Why Do Dogs Leash Bite?
There are a variety of reasons why dogs bite on the leash. Sometimes, they may be bored of leash training exercises. More often, they are redirecting their excitement or frustration onto the lead.
Walking outdoors is frequently a high energy, high stimulus, extravaganza of scents, movement, sound, and sights, for a dog. Therefore, they are more likely to lose control and act out, than when they are at home. This usually occurs when our dog sees a person, squirrel, cat, or some other trigger. Instinctually, he wants to chase the squirrel and cat, or interact with the person. When our dog is prevented from chasing, all that excited energy must still go somewhere, so it may get redirected onto the leash.
My dog was ultimately leash biting, because he was picking up on my weak, tense, and fearful energy. This increased his stress level, and would usually trigger his crazy leash dance. For shy dogs, unbalanced human energy may also cause fear aggression.
Which technique we use to prevent biting on the leash, will depend on the intensity and source of the behavior. If our dog has a bite history, it is best to hire a professional trainer.
For the Bored and Playful Leash Biter
Dog Training
1. Let our dog carry a stick or toy during leash training.
A problem with this technique is that some dogs may want to lie down, and just play with the toy or stick.
2. Play the Find-it game.
A fun game that I play with my dog during walks, is the Find-it game.
- First, I get my dog’s attention by calling his name.
- I reward him for giving me his attention.
- Then, I say Find-it and throw him a treat a short distance away.
- When he finds it, I praise him well, treat him, and repeat.
Once he is accustomed to finding it, I may combine the exercise with other obedience commands, e.g. Come. As his skills improve, I make the game more challenging by throwing the treat under bushes or in tall grass, but only if it is safe to do so.
Most importantly, I keep sessions short, fun, and rewarding. The Find-It game is a big favorite with all of my dogs.
3. Make leash training more interesting.
Leash training and walking will be a lot more interesting, if we change direction, change speed, and throw in some fun foot-work commands, such as Jump, Up, Weave, and Spin.
4. Walk our dog on a loose leash.
I walk my dog on a loose leash, stop often, and let him smell the roses. I only shorten the leash and move my dog into a heel position, when there are excitement triggers around, such as squirrels, cats, other dogs, and loud people.
5. Take our dog to interesting environments.
Visit nearby parks and empty school fields. These places have interesting smells and interesting objects that will keep our pooch happy, while he exercises his scent muscles.
For the Mildly Frustrated or Excited Leash Biter
1. Redirect our dog onto a toy.
Redirection worked initially, but after a time, my dog would ignore the toy and continue biting on the leash.
This technique is most effective when we catch the biting behavior early, so that our dog is not too frenzied to redirect his energy, onto another object. Redirection works best with Sephy, when I am calm and confident.
2. Issue an alternative command.
Once I notice that my dog is starting to lose control, I quickly get him to refocus on me, and get him engaged in doing obedience commands. I only use simple commands, which my dog knows so well that it is almost a reflex, for example Sit. Command redirection will only work, if we catch our dog before he gets too excited or frustrated.
3. Touch the dog’s body with our foot.
We can touch our dog, to try and refocus him back onto us. Do not kick him or apply excessive force to our ‘touch’. This refocus method worked for me initially. However, after a few touches, my dog got habituated to it and just ignored it.
Note that this technique may also be risky, if we accidentally apply too much force, if our dog is easily spooked, or if he is really sensitive to handling. Any of these conditions may cause him to lose trust in us, become even more anxious and fearful, or redirect his crazy energy onto our hands and feet, instead of on the leash.
For the Out of Control Leash Biter
In this situation, it is very important that we stay calm and use management equipment, as necessary, to keep everyone safe. With Sephy, I also have a plan ready, so that I can respond quickly and decisively.
1. Step on the leash and ignore our dog.
This technique is similar to a time-out, but it is not as effective. We take away our attention and our dog’s freedom to explore. However, there are still interesting things happening around him, and fascinating smells.
When I use this technique, my dog will settle down after a short time. As soon as I step away from the leash though, he will start his biting behavior again. I have tried lengthening the duration for up to about 15 minutes, but he still resumed his bad behavior.
