Let’s set the scene. Your puppy is now living with you. You are starting training and you know you need to introduce your puppy to loose leash walking and socialization, so you decide to do both on the same trip. But you quickly run into a problem. Your puppy makes it to the end of the driveway and plops down in a sit, refusing to move any farther. You try to encourage it forwards. It comes to you if you squat down, but as soon as you stand, is sits again. After a few moments of trying everything you can think of, you pull on the leash and your puppy takes a few hesitant steps before planting its belly to the ground and leaning backwards to get leverage and keep you from pulling it farther. At this point you are feeling frustrated, and you have no idea what you are going to do. You might even be thinking "How am I going to teach my puppy to walk on leash or be comfortable with people if it won't even leave the driveway?"
We Forget What They Don't Know
This problem of puppies refusing to go on walks is something that is more common than one might think. The biggest culprit of this situation is that we forget what puppies don't know. When a puppy comes home with its new family, it is most likely about eight weeks old. Puppies begin walking around three to four weeks of age, depending on the individual. This means that, when your puppy arrives home, it only has one month of experience outside its little nest with mom. In addition to that, even a puppy who has had socialization before going to its forever home has most likely only been on a couple car rides, in a couple different houses, maybe a trip to Home Depot, or only out on the farm it was born on. That is not much socialization. Your puppy doesn't know much about the world it had been born into.
Another thing to consider in addition to limited life experience is that puppies at eight weeks old are going through what is called a "fear period". This is a period where their brain is learning about what is safe and what is not safe in life. They often are much more vigilant of their surroundings and can be easily scared of new things, especially if they are introduced to those new things too fast. What they learn during this fear period can have a huge impact on their life and behavior going forwards, as it tend to stick with them into adulthood.
The Monsters Lurking Beyond The Driveway
If you measured ten to twenty inches tall and had nearly no life experience, how would you feel about the end of the driveway? Maybe it would go something like this. At the end of the driveway there are massive metal beasts that come careening around corners. There are strange people who may or may not suddenly grab hold of you and stick their face in yours, something you find quite disturbing. There are other dogs, some of whom seem as if they don't much care to say hello, despite your excitement to find a potential playmate who might help ease your current stress levels. But then you see other dogs are hyper and displaying so many stress signals you begin to wonder if there is something out there that you should fear. Other dogs are territorial and scary, especially since you are still learning about whether other dogs are good or bad. Kids might suddenly appear, screaming and waving at you. Then again, sometimes they don't. Smells and sounds that your person seems completely unaware of come from every which direction. Some are the same each time you go out, but sometimes there are new ones, scary ones. The unpredictability of what you might encounter beyond the end of the driveway is one of the most stressful things you have encountered since that time you started meeting people you might go live with and one of the kids imprisoned you in its lap.
You look at the world beyond the end of the driveway, knowing the monsters are lurking, but you know not where exactly, or when they might choose to present themselves. You wouldn't mind so much if you could simply watch and learn for a bit, but you have no choice. The person you are tied to keeps pulling on the thing it calls the "leash" and holding treats in your face. The first few times you saw the treat, you forgot about the scary world around you, until you realized you had accidently ventured into the "land beyond", into the territory of monsters. With your crazy new human, who you have not yet learned to trust, pulling on your leash in front of you and the safety of the house behind you, you are stuck. Your solution. I'll just sit here. Maybe if I sit here long enough, my person will get tired, and we will go back into the house where scary things don't lurk around every corner.
Leash Skills Start Easy
While we humans know how to deal with the "monsters" beyond the end of the driveway. We know that being pushed into something that scares us does not make the situation better. But for people it is still different. Take that road trip across the country that your friend wants you to go on. Even in that situation, you might wondered about safety. But, you have been in cars before, road trips are not all that different, so that helps. But in addition to that, by the time we are old enough to go on a road trip with a friend, we humans are hopefully aware of what might be a "monster" and how to stay away from it safely. Puppies on the other hand, do not have that knowledge.
With puppies, we need to remember what they don't know. We needed to remember that the world we have experience in, they have very little experience in. In response to that, we need to give them time to learn and adjust. Learning leash skills should not be mixed with socialization. You do have to have your puppy on leash when it is out and about, which is why it is important that your puppy learn to be comfortable with the leash, but when your puppy is young, you need to start leash skills in a setting where they can focus such as in the house or in your backyard. Make it easy for them to succeed, then, after they know how things work, take that training with you when you take your puppy on outings for socialization. Your puppy needs to at least be comfortable with the leash before you take it out in public for socialization.
Socialization Starts Slow
While you puppy learns about the leash, socialization can still take place. Socialization is not just about meeting new people and dogs. It is much more than that. When I see a puppy who will not leave the drive way, that is more often than not, a socialization problem, not a leash problem. Socialization needs to include more than just meeting people. It needs to include giving your puppy time to sit and observe. It needs to include building trust between you and your puppy, which includes letting your puppy leave an environment when it is too stressed or simply needs a break. Puppies learn fast, but if we force them into situations that scare them, they will learn, very quickly, that many things we need them to like (such as a walk) are scary and should be avoided. Many leash skills and potty-training problems can arise simply from a dog who has learned that walks are stressful and scary, but they will be forced to go on them anyways. So, start leash skills in the house or your backyard, and start socialization slowly, at your puppy's pace. If your puppy decides to simply watch the world go by, sit down in the front yard with your puppy in a place it feels safe, grab some treats or maybe a toy and just sit and enjoy life right there.
Closing Thoughts
Gradually introduce your puppy to the big world it lives in. This world can be a bit of a scary place at times, even for us. Some of us might even know what it is like to have monsters at the end of the driveway. Whatever the situation is, your puppy needs to learn how to cope with the monsters at the end of the driveway before it can cope with monsters elsewhere. While working with your puppy, keep in mind these two tips. Tip 1: Help your puppy learn, first and foremost, that it can trust you and you will not force it into something it is not ready for. Tip 2: Take your time and remember what your puppy doesn't know.
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