Our puppy hates the lead

Hi all...we are trying to introduce our 9week old puppy to his harness and lead. Once we attempt to fit his harness he runs off.or does his best not make it easy. then we attach his lead then he totally freezes then when we try nudge him with the lead....he goes for the lead...not happy at all. tried treats and praise no joy.
I know its very early days...but any advice or tips would be great.
thanks..id pop a pic on here but not a clue how

It could be a sensory overload for the little fella, leave him with the harness on with no lead and he will get used to it. Once he's comfortable and playing happily with it on try the lead attached again and see what happens.

Here's a link to explain methods of posting pictures https://staffy-bull-terrier.niceboard.com/t12017-how-to-post-a-picture-onto-the-forum most of us use option 1

Really like Ernies name btw

thanks...will try it...he just freezes...bum close to floor tail between his legs once we try move him on the lead..not looking happy poor fella.

I did it step by step with mine (she's 11 weeks old now)
Firstly made sure she was following me loose (in her part of the garden). Then played on putting harness on and off. Then it was playing loose with harness on. Then "follow me" with harness and only then attach lead.
She will bite lead when first clipped on but quickly lets it go to sniff other part of garden

Nifty Staffy beat me to it. I'd also go for loose lead following you around first, then move on to lead work later.

For the harness, I'd slow that right down and not put it straight on. At the moment, he probably feels like you're out to get him. Teach him to want to have it on! Let Ernie sniff it, let it touch him, have it rub all over him in a gentle way as part of a cuddle. Then encourage him to put his head through it by holding a treat for him to get. The other thing that often works is holding it up to your face and getting him to come through to give you a kiss.

Get his head through and take it off, through and off, through and off. It's not going to trap him, it's just a game. Only when he is happily doing that should you go to do it up, and then keep taking it off so he gets used to the feel without fearing that it's got him.

If it's a harness that you put the leg through rather than the head, teach him to give a paw, then hold the harness on your arm when he's giving it.

When that's ok and he's also got the hang of walking with you, then clip on the lead (or better still a long line) and encourage him to come with you. Keep the lead loose at all times.

That should work. If you're still having problems, shout!

Gus hated his lead as well. We started by attaching the lead to his collar while he was playing or distracted with something else. In the end he didn't even notice we had attached it. We only introduced his harness once he was happy with his lead and collar.

Gizmo hated the lead, he used to screamy yelp like he was being strangled when all we were doing was trying to walk down the garden with him. He also used his tiny razor-puppy teeth to gnaw through a lead and a couple of harnesses too.