How to Keep Your Puppy From Biting When You Put the Collar On
As a professional dog trainer, I often see puppies bite when it’s time to put their collar/harness/leash on. “Dressing” is something everyone has to do on a regular basis, and although the biting doesn’t seem aggressive, it’s uncomfortable!
First, let me tell you it does NOT have to be this way. You can dress your puppy’s without it becoming a bloodbath.
Second, although you can train some fancy-ish behaviors to fix this problem, there’s also a VERY easy hack that requires little to no training. It’s what I use most of the time!
Here are step by step instructions for a harness.
First, getting your puppy’s head through the hole:
Unbuckle the harness and hold it in your left hand
Take a handful of treats in the right hand and set another handful or two on a table close by (or in your treat bag!)
Kneel down and invite your puppy to come closer
Offer your puppy some treats by putting your right hand through the harnesses’ neck hole
Draw your puppy through the harness by pulling your right hand towards yourself. Keep your left hand still.
Next, buckling the straps:
Drop the treats in your right hand onto the floor.
Holding the harness steady with your left hand, use your right hand to bring the girth straps up, one at a time, and fasten
Put more treats down as needed to distract your puppy
It’s simpler than it sounds! Watch me do it with Hudson.
You can also do something similar for the collar, you just have to be a little faster. Watch me with Tommy.