Discouraged, my boy absolutely refuses to come inside after moving apartments

Advice/Help

He's 3 and a half years old, and I got him in 2023 from a rescue when he was estimated to be 5 months old. He was born on an Amish farm. The foster parents also told me that he had a huge issue with resisting on leash.

I recently moved apartments and my boy has become extremely more resilient to coming inside. It's been an issue at the previous apartment and I could mitigate it by being more consistent with the timings of walks and potties, but it's much, much worse now.

On walks and potty, he will pull and resist as soon as start to turn towards my apartment. Doesn't matter where or how far. High value treats don't seem to work because he will understand that we are heading in the direction of home thus make the decision to not go for the treat.

I've tried the threshold approach where I pay close attention to how aroused or stimulated he is and only do a command when he is below threshold. He seems to take advantage of this, sits or lays down, and I am stuck to not knowing what to do.

I've tried extremely high value treats, taking them regularly for walks and rewarding intermittently when he walks close by me, or listens to a command. But once he realized we're going back home or even start TURNING to go back, he pulls away with all his might.

I've also tried a harness and prong collar, but he pulls and resists still.

I play with him time to time inside, but I think the issue might be that he is extremely bored throughout the day and associates inside with boredom. But I'm not sure why he has been EXTRA resilient after the move. I'd guess he's not settled in and comfortable yet.

I work a remote job and live alone. My work is extremely busy so I can't stick to a consistent schedule for potty and walks. I do however stay mostly consistent with the total time he gets outside and how often he gets to go outside. Its the individual times of day that have to vary.

This schedule worked for the most part at my previous apartment (time of when each happens varies):

I take him out in the morning, walk about 15 minutes after.

Then in the afternoon, I take him out for another potty, and walk for an hour after he goes.

In the evening around 5, I take him out and walk him for an hour right after he goes

At my new apartment and more recently, I am quite literally stuck outside trying to figure out how to get back inside and it has become a problem with work.

I don't want to give up on him. But being honest with myself, my boy deserves to get his needs met and I don't think I'm able to do that anymore.

BUT, I want to ask here for advice. I want to make sure I'm doing or have done everything I can.

What am I doing wrong?

What can I do that I'm not doing?

Posted May 12, 2026, 6:28 AM UTC

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