# 9 month old jumping and biting hard on walks!



## Tagrenine (Aug 20, 2019)

Does your boy have a "touch command"? Ie, you hold out your palm and he touches it with his nose? Sometimes it can be helpful to "put their brain back" for lack of better term when they get excited. I would consider immediately practicing a touch exercise if you can  I'm sure other members will chime in with their advice


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## Ffcmm (May 4, 2016)

maybe you can try making him sit longer? it seems like 1 minute isn't doing the trick if he goes right back at it ( he hasn't snapped out of the energy bubble yet). If not you can do a mild correction and firmly tug on the leash upwards as you ask him to sit,


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## goldenmomma19 (Jan 27, 2020)

Tagrenine said:


> Does your boy have a "touch command"? Ie, you hold out your palm and he touches it with his nose? Sometimes it can be helpful to "put their brain back" for lack of better term when they get excited. I would consider immediately practicing a touch exercise if you can  I'm sure other members will chime in with their advice


No, I've never heard of that. I will certainly try it. Thanks


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## Cjm (Oct 26, 2018)

My male used to this too. I could never tell if he was upset because the walk was done or what his issue was. Sometimes giving commands would snap him out of it, sometimes I just had to stand there, ignoring him, waiting for it to pass. ( Do not wear nice clothes during this phase because holes happen! ) So annoying but entertainment for the neighbors. He did grow out of it eventually. Hang in there.


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## Montysmom (May 14, 2018)

Our boy did this also. It’s like zoomies. Something just takes over them and their brains go beserk. I have read it’s a way for them to release pent up energy. It’s not aggression. 
Try to hold him tight Step on the leash if you have to. I’d carry a favorite toy sometimes so I could do a redirect. We found sometimes an off leash run around was most helpful before a walk. They do outgrow this. But it can be very embarrassing . Monty did this especially after he had a bath, or after a rinse down coming from the beach. Good luck. He outgrew this by
15 mos. consistent training and exercise are really important.


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## SRW (Dec 21, 2018)

If you don't train obedience you won't have an obedient dog. Treat trades and timeouts WILL NOT WORK in correcting bad behavior.
There are countless obedience training resources available, here is one short video.


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## Cjm (Oct 26, 2018)

SRW said:


> If you don't train obedience you won't have an obedient dog. Treat trades and timeouts WILL NOT WORK in correcting bad behavior.
> There are countless obedience training resources available, here is one short video.


I don't agree. My male IS an obedient dog, but he had these outbursts. I don't not disagree that obedience training is important, but I do NOT agree that this is primarily a training issue.


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## SRW (Dec 21, 2018)

Cjm said:


> I do NOT agree that this is primarily a training issue.


What is it then?


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## Cjm (Oct 26, 2018)

SRW said:


> What is it then?


Not sure. I agree with the Montysmom. It's like zoomies. Why do they do that.? And if it was an obedience thing, I am not sure they would 'outgrow' the behavior without more training.


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## SRW (Dec 21, 2018)

Cjm said:


> It's like zoomies. Why do they do that.?


Because they are being disobedient, calling it "zoomies" is an excuse IMO.
The beautiful thing about training your own dog is, you get exactly what you deserve.


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## DblTrblGolden2 (Aug 22, 2018)

Moe is two today, but when we first went back to leash training (he was primarily trained off leash) he would act up by grabbing the leash and tugging it like a rope toy. I figured out he was bored and loosing focus. I found that when he did that if I would jog, also making him really pick up the pace, he would stop the bad behavior and regain focus. I would walk, jog, walk, jog. I also made sure I was changing direction frequently so he couldn’t anticipate our path. 

I think it may be an issue of not getting enough exercise and training. Does he get to run and burn off energy daily off leash?


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## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

SRW said:


> If you don't train obedience you won't have an obedient dog. Treat trades and timeouts WILL NOT WORK in correcting bad behavior.
> There are countless obedience training resources available, here is one short video.


I would also like to add that if what you are doing doesn't work, change strategies.


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## Obedience rocks (Feb 17, 2020)

goldenmomma19 said:


> Back with another question and looking for some help again. Our golden is 9 months old now. We take him on walks twice a day (usually) and go at least for a half hour. As soon as we're getting close to home he goes ballistic! Jumping on us, biting us and the leash. We have tried treats to correct it but I feel like this is more rewarding his behavior. We have tried taking a time out, making him sit and chill out for a minute but he just goes right back at it. I know these are highly energetic dogs. And require lots of excercise. We also take him to doggie daycare 3 days a week to burn off some energy. With the covid situation we cant take him to trainer so I am asking for some advice, please.


