Surviving Puppy Biting: Leash Biting
Originally published January 2022. Updated September 2024.
Leash biting is common with puppies.
They may do it because they’re overly excited or even frustrated.
As a Certified Professional Dog Trainer, I don’t worry too much about it with very young puppies (you gotta pick your battles with 8 to 12 week olds!), but if the puppy is still doing it at 16-24 weeks, I’m less likely to overlook it.
Here are three options for dealing with puppy leash biting:
Labrador puppy Sadie is a leash biting success story!
1) Prevention
Use a chain or cable leash until your puppy is out of the leash biting phase.
Sometimes, we actually turn leash-biting into a habit by drawing a lot of attention to it.
You may worry about Puppy chewing through the leash so as soon as he starts gnawing, you jump right up to stop it. The problem with this is that Puppy learns chewing the leash is a great way to get attention.
Puppy can’t chew through a chain or cable leash so you’re free to ignore him and not accidentally reward the leash biting.
2) Two Leashes
If your puppy tends to bite and tug, using two leashes at once can be helpful.
Hold a leash in each hand and as soon as the tugging starts, drop the leash he’s tugging—tug isn’t tug with nothing to tug against.
Keep your wits about you and be VERY careful that you don’t accidentally drop both leashes!
3) Strategic Training
Giving your puppy something to do immediately after attaching the leash works really well to prevent leash biting.
Immediately after (or even just before) you clip the leash on, drop a small handful of treats on the floor, then transition to tossing them back and forth on either side of you. Once your pup is interested in that game, you can ask for other easy behaviors your puppy knows like Sit, Down or Touch.
Success Story
Labrador Sadie was six and a half months old when she came for Board and Train with a leash chewing habit.
She stood very calmly for the harness, but once the leash came out, her mouth was all over it.
Watch here to see how I used strategic training and treats to keep her from biting the leash as we left the house.
Meet the Puppy Trainer and Blog Author
Leighann founded Koinonia Dogs in 2014 and has been a Certified Professional Dog Trainer in the Austin, TX area since 2019.
She's a problem-solver by nature and loves creating cooperation through conflict-free communication so both ends of the leash enjoy life together.
