# My 18 week puppy doesn't enjoy walks



## liljaker

Hmmm, that's still pretty young -- so maybe spend more time interacting with him, playing with him, toys, etc., and letting him explore in the house or maybe in the yard? Maybe he is more comfortable exploring around your house at this point, and maybe he is just not ready for the long walks yet. Just a guess? Maybe just taking him out to potty and spending the other as "quality time" -- just bonding with him and one on one? Just an idea.


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## Clarrity

Thank you for your reply Liljaker.

He seems very settled at home but I guess I have no idea how he's feeling so far. We spend a lot of time playing and training (he's a smart cookie!) everyday but I'm worried that he's not getting enough exercise. Hes not anxious when we walk but more bored i think, i could be wrong though. But you might be right I might walk him later on.

Do you know when I should start again?


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## liljaker

There may be others who have opinions, too, but I would just say play it by ear. Still walk him, of course, but maybe it is a boring walk? Do you live in the country, or the city? Are there things along the walk for him to explore, or is it just barren?


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## Clarrity

liljaker said:


> There may be others who have opinions, too, but I would just say play it by ear. Still walk him, of course, but maybe it is a boring walk? Do you live in the country, or the city? Are there things along the walk for him to explore, or is it just barren?


I live in the suburbs but I usually end the walk at a secluded forested park I found on my walks. I let him off lead so he can explore a bit but he's mostly happy by my side. So I guess it's interesting enough for him. 

I'll continue walking him but I think I'll leave it for the afternoons and just have a play with him in the morning.

Thank you for your advice


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## liljaker

I am sure by morning others with post, too. You will get more input. I have never heard of a pup who reacted that way, so was just trying to remember how my pups were at that age, that's all.


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## fjm

It's possible he is going through a fear phase, and prefers to stick close to safety - but if he has always been this way that is less likely. Could something have startled him when he was little - a big noisy truck, or a barking dog, or someone with an umbrella - pups find many things scary! I would work on confidence building with him when out and about - keep a close eye on his body language, and look for the things he enjoys, and the things that worry him. They may not be immediately obvious - I walked into a shop with Sophy recently, and she balked - Sophy, who isn't afraid of anything! When I considered the world from her point of view, I realised the goods were displayed on mirrror cubes - there were dozens of replica papillons staring at her from every side!

Perhaps he needs encouraging to have fun. For mine, the sniffing and peeing is all part of it - it is their walk, and I let them choose. And if it is getting a bit dull, a silly game of chase, or hide and seek around a tree, or just changing pace and direction, can liven things up. 

But don't worry too much - lots of pups on here have gone through this stage, and then decided walks are wonderful. As long as he is not scared, and not reactive, I am sure he will come round in time.


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## Arborgale

Do you have kids, spouse or significant other in the house while you are on your walk? Rosie used to not want to go because the kids were still in the house, or my husband was home. I think she just wanted the whole pack together. 

She, like your pup, also knows when we turn onto our street and she is bound and determined to get me home fast. She knows we play a good game of ball after the walk and she gets to plow through the leaves alongside our long driveway. What fun!

Do you bring treats with you on the walk? Or maybe a favorite toy? We do some training on our walks before her breakfast so she's hungry. She loves it when cheese falls from the sky. This always keeps her attention. She even stops sometimes for white bird poo spots, because it looks a little like her piece of string cheese. 

You are lucky to have a pup so into you that he stays by your side. I would not worry too much about him not being excited about a walk. A good, long romp in the yard is fun exercise too. I agree with you that you should do at least 1 walk just so he does not become afraid of leaving the yard.


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## Clarrity

fjm said:


> Perhaps he needs encouraging to have fun. For mine, the sniffing and peeing is all part of it - it is their walk, and I let them choose. And if it is getting a bit dull, a silly game of chase, or hide and seek around a tree, or just changing pace and direction, can liven things up.
> 
> But don't worry too much - lots of pups on here have gone through this stage, and then decided walks are wonderful. As long as he is not scared, and not reactive, I am sure he will come round in time.


Thanks fjm.

He's not really afraid of trucks or anything, since we live near a main road he hears the sounds of trucks often, but he is afraid of people who try to approach him too quickly when they notice his cuteness (don't blame them!) and of dogs barking. 

He spends most of the walk looking at me, I look down at him and his eyes are right on my face. I'm thinking now that he wants attention or assurance while walking. But I think you are right about making it fun, I'll bring treats and a toy next time and reward him often.