2. Get our dog into a brisk walk home.
Forcing my dog to focus on an alternative physical activity, for example a brisk walk home, is the only thing that works for us. I also ignore him while we are walking home. I hold the leash really close to his collar, so I have good control of him, and just go. I do not look at him, talk to him, or touch him, for the entire trip.
Once my dog realized that leash biting only ends the walk and gets him a quick trip home, he stopped the behavior. He still gets excited when he sees a moving deer, but is able to calm himself down once we move a certain distance away from temptation.
Note – I only do this because my dog has good bite inhibition and will not bite hard on my hand, which is now near to his rather large teeth.
There are several advantages with this leash biting technique:
- Engaging my dog in a physical activity, gives him an outlet for his frustrated and excited energy.
- The brisk walk quickly removes him from the object or event that caused him to lose control. It also ends his enjoyable neighborhood outing.
- Since he is busy walking, he does not have the opportunity to do anything else, including leash bite.
- Finally, I can get home quickly and put him in a full time-out, if he continues to act out.
3. Time-out.
If my dog leash bites in the house, then I put him directly into a time-out area. This allows him to calm down, and shows him that extreme behavior will get his freedoms revoked.
Dogs are smart, and will quickly stop a behavior that gets them nowhere.
4. Spray water on our dog’s muzzle.
This is an aversive method, albeit a mild one. Nevertheless, it still comes with some of the dangers of applying an aversive stimulus. When I tried this technique, my dog just attacked the spray bottle. In addition, it will not be effectual if our dog likes, or is not bothered by water.
Some trainers suggest adding some vinegar or using mouthwash. If we do this, however, we must be very careful with our aim so that the added chemicals do not hit our dog’s eyes. I only used regular water on my dog.
5. Leash correction.
Leash corrections did not work well for Sephy. It only caused him to fight back and escalate his leash biting behavior. Leash corrections are difficult to implement and can be risky, especially when not properly applied.
6. Desensitization exercises.
Another good way to reduce leash biting, is to desensitize our dog to the triggers that get him over-excited. For example, we can do controlled desensitization training with people, other dogs, and even cats.
Desensitization and counter-conditioning exercises helped a lot with my Shiba Inu.
Reactive Dogs and Leash Biting
Some dogs get excited more quickly than others. My Shiba Inu is a very reactive dog and like a super sports car, he can go from 0 to 60 mph in under 5 seconds. Once a dog loses control, he is no longer able to listen to us, and anything that we say will fall on deaf ears. A very high priority treat may sometimes snap him out of his frenzy, but I found that to be unreliable. Most of the time, when a dog goes rear-brained/reactive, he will be totally disinterested in food and other rewards.
At that point, it is no longer possible to redirect the dog’s attention away from the squirrel or cat. Instead, I take Sephy to a quiet, low stimulus area, away from the trigger object, so that he can calm down.
In general, we want to catch the behavior early, and prevent our dog from obsessing over the trigger object (squirrel, cat, dog), before he gets into a reactive state. This is one of the reasons why some trainers suggest walking a dog in a perpetual heel-like position (without the more stringent demands of precision heeling).
Forcing a dog to walk close to us, with eyes ahead, can help to discourage distractions and over-excitement instances. However, it also makes for a more boring walk, that does not fulfill a dog’s need to smell and explore.
Precision heeling demands constant attention from both dog and handler and is not appropriate for long periods of time, like for your daily walks around the block or to the park.
~~[ASPCA]
In general, I walk my dog on a loose-leash. At the same time, I stay vigilant and redirect my dog’s attention back to me, as soon as I spot a squirrel or cat. In these cases, distance is our greatest friend. Moving our dog away from the trigger object will help to reduce its potency. I usually redirect my dog’s attention onto me (by calling his name), and move him away from the trigger area.
Retraining behaviors will take time, effort, and repetition. However, if we are consistent and fair, our dog will quickly learn which behaviors are positive and rewarding, and which behaviors are not.
Hi, I have a 7 month old male border collie. When he was younger he was good on the lead but lately he will walk fine for a while then just turn and he will try to bite the lead and then pulls on it asif it is a game of tug-of-war and he will even try to jump up and bite my hands, wrists and arms. I am concerned and it is embarrising when we are in public as everyone stares. Once he is in this state its very rare he will stop untill we are home. Everyone in the family walks him and he is fine it is only when im walking him and when im alone. What should i do to stop him.
