Morning walking - created a monster!

[cherwalsh_99]

I have had my boy for three years. He has always been really well behaved and content. But we really never left the house with him much, just to drive to the dog park, so we had the idea that we should start trying to integrate him into our lives outside the home. The first step was taking him for morning walks. I work from home and travel occasionally usually a week at a time. So I started taking a morning break to walk him for about 20 minutes. It went well. Then one day I had a meeting during this time. This is when the whining and complaining started. We got into this pattern of him whining and pestering me, invasively, right next to me poking me with his nose and crying. I now refuse to take him out now until he has been laying down quietly for a solid 30 minutes, but my entire morning is spent now with him waiting, waiting, waiting. If I get up to get coffee or stretch he JUMPS up and runs to me, all excited, only to have me sit back down. I feel so bad. I want to walk him but my schedule is not such that I can do it the same time every day, and it’s starting to feel like I’m torturing him...and to be fair his whining is driving me nuts. Is it better to just not walk him at all?

[BatterseaBrindl]

My dogs also anticipate their early morning walkies!

However, they know ...and obey ...the words 'wait'  &  'go lie down'.   

'Wait' is the very first word I teach a new dog.  Not only is an important word to keep them safe  - from running out an open door / jumping out of the car ... but it also comes in handy inside the house!

When our walk time is delayed for some reason and they start getting wound up because we aren't getting ready  'right now', I just tell them to wait / go lie down.  And they do!

 

[rsieg]

Dogs are pattern creatures. Once they get something "on the schedule", they get upset if it does not occur, especially if it is something fun like a walk. Not sure your schedule, but if feasible maybe try to get into a schedule of walking him first thing in the morning, before starting work. That way you have a fixed time that is less likely to have a conflict, and once he has gone for his walk he may be more settled down afterward. Of course, there are always rainy days when you just have to deal with the dog sulking...

[Remolacha]

I agree, teaching “wait” is one of the most useful things you can do! If possible, can you deliberately walk at different times each day? Dogs are creatures of habit, but if you can get him to understand there will be a walk, but when you say so, he may settle down.

[cherwalsh_99]

Thanks guys! I can’t walk him consistently before the start of my workday b/c that is 6AM and most of the year it is dark. I will work on Wait & go lie down with him. He’s such a good boy so I’m glad to hear I didn’t mess him up too much. 

[HeyRunDog]

Even just a 10 minute walk at roughly the same time every day would satisfy him and would probably do you good giving you a break. Think of it as a hound break instead of a coffee break. 

[Bizeebee]

We were having this same issue, except with breakfast - which meant the whining would begin waaaay before our morning alarm!

Among a couple other strategies, we found that setting an alarm that goes off and means "time to eat!" was helpful because even though we can tell he's anticipating it, it's no longer the humans who are in control (and thus able to be manipulated by whining) of when mealtime is. And, since the alarm comes from the "magical" phone device, you can change it up to whenever suits you and he'll be waiting for the sound, not for you.

[Banjoman]

Providing he has somewhere to go out to the toilet first thing and isn’t desperate to get out, he should be able to learn that going for a walk is a “moveable feast”. I have dog walking friends who appear at my door around 9.00.a.m. on weekdays, weather permitting, and we all go for a walk but at weekends or when they are away on holiday I don’t keep strictly to that timing. My two know what my movements mean and often are ready to go for a walk before I am but another time they have sussed out that I am not taking them anywhere and they stay curled up on the settees. Just change the time that you go out, even if it is a short circuit around the streets for ten minutes and break him of the set time habit. As far as I am concerned my dogs have to fit in with my times and are quite adaptable.

[cleptogrey]

when you have a meeting can you possibly get up earlier and give him is walk? obviously he enjoys it very much.  dogs need their routines, exercise and family engagement. 

[cherwalsh_99]

Thank you all so much, again. To speak to other points/questions here

- I really prefer to not walk him in the dark or at first light.  We have swarms of neighborhood cats who are very active that time of day, making the walk much more challenging than him or I need. As I start work at 6AM a before-work walk is out of the question most of the year. 
- we have a large fenced yard so he’s not whining for a pee/poo. 
- I’ve been working on “go lie down” and “wait”, and varying the walk time. He has had some improvement. The truly invasive begging (crying an inch from me and poking me with his nose) has stopped!  :-)

Edited October 20, 2019 by cherwalsh_99