# Problem with Aggressive Biting of the Leash



## Golden Owner (Jan 2, 2010)

Hello, We have a nearly two-year old golden retriever female -- the alpha of the litter. 

She is a beautiful, warm and loving dog who is inseparable from our two daughters. She is energetic, but in the house, she generally is happy to be cuddled up to whomever.

The only bad habit we cannot seem to break is the fact that when we walk her, at times during each walk, she will turn extremely aggressive with her biting on the leash, to the point where she is really bearing her teeth and her eyes look vicious. It is not that she is trying to just lead us --she turns and tries to pull the leash and bite at that end of it being held. When I walk her, I usually take some time to stop the behavior by stepping on the leash and making her sit, but the whole time, she is being quite aggressive. As a result, my two daughters cannot walk her alone. I have read that this is her way of telling us she wants to lead. But we have tried a number of techniques, but nothing seems to stop this somewhat scary behavior. At all other times, she is the most playful, warm dog, so it is bizzare. It becomes a spectacle in the neighborhood because she appears so mean and angry when she does this. 

I would appreciate any thoughts or suggestions. Thank you in advance.


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## Dog_Shrink (Sep 29, 2009)

What kind of leash and collar are you using? A nylon leash with a j-clip? Maybe the clip might be too large and bonks her in the siide of the face or neck? A chain leash? A retractable leash? head halter, harness, choke chain, flat collar? A little more info please. When did this behavior start? Was there a particular event that you can recall that preceeded the starting of this event?


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## Corinthian (Sep 21, 2009)

Well, I doubt she's the alpha. 

All my dogs enjoy biting the leash and did so unprompted. I took this habit and occasionally us as a reward when we want to have some crazy fun.

Many dogs look aggressive when tugging and biting and they are simply playing. All of mine look and sound vicious when tugging with me, they're not.

Before going further - which techniques have you tried and how long of each?


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## Marsh Muppet (Nov 29, 2008)

Corinthian said:


> Many dogs look aggressive when tugging and biting and they are simply playing. All of mine look and sound vicious when tugging with me, they're not.


Yup. Doesn't sound like aggression at all. Redirect and substitute an acceptable activity. Correct if needed.


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## Golden Owner (Jan 2, 2010)

Thank you to all the responses. 

As far as the type of collar, we use a regular flat collar, and the j-clip does not seem to ever bother her or hit her at all. And her behavior starts seemingly unprovoked. She may just be sitting still on the walk, and then starts it. Sometimes it is when we are walking along, and she sees the leash dangling in front of her. 

I appreciate your thoughts. I too thought perhaps it was just playful biting at the leash, but this truly seems different. I enjoy rough play with her sometimes, but with the leash biting, she real looks stressed, bares her teeth, and bites viciously at the leash and tries to work her way up to the point where I (or my daughters or wife) are trying to hold the leash. It is not specific to any individual. In fact, my daughters play with her in the house and she play growls, etc., but it is clear she is playing. This is very different, and it really scares my daughters. 

I do not recall any particular circumstance where this started, but it has happened for some time now. 

We have attempted two different forms of "training." When she does it, we normally do not engage her in any form of play or game, but rather drop the leash, step on it a few feet from her so she has little mobility, and then tell her to sit, and we do not move until she sits and stops. Problem with that, though, is that frequently the moment we let off and start walking again, she starts right up. 

The second method is to try to grab collar, and then lift her up so her back is to my stomach, and hold her there for a minute or so, and say "No." Our breeder taught us this, and seems to work sometimes, but not all.

Again, I thank you for any thoughts.


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## glasgow (Jul 11, 2008)

Charlie tried biting the lead when he was a puppy but an old man who kept goldies all this life told me how to cure him.
He told me to stand beside Charlie, to put the lead on then bring it down the front and under the right leg of the dog (if you walk your dog on the left, reverse it if you don't).
We did this for a few days and the biting soon stopped as he couldn't get to the lead.
Hope this helps!


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## RedyreRottweilers (Dec 17, 2006)

Have you thought about giving her something to carry during her walks? I remember long ago a trainer on some long forgotten board who said that they always gave their puppies a dowel or a dummy to carry when walking and that it avoided a lot of this.

