea why she does not like going up particular streets.  Am I likely to do her neck any harm by dragging her - any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Djammy

I read that a lot about EBT's, especially puppies and young ones. Also I've been experiencing it myself with both our last and our current EBT.

Our girl Djamila is super active, loves roaming around in our yard, chasing after balls in the yard, dog park and at the beach (after we go there by car, loves car rides also) and would dash off to greet our neighbors, if I did not stop her. But she barely likes to leave our premises on her own four feet to do her business on the other side of the street.

We have kind of a nasty, spiky road surface on that street, which does not exactly make things easier. I hold that in her favor.
I was hoping her “walk inhibition” would cease when she grows, but now she is shortly over two yrs. old and I can't really say that it seems to change.
I've tried a lot from luring to embarrassing myself, uh I mean motivating her with a ridiculous baby voice or carrying her a few steps, because it always becomes easier once we are a little bit farther away from the house. But she is kind of heavy for me now and also it feels just ridiculous to carry my dog for a walk.

I've also tried a little yanking and a choker (chain collar). I know the EBT’s have strong necks and can bear such collars. But I still don't like it. I can control the yanking and not be too hard.
Yet, the EBT's tend to get overexcited. As much as she may NOT have wanted to walk one moment, something interesting catching her attention, like the neighbor coming out being excited to see her, can cause her to almost strangle herself with that collar the very next second. I also don’t like electric collars.
It's starting to get better with her dragging, because I take every chance of doing leash training.

However the much bigger problem before we can work on the dragging is always to get her going in the first place.

I am really waiting for fall to come, so we can resume on a frequent basis, because currently it's just still sooooo hot here in Florida. None of us really likes walking before sunset at the moment.
You seem to have some kind of Martingale collar there around your Bullie's neck. I now use one like that, too. It does not close as far as the chain did. But with that collar I always feel like she could slip out of it, if I'd start dragging too much. Also I do not really want to drag her, no matter which collar. On the same page with you on that.
The best solution I have found so far is having her wear her harness for walks instead of a collar combined with a long retractable leash. It makes moving away from the house a little easier, because I can walk some steps ahead, which usually causes her to follow me a moment later on her own or if I call her. The first part of the walk then is usually some sequences of me walking a bit ahead and her catching up. Once we are a little bit farther away from the house, she often takes over the lead and sometimes even uses the full extend of the leash to walk ahead.

Honestly to me it looks like some EBT’s love almost ANY kind of movement and exercise EXCEPT walking.
I have stopped focussing on daily walks. Chasing after balls etc. is the more efficient exercise anyways.

I have trained a command for our walks “let’s walk!” since she was little. For the longest time I did not feel like it made any difference.
Yet, lately I've noticed the command starts to work better and better, gets her going. Still, sometimes she just does not want to walk. Period.
To me it seems like she does not see any sense in just walking somewhere without having a ball or something really exciting going on. I think walking is just too boring for her. Especially because we live in a very calm area. Which is good to allow her to be on a long leash, but not so good with regard to interest her in walking.

Your EBT is beautiful btw! I hope my story is a little comfort for you - you’re not alone. And I am pretty sure there are others here with similar stories and maybe even some real advice.

philsergeant

It's only because she thinks she is more beautiful than Princess Dianna ( and she would be correct) and deserves a carriage to wheel her royal arse around the neighborhood to wave at the peasants! No, seriously, some Bullies have a problem with walking. They need to be made accustomed to it very young by using their enthusiasm to get it into their system. By the time they are two they can get very bored easily. First you need take her on walks where she finds it interesting. We take ours by car about a mile from our street where there are more open fields to run, critters to smell and deer poop to eat. ( well we try and discourage the last by sometimes it's not that easy to spot) if where you live resembles more of concrete suburbia then it gets tougher . You could try finding a neighbour with an energetic dog and walk them together, or walk at night with a flashlight.. They prefer to cool and dark and searching for night creatures. Also sometimes a jog is more productive than a walk, especially if you are trying to walk in the heat. Heat and boredom they don't love.

dhut117

WOW - thanks for this.  I am so relieved it is not just me with this particular problem!!  I was wondering if it is just that as a breed they are renowned for being stubborn and that she just does not like these particular streets, but I am not willing to give in to her whims!!

 

I too have a long lead but like you, with the half chain collar I am always worried that she (my girl is called Edna btw) is going to slip out of it.  The next thing for me I think is to buy a harness and see if that makes my life any easier.  I always assumed (clearly incorrectly), that it was in a dogs nature to enjoy a daily walk about - but Edna has proved me wrong!!  Hopefully, if I persevere one day I will win this battle of wills and we can walk out calmly together and both enjoy it!!

