lead help puppy says no

Brox has been able to walk now for 2 weeks when i first tried him with his lead he hated it struggled like mad like i was gonna kill him and when i finally put it on after trying for awhile he sat in the corner of the room and cried looking worried,iv been taking him out walks with no lead on and its been great he keeps quite close,behind my house theres a public park and a walk way the whole way round it so hes never been out on main road.i still however need him to be ok on the lead as when hes older and i start taking him out to places further away.

I tried him on the lead today and the same thing happened,i held him down so my girl can put the lead an collar on him and he moves about that much its hard even when someones holding him he really has a massive issue with something being put round his kneck.

In general no matter what i would never have my dog run around the house all his life with a collar on i see no point in it.

What can i do?

Hey am no expert i had this prob and was adviced on here to let him have lead on in house garden ect a few days b4 his walks it has worked for me eddie sits and waits now but my probs gettinf him to walk while out haha he just sits down apart from last night i decided to run and he did run with me keep at it

Zeus was the exact same, he didn't like the lead at all when we first start taking him for walks. The way we dealt with it was to just clip the lead on him, and let him walk around the house/back garden with it hanging off him. He did have a good chew on it but eventually he got used to it and didn't care about the lead, he just wanted to explore.

It will take a bit of time, just be patient. At first Zeus was scared to even go outside, he wouldn't move one bit, but now he's the complete opposite!

Oh, dear, poor little guy. If you were held down to have a lead attached you would be pretty miserable as well!

You might have to stop the walks for a few days to get him used to the lead from scratch. Taking him out without it is really not advisable.

Just pop his collar on indoors & leave him to potter about a bit. Keep the lead on a chair or table so it's easy to get to. While you're giving him some fuss, clip the lead on & then ignore it. Don't pick it up, just play with him & give him a treat or two. Let him drag it around for a few minutes & then take it off.

After a couple of days doing that, pick the lead up & let him lead you around, just follow wherever he goes. Another day or two & you can start to ask him to follow you when you pick the lead up. Just keep the lead loose & walk backwards, offering him a treat. He'll soon start to associate the lead with play & goodies!

Can't really add much but Caryll's advice is fab! I would definitely start from scratch and pop his lead on for a few minutes while in the house first to get him used to it. I also wouldn't advice having him out without the lead yet especially if you haven't practiced recall. He will be "great" at staying close until he isn't and runs off and then it could be too late!

I can't do better than echo Caryll and Cara. I've never had a puppy yet that didn't hate his/her collar at first.

If Brox is only 8 weeks old he is still a baby and everything, but everything, will be new to him. As advised above, start again and gently, calmly and gradually get him used to having his collar on in the house. Please DON'T pin him down! plenty of treats, praise and distractions. Not tight at first, but not loose enough that he can get a paw through it. Then build it up gradually introduce the lead as suggested above. It may take a little time (days, if not weeks) to build up his trust as he has quite frankly had a traumatic experience from being forced into the experience (sorry to be blunt). At so young an age, he easily forego walks outside your premises for a few weeks until he is reasonably comfortable in a collar, and then with a lead attached. And then, do remember that 5 minutes walk per month of age is the maximum for growing puppies.

He will get there! It just takes patience and calmness and before you know it the collar and lead will be a welcome sight to Brox. Please don't contemplate walking him outside your premises without it though, particularly the collar (it's the law, apart from the safety aspect).

Oh, and the many of us do not have collars on our dogs when they inside our house or (Staffy-proofed) gardens.

Good luck ><

fab advice above so I won't add to it, darcy hated her collar & lead & going out for ages, we have made her walks super fun with lead walking and off lead play (in a fenced of area) and now she goes crackers when we pick up her lead & collar

I've had the same problem with bronson but we have finally cracked it ... He just didn't like the collar!!! I have got him a small harness and he walks perfect I'm no expert at all and all dogs are different but give it a try with a harness and see how u go and get plenty of treats lol

Rocky was exactly the same, even tried biting the lead off, but when we took Rocky to puppy training classes our trainer advised to practice in the yard with lots of treats, keeps them encouraged with lots of praise and eventually he got the hang of it, took around 2 weeks but he is wonderful now!

Got broxi a harness instead of the collar,i have put it on whens hes sleeping then he wakes up doesnt like it but i take him straight outside to play and it doesnt bother him no more.

This will be the 3rd day of training him to accept the harness and its going quite well

Pleased to read you are making some progress, well done.

Hi we had the same problem with sasha when first walking her. I ended up buying her a harness and extendable lead and the problem was solved straight away. She now loves going out for walks twice a day. Hope this helps

We put our 8wk old straight into his collar and he's accepted it after a while. For myself and the lead we used it to take him in garder at all times so he's never been out without it. He walks fine but was not happy about it at first.glad you got it sorted.

Lynda wrote:I can't do better than echo Caryll and Cara.  I've never had a puppy yet that didn't hate his/her collar at first.

If Brox is only 8 weeks old he is still a baby and everything, but everything, will be new to him.  As advised above, start again and gently, calmly and gradually get him used to having his collar on in the house.  Please DON'T pin him down!  plenty of treats, praise and distractions.  Not tight at first, but not loose enough that he can get a paw through it.  Then build it up gradually introduce the lead as suggested above.  It may take a little time (days, if not weeks) to build up his trust as he has quite frankly had a traumatic experience from being forced into the experience (sorry to be blunt).  At so young an age, he easily forego walks outside your premises for a few weeks until he is reasonably comfortable in a collar, and then with a lead attached.  And then, do remember that 5 minutes walk per month of age  is the maximum for growing puppies.  

He will get there!  It just takes patience and calmness and before you know it the collar and lead will be a welcome sight to Brox.  Please don't contemplate walking him outside your premises without it though, particularly the collar (it's the law, apart from the safety aspect).

Oh, and the many of us do not have collars on our dogs when they inside our house or (Staffy-proofed) gardens.

Good luck  ><

May I ask what concerns one may have if the walk is longer. My pup is now 3 months and I did a few 30 min walks with her this week... No problems from her... But, now I'm a little concerned..

Over exercising a pup can cause damage to their joints as they are still growing, general rule is 5 mins per month of age 2/3 times a day  Check out this link on puppy exercise for guidance  

http://staffy-bull-terrier.com/how_should_i_exercise_my_staffy_pup

So glad to hear that you have seen progress and that he doesn't seem to mind the harness as much! It will take time but I'm sure in no time he won't mind it at all! Just continue to do it everyday!