Our Mastiff Puppy Won't Stop Biting the Leash and Us!

In this practical Ask Cindy Q and A session, Ed Frawley addresses a common but frustrating challenge with an 11-week-old Mastiff puppy who constantly bites the leash, grabs at handlers during collaring, and shows zero food motivation despite being underweight. The owner has tried standard redirection techniques with toys and treats, but the puppy drops toys immediately and returns to biting, making even basic handling like putting on a harness nearly impossible. Cindy provides targeted solutions including upgrading to extremely high-value food rewards like cheese, chicken, and steak in tiny pieces to break through the puppy's disinterest in training. She explains the critical difference between toys the puppy has constant access to versus special redirection toys that only appear during handling sessions, recommending soft stuffed toys with paracord attachments that can be yanked away to increase the puppy's commitment to holding them. Cindy emphasizes that this biting phase is temporary and will fade after teething if properly managed, directing the owner back to Michael Ellis's puppy material for detailed redirection techniques.