And thanks for your input by the way.

 

philsergeant

I think our posts crossed.... Did you get all of it?

dhut117

Yes I did - and thanks very much.  You are right in as much as we are in suburban London so it is predominantly street walking but we do also have green areas were I walk her and she does enjoy this far more.  May be she is just fussy about where she walks ... the mysteries of the Bull Terrier's mind are a bit beyond me!!!  I am going to persevere as, if it is a case of her just being bully stubborn she will not win, but I really do not like dragging her around by the neck on a regular basis!  My main concern is that I will hurt her neck somehow really and I really don't want to be hurting her obviously!!

Djammy

@dhut117

As long as I get her to do her business, I am meanwhile ok with her either wanting or not wanting to walk.

Having her do her business also sometimes seems kind of hard with distractions around - she really puts her bodily functions last, unbelievable! This dog is SO distractible, but that's a different story!

After all I am doing the walking mainly for HER good. I mean, I like walks, but don't HAVE to, if she doesn't want to.

I don't know if you are in the exact same place with it or if you are even struggling to get your dog's business done, because of the "walk inhibition" Sry, I like that term, makes me laugh.

philsergeant has made one remark I find pretty important, because I have made the same observation:

I once read that if your dog is not very good at recall, try to run away from it instead of after it. Because dogs have a tendency of following their owner then, instead of running away.

I have tried to use this information to get Djamila going after me and really find it successful. If I run from her, she will come, running. Hiding and calling her also works, but is not practical in every area.

I've already tried one or the other walk with her half running, half walking. It really worked even with collar and a shorter leash. Sadly I am not the best runner, also do not really like jogging a lot. So, unfortunately that's not a permanent option for me.

But maybe, even if it's also not an option for you to get your dog away from your home in the city, it may be a trick to check out in a dog park or somewhere like that and try training your dog to come after you, get a certain command across to your dog with that etc.

Just some additional thoughts.

One thing is for sure - with EBT's you sometimes have to get creative.

@philsergeant

You are also so right about them getting easily bored at a certain age. Lately it's a guessing game every day with Djamila, if she will be motivated or not. She insists on her daily round of playing fetch. That much is for sure. However, she may as well get on my nerves for half an hour to get outside, just to stand outside then, sniffing every single blade of grass and not showing much interest in her ball. 

Then I will really have to be a great motivator in order to get her to really play and use her energy in the pool.

Another time she will go crazy and go on like a perpetual motion dog in the water no matter how hot it is outside and not even really wanting to give the ball away for me to throw it for her. They really are like kids.

philsergeant

Whereabouts in Londra are you, we used to live in Beaconsfield, Bucks.

philsergeant

@Djammy  I have now lived in Florida for 26 years (I think)... and, besides the fact that I am older than dirt, this is the FIRST summer that I have said, enough, ****ing enough.... It has been long and brutal. If I were an idiot, and I would admit to as easily as I admit to wrinkledom, if I were....I'd say that Al Gore has a point with his Global Heating crap.... And it is the first Summer that I have ever known Bullies to be totally fed up.... So, let's compare notes in November... when it's fresh and frisky again, they will be darting from bush to burrow to tree... I'm sure of it. Even now, when it gets to around 10pm, and i take them for a stroll on the golf course, they are starting to enjoy things again.

BulliesofNC

pumagirl

I to often have the same problem with Puma. She will do hot laps around our house but the minute I leash her up she digs her heels in and im pulling on her the whole way

Quinnofhearts

Edna is so durn cute!!! I love her nose. And what a tasty looking cake she had!

I don't even know what makes Quinn happy anymore but it's certainly not walks and if there is rain added in - forget it. Quinn hated walks when she was little, hated collars, hated anything that didn't involve her eating rocks and bird poop off the sidewalks. So there was a lot of dragging and coaxing and me being really frustrated. But eventually we got the walking thing down-- Strike that. We got the sniff-this-thing-for-10-minutes-while-human-stands-there thing down. But at least we're sort of walking? Other days I just let her choose. If we come outside and she pees and then doesn't immediately turn back around to go inside, we'll walk. If she turns around...well okay then.

I used to count on being able to take her to fetch ball, but she'll go down there, all excited, wants me to throw the ball, I oblige, she'll run after it...leave it...stare at the fence. Wow what a fun game!!!! This all from the dog that used to play fetch nonstop for 30 minutes nearly every day... ~X(    Ugh. Children.