Hello Hannah,
I went through a similar thing with Sephy. It got so bad that as soon as someone passed me the leash, he would start his bad behavior.
In my case, a big part of it had to do with my own energy. I was stressed out that he would start behaving badly, so I was always thinking and worrying about what might happen. I was also somewhat fearful of him, because sometimes he would grab onto my jacket sleeve and pull on that.
Some things that helped with Sephy-
1. I made a big effort in controlling my own energy. The more calm and less fearful I was, the more Sephy’s behavior improved.
2. I took Sephy on shorter but more frequent walks. In this way, we were always not too far away from home. If he acts out I would end the walk right away, and power-walk him home. If he starts his nonsense at home, he goes straight to timeout.
3. I start by leash-training Sephy in the house. We would make several laps and I make sure he is following rules and not pulling or leash biting. If he leash bites, he goes to timeout and we don’t try again until later. Once he is good, I practice door manners. Then if he behaves for that, then we go out. In this way, I establish rules and calmness before even starting the outside walk.
4. I try to set us both up for success. I start by going to a very low stimulus area – e.g. a very quiet area in the neighborhood. The more calm the environment is, the greater the likelihood of success for the both of us. Then, I slowly increase the environmental challenge once we have many successes under our belt.
5. I follow the NILIF program with all of my dogs. It teaches them to work for all of their resources, and motivates them to follow rules and listen to commands.
Here are more of what I did with Sephy-
http://shibashake.com/dog/pack-leader-to-an-aggressive-dog
Another related story-
Embarrassed by My Dog
Me again
I also have this issue with my sibe. I use chain as a choker(I use this because he loves to pick up anything small things he finds interesting and eats it, he even got curious when he saw ants marching by and starts barking at them, really hard to walk him outside) and pull him when he bites it, but doesn’t work. When we walk and have a stop, it’s what he does, or just really being on the leash.
Our terrace is also only the place where he can do time-outs and inside his crate, so yes he just sleeps
I leash train my Sibes by using the red-light-green-light and turn-around techniques.
http://shibashake.com/dog/leash-training-your-dog
I don’t use choke collars on my dogs. Here’s why.
Great info for help with dogs biting their leash. I found this link when someone placed it on my forum post. I’m definitely going to try out your suggestions. I’ve tried bitter apple on her leash to no avail but all your tips are great and certainly worth trying.
Hello
I recently purchased a chocolate lab puppy, he is almost 8 weeks old. The first two weeks were awesome but now I am having a lot of issues with the leash and overall listening. Now when I put on the leash he growls and fights and pulls. It seems to me his is starting to get aggressive. I can’t get him to calm down and back into a submissive state. I am trying to remain calm, but it is starting to scare me over his reactions. I don’t want him growing up and acting aggressive. I have a 7 year old that he is constantly trying to climb on and eat his pants. I have stepped in and taken ownership of my son but that does not stop him. The only place he is calm is his kennel. I don’t want to use that as his time out place but I don’t have anywhere else to take him. Please help.
Thanks
Mary
Hello Mary,
What do you usually do when he pulls on the leash? What do you do to “get him into a submissive state”?
When leash training my dogs, I usually start in my backyard. It is quiet and there are few distractions so it is a great place to get them used to walking with collar and leash.
In terms of pulling, I use the start-stop technique and the 180 turn around technique.
http://shibashake.com/dog/leash-training-your-dog
I definitely agree with you here. It is generally not a good idea to do timeouts in the crate because that is where the dog sleeps and rests, so we want it to be a very positive place. My dog’s timeout room is the laundry room because it is quiet, safe, there is nothing to do there, and nothing interesting to see or smell.
