Do you ever walk your young dog and have them suddenly start jumping or spinning or running in circles, grabbing and tugging on the leash, or even biting you or your clothes? Here is how to handle this frustrating and scary behavior.
Why does my dog do this awful behavior?
The most common reasons are:
Frustration: Your dog wants to get somewhere else, but the leash is holding him back, and he’s not able to contain his feelings about it. This may also happen when you are heading home, and your dog doesn’t want to.
Boredom: If you are moving too slowly or (gasp!) standing still, your dog may be looking for more entertainment.
Overstimulation: There’s a lot going on and your dog is mentally/emotionally overwhelmed, and not able to cope.
OMG Grass!: I have seen that many dogs living without backyards or in yards without grass will get very excited when reaching patches of grass during walks. They may flop down, roll around, try to zoom, or even direct their excitement at the leash or owner.
Your dog may also experience a combination of these that really put him over the top.
Prevention for the short term
Knowing why your dog does this behavior will help you figure out how to deal with it - both immediately and for the long term. The first order of business is to prevent your dog from rehearsing this behavior, as much as possible. For example, if your dog always gets rowdy when you’re standing and chatting with neighbors, then temporarily avoid doing so or distract your dog while you’re talking. If he gets overstimulated, keep your walks shorter or avoid busy areas. If he’s reacting to the leash pulling him in another direction from where he wants to go, work on calling him to follow and use the leash techniques below. For dogs that get frustrated that the walk is ending, you will have more success walking them in a loop than out and back on the same street - that way they have more new smells to explore and keep them happy.
Make sure that you’re using equipment that gives you good control over your dog, especially if they are large enough that they could pull you down or hurt you. A harness on which the leash clips in front of the dog’s chest will allow you to turn him away from distractions more easily than when the leash is clipped on their back. However a harness with a handle on the back gives you a place to hold your dog when he’s wriggling around. A head halter will give you the most control over your dog’s movement, especially if he is jumping or biting. A chain link leash will discourage tugging on the leash, at least somewhat. Some people have success using a double-ended leash or two separate leashes, so if their dog grabs onto one, they can hold the other.
Oh crap, he’s doing it right now
Yeah, you won’t be able to prevent the sudden hyper behavior 100%. You have a few options to try:
Use the equipment you have on your dog to get a hold of them and stop the behavior. For example, hold onto the handle on the back of your dog’s harness with one hand and his collar or leash with the other. If he’s wearing a head halter, slid your hand up the leash so that you have hold of his head.
Step on the leash, then adjust your stance and the length of the leash so that your dog is tethered to your foot on a short leash. Now he can’t jump on you and bite you.
Alternatively, shorten the leash and hold your arm locked straight out from your side, so he can’t reach you or the leash.
If you’re near a traffic sign, mailbox, light pole, etc, then put the leash around the pole and adjust the length so that your dog is tethered to it and can’t reach you.
If your dog has a strong response to cues like “sit” or “down,” use that.
Have treats (maybe even high value treats) with you on walks. Scatter them around your dog’s feet to distract him. If you can get him to sit or down first, that will be better, so you’re rewarding that calmer behavior. However even if your dog can’t do that, you can still use the treats to interrupt the behavior.
Won’t that reward the sudden hyper behavior? Yes, and if all you ever did was pull out treats when your dog gets rowdy, you’d quickly have a problem. However you’re smarter than that, and you’re going to work on prevention and implement the long term training strategies below, so that your dog learns to be calmer overall and walk nicely on leash. This is only a short term strategy to interrupt the behavior when you really need it.
The treat scatter is a great strategy to get your dog to calm down after using one of the tethering options, as well. As soon as you see his energy wane, drop several treats near his feet to get him mind off the frustration/boredom/overstimulation that initially caused the behavior, and back to a calmer mindset.
It’s common for dogs to get hyper again as soon as you start walking - so preemptively place a “breadcrumb trail” of treats on the ground as you start moving forward. As you see your dog continuing to calm down, you can slow down how frequently you place the treats on the ground, and he'll transition back to sniffing and walking normally.
Training your dog for the long term
There are several training techniques that can help your dog to learn calm leash walking. Which ones are best depends again on why your dog does the sudden hyper behavior. Try out and combine different techniques to see what “clicks” for both you and your dog.
Frustration:
Circle walking, especially with a longer leash (6-10 feet): Circle walking decreases frustration because it is less restrictive and allows your dog to keep moving their body. Here are several videos that explain circle walking.
Leash pressure cues: Take the time to train your dog how to respond to leash pressure, rather than just letting it happen and hoping he’ll figure it out. The silky leash method is one example of this. This can be an alternative to circle walking or used at different moments.
Rewarding polite walking: Bring treats on your walks and reward your dog frequently for walking next to you, instead of pulling. This will be easier if you practice heeling in low distraction locations, like in your house or backyard, before trying it on walks.
Rewarding attention: You can call your dog’s name and then reward him for checking in, or use the Engage-Disengage Game, to increase the amount of time he spends calmly connecting with you rather than trying to get to other things in the environment.
Exercise: Giving your dog physical exercise before going for a leash walk will greatly decrease his excitement and frustration. Try playing in the backyard first, or go somewhere that it’s safe to let your dog run off leash and blow off steam before practicing leash walking.
Boredom:
Practice settling: You want your dog to learn how to settle calmly while on leash and stopped, separately from the walks. Here is a great video on this topic.
Breaks to play: If your dog enjoys playing tug, bring a favorite toy and give him breaks to play and get his energy out. You could even bring a small flirt pole.
Exercise: As above, exercising before the walk will allow your dog to more easily adjust to a slow walking pace or even stopping and waiting for a while.
Overstimulation:
Pattern games: Short, predictable routines, such as the 1 2 3 game, lower arousal and excitability. Implement this at the first sign of increasing arousal, before your dog loses it. He will start to learn to modulate arousal on his own by practicing getting just a little excited, then calming down.
Scatters: Bring treats and implement scatters at the first sign of increasing arousal, as above.
Circle walking and leash pressure cues: See above.
OMG Grass!:
Give your dog exposure to grass in a structured way, guiding them to choose appropriate activities. Examples are:
Scatters
Pattern games like 1 2 3 game
Playing with a flirt pole
Play dates with other dogs
Tracking and nose work training
Keep practicing
Don’t get discouraged if your dog is getting better, walking nicely, but then catches you off guard with another bout of jumping and biting. It’s normal for problematic behaviors to pop back up every once in a while, even as the dog is making progress overall. Make sure that you are bringing together appropriate equipment, prevention, reacting quickly and confidently in the moment, and training for long term success.