I have a 6 month old male yellow lab. We have walked hime everyday of the 4 months we have had him, always on a leash, etc. He has does great until the past 2-3 weeks he has decided that biting the leash to play tug of war, or biting the leash to try and lead the way is fun. I attempt to stop tell him no, drop (which he knows that command), but he gets over excited and will jump up at me and bite my hands. Once we get to that point it is almost impossible to continue/finish the walk, which he so badly NEEDS. I have just started making the Ah-Ah noise at him for the pulling, and turning away from him for the jumping....but it feels like I am trying to demand like 3 different commands from him all at once. If I address the leash biting, he jumps, if I address the jumping he then bites my hands and it is like a vicious circle. Today I tried turning my back to him, he jumped up at my back, etc. pulled and jumped and started biting. After 5 min, of standing in the cold ingnoring him, I just took him back inside and ignored him. Is this the right thing to do? Now he has missed his walk until later today because I have to be at work. I need some HELP!! My very good dog has suddenly turned into a monster in a matter of 2 weeks!!
hi there, 6 months is a hard age! I feel for you. I am also hearing that you are a bit nervous of being too 'tough' on your dog. He is old enough now to not be so rough. The Ah-Ah noise you mention could turn into a more serious 'growl' from you. Get the leash back and ask him firmly to heel. Jumping on your back and biting is unacceptable, and turning your back ( or getting a knee up into his belly may also discourage him) Did you stand for 5 mins with him jumping on you? or was it a stand-off? I don´t agree with the 'pushing the scruff to the floor and growling' technique, but I fully believe that a dog understands when enough is enough. It´s just you´re not communicating it correctly. Consider why you don´t like this behaviour, and how you would feel if he does this to a visitor or a child? Don´t be too 'easy' on him cos´you want him to like you.... Consider what else is happening around you house, and other situations that he is being bossy....is he sitting on the sofa? is he using every room in the house? Is he greeted first when somebody comes home? Please give some more information and I´ll try to add more
I have a one year female Rodasian Ridgeback. I am facing similar problems like what you are facing but even worse. She is totally disobedient. she is always jumping on us, biting and pulling our sleeves ( mine and the kids) to attract attention for playing. she takes our stuff ( not her toys ) like the remote control, mobile phones, shoes and runs around ,again I think to attract attention. steels food from counter . she barks back when given any commands and refuses to obey, though I am sure she understands perfectly well. She might obey finally but after a lot of repetition. she does all that in a playful manner but she is a big dog, so she is very annoying and sometimes painful and gets on everybody's nerves. The kids are starting not to like her because of that behaviour and therefore I tie her with the leash or put her in a separate room till they sleep and then let her loose. I feel sorry for her but she is really totally out of control. she only obeys my husband and again not immediatly. I think she needs to understand that we are the alphas and I tried applying the sitstayfetch technique which worked for a while but she is now definetly getting a lot worse. Please help me with any suggestions.Thanks
Cody'sfam, What I would do is taking something he likes to play with (a ball, tug-o-war toy, or frisbee) to walks. If he obeys for that it's a very good start. Once he starts to walk (I assume he doesn't jump at the first second) then lure him with the toy and "direct" him. Once you could walk with him a few steps nicely, throw the ball or play tug-o-war and then take it back away. Keep showing him the toy and repeat that until you get back home.
This way he'll be more focused on the toy rather then on making your walk a nightmare. He is still a puppy, you can overcome that behavior easily, you just need to be consistent.
Our black lab female did the same thing, jumping and biting at the leash and my hands and on my back. When she did this, I stopped walking, dropped the leash (no one was around) and turned my back on her, crossed my arms over my chest and ignored her until she sat. Then I praised her lavishly, picked up the leash and we continued our walk. I also got a harness (she didn't like the halti harness so we use a normal harness) so I could attach the leash to the harness on her back rather than her collar. This helped immediately because the leash wasn't by her mouth. She is now 10-1/2 months old and walks are so much more fun!
