Getting tired on walks, pulls and bites leash

[HaiducAgnita]

My Haiduc is 4 months old and I've been taking him on walks around the neighborhood.
I remember I read somewhere that puppies should walk about 5 minutes for every month of age + 1, so in this case, maximum of 25mins.
Going a few hundred feet, he's fine, but as soon as we go about 0.4-0.5 miles, he seems to get tired and starts jumping up on me and biting and pulling the leash. I always take him for walks in the evening when it's cooler and I bring water along for him. Is that too far of a distance for him? He doesn't seem to be worn out or nothing when we get back, he can still do a couple of laps in the back yard.
When we walk away from the house, he walks perfect. Then as we get closer to the house, he starts pulling. I tried stopping whenever he pulled a lot, making him sit, wait 3-4 seconds, and starting again, but he didn't seem to catch on. Am I doing that right, or is there a better method?
Also, when I put the leash on him in the house he starts biting/running with it, in the back yard also, just dragging it along, and then more playing and biting. As soon as we get out of the yard, he stops. This isn't a problem, but could it become a problem if he gets used to playing with the leash? Should I not let him bite/run with the leash in the house/yard?
Hope this wasn't too much of a read!
Thanks!

 

[suzyqdogsmom]

It's been a long time since I puppy trained, so I have forgotten a lot. 4 months is still pretty young, not to be starting training, but to have consistent results I think. Perhaps it would help to give him a good run/play out in the yard before your walks to expend some of his wild energy, it might tire him out enough to want to just walk. SuzyQ gets her exercise running loose on our property, so her walks on a leash are mostly for me to get my exercise and to make sure that she remembers how to properly walk on a leash. Even at her age of 6 yrs. she gets so excited when the leash comes out that I get her to do a few laps around the house and yard before I hook her up. I'm sure other members here will have more very specific training ideas.

 

[Pearlywhirly]

You're on the right track and I think 4 months is still young to have perfect results. The "stopping in your tracks when he starts to pull method" should help, just be consistent. It might take you even longer to get home so maybe not venture out too far. You can also try an Easy Walk harness. This is what I use for Pearl and it does a great job. The harness attachment point is on the front of the chest. When the dog pulls forward and you resist they are turned back around towards you. It's hard to describe but it works much better than a harness that has the D ring on the upper back, just like a sled dog.

 

[kgzehoviak]

Santo does the same!

Our puppy Santo is 14 weeks old. He bites at his leash sometimes too. He did really well walking on the leash prior to about 12 weeks. Then, he just became curious of EVERYTHING. He has good days and bad days on the leash. Sometimes he walks fine for 10 minutes, and then all of a sudden he starts biting at it. I think it is an attention span thing too. We take treats along, and when he starts biting we try to get him back on the right track and then praise him and give him a treat. It works some of the time at least. I personally think the main thing is to not give up on them!

 

[GoshenIrish]

You're on the right track puppies are puppies and won't be behaving perfectly at thier age, if your pup is walking proper on a lead for most of the walk and getting excited when she sees your house I would say that's normal.

Keep the lead slack at all times and don't give your pup too much leash yet. When the lead stops going slack stop in your tracks until the pup either sits and circles back to you so that the lead goes slack again, once it's slack again continue the walk. Be consistent never walk when the lead is tight from pulling because this gives mixed signals. If it takes 30 minutes to go the final 100 feet to your house so be it. She'll get it eventually. I've had pitbulls and other terriers my whole life, notorious pullers, and this worked every time. The choke collar and yanking them back never did, it actually encouraged them to pull and can hurt the dog.

 

[Wubbie]

I just solved the "leash-biting" issue with my dog Baxter. And let me tell you, he was FIXATED on that thing to the point that he constantly jumped up and chased it during our walks no matter how long they were.

I soaked his leash in bitter apple, and I always spray a little bit on it before I snap it on his collar just to remind him. However, a trainer told me you need to introduce the bitter apple to him and help him to associate it with a smell before you ever use it. I took the leash and soaked it in bitter apple, then I let him smell it and placed a tiny drop of the liquid on his tongue. He didn't like it of course, but he quickly learned to associate the smell with the bad taste.

Once in a while he grabs the leash but quickly lets go again when he gets a tiny taste.