My Slow Greyhound....

[Guest Mr_Owski]

This may just be one of those quirks with my dog, but......

 

I have two greys, and one of them, Whompus, is literally the slowest walker in the world. Even when I've had him stay with a friend who has 4 greys and they go on pack walks, the owner will tell me that my dog will literally be 6 feet behind them at the end of his leash.

 

I constantly am calling his name out on walks or giving his leash a light (not mean) tug. He'll pick up his speed and come alongside me just fine. Other times I may just give him a few playful pats on the butt, and he'll perk up and be ahead of me. Then about 50 feet later he'll just slag behind again. This has gone on for years. Normally this would not be an issue, but my other dog (although not a tugger) is always 6 feet in front of me keeping a normal pace.

 

The problem arises when Whompus will abruptly decide to pee or poop. I'll be walking and keeping an eye on the dog in front, then suddenly I'll end up tugging on Whompus' leash due to him stopping unbeknownst to me.

 

Is there anyone who's had a similar issue or knows perhaps how to encourage your dog to walk in front, not behind?

 

Thank you in advance.

[XTRAWLD]

How old is your pup? Kasey's slowdown was rather evident around age 10 and when I would walk a younger Ryder with him, I always had one way ahead and one way behind. The old man just couldn't keep up like he used to.

 

Also keep in mind your pup might be hurting which might be why he's walking slower. I would immediately look for corns. To be fair though, he might just be a slower paced dog so you will have to adjust accordingly and enjoy his pace.

[robinw]

Phoenix was like that, only he preferred to stop in the middle of the street so I could trip over him.

 

Some might say that nice treats would help, but he didn't care. I just kept my pace and tried not to give him the opportunity to slow down to a crawl.

[Roo]

Sounds just like my terrier! I've had her over a year and we take daily walks and I have yet to experience a pleasant walk with her next to or in front of me, not dragging as unhappily as possible behind me Drives me batty. (Mostly because she's a terrier and needs to walk, or else she goes batty )

 

In my case, I know she's probably hurting, but all our vets (we've seen, oh, 4 now?) have said that walks are good for her - she has an enlarged heart, a chronically dislocated shoulder, and arthritis in her hips. The walks help her stretch a little without the pain of intense exercise. Now if I could just convince her that the walks are good...

 

I have yet to come up with any way to get her to walk near me voluntarily. I'm lucky that she does all her business right at the beginning and won't do anything on the actual walk, so I wrap her leash around my waist and use a carabiner to secure the leash handle to the leash to my belt loop. Then I can just walk. When there's no give to the leash, she keeps up better. If I don't do this, she will walk as far behind me as her 5' leash and my own arm will allow - and it gets pretty painful to have your arm forcefully extended out behind you with the weight of a 20 pound unhappy terrier for a mile-long walk. Doesn't matter how fast or slow I walk - I can speed walk or I can snail walk and she's still at the very end of the leash.

 

Some might say that nice treats would help, but he didn't care. I just kept my pace and tried not to give him the opportunity to slow down to a crawl.

 

This is pretty much it. Just pick your pace and go!

[tuff]

I call Jujube the "anchor". She is OK the first 200 yards and is extremely excited to go for the walk. Then she proceeds to pretty much ruin every walk we go on. She only gets to go by herself and not with the other dogs. She has been this way from age 5 and she is now almost 11. Picking your pace and going doesn't work. It would pull the harness over her head

Maybe taking treats with you and treating for staying up with you would work, if food is motivating.

[brindlehound]

Joy can walk slowly when she wants to. She'll be 4 in May.

[Guest Mr_Owski]

Whompus is 7. Old age hasn't caught up with him yet. He still loves to run, and there are no signs of pain or distress. He whelps like a child at the slightest thing, so I'd know for sure if he were in discomfort.

Quite literally, he just likes to meander behind me on walks. I tend to compare him to Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh, although he gets zoomies on a regular basis

 

I've had him for just over 3 years now, so this is nothing super new with him. I just figured I'd finally ask the forum community if there are similar hounds that just go at their own slow pace on a leash.

[mansbestfriend]

"(Joy) can walk slowly when she wants to."

Hey you took the words out of my mouth (keyboard?). If my Max wants to walk more slowly, we walk more slowly. He may have sore feet, or arthritis is hurting, or whatever, or maybe just would like to walk slowly or have a rest. My more active KelpieX gets a walk separately, not every time but often.

 

Just a thought - greyhounds can sound-off at small things, but carry large amounts of pain silently.

Cheers

[GeorgeofNE]

Well if you've allowed him to do this for three years now, he assumes you're OK with it!

 

I never let my dog lag. I'm not out there for MY benefit, I'm out there so he can get some exercise, not crawl down the sidewalk at a snail's pace! I just use the horse noise (horse people know what I mean!) and give him a gentle tug and say, "Let's go!" and he'll start to trot for me.

[dante2zoe]

Paris was the most successful racer of my current three, is the youngest (3.5 years) and the slowest. The almost 12 YO with corns walks faster! I am constantly getting her to move along. I found that a shorter leash keeps her moving. I have a built-in traffic lead on the leash and will use that. However, I try not to make the entire walk a chore for either of us. She can be hard to motivate at the best of times and I don't want to make that worse.

[Ben]

My greyhound, Mr Fitz goes something like this:

1) Sees me get the harness - Super excited

2) Out the front door - stop

3) try walking this way then that way and eventually decides which direction he wants to go.

4) walk walk walk, stop

5) walk walk stop. Change direction 

And so on... Its like he doesn't want to walk the same route every day. I usually just let him show me which way he wants to go, but I also need to get back home somehow, which is when he slows down or stops again at random points.

 

[okslater]

Maeby is like this, whereas Badger is full steam ahead. I've found the only way to take them both out single handedly is to run with them, as then they go about the same pace. Otherwise I'm arms akimbo with one pulling in front and one dragging behind. 

[cleptogrey]

7 is old enough to be suffering from arthritic discomfort. complete physical with full joint manipulation and maybe a NASID to make him more comfortable. and how are his nails? long nails are painful to walk on. 

he now has established a habit but this sounds like discomfort to me. 

[2greyhoundMINI]

My 2 girls are polar opposite walkers....

Carmen is a power walker and pulls me along,
While Amelia walks slow and is usually lagging behind. To keep up Amelia usually trots the whole time.

Sometimes Amelia is just like nope, going my speed today, so I have one dog the length of the leash out in front, and the other the length of the leash behind.