Our lab pup is 9 weeks old and I am struggling with getting her used to her lead. I have tried attaching it and leaving her to drag it around, but she just lies there and chews it. If I pick it up she sees it as a
tug-of-war comp. I sat outside yesterday and fastened the lead round my chair leg in the hope she would feel the restraint and sit, lol, she went beserk and I was concerned she may cause herself some damage to her neck/throat the way she was jumping around. Has anyone any other ideas?

Give her time. It usually takes them a while to get used to anything like collars and leads. Please don't tie the lead to anything - it will only scare her and make the training harder.

What I do is put the lead on for pup's mealtimes (she can't chew the lead and eat her dinner at the same time!) then take it off after. I also put in on for practicing lead walking. First you get the tug-of-war, then the flipping about like a fish on a line, then the sitting down refusing to co-operate. All this time you stand still, waiting patiently. At the sitting-down stage you can then offer a titbit to encourage the pup to move towards you. A win! Let her off the lead at this point - first lesson over.

Do this a few times (not more than twice a day) and you'll reach the stage where you'll be able to get her to follow you in the garden coming for a titbit. She'll be pretty good by the time she's old enough to be taken off your property.

Good luck!
:)

Big D, I'm such a considerate breeder that as part of my socialization of my litter I used to put their wee collars and leads on them from about 3 weeks and let them drag them around with them(supervised of course) until 6 weeks then I used to walk around garden with them until they went to their new homes,I also used to groom them everyday for a few mins and i hope this helped new owners.Can I take a pat on the back now!!!!!!Sandra.

my puppy went berserk when i first put attached a lead to her collar! so i immediately left it and bought a harness. this was accepted with no real trouble and she very quickly walked well with it on.
i used the harness for about 3 weeks - putting her collar on too now and got her used to it being on most of the time.
i reintroduced the lead attached to the collar when she was walking well on her lead and harness, and was then far more interested in her walk than anything else. she certainly knew the difference and made a little protest but then decided her walk was more important - and she's been fine with it ever since.
i deliberately didn't want to make an issue of the collar and lead so took it away very quickly, and i guess i was lucky that she accepted the harness.

good idea bluebird will need to remember that one,sandra.

Bluebird, when you say a harness, is this a 'halti'?

No, a harness involves putting straps around the dogs body and legs so that you have more control and are not pulling at the dogs neck. There are many types, such as webbing harnesses similar to a collar with fixed straps or harnesses such as the lupi and the kumfi stop-pull, on the that operate on a squeezing type mechanism whereby if a dog pulls the harness gets tighter and converts the pull into an upward movement. and the A halti is a form of headcollar similar to that of a horse. They allow you to control the dogs head rather than the body and give more control for dogs that pull or strong dogs that lunge. Other headcollars include the gentle leader, the dogalter and the dogmatic. I hope that makes some sense. Most people start off with an ordinary collar and lead, and then maybe pregress to a harness (or a headcollar) if the dog pulls when out or if the breed has a delicate neck. My pup refused to walk at all on the lead to start with but i just let her wander round dragging her lead for a few mins at a time (under supervision) and played with her whilst wearing it so that she was focused on something else. did tend to find that the excitement of going out for a walk for the first time meant that she was so focused on everything else that she just forgot!

We are still struggling and our pup is 14 wks she started ringcraft last wk but just spectated.

Jean

BigD - it was just an ordinary harness with a strap across the chest and another one around the body [and a small strap linking the 2] and it clipped together on her back, which is where the lead attaches. she was obviously very sensitive around the neck and let me know! she's fine with the collar and lead now she's that bit older.

Try using a twin lead or brace connector (available from your local pet shop). Attach the young puppy to the next oldest or more experienced dog you have, or borrow the neighbour's dog perhaps. The older dog will enourage the youngest and within 2 minutes the pup will be happy and confident on the lead.

If you can't use another dog, try going to the local park or dog park, carrying the reluctant puppy. Put the pup down, leaving the lead dangling from the collar and hide behind the bushes or some other convenient seat or litter bin where the puppy can't see you, but close enough to act quickly in an emergency. Wait until the pup gains the confidence to approach a passer by so that you can pick up the end of the lead while the pup is busy being petted. Hold the lead gently but firmly while waiting for somebody else to come along and the pup will be too busy to notice the restraint. Give lots of praise and eventually walk the puppy home or to the car.

And there you have it.