How hard of exercise is he getting? Dogs this age need a lot of hard exercise. If there is some way he can get some running in—fetch, if he is not trust worthy off leash, running inside enclosed area or on a 25, 50, or 100 foot long line, that would help. Also, incorporate some training into the walks to exercise his mind as well as his body.
That being said, it could just be a training issue. For jumping, pop the leash and tell him “off” FIRMLY. He is way too big to be jumping on you. If he still jumps, put your knee up and bump him in the chest. This usually works within a few times. Do not be afraid to be firm. For mouthing (and jumping), turn away and ignore him. Do not touch him, talk to him, look at him, at all. That is giving him attention for his behavior. If he still mouths, grab his muzzle firmly and tell him “no bite!” Keep holding until he is uncomfortable. Above all, be CONSISTENT. Be authoritative. He needs to know you are the boss. If he knows he can get away with it, he will just get worse and worse.
Don’t worry, your not the only one whose puppy was challenging at this age. Mine liked to play keep away, which can get pretty frustrating!  Just keep at it, and I know you can fix it!


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## Hjmiller (Jun 19, 2019)

We have a similar issue with Bodie! It is so, SO hard and frustrating. I've got bruises all up and down my arms. However, IT'S GETTING BETTER.

We brought in a trainer to observe/work with Bodie. The advice that she gave was not an instant fix but I can see it helping. Bodie seems to be triggered by big open grassy spaces -- he wants to play and doesn't know how to appropriately handle that reaction so starts jumping and biting (clamping down on my hands and arms). He gets lots of hard playtime with other dogs, we go on long walks, and do training sessions at home so he is tired, but sometimes he gets overwhelmed, overtired, or over excited. Our trainer told me to stand on his leash when this happens. He wears an EasyWalk harness that clips in the front, and I put my foot on his leash about five inches from the clip. I'm not pulling his chest down, he can stand comfortably, but he CAN'T jump. He'll sometimes wiggle and try a few times but he gets the message that we are not playing that game, and he can't get his teeth back onto me. After a few minutes he calms down and we can proceed.

Sometimes we have to repeat this a few times. If we're in a hurry, it's really hard because hustling him along absolutely makes it worse. So, patience is clearly really key here. We aren't all the way through this yet but I can kind of imagine a future where it is better. We'll get there!


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## MustLoveDogs&Cats (Dec 15, 2019)

Cjm said:


> My male used to this too. I could never tell if he was upset because the walk was done or what his issue was. Sometimes giving commands would snap him out of it, sometimes I just had to stand there, ignoring him, waiting for it to pass. ( Do not wear nice clothes during this phase because holes happen! ) So annoying but entertainment for the neighbors. He did grow out of it eventually. Hang in there.


I too would just stand there and calmly wait for mine to chill out. He always does but it could take 10 minutes. I let him know I wasn’t happy and I would not tug back. I just wait and ignore him as much as possible. The minute he lets go and begins to walk nicely I praise him and he starts to walk normally. Sometimes it begins again but I wait him out, lol.


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## the_real_george_forman (Jan 3, 2020)

Cjm said:


> My male used to this too. I could never tell if he was upset because the walk was done or what his issue was. Sometimes giving commands would snap him out of it, sometimes I just had to stand there, ignoring him, waiting for it to pass. ( Do not wear nice clothes during this phase because holes happen! ) So annoying but entertainment for the neighbors. He did grow out of it eventually. Hang in there.


Same. Our boy ruined SO many down coats and vests (we live in Chicago, ha). I also could never pinpoint an trigger...except I did try and keep an eye on his stimulation levels. If we said hi to a dog and then he wasn't allowed to play, or if we were in an open windy area, or if I yanked him away from too much bar food left on the street (weekend urban living...)...he would do it. Try and catch him for a short training session before he gets too stimulated. He did grow out of it, for the most part - he occasionally bites the leash and wants to play tug, but at least he doesn't bit us or our clothes anymore. He is 2.


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## CCoopz (Jun 2, 2020)

Hi, we had similar thing but our golden was a 17 month old rescue. We had a dog behaviourist come help. The behaviour was related to too much new stimuli and sometimes fear/anxious uncertainty reaction to that and other times over excitement and lack of previous training from his first home. He hadn’t been walked much before. 
Anyway trainer advised when behaviour happened to drop lead and stand on it so he can’t jump OR keep hold of lead but don’t pull on it let it go slack and turn our back on him saying NO firmly. Advice worked quite well. Then she taught us to notice the little warning signs the unwanted behaviour was about to happen and before it did redirect his attention by throwing small handful of treats on the ground. She said not to give him treats from hand but to thrown on floor as this is much more of a redirect for his brain. 
problem is sorted but I think a part of that is also him settling in, growing up and doing basic obedience work with him consistently and regularly (basic not agility or sport level).


