Issues with walks
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I wanted to revisit this topic and see if I could get some input. Otis has been doing better on his walks, and has almost walked the whole way( about 45min-1 hour) without stopping one single time. Yesterday, a whole other story..he walked like normal and then STOP, he wouldn't budge..I could've pulled until his head popped of his shoulders (I didn't) and he still wouldn't have walked…then all of a sudden he took off, and ran to the point of pulling me almost to the gound, i.e loosing my balance...after a while he slowed down and we continued. He did this several more times and our 20 min walk ended up taking 45+ minutes, which is not a big deal persay, but it bothers me that something is worrying him that much outside. It was a little windy, but trust me at 90+ degrees (at 7:30pm), a little wind is a godsend..if you kow what I mean. I don't know what to do, should I keep on pushing him or should I let him "win" and not walk anymore that particular time? When I walk him and my son is in his stroller that is when he seems to walk the best, maybe he is "following" the pack, like Kanagan said. Another thing, he pants a lot while we are walking, because it is hot, right? But once we get home his panting stops as soon as he is in the door, unlike my other dogs that will keep on panting for a long time afterwards.
It almost seems typical of the breed. I have the same problem. Every now and then Kananga will do great outside. But recently he has had another episode where he is refusing to walk, even to go outside for his routinely bathroom trip. He will only walk a certain way and has a worried look on his face. Very odd. It's almost as if these dogs have a 6th sense and are getting worried about something we don't know.
The weird thing about panting with my B is that its rather inconsistent. I took home on 2 walks this past weekend. One on Saturday, one on Sunday. Both walks were identical in distance and time of day. The one on Saturday results in no panting. He didn't even act like that was much exercise. On Sunday it was a ton of panting and he was exhausted when we got back. I almost thought he wouldn't make it back. He kept looking for shade to stop in. Temperatures were similar both days and both days were sunny.
I'm starting to just accept the fact that Basenjis are too strange to try and figure out. :rolleyes:
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both our b's walk nicely when they want and then chase anything that moves when they want. some walks are NICE and some are not near at much fun at all. time of day doesnt seem to matter. when they get really excited about seeing a rabbit, squirrel, person, paper, opossem, turtle, bird,dog, etc they will pant and pull. then i tell them to leave it and stand still for a bit and they calm down. most of the time. :)
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My B walks on the cement, doesn't seem to mind it. It has been over 90 every day now, and will continue to be here in Florida, so that's good. She used to pull and strain all the time, no matter what she was walking on because of any little distraction. But since we got the Easy Walk Harness this is no longer a problem. If she sees something she wants to run after, she cannot do it, and gives up really quickly because she "gets" the fact she has no control. She pants on her walks because it is really hot, but also stops right away once she's in the house. Of course when she comes in she usually runs for the water bowl.
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I wonder if Pat might be correct about the hot pavement. It would stand to reason that if it was bothering his feet, he wouldn't want to walk. Also, then take off running so he is touching the ground less. Was he walking on the road or was he walking on dirt/grass beside the road when he was behaving that way? For me here in Maine, in the summer because of the hot pavement, the b-kids get walked really early in the morning and then when it is dark at night.
I also know in the summer that the humidity really affects Ruby and there have been times that when I walked her during the day (on the sand on the side of the road), I could walk her 1 mile from the house, but I would end up having to carry her back as she would just plop down. After carrying her a couple of times, I decided to only walk her at night in the summer.
Brando doesn't care about the humidity and so far Liyah doesn't seem to mind it…but it really gets to Ruby (maybe because she has a thicker coat).
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Thanks for responding y'all. First off, we do of course have roads made with the ever so common concrete/asphalt, however Otis will walk ( when it suits him to walk that is..) in the grass on my left side, so he does seek out grass as supposed to manmade materials to walk on..interesting. As far as cool down he is very good at cooling down fast, I guess tha is the african in him..lol. We do walk either in the early am, like 6 or so, or in the later evening, after 7 but it is still fairly warm out, but that is as good as it gets, I can't make it cooler. It agree with it seeming as if they have 6th sense or something, he acts as if something is coming to get him, but nothing is. Like yesterday, he was finally walking along fine, and then he stops to I guess check out the people who's house we were passing, out of nowhere he takes off and I swear if he didn't have a greyhound type collar on he would be gone by now, split seconds later a huge gust of wind comes and rustles the trees, kind of leary..it is almost as if he sensed that was about to happen..does that make sense? It didn't help that everybody had their sprinklers on yesterday, and as you all know, they all sound differently..that bothered him immensly.
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Forgot to mention, when I let them out in the back yard, in the heat of the day..our Schnorkie (schnauzer/yorkie glorified mutt) Luna loves the heat and can stay out all day if you let her, so essentially Otis wants to be out too, and he will lay himself down on the very hot concrete patio in the sun and sunbath..he doesn't even pant, it is amazing to me..
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My girl always have done that… laid on the hot concrete patio.... my boys never did... they would lay inside and watch the girls while camped out on the air conditioning vents...gggg
But that is still different then walking on hot pavement/concrete. Even things like sand/dirt get hot to the feet. Remember, dogs will sweat through their feet, that is why to cool them off you should stand them in water....
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Jaycee on Sunday was on the deck sleeping in the hot sun. However when we did class on Sunday my husband took his shoes off and was on the pavement with her to see if it was to hot. Trainer ask him if he had shoes Steve told sure do but if it is to hot for my feet its to hot for Jaycee.
Rita Jean
