My dog goes bonkers when he sees his lead?

[TonySlater]

As the title, but how can I change his ways? It can be almost impossible to put his lead on, he barks excessively, jumps around and dives around the place. As I go to grab his collar, he makes it very difficult to access it. I would prefer to see him calm when I get the lead out. I had hoped that he would get out of this by now, being almost two years old. He has always done this... Any advice please?

Thanks
Tony

[sins]

Ah yes, we had that with our little lady. She just gets so excited when she goes for her walks.
Basically what we do now is to make her sit and stay still before the leash goes on.If she starts jumping or bouncing the leash doesn't go on.
Cavaliers are quick on the uptake and if you get him to sit using a piece of chicken,you might be able to attach the lead while he's distracted.
I can't bend very well having had a spine op,but you could also get him to sit still on a chair while bribing him to sit still using food and that way you'll get easier access than bending over him(which might intimidate him anyway).
I'm sure there will be more experienced people with proper training techniques who can offer better advice.
Sins

[Kristy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fAD2T_bAdY
maybe this will help? good luck!

[Karlin]

This isn't uncommon -- he is simply very excited. If he is nipping as in play biting, then that is out of excitement as well. You manage this the same way you would in a puppy if it is unacceptable (lots of threads on the board on puppy nipping). If he is actually biting then you do need to talk to a professional trainer fairly urgently as one bite in play to a child and he could have to be put down as well as a person seriously hurt -- this is never, ever something to be lax about and an owner has a legal and moral obligation to have a dog that is safe around people.

All of these issues are training issues. This is really mostly a matter of teaching a dog some self control through exercises and practice, teaching a sit and stay, and requiring a dog to sit and stay patiently while you put on collar (though a harness is generally better for walking a cavalier, due to concerns in the breed about syringomyelia -- you really do not want any pulling on the neck area as some neurologists believe this can actually hasten the development of syrinxes in some cases and for a dog with syrinxes, may be very painful).

Have you ever done a basic obedience class? If not, enroll right away; if you have done obedience but a long time ago, doing a good rewards (not punishment!) based class again would be a great idea as you will both learn together how to manage this kind of common behaviour. This will take time and remedial work as he has been able to make this an established behaviour for two years, which makes it a bit harder to address than if he'd started as a puppy with being asked to sit and wait etc. But it really is not difficult to train now towards the behaviour you want.

With my dogs, I require them to all sit as I put on harnesses and then wait calmly while I put on leads. For many dogs this will take daily patient training,. Always remember a dog only behaves within the way it has been taught or allowed to behave -- they don't understand what we want or expect unless we work with them, daily or t least a few times weekly, shaping behaviour the way we want it, using rewards to make that training and shaping fun and relaxing, not an angry or frustrating period. A class is always the best way to do this as you get lots of guidance and support and advice on addressing specific issues with your own dog.

There are some good training sheets as well on www.deesdogs.com that might be of help.

[Ashley]

Yes a class would be the best way to go as sometimes I have thought I am doing something correct, but being in a class allows others to point out things you may be doing wrong. For instance, when we first began training Holly, she used to jump to get the lead on and I would say "Right now, cmon... be a good girl... sit nice" and all this rubbish haha, but in actual fact she kept picking up on the "good girl" bit, which there was no need for me to say, as she wasnt actually being a good girl.

It does take a lot of time and patience. She still dances round our feet when we try to get our shoes on, but we tell her "away" and then "down,stay" (We use down as it is harder for her to get up if she is in the down position... therefore we can correct her before she moves from a sit into a... "oooh ooh let me at it, let me at it!")

We used a harness on Holly when she was younger until she walked on a lose lead. Now she only has her collar on when we take her for a walk, and it is usually off in the house. If the dog pulls on a lead though, I would say stick with the harness. I would like to move back to harnesses as I like them, but will need to get one made to fit as I just cant seem to get one to sit right on her.

Whenever he jumps for the lead don't give in and chase him round the house... I always looked at as... well, if you wont sit and stay you obviously dont want out that much!!!! Holly knew what I wanted her to do, but she just got too excitable. If she wouldnt do it... i put the lead back, shoes off and sat back down. After a couple of times of this she soon sat and stayed until I got the lead on!

She still gets excited, but her excitement is a lot more controlled now.
Hope that helps!

[Louise1823]

Im laughing as I read your post, as I dont even get to produce the lead before Millie starts getting excited and jumping about the place!
As soon as I mention the words 'Walk' or 'Outside', I get the head tilt look, and then she goes beserk
It would be nice though to be able to calmly produce the lead and get the pooper scooper bits & pieces organised without having her dance around the place!
I do worry sometimes about her getting too excited, and the effects that it might have on her heart - so maybe an obedience class would be a good thing indeed!

[Cleo's Person]

Cleo goes nuts when she hears the word walk. However she also knows that she's not going anywhere without her harness and lead and that will not go on until she sits calmly. I tell her to sit. and then just before I put the puppia on her I say head, so she knows it's coming and then we're off. This is as the others have said a training issue. Once he knows he's not going anywhere until he sits, he'll sit and be calmer.

[tank]

Tank used to do this too. He would get so excited I couldn't put the lead on. I have my dogs' leads on a high shelf. When they see me go for it they go nuts. So I would tell them to "sit." Of course they wouldn't listen, so I would put the leads back on the shelf and walk away. Then I'd try it again when they were calm (they'd still be jumping and barking - but kinda wondering "hey what happened, I thought we were going for a walk"). If they get overly excited again and ignored my commands to sit, I put the lead back on the shelf. I would repeat this over and over until they learned we weren't going out until they sit calmly and let me apply the leads and harnesses.