September 07, 2025
Our Mastiff puppy bites the leash and bites us. He is not food motivated and if we try to use a toy to redirect him he drops it immediately and goes back to biting us. Advice?
Full Question:
We have an 11 week old mastiff puppy and we are struggling with him biting the leash (he wants to hold it in his mouth or tug with it) and he wants to play with us by biting. We have tried redirection with toys and food. He is not food motivated at all so we have struggled to even be successful with engagement. He is under weight and even with deprivation he is not interested in training with treats. Redirecting with toys almost seems like it is a reward to him so he goes back to biting and drops the toy immediately. He tries to bite when I reach in to put his collar and leash on and I have not been able to get a harness on him at all because he thinks it is a tug and he is very fast at grabbing it with his mouth. I have watched your video on puppies 8 weeks to 12 months and I am halfway through the michael ellis video. We have 2 very well behaved adult dogs at home and we treat trained them and they have ecollars for off leash opportunities. Our goal is obedience and gcc 
Cindy's Answer:
You may need to go to VERY high value food rewards while you work through the basic handling (leashing, collars, harness, etc) By very high value I mean bits of cheese, chicken, steak, etc.. Most puppies will work for something like that. You don't need to use big pieces, just tiny bits.
What kind of toy are you using to redirect him? I use a soft stuffed toy that is easy and fun for the pups to bite, I also put a lightweight thin paracord on it so I can yank it away if they drop it which makes them more committed to holding it. You can also put very gentle tugs on it so he doesn't want to let it go. This puppy biting is a temporary phase that usually fades away after teething if you can successfully distract him from it while you work on handling and baby steps to obedience.
I only allow the soft toy when we're out interacting together, it's not something I let the puppy have non stop access to.
What kind of toy are you using to redirect him? I use a soft stuffed toy that is easy and fun for the pups to bite, I also put a lightweight thin paracord on it so I can yank it away if they drop it which makes them more committed to holding it. You can also put very gentle tugs on it so he doesn't want to let it go. This puppy biting is a temporary phase that usually fades away after teething if you can successfully distract him from it while you work on handling and baby steps to obedience.
I only allow the soft toy when we're out interacting together, it's not something I let the puppy have non stop access to.
User Response:
I bought the puppy tug set but I don't know how to use it yet. I was trying to redirect with a soft toy that crinkles but he typically also plays with it in his ex pen. Can you point me to a video that shows how to use the puppy tugs as a distraction?
Cindy's Answer:
I would study the Ellis puppy material you have, he covers redirection. The puppy tug set will be good for training, but sometimes a stuffed animal dog toy works best for your issues and you don't want to let him have this toy in his expen. I'd also work on redirecting to food, I believe that is covered in the Ellis puppy video too.
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