So over the last week I have been experimenting with this.
I had him groomed so that I knew that his nails were not bothering him, I took him for a walk on his own, where he stopped once, but after that he was fine, it was about a 20 minute walk that he really enjoyed.
I took him either alone or with the others on cool mornings so that heat was not an issue, and he continued to stop, most of the time he seemed to want to go home, although when I turned around with him he headed away from the house, so maybe is wanting some new scenery, although we have lots of routes that we normally take. He seemed to do this more with the other dogs than alone, although they all get along amazingly well.
Yesterday was cool outside, we made it about 5 minutes from the house where he would not go any further, I turned around and he still would not move, he kept giving me the sad puppy dog eyes. I carried him for a bit and put him down and he seemed fine. I got him home, took him in the backyard on his own and had a very high energy game of fetch, he was tearing around the yard having a blast, so definitely no health issue that is visible.
The only thing I can think of is that he is now 6, and is becoming stubborn, he is the pack leader and likes to get his own way. I'll keep experimenting and see how it goes. |