Hello everyone. Sorry to just launch straight into this forum with a question but what can I say I'm desperate. Hope it hasn't been covered before but can'y find how to search previous threads.

Anyway. I have a 15 week old Border Collie X King Charles Cavalier who just won't go for walks. He jumps up then will get my clothes in his jaw and cling on for dear life, whining all the time. If he does let go (or I remove him) he just keeps repeating the exercise. I don't think he's scared of the environment (he's fine around traffic, kids, other dogs etc) and once I turn around and walk towards home he will rush back towards the house quite happily so I don't think it's about being on the lead or anything. I don't understand it at all, I just assumed he would love walkies but he hates it!

My plan was always to walk him 4 times a day but he won't go very far at all so I'm worried he's not getting enough exercise yet. He's quite happy to run around and play indoors and doesn't whine at home. I thought I could build up the time/distance slowly to get him used to going out but he seems to be getting worse not better. I wish I could understand the problem but honestly I'm at a loss.

Does anyone know what is causing this or how I can get him walking? Any thoughts will be very much appreciated. Thanks for reading.

Very strange for a dog, to behave like this - especially when a ''walk'' is involved.

I really don't have a clue what to suggest though. Has he been provoked or scared, whenever out on a walk before?

When he jumps up, could he be trying to play ''tug-of-war''?

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Thanks for replying! I thought it was strange behaviour but as it's my first pup I'm never sure when he's just being a puppy and when I should be worried!

Nothing has ever happened on a walk to justify him being scared. No bad experiences with other people or dogs or anything. I don't think he's trying to play tug because he doesn't really try to play this at home (he's all about fetch games!) so I can't imagine why he would feel differently outside. Also I have tried taking a toy out on the walk to distract him when he gets anxious and he doesn't show any interest in tugging or retrieving the toy when out. Also he is literally ripping holes in my clothes when I'm trying to walk him so he's using a lot more force than he does when playing.

Does he run around when he's on walks, or is always leaded?

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He is kept on quite a short leash. I haven't let him off lead actually because he doesn't really have the 'come' command down yet, lol. He isn't reliable on the commands when there are so many distractions. I have tried jogging a bit with him but have the same problems. I don't have a fenced garden so he hasn't had much freedom outside yet unfortunately and didn't get to venture far until after all his jabs. As soon as I go back towards home he picks up the pace and pulls on the lead though, he'd run all the way home if he could.

we had a a bearded collie that hated walks, hed sometimes go so far then decide he didnt want to go any further and wouldnt even go back to the house, we had to carry him home. eventually we gave up, he had plenty of exercise playing in the largish garden and 4 kids to play with so we left him with out walks. we made sure he had at least 2 hours a day running around, chasing a ball, playing tug, and training to keep wear him out. he lived till he was 15 and half so we must of done siomething right.

we also fed him on a lowish energy diet just to make sure he didnt end up with too much energy, although being a beardie he never slowed down anyway

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dont know if this helps but i had a doberman who done the same and have before and since seen other pups and young uns do the same..i never had the option to get online at the time but try a google search or similar..turned out to mine that he was slightly nervous and found walkies playtime instead of a training type process..i would say its pretty natural for a young one..he did eventually grow out of it..

The same thing happened with me when we first started walking Holly.
She just wouldnt walk away from the home so i was finding that if i carried her away from the house then put her down a few streets later she would walk a bit but grab my trousers and chew but then keep stopping. But as soon as i started walking back to the house she would be walking...almost pulling me like she couldnt wait to get back into the house. I was very confused and it was a bit frustrating. I too posted on a forum..a different one to this about how i could help Holly. The advise i was given worked. So here goes.

Dont comfort puppy when he doesnt walk. Comforting reinforces the puppy that the behaviour hes doing is what you want.

Bring a toy out on the walk like a rope toy and encourage puppy to walk by dangling it in front of him to go forward. when he moves forward reward puppy by letting him have the toy for a minute. Then repeat Then start walking further and further untill you reward the puppy again with the toy. The toy works well with distracting him from grabbing your jeans/trousers etc. everytime he goes to grab your trousers offer the toy. This is not rewarding the puppy BUT distracting the pup. Showing him that the toy is better than your leg. It may take a while (it did with us) but soon your pup will want to go for walks. Keep walks short and frequent. 5 mins is plently for a young pup at one time. Too much excercise at that age can cause damage to their growing joints. build up length of walks as he grows. As hes a working breed keep his mind stimulated and make walks fun with toys. Some breeds require more than just a lead walk.

Che75

My 16 week old Border Collie, doesn't like walks either. However, I do know it's because he's a bit nervous of traffic. I practically have to drag him to our local fields, but once he's there where it's quiet and can play fetch, he's fine. When walking back home he's fine too, so although you might say he's not scared of traffic etc, I do know a lot of Collies don't like noise and all the things going on around them

. I'm a new dog owner too and I'm learning as I go along. If you can take him to puppy classes that would help. It has helped my puppy immensely, as what you don't want is for him to become unsociable around other dogs.

When I first took my GSD for a walk it was bloody murder. I got out of the gate with her and she sat down and refused to move. Eventually she grew out of it (she was used to traffic/people/kids too). It might just be a pup thing but if you're really worried about it why not try training/behavioural classes?

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