Hanging on to my pants...
 

I recently just bought my first Yorkie Puppy about 4weeks ago. Every time she sees me she grabs on to my pant leg and holds on for dear life. Any idea how to stop this? I spend more time trying to pull her off my pants then actually walking her at this point.

Callie did that when she was a puppy and I was terrified she would get hurt so I had a spray bottle with water and would squirt her and say no. It worked very well and I didn't have to soak her or anything it just took one spray.

Puppies do go through a phase where they feel insecure about their environment especially outside the house. This, I learnt from a positive based obedience training class, the instructor has a Masters in Behavioural and has 15 yrs of experience...the best thing to do is treat your dog like your 2 year old human child, that is where they are mentally and when the dog is a puppy, he/she is even younger than a 2 yr old human child.

It is okay to hug/carry your puppy when he/she is feeling insecure and we were told in the class to only walk your puppy 5 minutes outside the house the first few times even if it means just around your driveway because they feel insecure at that age.

Puppies want to chew everything and love generating excitement in you more than anything. Chewing and attention are puppy catnip to her! The attention, the excited or forceful words that you exhibit pulling her off the pants' leg, the laughing or grousing, etc., and dealing with her as she dives back to grab over and over is just exactly what she feeds on - excitement, attention, involvement. The thing I always do to teach a puppy that grabbing onto clothing or the leash when walking is actually no fun is to just stop and look away, saying nothing. Don't react, look down at her or speak. Just stop, look away and wait until she loses interest in chewing on the pants legs (which I would lose and wear cut-offs or something). But go stock-still and wait her out, looking away, boring as all get out. Become a silent post standing there!

When she finally discovers you are no longer playing this game, she will start to lose interest. It will teach her a valuable lesson that when she grabs something she's not supposed to, all the fun and forward motion and excitement of going "walkies" just stops. It will take time in a young one for this message to get through but given enough time, it will. Once she's stopped inappropriate behavior, start walking agin and stop and freeze the moment she begins her antics of any kind.

One thing I like to do for a couple of days to keep a young, playful puppy's attention off me or my clothing or feet or the leash is to toss a little kibble tidbit ahead on the sidewalk to keep her brain going forward, not looking to the side and my feet or clothes. This tends to teach them to look ahead as there might be something interesting just ahead. For now, don't worry about her pulling ahead - you just want to redirect her for a bit to thinking of what's ahead and not what's on mommie or daddy's ankles. Once she's learned to look ahead on leash, away from your feet, and learned you stop dead still if she does attack your feet or clothes and that's no fun, she'll be into pulling on the leash for fun.

Now you progress to the next problem - pulling on the leash. Do the same with pulling forward on the leash that you did when she attacked your clothes - the moment the leash goes taut from her pulling, stop until it's relaxed and then start to walk forward until it goes taut again, stop again until she stops pulling. Start, walk, she pulls, you stop & wait until she stops pulling. That's how it goes for a while until she gets it. Of course, don't add excitement to the process by talking and I don't spray them with water or aerosol as to my thinking, that just rushes adrenaline into the system in a lot of pups. With some, it might work okay but with those I've trained, they tend to startle and get all adrenaline rushed & then confused when I don't want them jumping around from the rush. Some back off and act intimidated. But go with whatever is positive and doesn't hurt or scare and works best for you and your dog.


When they are this young that they just want to play on walks, I like to keep the walks short but more frequent - 3 or 4 a day very short ones. And you can keep your good humor better if the sessions are short. :) Walking a puppy can be challenging but keep it fun, light, positive and above all, loving, & she will learn as they all do.

Oh goodness, I am chuckling picturing your little one hanging onto your pants. My Luna does the same darned thing if I wear long pants, and she bites my shoelaces when I'm trying to walk. Sad to say, she's 6 years old and I haven't figured out how to make her stop:laugh: Good luck to you:D

Khloe is 10 months old and she grabs our pant legs each time we leave the house.

Is your dog playing or is she afraid? She is just a baby so I guess it could be either or both. At any rate a puppy that age doesn't usually walk very far. They are far more interested in playing. Puppies have to be trained to the leash. They are not born knowing about going for a walk on a lead.

The idea of throwing the food out in front is a good one. Distraction is a very good tactic with a puppy. When they do something wrong distract their attention to something good. Positive reinforcement is the best training method.

I have tried the spray bottle thing, but she is not learning from it. She won't do it if I have the spray bottle for sure, but if she doesn't see that spray bottle in hand I am fair game. It isn't fear of that I am positive. She always makes such a scene with it too. She will be bouncing along (I think she is part bunny) and people will be talking about how precious she is and then almost as if to prove them wrong she runs in a wide circle (as if she thinks she is tricking me) then does a flying leap for my pant leg usually grabbing right at about knee level and holds on for dear life growling like she is some big shot. The thing is she wants to have the best hold possible and she might let go for a second only to come back and bite my feet and ankles in the process. It amazes me how hard this tiny puppy can bite.

Audrey does the same thing! She's 4 months. She does it randomly on walks, frequently when a car passes, but other times too. It's frustrating! I'm going to try yorkietkjilly's suggestions. I read something similar in one of the training books, but haven't been good about following through.

We had to put a water bottle in every room until Callie learned not to bit feet and pants legs.

:lol tearsOkay, I know this is behavior that needs to be stopped but I would probably be laughing too hard for her to take me seriously while I was telling her "no."

She sounds a lot like Mandie. Mandie loves to grab my pants legs as I walk by. It's a game to her.

Do I Ignor or Spray ? You have already gotten some good suggestions, and both methods do work. It depends on you and your dog, what feels right and what works best for your dog ? I think it helps to give a verbal cue word first, Atttt.... NO, Stop That, or Enough will work, choose one cue and use it consistently. Once your pup understands the no cue means, no reward, they will stop. Puppies will repeat behaviors that get them rewards. Just like us, puppies like, attention, praise, affections and treats.

I would ignore her...but she is mean with the biting. The more I ignore her the more she bites and the harder it gets till I break. I feel so bad she makes me want to shake her (I don't, I swear, but the thought crosses my mind when she is almost breaking skin.) I have her signed up for a puppy class, nut the moved it to November 1st.

Really great suggestions. When we met our Loyola on Tuesday she did this to my husband, looks like we might have this issue too.

We have two large dogs, WJ did this. We did a high pitch "YIPE" like what other dogs do when they get bite by another dog. This worked well- he stopped doing it in a few days and he's a German shepherds.

Yeah my mom told me to yipe but that excites her even more and she bites more...if I didn't love my furry little kid...lol....