Our Thatcher is a 11 week old male Berner and we can not get him to walk on a leash. We have a harness for him and we have tried luring him with treats but he will just sit down and not budge. He likes to run and play but once we want to take him on a walk he is just impossible. We live in a large condo and have a courtyard to run him around in, but we want to be able to walk him around the community and he just doesn't want to participate. Anyone else have this problem? We know he is young but he is getting too big to be carried out and it takes so long to coax him out of the building that he ends up having accidents in the halls.

Hello,

First equipment:
While a harness is a good tool, and it's good to get them used to if you plan to do any drafting/carting work...a plain flat collar is a good thing to have as well and will be fine for normal walks. Also make sure you are using a six foot leash made of leather or nylon or cotton(something easy on your hands)...do not use a chain leash. Flexi-leads are okay for various purposes, but it's good to have a regular six foot lead for training too.

Is your puppy fighting the leash or is he being lazy?

Those are two different things. If he is fighting the leash try to acclimate him to the leash. A few things I like to do is to let the puppy drag the leash around the house (under super vision) and once he's used to that just pick up the leash lightly and follow him around for a while.

Since he's a puppy try to use positive things like play and treats to encourage him. This will help for both leash fighting and laziness...
Use an upbeat voice and toys or treats to entice him to come toward you...when he does give him the treat or play with him and using your happiest voice tell him what a good boy he is.

Also, I like to do some of my daily chores in the house with my puppy attached to my belt loop by his leash. Just move around doing the dishes or cleaning and he has to come along with you. Be upbeat when starting to get him to move and give good praise or the occasional treat too.

Just some tips that I've used with my Berner and with other dogs in the past...hope that helps...

Hello there, first, hopefully, the following is not the same as your puppy, but better to know the devil, right? We also had a Bernese pup that didn't like walking, and eventually found out she had OCD (Osteocondritis dissecans) a genetic condition that causes limping & joint troubles. She was same as what you describe....she didn't want to walk and would sit or lay down and refuse to move. She wasn't a bit shy or nervous, but she just didn't want to walk. When I asked about it at the puppy school, the trainer looked at me like I was crazy! If we were on trails in the woods, however, she would act like every other dog, excited and sniffing and running back and forth. Eventually, at about age 2, we learned our Berner has OCD, a fairly common genetic issue with Berners. It's a kind of arthritis of the elbow joints. Rapid growth in large puppies (too much protein in the food, puppy foods are bad for this) and also too much walking but free play is A-OK. Our Berner is the best dog ever, we cannot imagine life without her. But if your pup does have this OCD,you should find out now and either go back to your breeder or prepare for life with a dog with lots of joint issues. Email me if you need any further info. BTW, we have 2 Berners, including the one with OCD who is now 5 y.o. and she is the best dog ever, a great teacher for the younger berner, a sweet companion for our young grandson who adores her and really, the best dog ever on the face of the earth

I agree with Lucky-Liz. I too have a berner with joint issues. Storm was not leashed much, but he too did not want to walk. He would walk a little ways then just flop down and not move. I thought he was lazy.

He had surgery at 7 mnths and I seen him run for the first time after healing. He also walks very strange, he kind of hops with his front legs together, so walking on a leash prevents him from this movement.

Leash walking for storm now is rare because of the way he has to move.

He too is the greatest dog in the world and I would never have parted with him. We manage with his issues.

I want to start training my 6 month old dog Stanly. I want to start with the basics. But do not know where exactly to start from. Stanly does not really cooperate with me and has a major problem of not wanting to put on a lease, and there has been times when he ran off and did not come back when I called him and a person who lives in the same area reported what happened. Stanly is a bit aggressive as well.

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puppy training

Ollie was bit like this when younger. Some days he just did not want to go for a walk. So we didn't other days he would only walk a certain distance and want to come home so we did.

He has always been a bit this way we thought stubbornness lazy berner you do get them. I e-mailed his breeder and apparently his Grandmother was the same and the harder you tried to get her to move the more she dug her heels in.

Anyway Ollie is 41/2 now and at the beginning of December he became unwell trip to the out of hours vet school no problems with lameness etc., so injection and too see our vet during Thursday which we did and thought urine infection. Sent home with anti biotic and try to get urine sample easier said than done. He wasn't urinating.

Long story short by 6pm back legs collapsing and back to out of hours vet school where he was admitted and stayed for 10 days for all sorts of tests he did lose use of his back legs at some point.
Now on steroids and can now walk although still ataxic. (Severe rolling to the hips). No diagnosis as such possible sensory neuropathy nerves dying off..

Not wanting to alarm you but keep an eye I have been wanting to answer but trying to find the right way to put it over without alarming you too much. ( I Hope I haven't).

Your pup is probabaly finding the big wide world daunting. But never underestimate berners and their health problems. I am in the UK and have spoken to a well known bernese breeder and rescue co-ordinator and she said they are a hard and funny breed to own and they can be 99% up one day and then wallop down the next.

Enjoy you pup do not push him beyond his limit and as I said just watch him it is more than likely something and nothing.

[So you have a donkey also. My Elsie would only go about 50 feet and then sit. You could not budge her. So we taught he how to walk with us without the leash. Mind you this only works on a well behaved dog. when you say down the dog lies down and stays until you give the release word.
In reference to diseases: Elsie died at 4 yrs from PSS(portal shunt Syndrom) Kidney stones turn to bladder stones, decreased urination, panting, excessive weight. Unless you are witnessing the urination you probably won't realize there is a problem. Healthy dog -no blood test- Bladder gets bruized or stone cloggs tube medical emergency!!!! This is a congenital disease.
Next Lyme's disease: Can cause lameness, limping, Puppy doesnt want to go for a walk. Again unless there are symptoms you may not know until first Lymes test which is usually at or after 6 months.
So our children (the dog) needs to be checked when a symptom occurs. Dont put it off. Most problems can be fixed so that they can have happy healthy lives.

I hope this has cleared up for you, but I just wanted to let you know that Finn would flip himself into the grass and lie down every five minutes when I tried to walk him before he was 14 weeks old. As soon as he hit the 14 week mark, though, he started walking extremely well on the leash. Now he just trots along. He still doesn't have much endurance, but it's a complete transformation. I think it's pretty normal for young pups to "dig in their heels" and avoid going too far from home. So, there's no harm in getting things checked out, but there's no reason to expect the worst either. Happy walking!

Training the dog is the answer. You may enroll the dog into a dog class.

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Bernese Mountain dogs have a way of finding the people who need them, filling an emptiness we don't even know we have.