Why Your Dog Is a Nightmare to Walk (+ What to Do)
If your dog is a nightmare to walk, you’re not alone.
You know that feeling when your dog is dragging you down the road like you're both auditioning for a disaster movie? Yeah. Same. It's not fun...
At one point, I would’ve paid money just to not feel like I was dragging a ticking timebomb through the streets every morning.
And when you see other people out there casually strolling along with their "angel-dogs", it’s hard not to think: “Must be nice.”
But what if the walk isn’t the real problem?
What if it’s a combo of overstimulation, dysregulation, missing skills, and sneaky habits we’ve accidentally reinforced that’s keeping both of you stuck?
If walks are your personal hell right now, this one’s for you. Let’s flip the script and talk about the owner-side mistakes that often sneak under the radar and can quietly tank your progress and keep walks feeling like a fight.
These are five common mistakes I’ve made and see all the time, and what you can do instead to finally get a handle on things.
The Real Reason They’re So Hyped
Let’s talk dysregulation — the unsung villain of your daily walks.
When dogs are exposed to too many sights, sounds, and smells without the regulation skills to handle it, their nervous system basically goes:
“Nope. F*ck that. I’m out.”
They bark. Lunge. Ignore you. Act like a complete different dog. Not because they’re being “bad” — but because their brain is scrambled and on overload.
Signs of a dysregulated dog on a walk:
Can’t focus even in quiet spaces
Pulls like a freight train the second you step outside
Reacts fast and big — often without much warning
Constant scanning, panting, tension in the body
Easily startled or triggered by small things
If your dog is acting impulsively, "hyperactive", pulling constantly, or can’t focus at all…they might be in a state of sensory overload.
What to do instead:
Dial it back...
Start with low-stimulation environments and limit how much exposure they’re getting. Give them recovery days. Focus on decompression, not desensitisation.
A walk isn’t always the medicine. Sometimes it’s the trigger
Why You Can’t Train on a Dysregulated System
Your dog might be a nightmare to walk right now — not because they’re stubborn, disobedient, or out to ruin your day (even though it might feel like it at times)...but because they’re stuck in a loop of dysregulation. Too much input. Not enough coping skills. Zero space to think or recover.
That makes the walk harder for both of you — until you start to believe this chaos is just how it is.
But it’s not.
You can reset. You can rebuild.
If your dog’s too wired to walk, training won’t stick. They'll struggle to engage. They'll act out impulsively.
Start with my FREE 5 day Detox Protocol — it’s your step-by-step reset to help them calm down, recharge, and actually get in the right state to be ready to learn.
5 Mistakes That Might Be Making Things Worse (and How to Fix Them)
Mistake #1: Letting Your Dog Lead the Social Parade
Dogs who get to say hi to every single person or dog they see often become obsessed (some even dependant) with social interaction. That “friendly” behaviour starts slipping into arousal, frustration, impulsive behaviour or full-blown reactivity — especially when they don't get to what they want.
What to do instead:
Start off with developing a foundation of neutrality. No interaction. Teaching them they don't need to interact with every one and everything.
After that, if you so wish, build a "permission before interaction" habit.
It doesn’t have to mean never saying hi — it just means your dog checks in with you first. A quick sit, some eye contact, and then you decide if it’s a yes. All this can help build up your dog's impulse control skills.
You're helping them learn to pause, decompress, and make better choices even when they're hyped.
Mistake #2: Free-for-All Sniff Walks With No Boundaries
Sniffing = great ✅️
Frantic, overstimulated, snorting-like-a-vacuum sniffing = not so great ❌️
Too much unstructured exploration too soon can send sensitive, reactive or anxious dogs into sensory overload building unnecessary tension until something small tips them over.
What to do instead:
Use intentional structure.
I taught Jasper a simple boundary: stay slightly behind my left leg unless I say otherwise. It’s calm, predictable, and I loosen the rules when we’re in safe, chill spaces. After a while we loosened the the criteria and added more freedom.
Structured walking is not about control — it’s about safety, clarity, and regulation. Especially for dogs who lose their marbles near triggers.
Mistake #3: Letting Bad Habits Repeat
Here’s an honest but brutal truth: "what you allow, you teach/reinforce...what gets rehearsed gets repeated".
If your dog is pulling, lunging, barking — and keeps doing it? That’s what their brain thinks a walk is. That is what they believe is allowed.
The more a dog practises a behaviour the more prominent that behaviour path is going to be...
