walking a 7month old golden retriever

crixos30

Hi just looking for a bit of advice i have a retriever and when i bring him for a walk he lags behind a bit on the lead so much at times that i have to give a little tug (not hurting him ) to get him to come along beside me,i am by no means a fast walker and he has loads of energy when i bring him to the woods off the lead but yet he dose not mind the lead either.

ShaShaBear

Could be something in the area that scares him. My boy walks ahead just to the slack of his lead, but if we are beside a main road that is busy, he walks right beside me and sometimes behind, with the intent to stop. He's always been afraid of cars, so maybe there is something like that bothering your dog? Another thing worth checking is that the collar/lead isnt nipping or hurting your dog/catching with his fur. I put Shadow's harness on slightly wrong the other day, and couldn't figure why he was walking 7 feet behind me for about 15 minutes!

tk123

Is he sniffing etc or just walking slowly? Is it beside traffic or on a quiet road? What's his body language like - eg is his tail up or down? My GR is wary of traffic too and would lag behind sometimes like that if eg a bus is coming. I walk him so we're facing the traffic - if we walk on the other side of the road with the traffic coming from behind he doesn't like it at all and I'd have to pull him along.

Unclear coyote

Next time he is walking in the woods leave his lead on, just let it drag along with him. He will think that when he is on his lead is just as good fun as walking as in the woods and he will have a bounce in his stride soon enough.