[GoldenGrace]

Hello all

Our little girl has just started going out on walks now after completing all her jabs, which she's really enjoying! One problem is that when she realises she's on a leash, she'll go for it and just chew it like crazy. We've got her on a harness, so it's not around her neck which has improved things slightly. But even when we're outside in a new and exciting place she can get fixated on it and not let go. Trying to remove it from her mouth is not a fun experience either! She thinks it's a tug game, and starts growling, or goes for my hand instead It's slightly easier with a harness as we can at least attempt to pull her on her feet and sometimes it works, but then she'll see the lead again and start chewing.

We take treats with us and try and distract her that way, but you know what Golden's are like, once they've set their eyes on something they're not easily distracted! At least ours isn't :doh:

Anyway, wondered if anyone had any advice? I thought about spraying the lead with something yucky tasting, but I don't want to make her think her leash is something unpleasant?

 

[Vinnie's Mom]

I have the exact same problem. I'll tag along to this post and wait for suggestions.

 

[wmag]

I sprayed bitter apple on the leash.This was the only way I could get Kasey to stop chewing it! It didn't make her dislike the leash. She knew we were going outside when I got the leash and she was always excited.

 

[Otter]

Ours always seemed to do that as pups. They seem to grow out of it eventually.
When Pebbles (now about 6 months old) starts doing that, I ignore it completely and keep walking. She eventually realizes we are still walking and she isn't getting a response from me and stops.

I am far from an expert, but I think trying to take the leash from her mouth might seem like a game to her. And treats she might see as a reward for chewing the leash. I don't know.

Just try ignoring her and maybe picking up the pace just a little when she starts to chew the leash. Might be worth a try. Good luck.

 

[Claudia M]

How is she doing with the "leave it" and/or "drop it" commands? I use the command "Leave it". Rose started doing that about a week ago. I said "leave it", if she did not, I manually took the leash out of her mouth - not pull it (the pup may think you are starting a tug-a-war game session). Once the leash was out of her mouth I picked her up and went inside. After a couple minutes I gave her a command I knew she will like to do and gave her a treat. Went back outside. And repeated that over and over again until she understood that there is no fun pulling on the leash. She still does it some but responds better. She is 12 weeks old today.

 

[Ohiomom9977]

I'm having the same problem with my 12 week old pup here too.

 

[GoldenGrace]

Thanks everyone! I admit it's a relief to know I'm not alone. We've stocked up on bitter apple so I'll give that a spray on the leash and see how we go.

She does very well with 'leave it' and 'drop it', but when she gets hyper she can't hear us (or won't hear us!) Really hoping she'll grow out of it and learn to realise that outside is a lot more exciting than the leash!

 

[Vhuynh2]

I had one very embarrassing experience walking Molly on a busy street near the intersection when she was a baby. She got the zoomies on someone's yard (mulch used to really excite her). She was pulling me all over the place so I tried to end her zoomies session but she had all this energy that she just started jumping on me and tugging on the leash and would NOT stop. If I tried to walk she would stay put and tug in the opposite direction. People were staring at us from their cars. It was so bad I had to carry her home. I had never, ever seen her so crazy before and thank goodness it was a one time thing!!

I just wanted to add that on our next walk I did bitter apple the leash and Molly saw me do it. She really hates bitter apple so that may have helped.

 

[dezymond]

Maverick likes to carry his leash in his mouth, not necessarily chew on it, but he tends to make it look like he's walking me by doing so LOL! I usually let it be, he looks happy trotting along with it in his mouth, only thing I don't like about it is that he picks up the pace and I'm a pretty slow walker :doh:

He's still on his first leash/collar as he was the day I got him, which amazes me cause I thought it would have be destroyed by now for sure.

 

[HamsterHuey]

Maverick likes to carry his leash in his mouth, not necessarily chew on it, but he tends to make it look like he's walking me by doing so LOL! I usually let it be, he looks happy trotting along with it in his mouth, only thing I don't like about it is that he picks up the pace and I'm a pretty slow walker :doh:

He's still on his first leash/collar as he was the day I got him, which amazes me cause I thought it would have be destroyed by now for sure.

My 4 month old puppy also does this but I've been discouraging him even though both my wife and I think it is adorable. The reason is that I'm worried that at some point he is going to dart or lunge for something with the leash in his mouth and will end up getting his neck whipped around really hard. Every time he puts the leash in his mouth I just stop and wait. I don't pay him any attention (but I look at him from the corner of my eyes) and he whines for a bit. The moment he drops the leash from his mouth I say "Good Boy! Let's go" and start walking ahead.

It has worked really well and he knows to drop the leash immediately. He still does bite his leash and get excited on occasion when we are in our back yard because I sometimes play with him by running around, leash in hand, and that seems to be his way of trying to initiate play.

 

[Ohiomom9977]

Maverick likes to carry his leash in his mouth, not necessarily chew on it, but he tends to make it look like he's walking me by doing so LOL! I usually let it be, he looks happy trotting along with it in his mouth, only thing I don't like about it is that he picks up the pace and I'm a pretty slow walker :doh:

He's still on his first leash/collar as he was the day I got him, which amazes me cause I thought it would have be destroyed by now for sure.

