my jack russell female has radicly changed

Question
hi my 6yr old female jr, all of a sudden for the past 3 months has been biting, and chewing the leash the whole time shes out for a walk. weve gonr through 3 leashes, and she shows no sign of stopping. people dont want to walk her anymore, and she must go on walks, what do i do???

Answer
I am wondering what happened that first time she started chewing on her leash. Did something happen that seemed to precipitate the action? It is odd that it happened all of a sudden, and now is constant behavior. It almost sounds like some sort of frustration behavior on her part.

I would put her on a training collar and give her a correction every time she grabbed at the leash. That is what I do with a youngster when I am leash-breaking it and it doesn't want to behave... sort of pop it in the face with the leash. The dog is then praised when it settles down and behaves, and then is encouraged with praise and treats.

If you don't want to do that, put a muzzle on her when you walk her and she won't be able to bite the leash. She should quit once she realizes that she cannot grab the leash... and then you would praise her for behaving.