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## goldenmomma19 (Jan 27, 2020)

DblTrblGolden2 said:


> Moe is two today, but when we first went back to leash training (he was primarily trained off leash) he would act up by grabbing the leash and tugging it like a rope toy. I figured out he was bored and loosing focus. I found that when he did that if I would jog, also making him really pick up the pace, he would stop the bad behavior and regain focus. I would walk, jog, walk, jog. I also made sure I was changing direction frequently so he couldn’t anticipate our path.
> 
> I think it may be an issue of not getting enough exercise and training. Does he get to run and burn off energy daily off leash?


So sorry, I didn't see people replied. He is now 13 months old and still doing it. I take him (off leash) walking trails in the morning when we wake up and play fetch and run before I got to work. He is still jumping and doing what I call "alligator snapping" at me. Even when he is off leash. So I'm assuming its him playing but it hurts! Not sure how to handle it. If I sit still/sit down he still comes at me and it is painful. If I try to redirect he will snap out if it eventually but it takes a while. I just don't know what's going on to provoke this behavior. He has so much energy, I could run him all day and he wouldn't miss a beat! Its exhausting, I feel like I'm raising another child.


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## nolefan (Nov 6, 2009)

goldenmomma19 said:


> So sorry, I didn't see people replied. He is now 13 months old and still doing it.


Well, you might try reading through all the replies and see if there's anything you haven't tried yet. You said that you can't take him to a trainer but I don't really understand this - find some one to give you some lessons outdoors. This is all about obedience. He has no respect for you and obedience work is the key. Switch to a martingale collar and shorter leash and be stern and use a deep gruff voice and say "EH-EH" when he does this and give a short, sharp pop on the leash in a downward direction to the side. If he continues jumping put the leash on the ground while still holding your end and then step on it, run it under your foot and pull up till he has no slack to jump. He needs to know that you are done playing. Practice every day in your driveway and then graduate to different places in your neighborhood when it's not busy. Bring treats to reward him for walking nicely on the leash. Find a trainer who will work with you outdoors, this behavior is unacceptable and it's time for it to stop before he accidentally injures someone.


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## DblTrblGolden2 (Aug 22, 2018)

nolefan said:


> Well, you might try reading through all the replies and see if there's anything you haven't tried yet. You said that you can't take him to a trainer but I don't really understand this - find some one to give you some lessons outdoors. This is all about obedience. He has no respect for you and obedience work is the key. Switch to a martingale collar and shorter leash and be stern and use a deep gruff voice and say "EH-EH" when he does this and give a short, sharp pop on the leash in a downward direction to the side. If he continues jumping put the leash on the ground while still holding your end and then step on it, run it under your foot and pull up till he has no slack to jump. He needs to know that you are done playing. Practice every day in your driveway and then graduate to different places in your neighborhood when it's not busy. Bring treats to reward him for walking nicely on the leash. Find a trainer who will work with you outdoors, this behavior is unacceptable and it's time for it to stop before he accidentally injures someone.


I 100% agree with this. It’s a training issue. Your allowing the behavior to be acceptable at this point. It will never stop on it’s own. You need to get serious about training. If you can’t go to a class hire a private trainer for a few sessions to get you started. Classes are currently going on. You can fix this yourself if you get serious about it. There are several good videos for basic obedience.

Imagine if he behaves this way when greeting a young child or elderly person. Not trying to be harsh but if it was me I’d be training 3-4 times a day everyday until it was fixed.


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## goldenmomma19 (Jan 27, 2020)

DblTrblGolden2 said:


> I 100% agree with this. It’s a training issue. Your allowing the behavior to be acceptable at this point. It will never stop on it’s own. You need to get serious about training. If you can’t go to a class hire a private trainer for a few sessions to get you started. Classes are currently going on. You can fix this yourself if you get serious about it. There are several good videos for basic obedience.
> 
> Imagine if he behaves this way when greeting a young child or elderly person. Not trying to be harsh but if it was me I’d be training 3-4 times a day everyday until it was fixed.





SRW said:


> Because they are being disobedient, calling it "zoomies" is an excuse IMO.
> The beautiful thing about training your own dog is, you get exactly what you deserve.


Really? Exactly what you deserve? What's that supposed to mean?


