puppy tantrum on leash.....

[Eycee1]

i'm sure this is common place but just need to hear from others so I know this is normal. My puppy is a 10 week old black lab and we started leash training, sometimes she is great on the leash with no problems and other times its like a switch is hit and she's fighting like crazy to the point where she is crying as we're walking and then she turns and comes after me biting my pants and jumping up at me to nip me growling. Anyone else dealing with this right now?

She's a sweet little dog but sometimes is just a complete wacko and goes totally crazy both inside and outside the house.

[mnaj_springer]

Fighting the leash is normal behavior for puppies but they learn the drill.

Personally I don't let puppies get aggressive with me. It sets a bad precedent. When I have a puppy being aggressive I grab them by the scruff, pick them up and give them a gruff "no!" But there is an important distinction between aggressive growling and play growling.

[Higgins]

That's what I call a hissy fit. Normal behavior.

Here is a video I did a while ago. I think you might find it helpful.
http://vimeo.com/95909927

Good luck. Enjoy that pup.

Brad Higgins
http://www.HigginsGundogs.com
___________________________
Higgins Gundogs hunting etiquette

Dogs: Stay in touch and handle well. Always honor another dog's point, be steady when necessary and manage the birds for the gun.
Handlers: Be silent in the hunt. Allow the dog the freedom to do his work. Nurture the natural retrieve.

[Eycee1]

That's what I call a hissy fit. Normal behavior.

Here is a video I did a while ago. I think you might find it helpful.
http://vimeo.com/95909927

Good luck. Enjoy that pup.

Brad Higgins
http://www.HigginsGundogs.com
___________________________
Higgins Gundogs hunting etiquette

Dogs: Stay in touch and handle well. Always honor another dog's point, be steady when necessary and manage the birds for the gun.
Handlers: Be silent in the hunt. Allow the dog the freedom to do his work. Nurture the natural retrieve.

hey great video thanks for sharing!! I may have to try a gentle leader if it keeps up. I have just been using a regular collar and leash. She def. wants to go where she wants to go to the point where I will sometimes just stand still and she is choking herself with the collar.

[RayGubernat]

Just a couple thoughts...

If the puppy pitches a fit, maybe putting it on a tieout for a half hour or so will help. let the pup fight with the steel stake and the chain. It will give up and then it should be more receptive to the leash.

You could cut a short length of rope, like a foot or so and tie on a snap, If you put that on the pup every single time you let it out into the yard, it will soon grow accustomed to it being there and ignore it as it runs around.

Gentle but firm...patient but persistent. I have a problem with the patience part of it...always have...probably always will.

Puppies are the bomb. Have fun with your youngster. even while you are training. If the puppy is not having fun... whatever you are trying to do ... ain't gonna work so good.

RayG

[AZ Brittany Guy]

I agree with Ray. Start your pup on a stake out and let him work out his resistance on his own. He can't relate the contact to you when he is on the stakeout. You should stake him in a safe, shady area with a water bowl near your house then leave. I think the chain should be around 18" long. Go inside and keep an eye on him through a window where he cant see you. When he chills out and accepts the situation you can take him off the restraint. He may try to boss you around by barking and that is when you introduce him to the figure 8 or muzzle. (different topic).

[BVK]

I am with Ray & Britt Guy. I always introduce pups to lead via staking out just as Britt Guy describes. Let them associate the negative experience of fighting the restriction with anything other than you. Then when they submit to the restriction & relax, you come in as the good guy & love them up. Not only are they learning to accept the lead, they are also learning to accept restriction/confinement in general which will continue to pay dividends in your future training.

[NEhomer]

I assume by a stake out you guys mean this:



Do you do it for all dogs as a way to accept the leash or only for those who fight it?

[fuzznut]

Once i learned about stake outs and puppies,..... life with the little devils went so much smoother!!! 8 wks old, stake em out. Agree with everyone, let them fight on the chain and learn how to give in to the collar pressure. It works!

[AZ Brittany Guy]

I assume by a stake out you guys mean this:



Do you do it for all dogs as a way to accept the leash or only for those who fight it?

yep that will work

[NEhomer]

I'm getting a LLewellin pup a wek from today so I'm gathering up as much info as I can. That apparatus seems simple to make. Again, should I just make and use one for a standard benefit or only use it if the pup presents lead issues?

[ezzy333]

Use it as a standard for all puppies.

[NEhomer]

Ok thanks. Although I don't think I'll stake out an 8 week old puppy in below zero temps!

At about what age? realizing that each pup's different of course.

[gonehuntin']

Let em' buck and laugh at them>

[kninebirddog]

This is why I start putting my pups on a puppy chain gang at about 5 1/2 weeks old so they can pitch their fits where it is between them and the chain not with a human
No pup likes to deal with restrictions and the absolute worst thing is for the human to save the pup from this as it only teaches the pup that pitching a fit will get them out of what they don't like
The only way they are going to learn is to allow them to figure out what they are dealing with isn't going to kill them

[Vernal Pike]

Ok thanks. Although I don't think I'll stake out an 8 week old puppy in below zero temps!

At about what age? realizing that each pup's different of course.

This spring will be fine.
For now let the pup drag a leash or rope around once in awhile.

[BVK]

With winter pups in north country, I have rigged up a "tie out" for pup in both the garage & in the basement using an eye bolt & a short length (12 in. Approx) of light chain attached to the bottom plate in an area where the little guy cannot do too much damage. I keep the chain short so they cannot get tangled up.

[Swampbilly]

Read several posts on here, don't know if I'm just gettin' old and grumpy but hey-
Won't tell you anything now that wouldn't say 30 yrs ago-

Tie up your dawg to a stake so he can learn to obey an 18" piece of wood driven in the dirt,, or get the dog in the yard and teach it some Obedience, (with re- enforcement) take your pick.
Don't get me wrong, after a dogs' tongue gets shot out several feet and goes arse over teacups when the rope gets tight, he/she'll eventually learn...that it can't run but so far before the rope gets tight after (?) - umpteen weeks lol.
Or-
It can obey a given command under human control and save some neck and tongue stretchin'.

The glory part here is on the leash the pup can throw all the "epileptic seizures" he wants to, you have the great opportunity to teach pup that pulling, biting the leash, "tantrums" get you absolutely no-where.
Don't "cave in".

[RoostersMom]

What Swampbilly said, plus the stake out (I have a couple homemade) has the added benefit of letting the pup learn to be by itself in a safe environment. Either with you in plain sight or with you totally out of the picture (but perhaps monitoring through a window). That said, and I've only had this happen once in my 15 years of staking dogs and now doing field trialing - you can get a dog caught up. My new GSP (adult that has field trialed all her life and been on stakes all her life) somehow got her collar caught through the top of the stake out and twisted it in there so that she was choking herself. You would want to watch the pup so that you can see if he gets into trouble. However, I have never seen that happen before or since and this particular dog is a "pacer/twirler" so she is constantly circling at all times.