In my old house, I didn’t really have a good laundry room, so I got a baby gate to block off a small quiet section of the house and used that as my timeout area. Using a tie-down is another possibility, however we want to make sure that we have that set-up safely and that we are nearby to supervise.
http://hssv.convio.net/site/DocServer/dog_tie_down.pdf?docID=1124
Hi Mary,
First of all, a puppy problem does not have to be a problem that your dog has for life – if you can help him learn the behaviours that will make him a great pack member. I wasted a lot of time and energy when my Siberian Husky was a puppy by worrying that his behaviours would mean I’d have to give him up (which was NOT what I wanted to do). He would bite me so hard he’d draw blood (in ways that made me think he was doing it on purpose – i.e. trying to ‘get back’ at me – as he’d do it when I put his leash back on after he’d been free running and having a great time). I decided one day (after being in tears, crying to my partner) that I’d made a responsibility to this dog and i was DETERMINED to give him what he needs – not automatically expect that he give me what I want and need). This meant my perspective shifted to ‘how can I get the information to help my dog be the amazing companion I know he can be’. That decision changed everything. My dog grew out of his bad behaviours with consistent training, positive reinforcement, time outs for bad behaviour and generally fairly low stress methods for me to implement. I just really wanted to reach out as your message sounded desperate and I know what it’s like to be in that panicked mode. It really won’t help you or your dog get the relationship you wanted prior to acquiring him. So know that many bad behaviours can be easily trained away and some just go as the dog grows up and has more experience with you (this is where consistency and patience in your approach will work wonders). When you 7 year old was naughty, i bet you did a great job of letting him know firmly and calmly that his behaviour wasn’t ok (use time out for this at home – there are lots of mentions of how to do time out on this site). Next, try some of the suggestions on this very site – they are sound and well researched. And if after consistent application (time out was the main saviour and training tool I used for many bad behaviours) seek professional help. Don’t give up on your dog – he’s just a baby and this first year is when he’ll need your patience and guidance the most. So many ‘aggressive’ behaviours are not that at all – my bet is you just have a rambunctious puppy who has a LOT of energy (which will need draining). You can do this with physical exercise (EVERY DAY!), and also since he’s a lab (great service dogs) challenge his mind with consistent obedience training. give him lots of play time with you and your son (supervised and ensuring he follows rules and boundaries – otherwise give him time out). Challenge his mind with enrichment toys and lots of different environments/situations. Take him for a swim, into new places and view this first year as the time you’ll lay the foundation for the perfect dog he’ll become. No dog comes to us fully trained and ready to be the perfect companion, they are shaped by us – and that’s the beauty of the relationship and why it’s so fulfilling. Puppies will be puppies and you need to be patient, firm and calm. He will learn quickly – especially with time out for bad behaviour. Most of all, as a puppy with lots of energy, make sure he’s getting a structured walk for 45min-1hr every day, first thing in the morning is best as it will mean his energy is drained and should give you an easier time of it. Best of luck – you’ll do great, I know it.
I have an 8 month old yellow lab. She only bites the leash when we are running together or biking – which we won’t do anymore until we buy an attachment for the bike!! How do I train her to not bite while running? I can’t treat while I am running or she will bite my hand! Any suggestions would be wonderful! Thanks!
Hello Dawn,
My Shiba used to do that because he got over-excited when I started running. Dogs, especially hunting dogs are instinctually tied to motion.
One thing that helped is to slowly get him used to my running action. I first started by leash training him in my backyard. The backyard is more quiet and has fewer distractions, so it is a good place to start.
Initially I would walk at a fast clip. Once he is ok with that, I would start with a slow jog. If he starts to jump or get excited, I stop walking and wait until he calms down and does a sit. Then I start with the fast walk again and work my way up.
In the beginning I don’t jog for too long at a time, I just do it briefly then go back to walking and so on. Once he is ok with short jogs, then I slowly lengthen my jog time and so on.
This gets him slowly used to speed changes during our walks.