Mine does this too and actually walks pretty well when doing it. My bigger problem is when he wants to play tug-o-war with his leash. I'm going to try the apple bitter and see how that goes.

 

[HamsterHuey]

Mine does this too and actually walks pretty well when doing it. My bigger problem is when he wants to play tug-o-war with his leash. I'm going to try the apple bitter and see how that goes.

They do walk really well when doing it. Firstly, their mouth has something in it, so they aren't interested in sniffing every single thing and are happy to keep trotting along, and secondly, if they pull, it acts like a gentle leader in that their head gets redirected backwards

 

[dezymond]

My 4 month old puppy also does this but I've been discouraging him even though both my wife and I think it is adorable. The reason is that I'm worried that at some point he is going to dart or lunge for something with the leash in his mouth and will end up getting his neck whipped around really hard. Every time he puts the leash in his mouth I just stop and wait. I don't pay him any attention (but I look at him from the corner of my eyes) and he whines for a bit. The moment he drops the leash from his mouth I say "Good Boy! Let's go" and start walking ahead.

It has worked really well and he knows to drop the leash immediately. He still does bite his leash and get excited on occasion when we are in our back yard because I sometimes play with him by running around, leash in hand, and that seems to be his way of trying to initiate play.

You bring up a great point. The odd thing is he only does it when we're heading towards home LOL!

I should discourage it though, thanks for the tip. That's crossed my mind at first, but since it's been so harmless I figure I'd let it slide, however he is getting much bigger now and could seriously do some damage. Luckily I walk him with a harness on so he won't be snapping his neck like that.

It's just so darn cute to watch him puppy trot with it in his mouth, he just looks so proud LOL

 

[Willow52]

When Hank was going through that phase, it helped to have him carry something in his mouth on walks. I kept a pile of sticks by the door and gave him one as we left of porch.

 

[Pixie]

No advices here, sorry for that but I am starting to have the same problem now! Pixie has never done it before, and now at 5 months she discovered how much fun it is!!!!
She only does it once we are home, before I remove it. So it is more like a toy to her... I try to give her something else to play with but doesn't always work... I would love to try the bitter apple, but nowhere to be found in here (North of France). I actually tried another dog repelent and she started to lick it :doh: Cayenne pepper didnt work with her either!!!

Any home made product I can use?

 

[GoldenGrace]

No advices here, sorry for that but I am starting to have the same problem now! Pixie has never done it before, and now at 5 months she discovered how much fun it is!!!!
She only does it once we are home, before I remove it. So it is more like a toy to her... I try to give her something else to play with but doesn't always work... I would love to try the bitter apple, but nowhere to be found in here (North of France). I actually tried another dog repelent and she started to lick it :doh: Cayenne pepper didnt work with her either!!!

Any home made product I can use?

We did find something else that our pup can't stand, and it's clove oil. You can get it in little bottles as an essential oil - it's cheap! Warning you though, it does smell! It's strong when you first apply it, but the scent does fade after a while (doggies can still taste it though!) We got some as a chew repellent and it worked wonders, especially on our feet! We're going to try applying to the leash later and see how that goes.

Grace was better last night though after the bitter apple was put on the leash! Small progress

 

[inge]

Tess used to do it, too. Liza not yet...However, my trainer suggested to put a little piece of chainlink between the collar and the leash. It worked wonders with Tess, because she hated the feel of the chain in her mouth. I took it out when she acted normal again after about a week.

 

[Graham_C]

So many familiar sounding stories, I guess all golden's have the same instincts and behaviours. Our wee man Barra also likes to mouth his lead and we have found success with using bitter apple spray, but living in Scotland in the wettest summer in 100 years it doesn't last long before it is washed off.

The other technique that I have found to work is to stop as soon as he takes the lead in his mouth, give him the sit command and then reward that with a treat. At the start of his walk it takes repeated stops and sits before he stops biting the lead, afterwards it is only when we turn back into the street to go home that he picks it up again and likes to direct me back to the house.

 

[Ohiomom9977]

The apple bitter did absolutely nothing for Charlie What's even more frustrating is he doesn't do this for my husband. As soon as we get to the bottom of the steps - sometimes before - he grabs the leash and tries to play tug-o-war with it. I've tapped him on the nose, told him no, tried ignoring him, sprayed the leash and yanked it out of his mouth. It's getting very frustrating as taking him out is no longer a positive experience because I'm constantly yelling at him about the leash! Any other suggestions for me???

 

[BriGuy]

The strategy that worked best for us was when Cookie took the leash in her mouth, drop the leash and step on it, turn your back and ignore. Wait until she sits, then treat. I believe that anything else like yelling or tugging it from her mouth is interpreted as "My human likes my new game! Yes! I will try to play this as often as possible!"

That first time waiting her out might seem like hours, but it does get better.