Hi all, I've been reading this forum ever since we got Fergus our Lab x bearded collie at 9 weeks, and have found it so useful. Fergus is now 6 months and is, most of the time, a fairly good dog (if a bit teenagerish at the moment) but I'm having a real problem when I take him out for walks. I make him sit while I put the lead on, and sit and wait while I open the door but as soon as we are outside he starts biting the lead which then progresses to biting my wrist, agressive barking and psycho eyes! We have this for about 5 minutes before he stops and we can start the walk. We have this again after I have let him off the lead for a run around. I call him, get him to sit, put on his lead and tell him to walk to heal and then the biting of the lead and then me and barking starts again, again for about 5 minutes. I've tried numerous methods to stop him from doing this, especially as my arm is covered in bruises at the moment, but none of them seem to work. I've been stern and told him no, I've tried to distract him with a toy, and I've tried to ignore him and stand still. I've even managed to get him to sit and rewarded him for good behaviour only for it to instantly start up again. And I'm worried that the aggressive barking is getting worse. After his 'frenzy' we can carry on with the walk normally. We have a small field that we let him have access to during the day so he has plenty of exercise but I still want to take him out for a 'controlled' walk, which I am starting to dread. Is this normal? Is it just because he is being an adolescent? And will he grow out of it? Any advice gratefully recieved.
Hi there, I can wholly comprehend with your plight with regards to Fergus's behavior. Luffy, who now is 10 months old, exhibits the same behavior when he is put on the leash. In his case, we then resorted to putting on a harness. The harness seems to placate him. Obviously, when his out and about the delightful, sounds, sights and smells don't stop him from pulling! I would suggest you try a harness, when going for walkies.
If Fergus is starting to jumps around, bite the leash etc after being quiet and controlled in the house I would just turn around and go back indoors. Wait a minute or two until he is calm and then start the going out process again. If he starts biting at the leash again turn around and go back in. He will quickly learn that jumping around, biting the leash etc results in going back indoors and no walk. When you are out walking and let him off lead it's god practice to just recall, treat sometimes recall treat and clip the lead on and then very quickly release him again, recall him, treat and have a short play with him. It sounds as if his jumping up, biting the leash relates to the end of his fun off lead and his walk so it helps if you can break the relationship, in his furry brain, of returning to you and the end of his fun. Some dogs find harness', or anything around their body, aversive and they become quiet or "shut down" as a reaction.
Thank you both for your suggestions. Fergus does have a harness that we use occasionally (to stop him pulling) but he still bites his lead. But I will try MaccieD's suggestions. We went today for a quick walk and only had to come back in once at the beginning. He did have a bit of a 'frenzy' half way round so I had to ride it out. This afternoon we'll try the off/on off/on lead thing. Fingers crossed! Thank you!
Remember to mix it up with recalls so there is no set pattern and coming back to you is good, hopefully then when you want the lead on to walk home the biting etc will gradually improve. Treats for nice walking, recall and clipping lead on etc should help.(she says crossing fingers )
I never had the lead biting thing, but I always make sure that my two get a good treat for having their leads put on. So, when I get their leads in my hand, they come trotting up and sit down for me, waiting to be clipped on
