[SeaMonster]

Puppy is leash biting and attacking the person at the other end of the leash like never before. Our walk last night was extremely frustrating. She was attacking me like I was another dog and ready to wrestle. She's 50 pounds now so there is nothing cute about this. people might think its a dog attack!

what we have already tried (nothing seems to work):

As soon as she enters this trance, pull out treats and do some basic commands.

Bring along a walking toy.

Walk faster or start running.

Stop walking turn back to dog.

Walk in a busy and non boring area.

Run and play fetch for 15 minutes before putting on leash.

Soak leash in bitter apple.

Use a chain link leash.

Please help!

 

[Ada's Mom]

Our puppy isn't quite as big as yours (4 months old/25 pounds)...but one thing we were told in puppy class is that a quick tug on the leash along with a command such as "leave it" is an appropriate way do a correction for that kind of bad behavior (if you have a nylon leash we were told it's ok to do the tug even if it's in their mouth).

We do this with Ada when she bites the leash/tries to wrestle with us. Sometimes it only takes a few tugs/commands for her to finally leave it (whether it be the leash or my pants), sometimes she can be so riled up it'll take 30 seconds for her to calm down but if we just consistently tug/"leave it" when she goes after the leash or us she does calm down eventually.

 

[OutWest]

I recently bought a pronged collar for Tucker just for walking. Not sure if that would help you or not, but he definitely behaves better with it on. If your puppy had a pronged collar on and started acting up, you could step on the leash (but not make it too short) and turn your back on him. That would work with Tucker. If it worked with your puppy, it would give you a chance to exercise her and for her to get used to walking "human style" with everyone being safe.

[T-man doesn't attack me, he is just very hard to handle. I have one artificial hip and and arthritis in the other and just can't take the risk of being pulled over. We're continuing to work with him on heeling and loose leash walking and hope to abandon the prong collar sometime in the future. He's 45 lbs.]

 

[aerolor]

Have you tried giving her something to carry. This works well for us and Bonnie was a monkey for playing about on the lead. She is 7 months old now and still plays about sometimes, but she will carry a bumper for a long time when we are out and now I think she regards carrying something as her job. She looks for an object to carry if we haven't got anything with us. It will get better in time and given a bit of maturity.

 

[baumgartml16]

OMG I so sypathize with you. We tried a walk last night and she never stopped jumping once. We stopped so many times, stood there for 5 minutes at at time...tried the training with treats...nothing! She was crazy!! She is clearly trying to play as she pulls the leash like she is playing tug.

I did hear that pulling the leash out of the mouth can make it more a game like in tug. If you win they want to play more and go back again.

We just did the bitter apple this morning and it stopped her for a few minutes but after she forgot about it she tried again and mainly jumped at us avoiding the leash. It is so frustrating!

 

[BriGuy]

Cookie used to do this. I tried many things before I started carrying around a tug toy on our walks. I could tell when she was about to get crazy and I'd stop the walk and play tug. Tug is a game that she is familiar with and will stop when I tell her. That is important.

The other thing I do if I don't have the tug toy is to drop the leash (while stepping on the end) and turn my back and ignore. You will feel silly, but this does work over time. When your dog settles down, you can give her attention again.

You could also try to see if there is a pattern. One thing I try to watch out for is things dangling in front of her face while walking. I realized that sometimes I'd have the end of the leash dangling in front of her and it would start a "game". Same thing with random things sticking out of my pockets, like paper towels or gloves.

She is much, much better about this now, but I've seen other goldens (always goldens too!) on our walks that are 3 years or older who are still doing this, so it is something that I try to work on.

Good luck!

 

[GinnyinPA]

One thing we tried with Ben when he was acting up on the leash was to shake a small tin full of pennies. It seemed to snap him out of his frenzy. A neighbor keeps throwing snuff cans on the road, so we picked up a couple and used them, but a Sucrets box or small tea box would work as well. Haven't needed to use it for a while, but it did work for us.

 

[Laurie]

Our guys aren't puppies any more but there are days they still think it's appropriate to pull us down the street!!! We simply put their backpacks on and all of sudden they're like different dogs.

Like some of the others have said, try giving Gracie job. You can buy a small backpack and try just that at first. After awhile, you can add a bit of weight. I just use a shoe or something...nothing heavy at her age.

Just another suggestion!!

 

[OutWest]

just remembered another lesson from our trainer...she said to practice the leash walking in the house (start in a hallway with all the doors closed) where it's not distracting...then in the back yard where it's a bit more distracting...and keep upping the distraction level until the dog is more tuned in to you...she thinks people just do the training every day in their homes so that the dog thinks its a game, etc.

 

[Witcheeyone]

I am living the same nightmare. All of a sudden Archie decided that he doesnt want to walk on the leash. He is 16 weeks old. He jumps up, bites the leash and gives his growl. I cant even take him on a walk. Even after about 20 corrections, in a 5 min walk. So i gave up