Think about it this way: if you caught a ball with your left hand all your life and I threw a ball at you, what hand would you catch it with? Your left...right? So when we allow our dogs to pull, lunge and jump up we strengthen that behaviour, making it the norm.
Our goal now is to start teaching our dog to catch the ball in their right hand, show them a different path that is actually more rewarding and gets them what they want quicker.
What to do instead:
Interrupt the loop.
If you have a dog that pulls, stop allowing them to pull. When they pull, stop. They will learn that pulling gets them nowhere. With the right mechanics you can develop this into leash manners.
If you have a dog that barks at every dog, person, bike and leaf. Build up engagement and learn to use that BEFORE your dog zones out allowing them to make a better choice.
If you have a dog that jumps up on people then only allow affection when the dog is sitting. If it is more of a case of excitement, only allow the dog interaction if it is calm (also make sure the interaction itself is calm).
Mistake #4: Zoning Out on Walks
This might be a bit of a tough band aid to pull off for some people but a huge contribution to why your dog is so distracted and wants to interact in the environment and ignore you is simply because you aren't present enough.
A lot of us walk like we’re just trying to get it over with. I’ve done it so many times, marching through the street while mentally writing a shopping list. A lot of people zone out when walking their dog: the lights are on but there's no one home. It's either that or our heads are constantly on a swivel and we don't have a chance to even engage with our dog.
The point is if you aren't present and engaged with your walk, why should you expect your dog to be? Imagine being stuck in an elevator with someone you have nothing in common with!
When we mentally check out, our dogs do too. Or worse, they check in with everything else. People. Squirrels. Trash bags that looked at them funny.
What to do instead:
Become a source of fun, be a centre of focus.
Yes I'm all about calmness and regulation on walks but making time for engagement and fun on every walk will do wonders for your relationship and walks.
Play treat-chase games. Mix in tricks. Reward engagement. Praise the good choices. Enjoy spending time together.
Your dog shouldn’t have to pick between you and the environment — they should know that walking with you is the best part of the day.
Mistake #5: Muddled Communication
If you’ve ever found yourself shouting “HEEL” on repeat while your dog launches into chaos, this one’s for you.
When our communication is unclear or inconsistent, it doesn’t just confuse our dogs, it actually fuels the chaos.
Unclear communication can lead to issues like hesitation, uncertainty, frustration, ignored cues, or your dog guessing what you want and getting it wrong — which can chip away at both trust and progress.
What to do instead:
Use clear, consistent markers, commands and rewards that your dog understands and finds reinforcing. Teach what you do want before correcting what you don’t.
Take the time to properly train what you need in low distracting and low stress environments before moving on to more difficult areas and focus on building engagement first.
It's all about creating a shared language.
Bonus - Mistake #6 - The Expectation Hangover
Sometimes when things feel like they're falling apart, take a sec to ask yourself:
“Am I expecting my dog to succeed in situations they’re not equipped for yet?”
"Will a walk make things better or worse right now?"
"Does my dog need decompression before (or after) the walk?"
Because if every walk is full of triggers, tension, chaos and your own stress, your dog feels that. And they can start reacting to the pattern itself — not just the environment and their triggers.
What to do instead:
Redefine success.
Maybe today’s win is a quiet walk around the car park instead of through the busy streets. Or five seconds of eye contact around distractions. Or simply avoiding a meltdown.
My Digital Dog Training Journal helps you track the wins that matter, reflect on what’s working, and spot patterns you’d otherwise miss.
Less second-guessing. More clarity, progress, and proof that you are moving forward.
Final Thoughts
It’s easy to blame your dog for chaos. But what if the meltdowns aren't just about them — it’s about how we’re showing up? The stressful situations we're putting them in unintentionally?
I made every single one of these mistakes with Jasper. Not because I didn’t care, but because I didn’t know better...
But once I shifted my approach? The whole relationship changed. And yours can too.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs): Nightmare Walks, Skipped Walks & What’s Actually Okay
Because they’re likely dysregulated, overwhelmed by stress, arousal, and frustration. When a dog’s nervous system is overloaded, walks stop being enjoyable and start feeling more like a minefield. It’s signs of a system that needs support.
Nope. If your dog is shutting down, panicking, or spiralling into chaos or reactivity, forcing them out will only reinforce stress. Walks aren’t mandatory. What’s mandatory is helping your dog feel safe, regulated and stable first.
Absolutely. In fact, for reactive or anxious dogs, skipping a walk can be the best thing you do all week. If they’re overstimulated, tired, or becoming dyregulated, a rest day gives their system a break — and lets the work you have done actually stick.
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