Leash question again.....

[CherylHampton]

Hi, me again with more leash questions. You get so many on may not remember Shiloh and his biting whining snapping when trying to attach and disconnect his leash. I got him a harness to try and he's better with that part, he whines for a second but then sits and lets me hook him up. This harness has a front and back ring and I'm trying to decide which is best. He's still chewing the leash(even the chain one). Now he will walk some as long as he can carry the leash in his mouth but not great. He's not bad to pull (yet) but I see it coming. I have tried to get him to bring his chew toy but the leash is more desirable to him.back to the quest. Isthere and advantage to clipping the front vs. the back to guide him? He's about the same right now with either. I can't have him pulling me at all because my bones break easily and falling isn't an option😊

 

[Adrienne]

Hi Cheryl, I certainly remember the leash issues you were facing with Shiloh! I am glad that you are seeing some improvements with the harness. Make sure to keep creating positive associations with wearing it. I use a very systematic approach with this, often feeding a treat/kibble when I clip the two connection points as dogs seem to worry about this part. And then I give another treat/kibble when clipping on the leash-although with some fearful dogs, I keep the leash attached to it already so no need to further clip on the leash. 

I am surprised he still chews the leash even if it's made of chain. Is he really chewing the chain? Or is this a leash with some parts made out of a different material and he is somehow still getting to the non-metal parts? Also, does he chew it persistently or does he chew it and then stop after a bit? In other words, is he giving any signs of not liking to chew on it compared to the regular leash?

About the harness: what model do you have? There are many makes and models nowadays and they may all work a bit differently. Some harnesses are meant to be clipped on the back, some on the front, and then some offer to clip simultaneously to both back and front and often come with a double-ended leash. 

[CherylHampton]

The harness has an attachment with a ring at the front as well as on the back. There's also a very padded "grab" strip on the back in case you need to restrain  immediately for anyone other reason. Since my post, ive put the harness on several more times and he's been much better at sitting and letting me do it without much protest. The leash is actually chain with a leather hand hold. He gets it in his mouth and actually tries to chew it. Occasionally he will drop it and just walk but not for long periods. I noticed with the other leash as well as his chew toys he "works" them at the back of his mouth in a way that seems to soothe him. Its odd its a front to back movement rather than an actual "chomping" motion. He whines occasionally with his chew toys making me wonder if some of it isn't related to his teething. He's gotten soooo much better at not chewing at shoes(with feet in them). I think I can work with him on the leash issue just wondered if the front or back ring was better. He's going to be a puller once he acclimates to the leash so should I attach the front or back. I was actually entertaining the thought of attaching the leash first as you mentioned and may try it. He's learning fast with your program although I'm glad my to have to repeat reinforce the look into my eyes game. He looks in my eyes for looooong periods of time just not when I give him the cue I want him to. I will have to say he has excellent manners for a pup so young though. He's never once tried to jump up or get impatient when I'm preparing his food, or begging in any way when he sees me with food. He's such a gentleman. Ok stopping now cause I'm gushing, going to post on dog parks now lol!

 

 

[Adrienne]

That's for the details. OK, here's the thing: there are several models of harnesses on the market nowadays and some are meant to have a leash in front only, some only for the back and some for both front and back at the same time. The ones crafted for both front and back attachments like the Perfect Fit Harness, or Freedom harness often come with a double-ended leash meant to allow the leash to be simultaneously clipped to the front and back. 

Normally, I suggest to clip the leash to the front (or front and back) when dealing with a dog who pulls or we are concerned may pull-BUT in your case, with the leash right in the front of him, pretty much dangling in his face, biting the leash may be too much of a temptation. Indeed, for dogs who bite the leash, often dog trainers will suggest to use a harness and attach the leash to the back ring (so it's less tempting as it's out of the way), BUT-in this case, untrained dogs may feel more propense to pull because 1) it puts the dog more of in an "in front" position, and 2) it can encourage untrained dogs to throw their full body weight into pulling on the lead. If you watch huskies pulling sleds, indeed, you'll see how they wear harnesses hooked at the back so to allow more pulling power.

