My dog has always had an issue of running away when It’s time for a walk, like it’s a game of chase, play bowing and wagging her tail. She started to avoid it even more because of her snowpants, and so I didn’t walk her for almost a week. Recently I’ve been working on waiting at the door for her and letting her come to me instead of chasing her, and it’s been working, as long as she didn’t wear the pants. About a week or two.
Yesterday was nice weather after 2 days of her requiring the pants, and she didn’t come to the door. She clearly very wanted to go out, but kept backing away and looked uncomfortable (I assume because she thought she would be wearing the pants) and I didn’t know if grabbing her and forcing her go to the door was a good idea, so I didn’t. I gave her some treats for getting close and then started doing something else because I needed to. I wasn’t able to bring her out that day (I’ve been beating myself up over it, don’t worry).
Today is -12°C before the windchill, so she will definitely need the pants. I have a feeling she will not want to go because of that, but I can’t avoid it. She doesn’t like the pants, but I can’t bring her out without them when it’s that cold.
What should I do? I feel like every choice is wrong. No pants=frostbite, pants=very unpleasant and forcing her to wear them, no walk=dog that’s had significantly less walks than she’s used to so she becomes visibly sad. And she doesn’t really like to play so I can’t replace walks with that.
I don’t know what to do, but I feel like a crappy owner who’s failing their dog.
submitted by /u/marlee_dood
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