Leash biting issue

[RICO]

My 19week old GSD pup has a leash biting problem. Need some advice on how to break this behavior.

Everytime we put him on/off his leash, he insists on either carrying it in his mouth, or playing tug with it. I have been telling him no, drop it, and phyisically removing it from his mouth. None of that seems to be working, he just picks it right back up. I dont mind him carrying it, it's better than him trying to play tug of war with it, but I want him to stop all together. I dont want this behavior to be reinforced. I'm getting kind of irritated with it... anyone have any suggerstions for me? Thank you!

[TheVintageAngel]

My 4 month old GSD does this too! Looking forward to any advice. We used a chain style choker collar, not as a collar, but as an extension from her nylon collar to her nylon leash...because she doesn't want to bit the chain. It stopped the behavior, but I probably should have tried to teach her to stop the "right" way...what can I say, we were desperate...those leashes are expensive and she was shredding them even with her baby teeth.

[Rott-n-GSDs]

Bitter apple spray on the part of the leash he can reach usually does the trick. First, though, make sure your pup doesn't actually LIKE bitter apple, as is the case with a select few.

[PupperLove]

Walk the dog on a VERY short leash. My dog did this too when he was little. Walk the pup so there is virually no leash for them to grab. If they try and grab at it, tell them no, make them sit and calm down. And try walking again. Repeat as many times as you need. Eventually they will forget about the leash game and you should be able to go for a normal walk. It worked for us! Good luck!

What Im struggling with now though is that Jackson loves to carry something in his mouth on walks. So now he leaves the leash alone, but he stops dead in his tracks if he sees a stick on the road and picks it up. He has tripped me several times...lol!

[RICO]

He hasn't actuallly chewed through any of his leashes yet, but I'm sure it will happen if this habit doesn't stop. I haven't put him on a chain because I dont want it to damage his teeth, or hurt his mouth, seeing as he is teething at the moment. I tried putting him on a retractable leash and keeping my hand down right next to him and not give him anything to bite, but if he can't get to the leash, he will just bite me. I tell him no everytime, if he doesn't let it go, I remove it from his mouth, but he just picks it right back up. It's frustrating.Perhaps I will try the bitter apple spray. Haven't had any reason to use it with him yet, now seems like the right time...

I really appriciate all of your responses and advice!

[Lesley1905]

Brody used to do that too when he was just a baby. We kept him on a shorter leash as well. After a while he just stopped doing it. I think it's a "puppy must do" thing

[Rott-n-GSDs]

The problem is, if the puppy DOES get the leash in his mouth and you try to tug it out, it's just a reward. "Yay, a game!" That's why grabbing the leash needs to become an unrewarding behavior, and if it tastes awful, they're likely to spit it out and not try it too many more times.

[wyominggrandma]

What I did with Holly when she would grab the leash while we were walking was put her in a down. She drops on command, so every time she grabbed the leash,I had her go down. When she stopped we started walking again, if she grabbed the leash, down she went. Pretty soon she figured out that laying down every foot was not so fun and quit grabbing the leash so we could go on nice walks. Worked well for me.

[PaddyD]

Originally Posted by wyominggrandma

What I did with Holly when she would grab the leash while we were walking was put her in a down. She drops on command, so every time she grabbed the leash,I had her go down. When she stopped we started walking again, if she grabbed the leash, down she went. Pretty soon she figured out that laying down every foot was not so fun and quit grabbing the leash so we could go on nice walks. Worked well for me.

That ^^^ sounds like great advice. Anything that turns it from their game to your game to make it less fun. I usually let my dogs get away with it because they only did it for a short time at the beginning of the walk then became more interested in smelling EVERYTHING.... or peeing. The grabbing of the leash was just part of the excitement of the walk. As long as they walked I wasn't so concerned that they held the leash in their mouths. After all, it was THEIR walk, not mine.