# Sudden leash issues



## Mirinde (Jun 8, 2011)

Hi guys =)
I think Iorek is hitting his "I'm a rebellious teenager, hear me roar" phase because all of a sudden he turns into a lunatic on his leash. He spins around to bite at it and pull on it and if you try to remove it from his mouth or make him stop, he just gets more worked up. Normally my fiance walks him but I'm starting to since he will be working during the day in about a week and it's really impacting our ability to have a good walk with lots of positive training and happyfuntimes. Right now, the only thing I can think of is to leave his leash on him when he's in the house so that hopefully he stops being so hyperactive once it's on and time for a walk. Any other ideas? I'm really not sure how to deal with this one. Keeping treats in my pockets and distracting him with some training when he goes for his leash only seems to make him more amped up and bouncy. (For reference, if it matters, he starts to do it later in his walk, not at the beginning).


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## jackie_hubert (Jun 2, 2010)

The story of my life...and probably many others' too. 

In order to solve the leash biting issue I had to really understand why he was biting the leash - in cosmo's case leash biting is an excitement/stress related behaviour. He bites his leash when he's over his excitement threshold or when he is anxious. It's kinda like a habit he reverts to when he is overtimulated - like how some people will play with their hair or pace. 

The way to stop the behaviour then was to slow everything down and calm him. What works best for us is to stop walking, hold the leash really short and stand very relaxed and count to ten in my head. I wait for him to show some relaxation and then we continue very slowly and calmly. I do not reach for the leash quickly or pull on it at all. I mostly just turn on zen mode.

Cosmo also escalates into zoomies, especially after he gets attacked by another dog. 

My husband just says Uh Uh and calmly walks on and it works. Doesn't work with my high pitched voice.


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## vcm5 (Apr 20, 2011)

Story of my life as well!! There are a ton of rabbits on the island where we walk Riley a lot, and he just goes nuts. He is a crazy dog when he sees those bunnies! He just about pulls my arm off!


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## Otrip (Jun 16, 2011)

Bowser does this too. Usually only after we jog/run. I think it's because he gets over excited & feels the need to have something in his mouth. Today was an improvement all I did was point my finger & he dropped it. Of cource he chomped right back on his leash as soon as we started walking again. Next time I'll bring a toy or find a stick to see if that distracts him.


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## Mirinde (Jun 8, 2011)

It would make total sense that it's a stress/over-excitement related activity for him based on today. My fiance says his display today was more intense than he had ever seen it, and coincidentally, there was a dog-reactive dog walking not so far behind us that kept barking and yelping and itching to have a go at Iorek. He was walking great before then. Apparently putting a stick in his mouth and letting him have the "job" of carrying it works most of the time, but I guess this time he was just too nervous? (I wasn't worried about the dog at all, so I don't think I was triggering him. The owners were being very respectful about keeping a distance and even stopped to wait while I addressed the leash induced zoomies so that their dog couldn't get closer.) Glad to hear I'm not alone though =) Hopefully we can get this sorted out before my guy goes back to work and I'm on solo walking duty! Kind of hard to figure out what to do when even working on attention with some yummy treats doesn't even grab their focus.


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## jackie_hubert (Jun 2, 2010)

Mirinde said:


> It would make total sense that it's a stress/over-excitement related activity for him based on today. My fiance says his display today was more intense than he had ever seen it, and coincidentally, there was a dog-reactive dog walking not so far behind us that kept barking and yelping and itching to have a go at Iorek. He was walking great before then. Apparently putting a stick in his mouth and letting him have the "job" of carrying it works most of the time, but I guess this time he was just too nervous? (I wasn't worried about the dog at all, so I don't think I was triggering him. The owners were being very respectful about keeping a distance and even stopped to wait while I addressed the leash induced zoomies so that their dog couldn't get closer.) Glad to hear I'm not alone though =) Hopefully we can get this sorted out before my guy goes back to work and I'm on solo walking duty! Kind of hard to figure out what to do when even working on attention with some yummy treats doesn't even grab their focus.


Yes, cosmo gets zoomies and leash biting fits when there are reactive dogs near too.


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## West (Jul 9, 2010)

I think we have all gone through that or, in my case, are going through it still 
Cooper has broken three leashes so far. I agree with Jackie, it is a stress-excitement reaction. So winding things down before continuing with the walk is often a good idea.
Letting him carry something else is good too. Cooper's dog walker suggested putting him on two leashes and letting him carry one. Although it really works, I'm not very sure about the message it's sending (if it's ok to bite one of the leashes, it's ok to bite any leash!).
What I usually do is stop as soon as he starts biting, correct the behaviour (usually to raise a finger or tell him to stop in a stern low pithed voice works, but not always!) and wait until he has calmed down before we continue. Treats are not useful at all for me, he gets more excited. And if there are other dogs around and he's struggling to get to them, nothing works except for making him sit and wait until he stops showing signs of that raw excitement before approaching the other dog (if I want to approach it because I know it's friendly! if not, I wait until Coop calms down and then just turn around and walk away from the other dog).


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## Tanyac (Jun 18, 2008)

I would probably take something in your pocket like a ball or toy and when he starts grabbing the lead, pop it into his mouth.

Our pup Flo who's 10 months always did this, so I would hold the lead half way down and let her carry the handle end. Not necessarily the best thing to do I agree, but having 3 dogs to walk, made things much simpler. She's fine now and very rarely does it, but I'm sure it made passers by smile at the sight of a young GR pup taking herself for a walk .


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## GinnyinPA (Oct 31, 2010)

Ben went through a stage where he was doing this. We kept a tin (snuff can we found on the road) of pennies in a pocket and when he would go crazy, we rattled it to get his attention. He would generally calm right down. This lasted only a week or two and then he stopped the craziness. 

He still gets the zoomies from time to time, but doesn't attack the leash or us any more.


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