You'll get the hang of it eventually. And when you do, it probably won't work anymore. )

erikashea

We are also having some dragging issues but if i start to jog and say let's go for a run she will run along with me. We have also noticed that if we take our other dog (sam) with us bianca does much better. We have a soft harness for her instead of a collar.

dhut117

Thanks so much everyone for your input - its just nice to know there are others out there with the same/similar issues ... it clearly is a bully thing!!  Edna does not like rain (at all), walking in the dark (!) and she also has to sniff every blade of grass/fence post/lamp post etc etc we come into contact with when we are out and this is all before she then decides enough is enough and she will not be moving any further!!  They are such frustrating animals but you gotta love 'em!! 

 

Philsergeant - we are in Bexleyheath,Kent where the temperatures are way below the averages in Florida - we are bearly in double figures here at the moment!! so I can't even say it is too hot for our Edna to enjoy her daily strolls. 

BulliesofNC

One thing to understand about many Bull Terriers is the fact that if you force something on them they will often retaliate against it and with each future attempt they will soon make it a habit to revolt. This can happen when trimming nails, giving a bath, going for a walk, etc.
My suggestion would be to take a different approach to walking him since he has already made up his mind to reject the idea of going on a walk. With this said try this:


- Put him in the car and take him to a dog park or some other place outside his element. He'll act completely different in a new environment whether it be a park, lake, beach, etc. When he's in a new area he has no safe heaven to run to so he'll most likely just go with flow and soon enough he'll realize it was a lot of fun. In due time putting a leash on him will turn into a welcomed gesture.


- If you are accompanied with someone else during your outing in a new environment I would also suggest allowing your partner to stop about 1/4 mile from your home when you are returning from your outing and walk him home the remaining way. Take your time going back with him and when he gets home the entire trip should be something he enjoyed and one that he was never afforded the opportunity to retaliate against by becoming stubborn and resorting to staying put within his comfort zone.

dhut117

Hi all - well funny enough, we had a really lovely walk today (it may well be a one off event!) very little actual dragging took place - a little tugging on the lead and off we went again without any dramas!  I have taken on board all of your advice and will be using a combination of all of it in an attempt to make our walks a pleasure and not a chore! 

 

Bullies eh ... you gotta love 'em!

philsergeant

Great progress! Fabulouso! One thing which may help if you are not aware of it already.... You need to imagine, ( not because it's not true, because in reality, it is) that the lead is an neural cord that connects your brain to his, except it's mono-directional... He can read and sense your every emotion that you have through it, and you can't read his. So if you are uptight or nervous, he knows it, if you relax and enjoy the walk yourself, he knows that, even if your physical posture, movements, tension are the same. So you have to send positive thoughts down the lead.. Constantly.

dhut117

Hi All - I am pleased to report positive progress has been made!!  I have bought a Julius K9 harness for Edna which she was wearing today for the first time on our walk.  It will need a little adjustment as I think I had it too big and it was sort of turning round on her body, but after that is sorted out, I can only think that it will be a great success.  Edna did not drag me up the road when we first left the house (which she usually does) and when she decided to stop, I gave her a bit of encouragement or a slight tug or jogged a few steps and off we went again .... EXCELLENT!!  Very Happy!!

Djammy

Wow! Great! Even though it may not work EVERY the time - because Bullies tend to be moody - ANY progress is actually worth a party!

Glad to hear the harness seems to help!

I have resumed leash training and am walking a little more again with Djamila now that it is becoming less hot outside. Just noticed that the command I have been training her with to get her going ("Let's walk") for a loooooong time now lately has finally started to work a lot better. Yeah!

It's no guarantee. But I think good spirit, patience and forgiving the moody days can work out some day.

LittleOtto

During summer, Otto likes to embarrass us like that as well.
The worst, though, is that - being the attention-seeker that many bullies are - he usually likes to stop and lie down to protest in front of big audiences.

And then, when that happens, everybody is a dog expert and we are the worst dog owners ever.
He is a miniature, so people tend to think he is a puppy, and then they go "ooohhh... poor puppy..", to which we say that's not the case, that he's two and healthy and strong. Then they say he must be exhausted and we should just let him rest or head back home, but we had only just left home. "Oooooh, but he is so short and so close to the floor, he must be frying",  failing to notice the chihuahuas, and pomeranians, walking with no problem at all. "Of course, it's just plain hot for a dog to be out.." - cut to the guy in rollerblades with a couple of huge, fat, very hairy bernese mountain dogs, running happily after him.

They never believe Otto is just being a bully...

philsergeant

Don't you just hate it when everyone thinks they are an Ex-Spurt regarding YOUR dog when they are totally lame regarding their own. Tell them an Ex is a has been... And a Spurt is a drip under pressure