Walking from house

Question
I have a male 18 week old Chihuahua who won't walk away from the house. I usually carry him until the house is out of sight to start the walk. He will sometimes stop and keep looking back. I try to remain positive and praise him for walking beside me. Once we get going he's fine but then when he realises he's going home his pace picks up and he's eager to get there. If I try to walk past, he won't. He is always excited to see and wear his harness. He travels in the car to go for a walk with no problem and will leave the house with my husband holding the lead and me walking in front.
I am at a loss how to overcome this. He is brilliant in every way but not a happy boy to walk from the house, can you help ?
I would be so grateful for any advice.
Thank you

Answer
Thanks for your question, Elizabeth. Puppies go through a couple of fear periods as they mature. This just may be a temporary thing. But it it's not, here's a suggestion:

I don't know what the front of your house is like, but I'm picturing a walkway from your front door to a sidewalk. If you have a glass door, let your puppy watch from inside as you go down the walkway and plant some really yummy tidbits of food (cheese, meat, liver treats, etc.) where the walkway meets the sidewalk.  Let him sniff these treats before you go out the door. If you don't have a glass door, have your husband stand with him outside the door on leash as you walk out to put them on the ground. Do this right before breakfast or dinner time, so he's hungry and very motivated to get the food. If he doesn't rush right down the walkway to get the treats, encourage him, but let him walk on his own 4 feet - don't carry him.

After you've had a couple of days of success with this, plant the treats while he's not watching you. If he's had enough practice, he should be racing down the walkway to get to the goodies.

Once he's moving out to the sidewalk, you can toss treats in front of him to get him moving in the right direction. Since he's probably a pretty tiny boy, he can get his meals this way.

Let me know if you have any questions or comments. I'd love to hear how this works out, so feel free to check back in with me!