8 week old puppy won't stop pulling leash eating leaves

[killerz298]

My lab just turned 8 weeks old and I constantly have to take him out back so he can get busy. The only problem is since it is fall there are leaves and pollynoses all over the ground. Sometimes he will get busy right away, other times I need to walk him around a little which is difficult as he keeps trying to eat the dried up leaves, grass and pollynoses. I also want to run him around outside to burn off some energy but have the same problem. I try to pull as much out of his mouth as possible but when it is night I can't see everything and sometimes he is just too quick. What do I do about this as I need to be able to take him outside.

Also, I have a flat collar on him and he pulls the leash VERY hard when I don't want him to go after something. Then he sometimes gets pissed when I won't let him go and so he jumps up and down and twists his head trying to get away. I am afraid that he is going to hurt himself, how do I get him to stop doing this?

 

[showpug]

I am laughing because your pup is such a PUPPY! That is how puppies act and your pup is VERY young, so don't expect too much too soon.

Can you rake up some leaves and make a clear spot? Does your pup have plenty of interesting chew toys available in the house?

The best advice I can offer you is to purchase the book "How To Raise a Puppy You Can Live With." By Rutherford and Neil. You can find it on Amazon and it's not expensive. It's a great book for any puppy or dog owner to have.

 

[juliefurry]

it sounds just like my 13 week old bernese. She plays with the leaves and grabs onto her leash and yanks it when I try getting her away from the leaves. When she jumps and starts moving her head around trying to get to where she wants I just freeze and don't move until she settles down then we'll continue on whatever we were doing. Maybe look into getting your puppy into puppy classes you can learn a lot of stuff there. They will cover the nipping and leash pulling and housebreaking and stuff.

 

[killerz298]

I am laughing because your pup is such a PUPPY! That is how puppies act and your pup is VERY young, so don't expect too much too soon.

Can you rake up some leaves and make a clear spot? Does your pup have plenty of interesting chew toys available in the house?

The best advice I can offer you is to purchase the book "How To Raise a Puppy You Can Live With." By Rutherford and Neil. You can find it on Amazon and it's not expensive. It's a great book for any puppy or dog owner to have.

Yeah I have that book and have been reading up on it. I tried raking up the leaves but then more just come a few hours later! Is it dangerous for him to be eating the leaves and pollynoses? Can he hurt his neck by pulling and twisting on the leash like that?

 

[Goobiedogs]

He probably can hurt himself if he did it long enough, but most likely not.

As for the eating leaves, and grass, etc, my pups always did this, for months. I would always have to grab the stuff out of their mouths so they dont choke or vomit in my bed at night, or get hurt.

With time this does subside, just take it out of their mouth and say LEAVE IT. Every time. Either way, with time they will stop doing this. They are puppies, they explore with their mouths just like human babies do. They are just excited and exploring. Sadly to this day, my older dog 1.7 years, when he gets excited, he eats leaves and rips up chunks of grass. We clean his mouth out and then playtime is over for him. We take him in.

We can never leave him alone in the yard, he would eat things and then choke/vomit later. He always has to be supervised. My younger pup does this sometimes (7mths) but not as bad. Some dogs just never grow out of it, esp if they are nuts like this guy.

But just ride it out, it should pass.

 

[bumhouse]

My puppy wanted to eat this stuff all the time. He is about 4 1/2 months old now and this has gotten a lot better. He rarely puts that stuff in his month anymore and never eats grass anymore at all. He never got sick from it.

We're still working on the leash thing. I usually have to get him to follow me with a treat or a toy in order to make him not do this. It is working though. He knows now that if he follows me there will be a reward. I would only let him burn off energy during the day when you can see what he is doing. Keep the nightime trips strictly business. And bring the treats with you to get him back inside and teach him there is a time limit. All this stuff worked for me but it took about a month or so (I'm not an expert, this is just personal experience ).

Good Luck......

 

[killerz298]

Thanks guys, I will keep pulling the leaves out and hopefully they will all be off the trees soon so I won't have to deal with them. The one good thing was that when he was eating and biting the leaves it wasn't me for a change!

 

[bubbatd]

I gather that you don't have a fenced in area .... for a pup that age , I recommend using a harness . Most don't do well on collars .

 

[PoodleMommy]

I gather that you don't have a fenced in area .... for a pup that age , I recommend using a harness . Most don't do well on collars .

