If your dog is stopping on walks, you may think your dog is being stubborn. Regardless of how you label your dog, it’s important to consider the reason behind the behavior.

Since dogs are excellent at hiding pain, sometimes stopping is an early/only symptom of pain or discomfort. On a pain scale of 0 (no pain) to 10 (worst pain of their life), dogs often don’t show pain symptoms, like limping or whining, until they’re at a pain level of 6 out of 10. This means that dogs are in a significant amount of pain by the time we're noticing something is wrong.

Sudden hot or cold days may also affect a dog’s desire to walk. If the weather has changed suddenly, your dog hasn’t been conditioned to tolerate the extreme high or low temperatures. On hot days, think forest bathing not sun bathing. On cold days, keep walks short.

Regardless of why your dog is stopping, I recommend ending the walk before your dog sploots on the sidewalk.