I have an 8 month old Alaskan Malamute who weighs about 80 lbs. He’s a big boy, not fat, but solid. His legs are like tree limbs! When he was about 10 weeks old I took him to visit some family members and one of them played some crazy games like kicking leaves up for him to attack and tug of war with the leash. Well we all know it only takes an instant for a bad habit to form, but I thought I had resolved the issues. After being fine all this time, my dog recently started attacking the leash. At first it was playfully, trying to tug of war. I consistently corrected him telling him “No.” and “drop it”. When that didn’t work I would drop the leash, turn my back and cross my arms, indicateing I wouldn’t be part of his game. He would get bored having nothing to pull against and the outburst would quickly pass. But now he does it seemingly out of nowhere in the middle of a walk and I can’t drop the leash. Having to hold or stand on the leash, there is still something for him to pull against so crossing my arms and turning my back doesn’t work unless he does it so long he tires himself out. He’s a high energy dog and persistant and that could take a long long time. IT’s not practical. Grabbing close to his collar and making him “sit” will calm him for a second but as soon as we start to walk again he goes right back after the leash. He’s a huge dog and could really hurt someone even when doing that in a “playful” manner if he got a hang instead of the leash for example but lately he’s been seeming to get more agressive. He seems to get frustrated when A.) I try to correct him for attacking the leash or B.) when we turn around to come home from a walk. And now when I reach close to his collar he tries to turn his head to nip at me. I don’t know what to do! If I get him to where I finally think he’s calm (he’s sitting or laying down seemingly fine) the second I let him get up he either tries to run full speed ahead/ back and forth and jumping up at me or again right back at the leash/my arms. And as I sadi he’s very big and heavy and he could drag me down the stret if I let him. The worst problem my last Mal had on the leash was trying to pull- as if we were sledding and after turning the opposite direction whenever he pulled I quickly broke him of that when he figured out we didn’t cover any ground when he pulled. I tried switching directions with this dog and he seems to get even more bored and frustrated. Do you have any suggestions? I was thinking of trying a weighted backpack that maybe having a “job” would keep him from going after the leash in the first place. Because he walks like a champ the majority of the time and then bam, he goes into these frenzies and once that happens you just can’t snap him out of it.
Hello MalamuteMama,
Your boy sounds a lot like my Shiba Sephy in terms of behavior. Sephy learned that when he starts biting the leash he could control the walk, which in turn rewarded the behavior, which made him repeat it constantly and whenever he wasn’t getting his own way.
Thankfully Sephy is a small dog, so I was able to march him straight home whenever he started his hijinks.
With Sephy, his leash-biting behavior was driven by him learning that he could control the walk with that behavior. It was not out of boredom or playfulness, so I needed to show him that leash biting actually gave him no-control. Once he saw that leash biting got him nowhere, except an end to his walk, he stopped doing it.
With a big dog, it is possible that using a head-halti could be helpful.
http://shibashake.com/dog/dog-leash-training-equipment#halti
One of my trainers also suggested using a metal-leash with Sephy, but I never tried that because marching him home worked well for us, and I was worried that he might hurt himself on the metal leash.
How is your Mal’s behavior at home? Does he only collar snap when out on walks or at home as well?
Hey Malamutemama,
I’m in a large walking group that meets monthly (Siberians and Mals) – there are about 80-100 of us in all – quite a sight as we walk around town as you can imagine. About 50-70% of the mals have weighted backpacks on (so I’d take that as a sign that’s its helpful for them). As I own a Husky, i can’t comment directly on Mals, but I do know that a backpack with a 500ml full water bottle on each side (my dog is about 23kg) INSTANTLY (no kidding) turned my Sibe puppy into a great walker. Sibes and Mals aren’t really bred to just ‘walk’. If you love running, a daily walk won’t really be as satisfying as a full out run. However, running with my sibe every day isn’t practical (if I’m unwell for example) so the backpack is perfect. Best of all, the hook where the lead clips on is basically in the middle of your dogs back, so hard for them to reach to start biting. My sibe bit the lead all the time, the weight instantly made him work harder and it relieved his frustration that we were walking. Occasionally he’ll still have a little go out of frustration, say if we’ve had 2 days of walking with no running, but I stop dead in my tracks and say ‘ah!’. If we start up and he bites the lead again, again stopping dead with another ‘ah!’ usually finishes it. Also, I don’t get frustrated about this behaviour any more as I know it can be greatly reduced and perhaps eliminated – that knowledge keeps me calm and with a no-nonsense attitude. I thnk that is a big contributor to him giving up the biting game far quicker than he used to. But yes, a backpack will be a lifesaver for you and fun for your dog – he’ll be more tired – and a tired dog is a good dog in my books! 🙂
i have a 7 month old rednose/bluenose/american pitbull and for 2 days now he has bit my sisters hair because of the hairbows in it. does anybody have any suggestions and when i walk him i find him pulling on the leash and when he does i now know its a mistake but i pull back and put him on the ground and tell him no and take it from him but everytime we go out it seems to repeat. hes stubborn with a attitude. but im 15 and dont want to give him up for anything and my mom said if he bites my sisters hair again then thats what were going to do. any suggestions?
