Walking: On a mission or stop and smell the roses?

My previous dogs have all loved going for walks and I've always had to constantly work on "nice" walking so that they wouldn't pull my arm off. They were always on a mission to get as far as possible within the length of our walk.

Well my current rescue pup is a scaredy cat and a stop and smell the roses walker. She walks great on leash and I love her for it.

However, if we're in a new place or there is a strange sound, strange scent, strange person..you get the idea.. she stops, sits, and will not budge no matter what.

We've been slowly hiking new trails and walking new neighborhoods with lots of praise and encouraging treats, but it is a very slow and trying process.

I was curious what other pet parents’ experiences are like? I always thought the majority of dogs were on a mission, but may be wrong.

When I walk Beenie, she seems to be on a mission. She likes to walk ahead of me and pulls a little sometimes. She's getting better about that. She know exactly the route we take and turns when we are supposed too. It's like I have a little pilot!

Until I got lady a halter she was most definitely on a mission when we went for walks. Now I can lead her with 2 fingers.

Misty is on a mission lol but that mission is to get to the park whether or not we are going to the park :rolleyes: i took her with me to my friends house this morning(she's camping, normally the dogs come camping with them but this was a motercycle trip) to let shadow and dakota out, feed em, water em etc.. but to get to stephs house we have to walk by the park that I run Happy and Misty at, well Misty saw the direction we were going and suddenly she was on over drive nearly dragging me accross the street to get to the park lol because Happy heels free(no leash) perfectly the occasional times that I do leash her up I just drap the leash over my finger lol she is not the smell the roses type at all, just extremly obedient lol

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Originally posted by cmayer31

However, if we're in a new place or there is a strange sound, strange scent, strange person..you get the idea.. she stops, sits, and will not budge no matter what.

We've been slowly hiking new trails and walking new neighborhoods with lots of praise and encouraging treats, but it is a very slow and trying process.

I was curious what other pet parents’ experiences are like? I always thought the majority of dogs were on a mission, but may be wrong.

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I have two dogs & Maggie is my "mission walker":D She loves to
walk anywhere, just to be moving & checking out new places.:D
My other dog, Smokey is more like your pup. He prefers to walk
the same route everytime & new stuff makes him stop in his
tracks also. But, you're right in that slowly venturing into new
trails with lots of praise & an unhurried attitude works wonders.

It is a slow & trying process, because of their different personalities.:)

Pepper stops to sniff everything. Autumn heels good. She will occasionally stop to smell and leave a pee-mail. Mostly she is excited but careful not to pull because she knows we will go by her friends' houses and stop to play. I also teach them to sit a every corner until I say we can cross.