Hjmiller said:


> We have a similar issue with Bodie! It is so, SO hard and frustrating. I've got bruises all up and down my arms. However, IT'S GETTING BETTER.
> 
> We brought in a trainer to observe/work with Bodie. The advice that she gave was not an instant fix but I can see it helping. Bodie seems to be triggered by big open grassy spaces -- he wants to play and doesn't know how to appropriately handle that reaction so starts jumping and biting (clamping down on my hands and arms). He gets lots of hard playtime with other dogs, we go on long walks, and do training sessions at home so he is tired, but sometimes he gets overwhelmed, overtired, or over excited. Our trainer told me to stand on his leash when this happens. He wears an EasyWalk harness that clips in the front, and I put my foot on his leash about five inches from the clip. I'm not pulling his chest down, he can stand comfortably, but he CAN'T jump. He'll sometimes wiggle and try a few times but he gets the message that we are not playing that game, and he can't get his teeth back onto me. After a few minutes he calms down and we can proceed.
> 
> Sometimes we have to repeat this a few times. If we're in a hurry, it's really hard because hustling him along absolutely makes it worse. So, patience is clearly really key here. We aren't all the way through this yet but I can kind of imagine a future where it is better. We'll get there!


Thank you so much for this, I will definitely try it. I'm doing all the things you are as far as exercise. Its like he is the energizer bunny! We start seeing a trainer in a couple weeks.(everyone around me is pretty booked out). Hopefully it helps


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## goldenmomma19 (Jan 27, 2020)

nolefan said:


> Well, you might try reading through all the replies and see if there's anything you haven't tried yet. You said that you can't take him to a trainer but I don't really understand this - find some one to give you some lessons outdoors. This is all about obedience. He has no respect for you and obedience work is the key. Switch to a martingale collar and shorter leash and be stern and use a deep gruff voice and say "EH-EH" when he does this and give a short, sharp pop on the leash in a downward direction to the side. If he continues jumping put the leash on the ground while still holding your end and then step on it, run it under your foot and pull up till he has no slack to jump. He needs to know that you are done playing. Practice every day in your driveway and then graduate to different places in your neighborhood when it's not busy. Bring treats to reward him for walking nicely on the leash. Find a trainer who will work with you outdoors, this behavior is unacceptable and it's time for it to stop before he accidentally injures someone.


I said 5 MONTHS AGO that there were no trainers, with covid just ramping up. We are scheduled to start seeing a trainer. They are all booked out! Thanks


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## goldenmomma19 (Jan 27, 2020)

DblTrblGolden2 said:


> I 100% agree with this. It’s a training issue. Your allowing the behavior to be acceptable at this point. It will never stop on it’s own. You need to get serious about training. If you can’t go to a class hire a private trainer for a few sessions to get you started. Classes are currently going on. You can fix this yourself if you get serious about it. There are several good videos for basic obedience.
> 
> Imagine if he behaves this way when greeting a young child or elderly person. Not trying to be harsh but if it was me I’d be training 3-4 times a day everyday until it was fixed.


👌


SRW said:


> If you don't train obedience you won't have an obedient dog. Treat trades and timeouts WILL NOT WORK in correcting bad behavior.
> There are countless obedience training resources available, here is one short video.


No really? I have been training him. This is just something that he still does. Lots of dogs have that one quirk that they need help with. I'm sure you could have handled this much better!


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## SRW (Dec 21, 2018)

You have a high drive kind of Golden. That's a good thing IMO. You may have to reevaluate what you consider exercise.
In a typical training day Jake will run 7 to 10 retrieves. Some are thrown marks and some are blinds in both land and water, through cover, on steep terrain, etc. The distances are 100 to 500 yards and when I send he acts as if he wants to get there yesterday. We do this 5 or 6 days a week plus drills on land and water.

"Roading" with an ATV or bicycle is another way of burning off energy and keeping a dog in shape, swimming is even better.


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## the_real_george_forman (Jan 3, 2020)

goldenmomma19 said:


> So sorry, I didn't see people replied. He is now 13 months old and still doing it. I take him (off leash) walking trails in the morning when we wake up and play fetch and run before I got to work. He is still jumping and doing what I call "alligator snapping" at me. Even when he is off leash. So I'm assuming its him playing but it hurts! Not sure how to handle it. If I sit still/sit down he still comes at me and it is painful. If I try to redirect he will snap out if it eventually but it takes a while. I just don't know what's going on to provoke this behavior. He has so much energy, I could run him all day and he wouldn't miss a beat! Its exhausting, I feel like I'm raising another child.


My boy did it until he was about 15 months. Then he switched to interacting with the leash, not with me. Not good, but easier to handle! He still does it sometimes (today, we played on leash with another young golden and he displaced the play onto the leash when we left!) but the step on the leash/turn your back/ignore tactics actually work now. He wrestles with himself and the leash for a second and when he realizes I have disengaged he drops it and we continue.


