So, my dog turned into a douche. Basically, he often wants to go only one particular way during walks. He'll just stop (usually at intersections, but not always) and usually not move unless you physically force him by pulling the leash or you go the way he wants. Once in a while, he just sits down, but usually just stops standing up.
This is a relatively new thing. He's about 4 years old and used to do this once in a while (not nearly every walk) a few months ago. Since then, we moved to a different house in the same town and he now does it constantly. Sometimes things like luring him with a treat or acting really excited or getting on his level and calling him or making him look you in the eye or letting him sniff something or pee will work- but often those do not snap him out of it and he just sits there indefinitely. It has nothing to do with being in an unfamiliar area (he does it more now than when we moved here; seems to go through phases or bouts of it) or being tired. We can find no overall reason or pattern to when he does this. It could be right outside the house or 2 miles away.
This annoys the crap out of me and my wife. I try not to pull him along with force- first because that isn't a good idea for training or walking and second because he's an Akita and very strong at around 100 lbs. I really like walking him around the neighborhood for around 1-2 hours at a time and this is a huge pain. We've looked around and tried different things and nothing has worked so far. It might be easier if I didn't kind of acquire this dog through marriage...
Any ideas?
This is a relatively new thing. He's about 4 years old and used to do this once in a while (not nearly every walk) a few months ago. Since then, we moved to a different house in the same town and he now does it constantly. Sometimes things like luring him with a treat or acting really excited or getting on his level and calling him or making him look you in the eye or letting him sniff something or pee will work- but often those do not snap him out of it and he just sits there indefinitely. It has nothing to do with being in an unfamiliar area (he does it more now than when we moved here; seems to go through phases or bouts of it) or being tired. We can find no overall reason or pattern to when he does this. It could be right outside the house or 2 miles away.
This annoys the crap out of me and my wife. I try not to pull him along with force- first because that isn't a good idea for training or walking and second because he's an Akita and very strong at around 100 lbs. I really like walking him around the neighborhood for around 1-2 hours at a time and this is a huge pain. We've looked around and tried different things and nothing has worked so far. It might be easier if I didn't kind of acquire this dog through marriage...
Any ideas?