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## Clarrity

Arborgale said:


> Do you have kids, spouse or significant other in the house while you are on your walk? Rosie used to not want to go because the kids were still in the house, or my husband was home. I think she just wanted the whole pack together.
> 
> She, like your pup, also knows when we turn onto our street and she is bound and determined to get me home fast. She knows we play a good game of ball after the walk and she gets to plow through the leaves alongside our long driveway. What fun!
> 
> Do you bring treats with you on the walk? Or maybe a favorite toy? We do some training on our walks before her breakfast so she's hungry. She loves it when cheese falls from the sky. This always keeps her attention. She even stops sometimes for white bird poo spots, because it looks a little like her piece of string cheese.
> 
> You are lucky to have a pup so into you that he stays by your side. I would not worry too much about him not being excited about a walk. A good, long romp in the yard is fun exercise too. I agree with you that you should do at least 1 walk just so he does not become afraid of leaving the yard.



Thanks for your reply 

No my husband is usually still at work in the afternoon but I will bring some treats and a toy next time and if he enjoys it more. I think i'm not making it interesting enough. 

I'll drop it down to once a day and see how that goes.

Thank you everyone for the advice!


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## Sawyersmomma

I didn't read the answers, so I'm not sure if its been mentioned, but recently I was told the mornings are good to do mental stimulation before you go for work. if you walk a puppy and it's not the perfect amount, you generally just end up with a more hyper dog. but if you do 10 minutes or so of training or some sort of mental stimulation, the dogs are normally pooped and have to have a nap, and they're also calmer because they haven't just had adrenalin rushing.


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## tortoise

Clarrity said:


> Hi everyone
> 
> My 18 week mpoo doesn't seem to enjoy his walks. I've been walking him nearly every day since 12 weeks and it seems like a bit of a chore to him.
> 
> he'll go limp right before we leave the yard but then he's usually fine. He is a naturally good walker, staying beside me, not sniffing or peeing on everything but I can tell that he'd rather be at home.
> 
> When we are on the path home he knows and then I see a shift in his mood and he seems happier. And then we get home and he gets really excited and runs all over the place like the walk took no energy from him at all.
> 
> I've been walking him in the morning before I go to work (20min) and then again when I get home(20min-40min), but I was wondering if I just walk him in the afternoon and play some fetch and have a play with him in the morning would be enough exercise for him?
> 
> I want him to be calmer before I leave for work and to spend a bit of time with him before I leave.


Take him to the vet to look for sources of pain like pano.


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## caroline429

I got Cali at around 18 weeks of age and her behaviour was exactly as you're describing your pup's. Cali hadn't been off the breeder's grounds much at all so she hadn't experienced cars, trucks, bicycles, kids, skateboards....you get the picture! 

Cali would walk beside me, head and tail up, very slowly as we were walking away from home and then, as we were heading back, she'd trot as fast as possible. No matter what route I took, she always knew when we were going towards home. Once I actually drove her to a new area to walk her and as soon as I went round the bottom of a circular trail that led back to my car, she trotted as fast as possible to get back to the car!

I sometimes watch Cesar Millan and although I don't agree with everything he says, I remembered him saying if the nose isn't engaged, the dog isn't relaxed. Even though Cali didn't look overtly anxious or scared, I noticed she never, ever sniffed at anything when we walked. I just kept walking her though, twice a day, every day, whether she looked like she was enjoying it or not. If she reacted to anything, I didn't make a big deal about it, just kept her moving. 

At around 6 1/2 months of age, everything changed for the better. She slowly started using her nose, occasionally sniffing at the grass, interesting looking rocks and twigs and the "greetings" left by other dogs. Every day, she'd sniff at things a little more. Then her pace changed and was more even throughout. She is now full-on in excitement the whole way and it's a struggle to get that nose up off the ground and get her focus on me! LOL She's very obviously enjoying the heck out of her walks now but for a while I despaired that she ever would.

I think Cesar was bang on about her behaviour. She was very tense on her walks for the first few months probably, in her case, because of lack of socialization. As soon as she started to relax, the first sign was her exploring her surroundings with her nose and now going for a walk is just about her favorite thing in the whole world.

It sounds like your pup is tense too although he's had more socialization than Cali had when I got her. Who knows why he feels that way but my advice, based on my experience with Cali, would be to just keep on calmly walking him and not stress over his lack of enjoyment. Hopefully he'll have an epiphany like Cali did. LOL

As for the amount of time I walked her, I read somewhere (maybe here in an old post) that a good formula for the length of a puppy's walk is 5 minutes for every month of age and then add five minutes more. That seemed to work well for Cali. She is now 8 months old and walks about 40 minutes in the morning and another 30 - 40 in the afternoon. She'd happily walk longer but there are days when I just don't have as much energy as she does!!


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## taem

My 6 month mini is the same way when it comes to walking on my street. She poops, and then starts balking and looking back toward my house. If I let her lead she pulls me back to my house or to a neighbor's house that has cats. If we can get in half a mile on our evening walk I'm happy, if I want her to walk more than that it's a lot of stop-n-go from having to coax her or give a tug on the leash.

Somewhere other than my street, including other streets, she's happy to walk forever.

She does much better if there's another dog along, so I usually try to walk with someone. Evidently my company alone isn't interesting enough. :|


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