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## the_real_george_forman (Jan 3, 2020)

MimiT said:


> My boy did it until he was about 15 months. Then he switched to interacting with the leash, not with me. Not good, but easier to handle! He still does it sometimes (today, we played on leash with another young golden and he displaced the play onto the leash when we left!) but the step on the leash/turn your back/ignore tactics actually work now. He wrestles with himself and the leash for a second and when he realizes I have disengaged he drops it and we continue.


oh and when he was in the thick of biting us/our clothes, when he was 6 months old...we kind of figured out that his first impulse when stimulated is to have something in his mouth. And not just to hold it, but to shred it. We gave him sticks (and sometimes still do) which I'm sure will get me crucified on here...but we watched to make sure he didn't ingest large chunks or splinters. Mostly he just wanted to chew. 
Not a great tactic...and yeah we should have worked harder on training (we did have him in puppy school, but then he broke his leg/was sedated, then he was too old but intact to go to classes. We had a trainer come to our neighborhood and observe him doing it, and she said to step on the leash and turn away. For a bigger person (I'm 5'2" and petite) I think that could have totally worked!


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## ceegee (Mar 26, 2015)

goldenmomma19 said:


> Back with another question and looking for some help again. Our golden is 9 months old now. We take him on walks twice a day (usually) and go at least for a half hour. As soon as we're getting close to home he goes ballistic! Jumping on us, biting us and the leash. We have tried treats to correct it but I feel like this is more rewarding his behavior. We have tried taking a time out, making him sit and chill out for a minute but he just goes right back at it. I know these are highly energetic dogs. And require lots of excercise. We also take him to doggie daycare 3 days a week to burn off some energy. With the covid situation we cant take him to trainer so I am asking for some advice, please.


I also agree with others that this is a training issue, and would make a couple of suggestions.

First, treats are for rewarding good behaviour, not for correcting bad behaviour. If your timing is even slightly off, you may actually have been rewarding his jumping and biting, and may inadvertently have taught him that this is what you want. So I would first suggest that you stop using treats in this situation.

Second, I would suggest changing the nature of your walks, and transforming them into mobile training sessions instead. Take the kibble from one of his meals, put it in your pocket, and use the walks to train heeling and loose-leash walking. Walk fast, change direction (u-turn) without warning him, and reward him with a piece of kibble when he catches up to you. Stop frequently for a short training session (sit-down-stand or down-sit-down, etc.), then reward with a piece of kibble. Change pace a lot: walk fast for a few paces, walk at normal speed for a few paces, jog for a few paces. Reward with a piece of kibble if he keeps up with you or looks up at you or is attentive. Keep changing direction (u-turn, reward when he catches up, another u-turn to go back in the same direction, reward, etc.). The unpredictability will make him focus on you and give him something to think about instead of biting. You should both be absolutely exhausted after half an hour or so. Be careful not to use the kibble as a lure. Keep it in your pocket until he's done something you want to reward, and feed it to him piece by piece. Increase the size of the reward (2 or 3 pieces) when he responds quickly or is especially attentive. You can feed one of his meals to him in this way.

If he bites or jumps at you, immediately stop walking, put him into a down-stay and stand on the leash so he can't get up. Don't reward. Stay still until he's calm, then start walking again at a fast pace, do a couple of u-turns and throw in a short training sequence. You need to be consistent with this, even if it means stopping every five yards.

The idea behind this is that the unpredictability of your behaviour will make you more interesting, and will get him to focus on you as a fun walking partner instead of you as a biting target. Right now he gets his fun by playing with other dogs at doggie daycare. That is fine, but it's doing nothing at all for your relationship with him - on the contrary, it's teaching him that other dogs are more fun than humans. He needs to learn that walks with his human can be fun too.

Dog training is a matter of repeating simple things thousands of times until they become ingrained. Best of luck, hope you find a solution.


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## goldenmomma19 (Jan 27, 2020)

MimiT said:


> oh and when he was in the thick of biting us/our clothes, when he was 6 months old...we kind of figured out that his first impulse when stimulated is to have something in his mouth. And not just to hold it, but to shred it. We gave him sticks (and sometimes still do) which I'm sure will get me crucified on here...but we watched to make sure he didn't ingest large chunks or splinters. Mostly he just wanted to chew.
> Not a great tactic...and yeah we should have worked harder on training (we did have him in puppy school, but then he broke his leg/was sedated, then he was too old but intact to go to classes. We had a trainer come to our neighborhood and observe him doing it, and she said to step on the leash and turn away. For a bigger person (I'm 5'2" and petite) I think that could have totally worked!


Will definitely try stepping on the leash, thank you!


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