Biting on leash

[lulu422]

I have a 10 week old standard schnauzer puppy. I am trying to train him with leash. At first, he would try to pull on the leash. Now, with the training, he is able to walk with me on leash with treats in my hand luring him. But he will still pull but not as often.

 

However, he always like to bite on the leash and get distracted instead of walking with me. He seems to like anything in linear shape. I also bought a tie out and a stake for him to play in the yard while I work in the garden. Our front yard doesn't have any fence. He will bite the wire, and run away which he would get jerked pretty hard due to the amount of shock the tie out created, then he would try to pull on it and get out of the vest/collar. I don't want him to hurt himself.

 

What should I do to stop him from biting the leash? Is there any tips and tricks for the puppy to get used to the tie out? I personally do not prefer to move the play pen in and out of the house. Please advise, thank you.

[Adrienne Farricelli]

Greetings, and welcome to the forum!

Biting the leash is a very common puppy behavior. You can see it as play behavior or frustration when the puppy dislikes the sensation of the leash or the leash stopping him from going where he would like. There are several strategies for tackling leash biting, here are a few ideas:

 

-Exercise: Make sure your puppy receives a sufficient amount of exercise during the day. Draining your dog's energy before going on walks may help take the edge off. Look for activities that provide a physical workout, such as a game of fetch or some play with a flirt pole.

-Provide Interactive toys and mental stimulation under the form of brain games. Let your dog use his brain in a clicker training session or try using food puzzles. Putting your dog's nose to work may be quite tiring, too, so a fun game of nose work can come in handy.

-Give some time to cool down. After providing exercise and mental stimulation, allow a bit of time for your dog to cool down and get into a calmer state of mind. Calmer leash walks start the moment you grab the leash and open the door. Walking an overexcited pup on a leash only reinforces the overly excited mindset, making the excitation stronger and more difficult to overcome. Ask your pup to sit to put on the leash and then start practicing the "open sesame" brain game. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/college/open-sesame/

-Divert With Treats: When you are on walks, you can divert your dog's attention by playing alternate games. The moment you notice your dog is about to bite the leash, divert his attention, and start tossing some treats on the ground; tell him to "find them!" This can be quite a fun game to play and rewarding if you use hard treats that he can chase around. After some time, start asking your dog to make eye contact before you toss the treats. Read the attention heeling section in the Dog Obedience section. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/heeling-attention-heeling/

-Divert with toys: a flirt pole can come handy here and if it has a squeaky toy at the end of it, this will make it more fun than the leash. Alternatively, a long tug toy may be helpful too.

-Avoid Pulling: Avoid pulling the leash out of your dog's mouth as this will only create enjoyable resistance. You can try the "Two Leash Method" suggested in the tips below.

 

Remember: Your puppy most likely bites the leash because it's a fun activity for him. In order to succeed in reducing this behavior, you will have to explore ways to make engaging games and activities extra rewarding so that he chooses these activities over playing tug with the leash.

 

Sometimes, you may need some extra help to allow your dog to make good choices. You may need to find ways to make biting the leash extra boring or perhaps no longer pleasant. The tools listed below are not quick fixes, and you will still have to train your dog appropriate behaviors.

 

More Tips:

 

-Slip a long piece of PVC pipe over the leash. Dogs do not like to bite hard textures

-Chain Attachment. Attach a lightweight piece of chain to the leash or use a chain leash. Dogs do not tend to like to bite metal.

-Attach the leash via harness (on the back ring). It's harder to reach a leash clipped to the back via harness.

-Let your dog carry objects (tennis ball, toy) while walking. This keeps the pups mouth busy.

-Two-leash method: Put two leashes on your pup's collar. When your dog grabs one leash, release it, and use the other (allowing the former to drag); this prevents the creation of tension which lures dogs to bite

 

Fortunately, as pups grow, they lose interest in the leash just as they lose interest in chasing their tails and biting legs and hands. Of course though, these puppy behaviors may persist if nothing is done or they are inadvertently reinforced.

 

I will tackle the tie-out question shortly in the next post.

Edited August 11, 2019 by Adrienne Farricelli

[Adrienne Farricelli]

I also bought a tie out and a stake for him to play in the yard while I work in the garden. Our front yard doesn't have any fence. He will bite the wire, and run away which he would get jerked pretty hard due to the amount of shock the tie out created, then he would try to pull on it and get out of the vest/collar. I don't want him to hurt himself.

 

What should I do to stop him from biting the leash? Is there any tips and tricks for the puppy to get used to the tie out? I personally do not prefer to move the play pen in and out of the house. Please advise, thank you.

 

Hi again, for the tie-out, this can be challenging. At this age, pups want to be with their owners and be involved in their activities. While with an older puppy or adult dog I may say try giving him a goodie like a a stuffed Kong to keep him occupied while you carry out your garden chores, with a pup at this age, chances are the pup may be too focused on you and even panicky to even want to eat. It may take some time to work up to the level of impulse control and training required for the pup to stay nicely put without batting an eye.

 

An idea that comes to mind is perhaps build him an actual containment, e.g. cattle panels from Tractor Supply are cheap and strong. However, your pup may dislike being contained and this may cause him to bark rather than pull. Another idea may be what's known as "umbilical cord training" basically you clip the leash (attached to your dog's harness) to your belt using a carabiner for hands-free tethering as you go about running errands in your home or yard.

 

If you want to work on getting your pup used to the tie-out this would require several baby steps with you sticking close by at first. Praise and reward for staying in the area without pulling as you take one step away. Keep stepping a bit away and then coming back to your pup to reward his calm behavior. Then move a bit farther away, come back and praise and reward for staying in the area once again without pulling. Gradually increase distance, but every now and then mix in closer distances so your pup doesn't feel increasing stress. If your pup shows signs of stress, this would mean you have raised criteria too quickly (going too far at a distance your pup isn't ready to deal with yet) so you need to work on closer distances. You may have to give your pup some long lasting goodies (stuffed Kong, or other interactive toy) for when you need to move away and spend some time at a farther distance, but you need to find a way that such goodie cannot be pushed away out of reach. Now, all this once again can be challenging in a pup this young who gives signs of distress when tied-out, especially if you have to go far and perhaps even out of sight so it may take several weeks to build up to the point of your pup remaining calm or at least without pulling.

 

There are also chances that your pup simply dislikes or fears the sensation of the cable applying pressure to the harness. This takes time to get used to, and is similar to the pup reacting to leash pressure and putting on the brakes. This is called "the opposition reflex" and is very natural. While it's easy to work on this on leash, on a tie-out it's more challenging.

Edited August 12, 2019 by Adrienne Farricelli