Hello Josh,
It is normal for puppies to bite in play. Dogs do not have hands like us, so they manipulate things and play with their mouths. What I do is teach my puppy what are ok things to bite not, and what are not-ok things.
When she bites on people or other not-ok things, I no-mark her (Ack-ack) and redirect her to bite on a toy. If she redirects, then I praise her and play with her. Here is what I do when she bites on me or other people-
http://shibashake.com/dog/puppy-biting-how-to-stop-puppy-biting#timeout
Here is a bit more on how I start training my puppy.
Also, consistency is very important in dog training. I have found that it is best when everyone in the family participates in the training of a puppy.
My 1 year old jack Russell is a leash biter. She bites the leash every single time I put the leash on her before going on walks and for the next 5 minutes or so at the beginning of every walk. She’s been doing it since she was a pup. I’ve tried many ways (distracting her with a treat, taking it off her mouth using my hands) to try to get her to stop but none has worked so far until recently. Thought I’d share this. I realised that my dog wants to go on a walk. So excited that she can’t control her excitement hence acting out biting on the leash and getting into a frenzy. So when I put the leash and she starts to bite – I undid the leash. She stops looks at me as if to say ‘I want to walk’. I let her calm down, ignoring her no we contact. Once she’s calm, tell her to sit. If she is about to bite again (gotta be really quick), do the sharp “ackh” (as if to say don’t mess with me tone), she usually let go of the lead when she hears he ackh, wait until all attention is on you and the dog is still sitting. Then I’ll let her walk to the gate. This is the second trigger that makes her leash bite again. If she does bite, unclamp the lead and start from step one. If not, I tell her to sit and wait while I open the gate. If she gets up, I tell her to sit and stay. My dog also tends to rush off the gate as if to shout “freedom!!” – so I put her in a sit and stay position again until I am ready.
Thanks for your article! I’ll definitely bookmark this blog!!
Great solution Gem!
As you say, a very big part of dog training is identifying what most motivates our dog, and then using that to teach her good people behaviors.
Hugs to your JRT. They are such awesome and fun dogs.
Hi! This information was very helpful. My puppy is a siberian husky, she is 7 weeks old, and I have found that by leaving the leash at attached to her collar for most of the day, except at night, to be very helpful. She is still very stubborn, but she is getting better. Although, I don’t think my do knows her name, she doesn’t listen when I call her name. In addition, she has turned out to be quite the biter, she keeps biting me, and several other family member, do you have any ideas?
Hello Carolina,
Congratulations on your new Sibe puppy! They are a lot of work at that age, but also so adorable. 😀
I taught my Sibe puppy, Lara, her name by doing focus exercises. For example, I would start in a quiet place and have her with me. Then, I would say her name, “Lara”. As soon as she looks at me, I mark the behavior (“Yes” or “Good Girl”), then I would reward her well. After that, I just repeat. I keep training sessions short, fun, and rewarding so that Lara always looks forward to it. Here is a bit more on puppy obedience training.
In terms of puppy biting, here are some of my experiences-
http://shibashake.com/dog/puppy-biting-how-to-stop-puppy-biting
http://shibashake.com/dog/puppy-biting-tips-solutions
I have to second the ‘Brisk walk’ method.
I actually noticed this worked before i came here and read this.
I found it worked accidentally at first when i decided to walk home quickly out of frustration with my Shihpoo (not proud of it i know, but hey, it all gets to us at some point) and he just followed suit. So i tried it the next time he started pulling and biting his lead (he seems to do this when he wants to direct you and try and become leader). I just walked quickly, clearing my mind of any sort of emotion other than focusing on getting home, and what do you know, it worked a charm.
95% of the time he’s a pleasure to walk, but every now and then he will try and exert his authority and all i have to do is pick up the pace a little.
The one thing i can say to be careful of, is if you have a dog that tires before you do. He’s 8 months old now and only a small dog (mother was Shih-Tzu and father a medium sized Poodle) and he gets tired a long time before i do and i notice that he pulls and bites his lead when he’s tired and wants to go home. So all i can say is make sure you don’t mistake being tired for being dominant.
Yay! Another ‘Brisk Walk’ fan. 😀
I tried many many different things with my Shiba before I thought of trying that. Wish I had found it sooner.
That is a very good point. I should include it in the article. Thanks!