I am back once more with some training questons about my gsd puppy Duke. He is now 6 months old and is starting to become a good obedience dog at least when it comes to listening to me. I have run into a hitch in his training though; he is a leash chewer.
Generally he grabs his leash and walks me to where I like work with him. Once we are there he drops his leash, sits by me, waits for the heel comand then grabs his leash again. When I am at home with him I can take the leash out of his mouth and he will not touch it again and when he goes for walks with me around town he will not touch the leash. No big deal there just a bit of work and there should be no problems.
Then there is the 4H workouts. This is where I hit a snag with him and he forgets that the leash is not a toy. Once we get out of the car he begins being a pain and must bark to let all his friends know he is there. Once we get to where the other dogs are he is fine and normally sits quietly by me. When we begin to work on the dogs heeling he looses it. He starts out by grabbing his leash and walking next to me, most of the time he does not pull, he simply holds the leash. When I stop out comes the leash and he sits. I try to take the leash away from him at that point just so he doesnt start tugging on it but that plan always back fires, he begins barking, forging, tugging at the leash, and just being a general pain.
I have tried bitter apple spray and even hot sauce on the leash to stop him from chewing but neither work. I have tried telling him to drop his leash (He understands the out command), gentally removing the leash, and yanking it out of his mouth (which my leader told me to do). When he pulls I avoid pulling back as much as I can.
I have tried doing everything I can think of to stop him but nothing seems to work. I need some help.
Generally he grabs his leash and walks me to where I like work with him. Once we are there he drops his leash, sits by me, waits for the heel comand then grabs his leash again. When I am at home with him I can take the leash out of his mouth and he will not touch it again and when he goes for walks with me around town he will not touch the leash. No big deal there just a bit of work and there should be no problems.
Then there is the 4H workouts. This is where I hit a snag with him and he forgets that the leash is not a toy. Once we get out of the car he begins being a pain and must bark to let all his friends know he is there. Once we get to where the other dogs are he is fine and normally sits quietly by me. When we begin to work on the dogs heeling he looses it. He starts out by grabbing his leash and walking next to me, most of the time he does not pull, he simply holds the leash. When I stop out comes the leash and he sits. I try to take the leash away from him at that point just so he doesnt start tugging on it but that plan always back fires, he begins barking, forging, tugging at the leash, and just being a general pain.
I have tried bitter apple spray and even hot sauce on the leash to stop him from chewing but neither work. I have tried telling him to drop his leash (He understands the out command), gentally removing the leash, and yanking it out of his mouth (which my leader told me to do). When he pulls I avoid pulling back as much as I can.
I have tried doing everything I can think of to stop him but nothing seems to work. I need some help.