My 3 year old male springer spaniel refuses to walk, why is this?

by Jack Grist
(Portsmouth, United Kingdom)

It's only came around in the last year or so, but for some reason, when it's time for a walk, he will go hide somewhere with one of his toys and become very aggressive, so much so he'll bark non stop until you get a fair distance away from him. It's very frustrating as if you have other things to do but you need to give him a walk. When you finally get him out the house, you could get half way up the street and he will stop and turn around. After this, he will only walk back the way he came, and almost drag me back torwards the house.

This isn't ALWAYS the case, but 80% of the time it is. Sometimes he might get a few blocks away from where we live, then he might stop, turn around, and will only walk back torwards the house. At first I thought it was because he was hot and didn't want to walk any further because he was either thirsty or tired, but then I remembered that he did the same thing when the wheather was cold.

It's the families dog, and I walk him often for my parents when they cannot do it if they are busy with work. If you could reply back with a response i'd be happy to try anything you might suggest. Thank you.