Dog suddenly refuses to walk

[Countrygirl18]

This is something that’s perplexing me a bit.
We have an 8 year old beagle and to be fair he is a couch potato but we have been working on weight loss and he was getting a daily walk that he seemed to enjoy.
Until recently, I’ll preface this by saying he had a full vet work up and physically (besides being overweight) he’s healthy.
I live in Florida so I tend to walk him in the evening and I don’t know if it’s because he also gets fed in the evening. Recently he’s been getting worse and worse about wanting to walk. It used to be he stopped halfway through and then wanted to run home.
Last night we made it about 10 steps out the door and he planted his feet until we turned around and then he ran inside.

How do I get a dog to lose weight that doesn’t want to walk anymore? I mean he literally plants his feet to the point of either I’m dragging him (which I won’t do) or we turn around and he runs inside.
This wasn’t a problem till like 2 weeks ago.

[Casey09]

It would be interesting to break up his routine a little and drive him somewhere to walk him and see if he does the same thing.
I would definitely mention this to the vet since it’s a new behavior. There may be something going on that they just can’t see.

[Willesdon]

I once dog-sat a dog and the owner provided 3 sides of care instructions, a complete timetable. At 11.15 she goes out to play with the rubber ring for 5 minutes and then she has half a biscuit, at 12.30 she goes out for a walk (always on the leash, always) and we go along the path to… That dog was borderline dangerous as she was growling and threatening if she didn’t like being asked to do something and had actually nipped the cleaning lady once so house cleaning happened around the dog. She hid behind doors if she saw the leash and had to be physically dragged outside for her walk. Within a couple of days the dog had a varied routine, went out in the car to somewhere safe to run around off the leash, was verbally disciplined by the cleaner so she moved on demand and, subsequently, the dog was embarrassingly enthusiastic every time she saw me, the falling on her back with her legs in the air thing. “Ah, unconditional love” says the owner. I held my tongue but thought “Nah, I’m pack boss”. Basic problem: dog was bored totally brainless and needed some stimulation and variety.

[Marla_100]

I’ve noticed dogs who suddenly don’t want to take walks usually have some form of pain.
Your beagle is about the right age to start having ortho problems especially if he’s overweight.

It’s tough to get them to slim down when they don’t want to exercise. Just like overweight people.
I’d probably get him some joint supplements like Cosequin Ds- which my dog eats readily- and see if he doesn’t feel better after a week or two.

[Sandysmom]

Beagles are prone to disc problems like dachshunds. This can come on suddenly. You might check this out. Do you walk him with a collar or harness? A bad disc in the neck is very painful.

[Lusoluv]

I would never force an obese, older dog to walk without first re-checking with the vet to rule out pain. However, the fact that he would stop halfway from home and then “run” back, would lead me to think he doesn’t WANT to walk vs. pain. If he stopped from pain, why would he “run” anywhere?? I could see him stopping and not moving from pain. Also, the refusal to walk wasn’t sudden. It took 2 weeks for him to figure out he gets to eat when he gets home! So the first time he put on the brakes, you gave in, went home and gave him his dinner? Then next time he stopped sooner and got to go eat again? Finally he barely gets out the door and same thing, so for this chow hound, you’ve unwittingly rewarded him that the sooner he goes home, the sooner he eats! #1) I wouldn’t walk him before meal time. Or if you do (and are assured he’s not ill), carry some of his dinner with you and give him a bite every so often. That’s an easy way to prove this point and convince him walking will be rewarded and going home won’t

[Countrygirl18]

He is walked in a collar.

I definitely don’t think this is a pain issue after today (plus he had a vet check like a month ago that went well)
I decided to see what would happen if I changed up the routine and since today was a cooler day I took him out in the afternoon.
He walked happily the whole time and didn’t put up any fuss at all.
Take him out in the evening, he wants to go right back in.
I prefer to walk in the evening because especially in the summer it’s much nicer so I wonder if there is way to stop this behavior

[Marla_100]

Feed him earlier like in the afternoon. Wait an hour or two before you walk him. Solved.

[SuzieQNutter]

Or walk him and feed him at the other end and not at home.

[punchy]

You could also try this: feed half his food in his dish, the other half take out and make him work for it. Set up food puzzles, doesn’t have to be fancy: a towel scrunched you with a few pieces of kibble he has to root around for. Leave a kibble trail down the hall. It will burn a couple calories and stimulate him and associate activity with reward.

[Countrygirl18]

I do have a feeder ball that’s meant to be pushed around. I should get that back out

[Sandysmom]

When you say evening, do you mean after dark? My coonhound is afraid of the dark. If I take him out after dark, he pees and comes right back in.

[Countrygirl18]

No, it’s right around/just before sunset time

[Mara]

I would think a pain issue would keep him from trying to run back to the house.

[Jenerationx]

I’d try switching up dinner time. Is he small enough to carry? If so, I would physically pick him up and carry him away from the house, no way I’d let him back in until it was on my time. Or just sit out there for the same amount of time I would walk, preferably moving if possible… start doing sit, down, up, heel, sit down, up heel, so that stopping is not the easy option. Of course that’s if physical issues are truly ruled out. Is eye sight an issue?

[Countrygirl18]

No, he’s about 35 pounds (needs to lose some)

I don’t think changing feeding can be done much, half the time I’m feeding and half the time my brother is feeding (after work) and it’s been this way for awhile.
Yes physically besides his weight he is 100% healthy.
I like the idea of making him work if he refuses to walk. It was raining all day so I took him out in the evening again and it was frustrating, we got halfway and I gave up because there was a lot of people and dogs around and as soon as we turned for home he was practically running again.

[Jenerationx]

Yeah, hard to mess with the feeding routine if it’s also your schedule. 35 lbs would be a heck of a carry weight. lol