Charlie the 12 week old cocker, has decided he doesn't like going for walks on his lead.
I have always taken him on the garden for his business on his lead, while waiting for innoculations etc. This is fine with him.

His first few walks on the mean streets were fine, even if he did plonk his little butt on the floor and try not to be moved once or twice.
Now he hates 'walkies'. Fine on the garden on his lead still, but refuses to walk on the street.
How do I get him to enjoy his walks?

I may have taken him too far at times on his first walks, so maybe he doesn't want to go because of that. I realised after that he doesn't need to go for more than 10-15 minutes when I had him out for around 25-30, but he now will not budge.

I want him to learn to do business on walks though, not in the garden.

Hi! Is Charlie your first dog?

The outside world is a very scary place for a puppy, and drawing attention to themselves (by leaving their smell around) is potentially very dangerous. When he gets more confident about the world he'll get brave enough to do his business there. (But remember to always clean up after him!) Your garden should remain his primary toilet area.

At the moment he's too little for long walks - no more than 10 or 15 minutes a couple of times a day is plenty at the moment; at this age outings are for socialisation, not exercise, and will still involve a lot of carrying.

make walks fun! if you get excited and things he will to. how about arranging some walks with stooge dogs (well behaved friendly dogs who will be a good influence on him)? he will be more interested if there is another dog for a wee play and hopefully pick up some tips from them to :) its also good for his socialisation.

if your happy to post where you are you might get a few volunteers? or alternatively try and arrange it with dogs he likes from training class.

do you have a friend with an older dog he can learn from? That's how our lad began to enjoy his walks on a lead when he was that age--before that he hated the roads, hated the rain, anything different was scary---and why not? He'd only ever felt totally safe before. Going out in company was good fun for the humans too.

My pup hated the thought of going for a walk. He would hapily have his lead on and walk around the garden with me, but as soon as I went towards the front door he got frightened.

It was a case of very slowly letting him build his confidence up. To start with I would sit in the porch (with the door to the outside world shut), if pup came towards me I would chuck him a treat. I did this a few times a day until he would happily sit in the porch with me having treats. Then we progressed to sitting in the porch, pup with lead on and door open so he could get used to the sights & sounds from the safety of the porch. Next we would sit outside the front door, then at the bottom of front the garden (open-planned straight ontot he pavement next to the road) etc....

It really depends on your pup how he responds to being 'tempted' forward by treats, my pup couldn't be tempted forward with treats, it was as if that was too much presure for him, so I just gave him a treat & praise when he progressed in his own time.

Before I knew it he was very happy at the thought of going for a walk.

>I want him to learn to do business on walks though, not in the garden.

This is a tall order for a pup, as Jeangenie has explained. My dog is now 20 months old and it's very, very rare for him to do any buisiness on his walk, he really has to be bursting to go to do it. The usual routine is the moment he's back in the front door after a walk, he's straight out the back door to do his business in the garden!

> I want him to learn to do business on walks though, not in the garden.

I actually prefer mine to go in the garden first.  If they don't - one will perform quite soon after we start the walk which means I have to carry his poo with me for the whole route; the other will go several times, because he can't spare the time to stop and go properly in one place!!

I have a good bin system at home which saves me wasting poo bags and walks are so much more fun without being weighed down by extra packages... :)

As someone has already said, walks at this age are all about socialisation not exercise.  It may be worth making a note of all the things you want Charlie to experience and drive him there.  It gets him used to short journeys in the car and gives you a chance to go further afield to find the experiences he needs.  We used to go and sit on a bench in our nearest town, as it was near the Post Office we had lots of people stop to make a fuss of our pup which was very helpful for him before he went in the show ring.

One of our neighbours had a Westie who wouldn't walk so the hubby bent over and walked backwards tempting the pup with a treat . It took a couple of goes - and the pup didn't walk very far anyway !   Now he loves his walks .

> We used to go and sit on a bench in our nearest town, as it was near the Post Office we had lots of people stop to make a fuss of our pup

We do this too with our young ones. (We actually start before they have finished their vaccinations but carrying them). It's just amazing how many people will stop and say hello to your pup, it's so good for them and really builds up their confidence. If you are sitting on a bench you can have Charlie on your knee where he will feel safe, and he will probably start to enjoy himself while you are out and about. You can progress to lead walking again soon after.

Do you take Charlie to a training class? Apart from teaching him desirable behaviours, the whole experience of being in a different setting to home will do him good, and he will do some lead walking while there too.

Good luck with him, the puppy stage is a wonderful time but it passes very quickly.

> I want him to learn to do business on walks though, not in the garden

Why would you want that?  It is far more convenient if your dog goes at home out of preference as otherwise you often end up having to carry several bags of poo around, at least at home you can clear up at your leisure.

When we have our pups out for their first walks,we take it slowly and quietly for about 15min twice a day.
I like to take them on extending leads so they dont feel so retricted on a small lead.
You can walk and play with him and make it fun,but you are still in control.
Becareful with the extending lead if you plan road work,as they can easily get in the road with this lead if not drawn in quickly.
Im sure charlie will be waiting at the door for his walks before long.

This is our first puppy, yes.
I am going to take him to classes from next week, a friend of mine has his brother so we'll be going together.
I agree maybe the garden could be his main toilet area, I'll section a part off and take him there first then let him play in the rest.
He's been really good, sleeps brilliantly at night, only has the odd one or two accidents in the day which is forgiveable and so far today <touch wood> none.
If he walked properly and cut out the nipping and biting he'd be perfect! Even that is becoming less, as he begins to understand what 'no' means and is praised for chewing his own toys.

Thanks for all your advice so far.

I'm no expert by a long chalk, I've just got dogs, 6 of them. 4 of them I've had from pups, plus 1 from 6 months and 1 from 10 yrs.

I've never walked a 12wk old on a lead other than pottering around our garden and usually with the lead dragging behind young one so's they get used to it, and occasionally I'd hold the lead so they felt 'the pull'.

I do however from 12 wks after jabs take the young ones out on walks with the older ones, the young ones walk loose, no leads, this is of course in safe areas like fields and parks, this involves lots of picking up and carrying so as not to tire tiny legs, mind you my fave breed is relatively small so carrying is not too much of a problem. They learn that freedom is no big thing and don't go mad and run off, they learn to walk with the family or pack, they learn to meet other dogs, and they learn to behave.

I've found with all of my dogs that if we're going for a proper walk i.e. leads and no messing about we have to toilet first and that's in the garden.

If I were to walk a 12 week old pup on lead it would be a very short walk no more than 10 mins and in a very gentle surround, don't expect little one to perform on lead I mean crikes you've only just got the hang of this bowel thing and somebody wants you to do it to order :(
Give me the garden mate at least I know what I'm doing up there.

You'll be surprised how quickly they pick things up as long as you make allowances and have patience. 

And Guide Dogs, for instance,are expected to 'perform' at home first before going off territory.It's very difficult for a blind person to pick up after their dog, even if the dog eliminates on cue, so at home is definitely encouraged.

> And Guide Dogs, for instance,are expected to 'perform' at home first before going off territory

Very good point Jeangenie, I find with our dogs that we get better concentration for walking on lead if the toilet has taken place before we go for a proper walk, in fact they are no good on lead until they have toileted up the garden. Also the poo's are in my area and can only offend me :-D