With a little puppy, I never give them any kind of "game" for leash grabbing. If they go for it, it gets removed from them VERY unceremoniously. I don't mark it any other way except to promptly and briskly remove it from the mouth, and then redirect the pup.

With your dog, I think being calm is an important part of how you deal with this, and it sounds like you are doing the best you can. I would recommend you just stay the course, do it the same way each time, and as calmly and quietly as possible.

Once she stops, then maybe you could offer her something to carry immediately so she will have something to keep busy with.

I expect she is really just playing and goofing around, but you can't have a dog that size doing that.


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## Dog_Shrink (Sep 29, 2009)

Aside of the leash biting is she generally pretty easy to walk? No pulling, lunging etc. Pretty controlled most of the time or do you let her wander a bit and sniff about? 

A lot of the time I notice leash biting behavior is when the owner is asking for too much control over the dog. Always at the perfect heal, never a moment to explor, just focus. I allow my client's pups (and encourage it) to make it a "working walk". Temper control with latitude. After leash manners are learned the dog is allowed to explore laterally and lag behind you (not in front tho) and sniff hedges curbs etc, but they only have the lenth of the leash and when that is spent they better be catching up and coming back to center in line with me. 

All I can think of is a Dog's letter to God... one of the complaints was "on walks they NEVER let me sniff... I'm a dog, I sniff"... With the constant control they sometimes tend to get anxious and bity at the lead or bouncy. Dogs are rangers by nature and walking is key to many dog's mental health. The walk should serve many purposes aside of just showing how well they walk on a leash. It should satisfy mental stimulation, exercise, and control.


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## Marsh Muppet (Nov 29, 2008)

Golden Owner said:


> I too thought perhaps it was just playful biting at the leash, but this truly seems different. I enjoy rough play with her sometimes, but with the leash biting, she real looks stressed, bares her teeth, and bites viciously at the leash and tries to work her way up to the point where I (or my daughters or wife) are trying to hold the leash.


My Golden is 4 years old and he gets that way sometimes. He's very well behaved, but he needs a lot of hard play. That doesn't necessarily mean rough housing, but running and swimming and retrieving. Goldens and Labs are typically high energy dogs with high play drive. Cuddling and cookies are all well and good, but they need to get the shpilkes out of their system. Proper discipline is only half the equation.


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## Golden Owner (Jan 2, 2010)

Thanks, we have not been great with leash training, so she is a lunger and a puller, and she controls where she goes, constantly sniffing, etc. And I have thought that the aggressive leash biting seems to come when she doesn't like being controlled or told where to go. So, I assume your advice is that we need to start working harder on leash training and that the biting may subside with better loose leash walking? You probably have it right, as she is not the easiest dog to walk because she loves to smell EVERYTHING so she controls us. We need to change that. Thank you for your great advice.


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## GypsyJazmine (Nov 27, 2009)

Dogs do NOT sniff things on walks to try to control us!!!...They do it because that is how dogs investigate & explore the world around them...You'd do well for yourself & your dog to get the dominance mindset out of your head!!!...The answer is not in dominating your dog but rather better understanding your dog.
You might want to read this:
http://dogpublic.com/articles/article.aspx?sid=14&pid=1640


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## Golden Owner (Jan 2, 2010)

GypsyJazmine said:


> Dogs do NOT sniff things on walks to try to control us!!!...They do it because that is how dogs investigate & explore the world around them...You'd do well for yourself & your dog to get the dominance mindset out of your head!!!...The answer is not in dominating your dog but rather better understanding your dog.
> You might want to read this:
> http://dogpublic.com/articles/article.aspx?sid=14&pid=1640


Thank you! We have always thought that -- that our dog simply needs to do her sniffing and let her explore her world. I am just wondering if I need to do more discliplining on the walk. I will read your suggested article.


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## GypsyJazmine (Nov 27, 2009)

Golden Owner said:


> Thank you! We have always thought that -- that our dog simply needs to do her sniffing and let her explore her world. I am just wondering if I need to do more discliplining on the walk. I will read your suggested article.


Eh...I always figure it's their walk let them do their thing...lol!...Seriously though there is a time & place for sniffing willy nilly & I let me dogs have that but they are also trained to heel when I ask.


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