There can be a number of different reasons why a dog chews on its leash. Most of those reasons are because the dog resists you and your control or just wants to play. No matter which one, it’s annoying and should be stopped if you want to train your dog to walk well on a leash.
The methods I discuss below try to make the leash taste bad so that it is undesirable for your dog to have it in his mouth. Of course, keep in mind that patience is important when breaking this habit.
If your dog has already started this annoying habit, you will need to modify his behavior to eliminate the problem. The first method I always suggest is to soak the bottom 18 inches of the strap in bitter apple. Bitter apple is a spray that is available at all pet stores and will deter your dog because of its bad taste.
If that doesn’t work, I suggest soaking the bottom 18 inches of the strap in lemon juice. It seems that most dogs don’t like the taste and will stop putting the leash in their mouths to avoid the taste.
Of course, there’s always that tough dog who doesn’t seem to care about bitter apple or lemon juice, so we move on to my third choice, which is spicy. Yes, you want to buy a hot sauce like tabasco, cholula or any other hot sauce that comes in a bottle and is available in all grocery stores, usually where they have Mexican foods and spices.
One way to avoid this problem altogether is to start training your dog to tolerate the leash and enjoy going for early walks while he is still a young pup. It seems that the longer you wait to insert the leash, the worse the problem will be.
There’s no better way to establish a good pack leader attitude for your dog than to go for a walk. Taking the time to teach your dog to walk well beside him and not to bite or pull on the leash is something that will be rewarded with many enjoyable walks. Walking your dog develops the master dog relationship and is something your dog will thank you for many times over the years.