Puppy with Leash in her Mouth

[Kacie Hollander]

My husband and I brought Macy home a little over a week ago. We LOVE her so much! She definitely keeps us on our toes :) She's just over 10 weeks old. She's had a few accidents inside, but is great in her crate and such a sweetheart.

We have a decent yard, but it is not fenced in so we have her on a very small leash. When we walk around the yard she almost always has the leash in her mouth. My instinct tells me to say "NO" and take it out of her mouth so she doesn't feel like she controls where we go. I'm worried that when she's old enough to go on walks, she'll pull and be difficult. Does anyone else's puppy do this with the leash? Should we continue trying to get her to stop it, or just let it happen and hope she'll grow out of it?

Also, at what age did you start taking your puppies off your property for walks? 

[Tait & Finn]

Finn is 5.5 months and still holds the leash in his mouth. Sometimes he's more rough and tugs and gets a little crazy so I just stop walking and then tell him to drop it and walk nice. So he does and we continue. He also does it with excitement as we head for home. He leads the way home.

[Ellie and Cooper]

Cooper is 17 mos., old and he does what Tait says that Finn does.  He puts the leash in his mouth out the door til we get on the sidewalk, then he lets go and picks it back up and acts as though he is leading me in the gate to the door at the end of our walk.

 

They act like humans sometimes.  I have never had a dog that acts like Cooper does.  He brought he a clean towel and laid it outside the bathroom door one morning while I was taking a bath.  My husband doesn't even do that.  Maybe Macy is trying to tell you to take her out of the yard and on a real walk.  Good luck and she is beautiful.

[Marcia & MoneyPenny]

Penny did this also. Our dog trainer suggested getting a chain choke collar & hooking it to the end of the leash then add a carabiner to attach to her collar. Dogs don't particularly like chain in their mouths. It does work. We also use an Easy Walk harness for walks. Stops the pulling & now Penny will walk with a loose leash.
Good luck!

[KLN]

Finley gets his last set of shots Saturday and can then start taking walks in the neighborhood...I've always used the spike choke chains for my dogs before but think he might be too little for that and so I was thinking something along the lines of the easy walk or gentle lead harness.  Have you liked your easy walk harness?  Is it easy to use and did Penny adapt to it pretty easily? 

[Jolene, Sassparilla & Josie]

Our last dog did this, we thought it was hilarious. She would let go once we were off the property and in motion, I think it was her way of saying lets go! She never pulled, unlike the two I have now!
Four months is when we could go wild and hit the ground running. We waited until we completed all their vaccinations and rabies.

[Kacie Hollander]

Thanks for all the advice!  I'm glad to hear Macy isn't the only one with this adorable, but possibly bad habbit!  It is very cute, and she holds her head high when it's in her mouth, like she rules the world.

 

I think we will also wait until she is done with her shots to go on walks.  I'm dying to take her around the block!

[Ellie and Cooper]

Well, be prepared, because people will stop you and brag about her and want to know what kind she is because she is so beautiful. 

 

[Cheryl and Lucas]

I just saw her pics, she is adorable. Good luck. I also agree to get ready because she is going to cause a LOT of people to stop and ask questions. I get it ALL the time with my Lucas, STILL and he is now 71 pounds. Be careful about the leash, it is adorable when they carry it, but now at the size that Lucas is, he likes tug-o-war with the leash and he can literally pull my back out.

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

What we learned in training with our first two is that it is a dominance thing and that they are showing that they are walking you.  I can get that with an older puppy/dog, but at 8-12 weeks, ah, I think they just want anything they can find in their mouth.  AnnaBelle (now 14 weeks) was really bad about this when we first put a leash on her.  Now that we have been for several walks I find that as soon as we get going she gets side tracked and doesn't do it any longer.  I try to take it out when she takes it, but I don't make a game of it.  If she resists me I just start walking and she quickly settles in and walks and drops it.  We started walking off site as soon as she had had 3 parvo shots.  That is when our vet said she was safe.

[Kacie Hollander]

Thanks again for all the advice and kind words!  She actually started getting better already.  I think the key is to keep her busy enough that she forgets to bite the leash.  Hopefully once we venture outside of our yard she'll be so excited she won't pay attention to the leash.  She sure is adorable.  My husband and I are head over heels!! 

[Ellie and Cooper]

Kacie, it is funny that you were talking about Macy putting the leash in her mouth.  Here is what happened to me yesterday afternoon.

 

Cooper had his second obedience class yesterday and about 20 mins., into the class   he grabbed the leash with his mouth and started pulling me in the other direction away from the other dogs. the instructor said well that is the first time I've seen that.  I guess he was trying to tell me ok that's it I've done my stuff now I want to go home.  I couldn't get him to do anything right after that.  He just wanted to get hold of the leash.  They have minds just like we do and they are smart......

[Kacie Hollander]

Hahaha!  That's a great story.  I can totally see Macy doing that.  She turns her head back and forth in the direction she wants to go in.  She is definitely trying to tell us that she's ready to move onto the next spot in the yard.  Very smart :)