I second grammy's advice.

Harness work wonders for pulling dogs.

Just make sure you get one that fits well.

Elissa

 

[showpug]

Personally, I think harnesses encourage pulling. It allows a dog to put it's whole body into the thrust, it's just feels like less pulling to us because we have control over a larger pulling area. Harnesses were originally designed for pulling. I would recommend you look into a gentle leader head collar when your pup is a little older.

 

[Doberluv]

What are pollynoses? LOL. Unless something is poisonous or thorny, I wouldn't worry about a little bit of grass and leaves. He's just being a pup and exploring with his mouth. Don't worry too much. I wouldn't take all this puppy silly business too seriously. Let him find out about his environment a little bit. He needs to be familiar with all kinds of weird stuff out there. He has so much to learn; bite inhibition, what things belong to you and what he can play with, what human household manners are. It's a lot. So, while he's learning so much new stuff, don't forget to let your puppy just be a puppy.

Also, I have a flat collar on him and he pulls the leash VERY hard when I don't want him to go after something. Then he sometimes gets pissed when I won't let him go and so he jumps up and down and twists his head trying to get away. I am afraid that he is going to hurt himself, how do I get him to stop doing this?

I agree with using a harness for now at least. Is your yard fenced? I'd get him use to the leash gradually so it's not made to be something miserable for him...a little dragging it around in the house, (but supervised always). Get some yummy, tiny treats and reward him when he takes a couple of nice steps, encourage him to come closer to you when he starts leaping around....just make it as pleasant and fun for him as you can. Don't worry about a perfect walk at 8 weeks of age.....just get him accustomed to the leash.

Inside, you can get him use to coming along with you with no leash on. Use treats, after every few steps, make a big fuss over him when he comes along, and add in a cue like, "let's go." Use a cheery voice and reward him for coming to you or along with you as you walk through the house. There is no leash on him to bother him. I start my puppies out with no leash or collar and just entice, encourage and reward. Then when you put the leash on which he's been getting use to seperately (dragging it around) it comes easier for him. You don't want any pulling, so not having a leash on helps him to walk near you without anything to pull against.

 

[charlie'smomma]

If you get a training collar it works wonders on the pulling. It's one of those metal collars with the 2 loops. It is sometimes called a choke collar, but it isn't painful when you use it possible. Just give it a quick pull, which tightens it momentarily to get his attention. Then release. It is good when training a pup to walk. That, or get a martingale collar, which tightens when a dog tries to back out.

 

[Doberluv]

I do not recommend a training collar or anything that squeezes down on the trachea at all for a puppy, especially not an 8 week old puppy. You want his association with collars and leashes to be nothing but pleasant so your future training and walking will not be associated with any discomfort or fear. He's very, very young and it's so important that his early associations are nothing but good. You have lots of time to teach him to walk nicely on a leash.

Teach him to walk with you by his own choice, not by force. Make him want to.

 

[killerz298]

Yes my yard is fenced in but I don't want him to have free reign of the yard as there is too much stuff he can get in trouble with and too many leaves/plants that I am certain he will eat. He doesn't mind the leash for the most part he chews it sometimes when he realizes it is there and when I won't let him have his way he starts playing tug with it but I just turn around and ignore him and he stops doing it.

 

[MomOf7]

The best thing to do if you want your pup to get use to a collar and leash is to put a flat nylon collar on him and attach the leash and let him drag it around while you are there to watch him. He will soon forget its there and get used to having one on.

 

[killerz298]

The best thing to do if you want your pup to get use to a collar and leash is to put a flat nylon collar on him and attach the leash and let him drag it around while you are there to watch him. He will soon forget its there and get used to having one on.

Well I keep the collar on him all the time and he is used to that. Should I let him walk around the house with the leash? What if he just chews on it inside like he does when he is outside? I don't think it is not being used to it, I think he just likes playing with it. I am gonna try to bitter apple with it as there are a few other problem spots, (1 wall and the baby gate). I hope to hell he doesn't like the taste of this stuff, my old dog couldn't care less.

 

[killerz298]

Can we edit our posts here? I don't see a way to do it. Anyway, I got that bitter stuff and he hates it! Doused my shoes and the end of the leash in it and fun time is over! I have started teaching him to heal and to leave things alone and he is resisting but not completely. All is not lost!