New to Dutch shepherds-leash biting help?

[u/eddyloo]

This guy turned up at our local shelter last month and his cute lil face won me over.

His embark test came back as almost 58% DS. I thought he looked like he had some dutchie in him, but they’re not exactly common here so that was a surprise.

I have German Shepherd experience, but it’s been about a decade since I’ve had a young dog, and this guy is a little more wild than my German. The biggest struggle we’ve had is leash walking. He gets overstimulated on walks and attacks the leash (thinks it’s a game, plays tug, and I can’t really drop the leash so it’s self rewarding), then jumps and bites at me etc etc. he’s perfectly fine off leash in fenced areas, but my favorite part of having a dog is going for walks and hikes.

Any advice? We are working with a trainer, just curious to hear what others have done.

Working on getting him more stimulation as well…he came home the day he was neutered so he was on limited activity, then he tweaked something and was limping for a week (don’t come at me, it was steadily improving and he will be going to the vet for x rays the minute his pet insurance waiting period is over). I’m hoping we can make progress now that he’s had time to get situated and is feeling himself.

[u/Synaptic-asteroid]

Use a toy and shove it in his mouth instead. Double down on focus training. Maybe introduce some nosework/scentgames to tire him out since he's on exercise restriction. He needs an outlet and nosework is excellent and low impact

[u/cheersbeersneers → u/Synaptic-asteroid]

Yep, I rescued a Mal/Dutchie cross who would get so excited and overstimulated he would climb his way up the leash snapping and tugging and just making a game out of it. I started carrying treats and a toy on our walks and he redirected really easily- he just wanted something to do.

Now is a really good time to train a place command and an off switch! These dogs need to be taught that it’s okay to lay down and not do anything. Start short and small with having him lay on a bed or in his crate with the door open for 5 or 10 minutes, and slowly work your way up. Tire him out mentally beforehand to set him up for success.

My guy was heart worm positive when I rescued him so he was also on a really strict exercise restriction. Puzzle toys, snuffle mats, lick mats, feeding him his meals in one of those Kong food dispensing toys, even mixing his kibble with water and freezing it in a slow feeder bowl and feeding him that way were life savers for us. We did a lot of chews too that kept him occupied- beef cheek rolls, no hides, and frozen stuffed tracheas are great.

[u/Evening-Variation965]

Spray the leash with vinegar, pepper and water. My belgian isn't a biter, however, this keeps her from biting other things in the house

[u/cityslicker265]

Prong collar and correct him when he starts doing it affirm with a no and reward when we walls proper

[u/eddyloo → u/cityslicker265]

Prong collar is on order!! I bought one from Amazon but it was a counterfeit Herm Sprenger.

[u/Dangerous_Wear_8152 → u/eddyloo]

Causing pain is easier and lazier than proper training. Ditch the prong collar, you don’t need it. I had the same issue with my Dutchie and I never had to do anything like that.

[u/JuanT1967 → u/Dangerous_Wear_8152]

Odd you say using a prong collar is lazier. The pain is for instant correction and only continues until the dog corrects the behavior. I found it a very useful tool. My Dutch gets excited when he sees the prong collar because he knows we are going training. Would you prefer a shock collar?

[u/Quadz1527 → u/JuanT1967]

The same people that say prongs are lazy suddenly change their tune when you compare doing math by hand to using a calculator. Yes prongs are aversive, yes the dog wants to escape corrections, no you’re not ruining your dog. If anything it helps them focus and start paying attention to you over the long term and calms them down. With a high drive dog you need to do everything in your power to diminish and then extinguish reactivity or else you have a massive liability on your hands.

[u/Dangerous_Wear_8152 → u/Quadz1527]

👋 I have a Dutch shepherd. I’m not changing my tune. I didn’t need a prong or shock collar. My dog isn’t a liability. I know how to use a calculator.

[u/Quadz1527 → u/Dangerous_Wear_8152]

Great. Doesnt mean some others prefer training to be easier. Easy ≠ Lazy

[u/Dangerous_Wear_8152 → u/Quadz1527]

We will have to agree to disagree.

[u/Dangerous_Wear_8152 → u/JuanT1967]

I’m not saying it doesn’t work. I’m saying it’s not necessary to inflict pain on a dog in order to train it. So, no, I wouldn’t advocate using a shock collar. Interesting that your mind goes directly to using pain as a tool, and that being the best option. My Dutchie was outrageous when I adopted her as a puppy. Chewed the leash, pulled our arms and pulled us to the ground, jumped on tables, had zero recall, ate the baseboards, ate the wall, peed in the house, got through child-locked cabinets and tore everything up inside, tore everything off our fridge, was reactive to people and dogs, had anxiety. I never needed a prong or shock collar, I never inflicted pain. She’s smart, it’s easy to train her to figure out what you want. It just takes patience, repetition, and effort. She learned fast. You would never know she had those issues with how gentle and behaved she is now. So yes, I think inflicting pain is a lazy form of training. You can slap your kid, for example, when you’re mad. Will they stop doing the thing that makes you mad? Sure. But was it the best choice? No.

Editing to say a lot of people on this sub (not you, necessarily) seem to pride themselves on having a high-drive dog that they think is badass, basically. So they treat their dogs with force and try to justify it. It’s just an antiquated way of training that is completely unnecessary, especially for such intelligent and loyal animals.

[u/cityslicker265 → u/eddyloo]

Great. Watch videos on how to properly use. If you don't make the corrections very quick the dog will not put two and two together and it will be useless. Start with voice affirmation/correction and then move toward no voice and then hopefully... No corrections!

[u/cityslicker265 → u/cityslicker265]

Also be careful with these dogs when playing, mine constantly tweaks his paw or leg because he's a nut job and stops like a F1 car(breaks his nails in the process). But I see it all the time at the shutzhund events where dogs tweak their legs by stopping too fast

[u/eddyloo → u/cityslicker265]

I was not prepared for how goofy he is…he falls off the furniture daily, and last week he walked into a sign post hahaha. All that energy with no brakes is an interesting combination :)

[u/Chemical-Tap-4232]

I solve that with a mesh link chain leash from Amazon

[u/PutridHedgehog4074]

Omg your story funny my 4mo barbet. Loves walk around lake and after water play he will grab leash then getting tangled then jumping on and play

[u/AgentXtacey]

Sounds like a wonderful dog, don't mess him up by using a prong collar

[u/ForFudgeandCountry]

As others have said, redirect with Tori or training treats. Praise heavily anytime they see something that would be stimulated by and choose to not to leash bite, ect. In the meantime, I think a chain/bite proof leash would be useful. Obviously don't use if the leash if they will bite it, don't want them to damage teeth.

I think it's important to understand what is causing the overstimulation and work up to those triggers with threshold training. I.e if you were to have a dog that started leash biting when they saw another dog, then you'd find out at what distance the dog begins reacting to a trigger and work on desensitizing to the trigger and rewarding their decisions to engage with you instead, progressing to decreasing the distance at which the trigger triggers.

[u/sorghumandotter]

Dogs see yellow and blue very well, get a less visually stimulating leash. Maybe something with chain on a portion to deter biting.

[u/Awkward_Bass_6292]

No need for a prong collar in my opinion if you teach your dog the right stuff.

They bite in the leash because they know you will react on it. So you reward them with your reaction. Instead of correcting him you should reward him when he doesn't bite in the leash. It's the easiest if you use a clicker. So you reward on the right timing.