Unwanted behaviour at the end of excercise

I wondered if anyone could give some advice? I am the very proud owner of a one year old female Boxer puppy called Rio. She is my first puppy and is fantastic - obedient, eager to please, social, gentle and very funny.

My only concern with her behavior is that when Rio is put back on a lead at the end of her exercise, it is as if she is very irritated by being restricted in this way and bites the lead, even sometimes growling at me, and jumps up at me. When she does this, I make her sit (which can be very difficult as she is very strong), relax the lead, turn away from her and ignore her for a few minutes in the hope that she gets to learn that this behavior doesn't achieve anything. But the majority of the time she repeats this unwanted behavior a few times more until she finally settles down.

I give her a treat when I put her back on the lead so that it is a 'nice' experience for her. She is obedient whilst the treat is forthcoming (sits and waits for it) and then reverts to the unwanted behavior as we move off. Very cute eh!

Oh, I have tried the nasty tasting chemicals you can buy to spray on leads but this had no effect. I have also tried a chain lead which only resulted in her jumping higher to bite the leather handle!

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Answer:

That's a tough one. I'd say try letting her get more exercise to tire her out. Also practicing taking the lead on and off at another time might help. Offer praise when she doesn't bite it and use the same phrase every time you put it back on. Other than that you can try consulting a professional trainer.