# Tug-of-war during walks



## SA512 (Aug 2, 2012)

So my 2 and 1/2 year old dog plays tug-of-war during walks. He has since he was a puppy. I worked with a few trainers at my house, because he had quite a few behavioral issues (food-guarding, prolonged puppy biting, lack of bite inhibition, and so on) and asked the trainer about this. She recommended immediately stopping in place - which has never worked, because then of course he gets resistance and a much better game of war. 

Instead, I've reverted to walking on - and usually by the time we get past the driveway, he forgets about the tug of war and is great the rest of the walk. No pulling, the picture of a well-behaved dog. 

With all the snow my area has gotten, I can no longer let him through the back door to my fenced in yard, so I have to take him to the back yard on a leash. Suddenly, monster dog is back, with a vengeance. He's been trying to play tug of war as I'm walking down the front stairs (!!!!), shaking the leash (with my arm attached) as if my arm is an animal he's trying to kill, and generally being so horrible that I'm pretty sure he might actually drag me down the stairs and maybe kill me or seriously maim me.

I did try leash corrections (not with the leash in his mouth), which was a terrible mistake - he's never responded to any training methods but positive ones, and sure enough, a single leash correction seemed to make him angry and he responded by playing tug-of-war with the ferocity of a T-Rex. To compensate, I've started taking treats with me, stopping every single time he takes the leash in his mouth, asking him to "leave it" (a command we've worked on a lot and he responds instantly to when _inside_), and waiting for the second he drops it to reward him with a treat. It takes about 15 minutes to get him to the backyard now. Sometimes we'll stand in a single spot for 5 minutes, with a non-stop pattern of "leave it," wait for leash to drop, treat him, then watch him immediately try to play tug-of-war-dislocate-my-arm again.

Let me end this by saying that I love my dog, and he's actually very well behaved inside now. When inside, he does actually listen pretty well. He's graduated from the crate and has the run of the house when I'm gone - he's come a long way! But lately when he's outside on the leash, it reminds me of the sheer anarchy of his puppyhood. 

Does anyone have any tips? I don't want to be dragged down stairs or have my arm dislocated, and he doesn't seem to be responding to what I'm trying right now. Previous trainers have been unable to give me any solutions for this behavior that work, and it's very frustrating. I really love my dog so much, but sometimes I find myself thinking that if he were a person, he'd be that kid that throws pencils at other kids because he thinks it's funny.


----------



## 4goldengirls (Jun 10, 2014)

Perhaps you can put a repellent on the leash where he grabs. I've heard Bitter Apple doesn't work well once it's dried. It's only effective when it's wet. Our training classes suggests the use of Alum which is a pickling spice. Mix it with water to the consistency of wet Elmers glue and put it up and down the leash. It tastes horrible, and should stop the behavior. You may need to give him a "taste" of it first -- put a little on your hand and put it in his mouth beforehand.


----------



## SA512 (Aug 2, 2012)

Good suggestion - thanks! I forgot to mention that I tried soaking the leash in Bitter Apple Spray (literally soaked it overnight), but as you said, once it dried it didn't seem to be very effective. I'll look for Alum.


----------



## SwimDog (Sep 28, 2014)

What if you have a tug toy with you and gently tug on it (let him tug hard) instead of the leash?

What if you let him lick a treat off of your hand/something else (like cream cheese on a plastic stirring spoon)?

What happens if you do walking training in the house - closer to the door -w ith the door open? Go just out and come back in?


----------



## kellyguy (Mar 5, 2014)

I had better success with cayenne pepper than any other form of repellant.
Take a tablespoon and dissolve it in a couple ounces of water then paint the leash with it. If your sensitive, wear gloves. Most dogs won't even try to taste it, they are repelled just with the scent. Be sure to wash your hands after handling the leash or you will regret it if you touch your eyes, nose or sensitive areas.


----------



## ktkins7 (Jul 20, 2013)

If your looking for a repellant, I unintentionally discovered that Ella can't stand my OC spray that I have for work. It's pretty much pepper spray. I came home from work one morning after using it during my shift and still had my duty belt on. Ella is a licker and I don't why she did it butt she licked my belt where the OC can is and managed to get her tongue right where the spray comes out. You could tell she didn't like it. Sure kept licking her lips for like five minutes like she had a bad taste in get mouth. 

I don't know if there would be any I'll effects from it. In this case there weren't. The spray I have is all food grade and made to be sprayed in someone's face, getting in people's eyes and mouth.

This may be a bit too much, but maybe if your desperate our if they have something similar for dogs.


----------



## SA512 (Aug 2, 2012)

Thanks for all the ideas! So what I had on hand was chili powder. I mixed it with water and coated the entire leash with it Preliminary results are promising: while he still insisted on carrying the leash in his mouth (either because he's a weird dog and likes the taste of it, or I didn't coat it thickly enough, not sure), he did not pull. He made one attempt at tug-of-war and licked his lips for a couple seconds afterwards, but did not try to engage in tug-of-war again. 

Hopefully he keeps hating the taste - I might try alum and cayenne pepper too just to see if they're more effective.


----------