 So let's do some evaluations:

1) if we pick to place the chain leash on the back ring, there is a possibility we *may* have in part solved the leash biting because it's farther away from the dog's mouth (out of sight, out of mind) however, we may be a bit more disadvantaged in teaching a potentially strong and large dog not to pull, yet one may argue that training is the ultimate answer regardless of the tool used. After all, training, along with gentle guidance, patience and time is what ultimately stops pulling regardless of what gear is being used (I am a fan of training dogs to walk nicely without even wearing the leash and collar in the first place by practicing first at home, then moving to a safely fenced yard before then going on walks with gear on).  So this can be an option if we are absolutely really, really consistent in our training, and we always provide positive feedback for when the dog walks nicely and provide feedback when the dog pulls (by stopping asking dog to come back into heel position to resume walk, turning the opposite way)

2) if we pick to place the chain leash in the front ring, we have some more control because it decreases the effectiveness of pulling by turning the dog's body around. However, as mentioned with the leash right there this may increase the leash-biting so we need to consider that. 

3) If we use a double-ended leash, this makes it easier to maneuver the dog around as needed. In other words, the back attachment disperses the pull over the dog's entire body and therefore avoids excessive strain on one area of a dog's body which would be uncomfortable and the front-attachment converts any forward motion into an arc back towards the handler. This works best for very strong pullers and dog owners a bit at a disadvantage (large, powerful dog, with an owner that is petite, senior, disabled etc)

So.... in this case, we need to choose the lesser evil.

If your puppy is blank slate and doesn't pull yet, you can try to the back ring and see whether you can get the leash out of his mind which gives you the opportunity to get him to focus more on training. If the leash biting is temporary due to teething, it may just be a phase. However, if the training isn't very consistent or as he develops he starts learning to put his weight on it and you struggle to hold him because he's tempted by smells and meeting other dogs, you may be tempted to put the leash in the front ring, but here we risk that he may revert back to leash biting-which can turn particularly problematic since when a behavior resurfaces after some time, it tends to become more ingrained. However, if the chain leash is soothing to him now because he's teething (maybe he likes it because it feels cold for bit?), there are chances that after the teething stage is over it may no longer appeal to him and he'll be less propense to bite it-but we have no guarantees of this, it could be he may retain the positive associations with it and become the exception dog who happens to likes to bite on chain. 

If your puppy is already pulling or you are concerned about it, then you can place the leash on the front ring or both front and back and use a double-ended leash, and take advantage of the better control, but you'll have to find a way to stop the leash biting. Sometimes, pups who leash bite a lot in the home/yard, may start focusing less on it once outdoors as they focus on other things, but often though leash biting continues and may even start occurring as a way to "vent" from anxiety/frustration  and now we have a bigger problem if initially it was just part of play.

I am attaching a little cheat sheet I created a while back on ways to tackle leash biting, so you can see the various options and see if you have already tried most (please note that basket muzzles are only for severe cases, not you case) I am missing one option which is using taste deterrents  (like Bitter Apple Spray0 to spray on leashes, but there are too many dogs who seem to care less about them and it can be messy. There are some leashes made of steel cable, but they turned out to have not great reviews due to breaking apart (the handle mostly). I haven't included there also training which means distracting the pup by asking several steps of attention-heeling with a tasty treat at high level, that surpasses the leash in value (in other words, the treats attract the pup more than the biting the leash as dogs can't bite the leash and eat at the same time).. 

For teething your pup may enjoy cold things, like the frozen washrag trick you can read about here;

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/behavior-training/chewing/

There are also puppy teething rings and toys meant to be frozen. Some dog owners provide frozen fruit such as strawberries or bits of banana. The goal is too sooth those gums and also provide outlets for chewing so that leash is tempting. 

Hope this helps,

Best,

Adrienne