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Charlie my 4 year old Lab is an angel, tremendously well behaved and we've never had any problems with him.

He gets lots of walks every day, but the past few days he has started to gently refuse to go for a walk when my wife is in the house. When she is at work he is fine and when it's both of us he is fine too. So it is clearly a form of separation anxiety or someink. He just gently sits down and won't move. Every other aspect of his behaviour is fine and well behaved.

This is a pain mainly because I like to walk him first thing in the morning when my wife is getting ready for work.

I personally don't like bribing him with treats to come for the walk, but can't think of anything else. Walking him is very important to me, I think most problems I see with dogs other than this is caused by not enough exercise.

Any wisdom for me chaps?

Evilpie is your man ........

(http://sphotos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/480417_10150915074728175_496224110_n.jpg)

Problem temporarily solved. I made the missus make a big fuss of him before I took him out and he was no problem. Normally I take him out before she gets out of bed, so it seems he needs to know she is ok first.

Long term I'm not sure that's great, it could make him more needy.

Nice dog. Is that a rug it's lying on, or paul ho's dog?

Get the missus to take him for the walk, & have an extra half hour in bed.

Could be the dog feels responsible for (& higher ranked in your pack than) your wife.

If this is the case he'd feel worried leaving her.

Can be changed.

1. Get your wife to feed him, but to prepare his food in front of him, leave his dish on the counter and eat something (a biscuit, whatever) in front of the dog before putting the food down to him. The alphas eat first in a pack.
2. Don't make a fuss of him when either of you leave or get home (tough to do I know) - alphas come and go as they please, a beta will fawn over the alpha to show their loyalty when leaving or returning.
3. Have her give him a toy to play with, then take it away before he's finished playing.


If he's certain in his mind of his lowly position (below the humans in the pack) he'll be happy enough, but mixed signals cause anxiety.

BTW all shamelessly stolen from Jan Fennell's 'The Dog Whisperer' , it's really helped with a couple of problem dogs friends of mine have had.

Rod you legend, this does fit in with our family dynamic perfectly and I have had great pleasure in explaining to my wife she is 3rd in command

Not sure whether this appeals but, now that you have a better answer than I can offer, would you like to see the final part of the judging for the labradors at Cruft's this week?

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHS3r2qUBiI

Watched the staffy one yesterday.

Bazza, if you both take the dog out and then walk in different directions, who does he follow?

Good question. I'd guess me but we are going out in about 30 mins so I will test it out.

Ok but no calling or signalling to him, and make sure that one of you isnt going down his regular route whilst the other goes somewhere he doesn't usually go.

Start in the middle of a football field or something, and then do it again swapping directions.

Take the Mrs for a walk and leave the dog at home.

Alternatively just go for a walk on your own and leave him behind.

He'll soon get the message.

Saw the title and was gonna ask if you had tried Barry Neville.

He followed me, it was a bit of a no contest actually.

I would have thought that bribing him with treats temporarily isn't a bad thing as it will gradually associate you taking him for a walk when your girlfriend is still in the house as a great thing, and something he doesn't need to be upset about. I'm surprised her making a fuss of him solved the issue, as I assumed this would make him less inclined to leave and struggle even more with his separation anxiety.

Can we stop calling this separation anxiety please.

It clearly isn't that, he just doesn't want to go for a walk. If he had separation anxiety you'd have problems when you and the mrs left him alone.

If he hasn't got a problem being alone then what you have here is entirely different and most likely based on him wanting to have a try for your bitch while you nip out.

Just ignore him and continue to go for a walk as normal. Don't try to persuade him to come along or anything. Walk your usual route and if the opportunity arises, pet someone else's dog while you're out.

Make sure you give e him the chance to sniff your shoes and hands before you change or wash. He'll come around in no time.

I don't think it's a case of 'he just doesn't want to go for a walk' as Barry is saying it's only a problem when his other half is in the house.