Biting leash and shaking head furiously while walking

[larrylucille]

Hi! My 15mos old female boxer, Piper, is not a great walker. She normally fights with me for the first 2-3 mins out, by grabbing the leash in her teeth and shaking her head back and forth furiously. Once I finally get her calmed down she pulls on the leash like crazy. Both behaviours are equally frustrating. Although her pulling is more tolerable than the shaking and biting on the leash. While she is somewhat calm (pulling on the leash) she is easily distracted and tends to revert back to the biting on the leash and shaking her head side to side which usually escalates to jumping on me when I try to correct her, should we encounter someone or another dog while on our walk.
Any thoughts on how I can fix this behaviour. We have not done formal obedience training with her, she comes, sits, stays and lies down well when in the house.
Thanks,
Lucille

 

[Lola's mum]

My two were/are the same. Lola does it very rarely now but did as a pup, Zeb still does it now. I just stand still and refuse to budge, this however doesn't bother him in the slightest so we end up standing still for quite a while :mad:

 

[lisasentous]

Lisa does this if she gets excited while out walking, she is only playing.

 

[ehayes21]

Stop walking, turn your head to the sky and ignore her. This means let her spazz out on the leash until she realizes you are not going to reward her any attention for it. Don't pull back, just let her do her thing until she's quiet and looking at you wondering what the heck you are doing...once this happens continue the walk. Now for the pulling...Here are two training articles I found pretty effective with Rowdy in teaching loose leash walking:
http://www.clickersolutions.com/articles/2002/pulling.htm
http://www.clickersolutions.com/articles/2002c/llw.htm

It will take some work in the beginning, but if you stick with it your arm will thank you for it. Keep us posted.

 

[SILLY6PAK]

Both Abby and Piper did this. I would soak the leash in bitter apple before the walk. Litterally unscrew the lid and put all the nylon leash (except handle) down in the bottle.

It is just because they are excited. The Bitter Apple cured both dogs. Abby then started at my pant legs but luckily Piper has not picked up any alternate bad habits.

 

[Kysha]

Why not try to reward the behaviour that you DO like?

Start by putting the leash on in the house and reward her for walking around the house nicely with you. Then the backyard, then the front yard. Once she has recieved LOTS of positive reinforcement for walking how you like then increase the distractions - like walking down the laneway, then walking down the road, then walking by people/dogs.... all the while rewarding her for walking with you.

If/when she reverts back to the leash pulling/shaking then she is telling you you have increased the distractions/difficulty too soon and you need to go back to the previous step and reinforce at that step more.

Payton is my youngest and PULLS like no other dog that I have ever had. I tried the stand in one spot until she stops pulling (eases up on the leash) but I was waiting 20 mins between each step (honestly!) - so that wasn't working! I had to increase the rate of reinforcement and make my reinforcement better than pulling!

It does take some time, but now I have a dog that understands her job (walking on a loose leash) no matter what the distraction is!

Good luck!

 

[tianthai]

I had this same problem a couple of months earlier and consulted this page. I totally agree with ehayes21 as I found many training on www.clickersolutions.com. I used this method to correct my dog and it worked. You have to be patient and consistent. Mine walks nicely now, except when he sees other dogs or cats but I still apply the same method, stand still, make him sit.
Good luck

 

[Haylydon]

Splash does the same thing sometimes. So what I will do is stop walking, make him sit for a bit. Usually it works but if he starts again, I will take him home. 9 times out of 10 when he knows we are going home he stops. Good luck, don't give up.

 

[RoxiesEcho]

I had this problem with Bella but without the head shaking. Where are you walking her when she does this? I was having the problem when I would put the leash on her in our yard and was trying to get her used to the leash and to walking. She would grab the leash in her mouth and actually walk herself. Sometimes she would pull. But if I actually took her somewhere - the vet, a store, a park - she walked fine! It was like she was telling me that she shouldn't be on a leash if she's at home!

 

[larrylucille]

I had this problem with Bella but without the head shaking. Where are you walking her when she does this? I was having the problem when I would put the leash on her in our yard and was trying to get her used to the leash and to walking. She would grab the leash in her mouth and actually walk herself. Sometimes she would pull. But if I actually took her somewhere - the vet, a store, a park - she walked fine! It was like she was telling me that she shouldn't be on a leash if she's at home!

Hi Leslie,
I put the leash on her inside the house. She walks nicely to the door with me, sits while I open the door then she tries to drag me down the porch stairs. I stop and she sits. We start walking then she grabs the leash and shakes her head and bites the leash. I try to make her sit. While she sits I get down to her level, hold onto the sides of her head look her into the eyes and tell her "no pulling!".
This usually calms her down and we resume our walk with her just pulling on the leash, which I can handle but hope to be able to eliminate. Then if she sees something, anything to distract her the whole episode begins again... and she becomes a lot less willing to sit so we can resume our walk.