Leash pulling and biting when taking treats

[lori.deese]

Bear is my 3 year old Chocolate Labrador. I’ve had him since he was 2 months old but have had very little success with training him. My biggest issues right now are loose leash walking (it’s more like dragging me across the yard) and using treats for training as he bites my fingers when taking the treat. I’m using a front clip harness which helps, but only a little. I’ve tried many things with very little success and don’t know what to do next. He is crate trained and house trained, but will sometimes pee in his crate first thing in the morning if he isn’t the first dog out in the morning (I have 10 dogs plus fosters for a rescue). I looked at the section on teaching heel, which is similar to what I’ve tried before. If I use treats he bites my hand and if I use a toy he ignores me. I need help!

 

[Adrienne]

Hi there!

Welcome to the forums!

 Bear is a cutie! A front-attachment harness works best when accompanied by training. As a tool on its own, it won't help much although works better than a regular buckle collar. Make sure to take baby steps and if possible, don't move to the yard until he has demonstrated understanding the exercise in the home practicing in the hallway. Initially it may feel like it takes forever to just go a few feet ahead, but as you progress, you should start seeing more and more stretches of walking with less pulling. 

For taking treats more gently, you can try the tips in this article. If your dog has an alligator mouth though, for the sake of safety wear gloves for this exercise until he develops a softer mouth!

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/train-dog-take-treats-gently/

With dogs with a softer mouth or as your dog gets better, you can then evolve to this exercise: 

Hod a treat between your thumb and index finger allowing it to protrude a bit. Insert it into your dog's mouth (he'll be surely opening his mouth as a god Lab he is) as you remind him to be "gentle" and release it only when he's barely pressing down on your hands. Of course, avoid this if he's still rough with his mouth or use gloves to protect yourself (in other words, use caution and don't make me responsible if he chomps off your hand!). WARNING: DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME.  Funny side note: With Einstein, when he was younger, I used to insert my fingers in his mouth while he was yawning just to test his inhibition. I survived that to tell the story and be able to type this, lol! 

As a side note, if you notice your dog taking treats roughly on walks, that's often an indication that he's over threshold so you will need to take some steps to set him up to be calmer by increasing distance from triggers  or exercising him prior to walks (lots of brain games, play in the yard, training)  Here's a read on threshold levels in dogs. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/threshold-levels/

Please let me know if you have any further questions!

Best,

Adrienne

 

[lori.deese]

A couple of questions—I’ve read these articles and tried all of that before. He still bites my hand (alligator mouth is a perfect description!). I read somewhere on here about using a long-handled spoon with peanut butter for him to lick off. Is that a good option for training “heel”?
Also, in our situation I have no choice but to walk him on leash outside. We have a dog run 50 feet from the house but the yard is not fenced. So while I’m still working on training by practicing indoors, what’s the best way to handle his walks to/from the dog run? I feel like he’s just practicing doing it wrong every time I take him out. 
 

Thanks for your help!

 

[Adrienne]

Hi Lori, 

Have you tried using leather gloves? 

The wooden spoon is used mostly for dogs who are small or puppies when it's hard for owners to bend down to give treats. Sometimes, we use it too for dogs who tend to nip feet as something to target to distract them. You can technically use it, but it may be unpractical smearing peanut butter or cream cheese on it repeatedly (especially when training heeling).

Another option may be tossing the treats rather than hand feeding. You can try starting with no leash in a hallway at home (and then outside on leash) doing the smacking sound with your treat at eye level and rewarding by tossing the treat every time your dog is besides you and looking at you, as I am doing in the first part of the video below (please excuse the low quality as this was an amatorial video for a client). This is just prep work (but notice how if we had a leash it would be mostly loose), we then add the leash and do the same in different areas with more distractions. If the dog is too distracted, that often means he's not ready for that level of distraction and we need to practice more, perhaps take some baby steps or increase the value of the treats. 

Other options:

Some dog trainers even spit treats (I am not a big fan of that and can't stomach mouthing dog treats, but maybe can be done with people foods that can be used as treats). I would worry though about certain dogs jumping near the face. 

Some dog owners have success using just plain kibble. Some dogs are less nippy with something that doesn't make them too enthusiastic and that they see every day.

 I know some of my colleagues using  Kraft's Easy Cheese or other branded “squeeze cheese” spread. Used in moderation, it  can help  as you just have to release a bit from the nozzle for your dog to lick. Use with caution if your dog is sensitive to dairy or fatty meals (ask your vet to play it safe).

I have used in nippy pup classes a product known as Petsafe Lickety Stik which is sort of a lollipop for dogs. It's a low-calorie option so it may work well. 

For the walks to the run, I would use the Premack Principle. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/premack-principle/ Basically, move forward only when your dog is next to you and the leash is loose. It may feel like just going there will take forever initially, but hold on. Use high reinforcement ratio, in other words, keep dropping treats (or whatever other treat delivery method you use) when he's by your side and looking at you to help keep that leash loose. If he pulls, stop and lure him back to your side and encourage once again to stick to your side while looking up at you. 

Please consider that when working on behaviors that have been rehearsed for years, it's all about baby steps. Results take some time to occur, but if we are persistent and patient, we will start seeing small glimpses of results that start gradually becoming more and more evident and then all the hard works will pay off. Hang in there. I know it may be difficult to work on these issues if you have many other dogs to care for, but if you can dedicate a few minutes every day on working on the most pressing issues, you will be able to start seeing results.

Keep me posted!

Best,

Adrienne

[lori.deese]

Thanks for the suggestions. I have tried gloves, dropping treats, all kinds of treats, etc.  I think I might try the Lickety Stik. I understand the Premack Principle but the problem is applying it on his first walk of the morning. He has to get outside to pee quickly so I think he was getting the idea that it’s okay to pull sometimes so was getting confused. In a couple of weeks we’re going to be able to fence in a small area outside the back door. So my plan is to take him there off leash for his morning potty break, then only let him go to the dog run if he walks nicely. If he continues to pull he goes back inside. This way I can reinforce the proper behavior every time he’s on the leash so hopefully he’ll figure it out quickly. 
 

[Adrienne]

For extra safety if he is a strong biter, I would suggest still wearing heavy duty leather gloves if you'll be trying the lickety stick just in case he misses or tries to grasp the whole thing. Another interesting option that comes to mind is the Manner's Minder which allows to deliver treats when you want it to from a distance using a remote. 

For the first walk in the morning perhaps you can try using a long line (those long leashes used for horses and often sold in tack stores, but now for dogs also online).This way your dog has more freedom to walk about and he'll associate that particular leash with going outside to potty and explore rather than the regular leash for polite leash walking. 

The fence idea for potty breaks sounds great!

When you get to the run, make sure then to reward with something tasty once in it if being in the run isn't something he looks forward to. 

 

[Calum Jones]

Great 🙂