How to Leash Train a Puppy That Pulls and Eats Everything

Dodo treats every walk like a buffet. Here are the three techniques that actually reduced her scavenging without making walks miserable.

Leash Training When Your Puppy Wants to Eat Everything

Every walk with Dodo is a negotiation. She wants to eat rocks. She wants to eat leaves. She wants to eat cigarette butts, gum wrappers, other dogs' poop, and anything that has ever been food-adjacent. My job is to get her from point A to point B without her ingesting something that will cost me $2,000 at the emergency vet.

This is not a loose-leash walking guide. This is a survival guide for puppies who treat the sidewalk like a buffet.

Why Puppies Eat Everything

Puppies explore the world with their mouths. It is developmentally normal. They do not have hands, so tasting and chewing is how they gather information about their environment. Most puppies grow out of the worst of it by 12-18 months.

Chowdoodles are particularly bad about this because they combine the poodle's curiosity with the chow's stubbornness. Dodo does not just pick things up. She actively seeks out the most disgusting thing available and commits to it.

The Equipment That Helps

A front-clip harness: This gives me more steering control than a back-clip harness or flat collar. When Dodo lunges toward something, the front clip redirects her body toward me instead of letting her pull forward.

A 6-foot leash: Not a retractable. Retractable leashes give you zero control in the critical moments when your puppy is diving for a chicken bone. A fixed 6-foot leash keeps her close enough that I can intervene.

A treat pouch: Loaded with high-value treats at all times. The treats need to be more interesting than whatever she is trying to eat off the ground. This is a high bar when the ground offering is a piece of pizza crust.

The Techniques

Leave it: This is the most important command for a puppy who eats everything. I started teaching it indoors with boring objects and worked up to high-value distractions. On walks, when I see her eyeing something, I say "leave it" and immediately offer a treat from my pouch. She is right about 70% of the time now.

The trade: When she does get something in her mouth, I do not chase her or pry her jaw open. I offer a trade. I hold a high-value treat near her nose and say "drop it." She spits out the contraband and gets the treat. This only works if the treat is better than what she has. Freeze-dried liver beats most sidewalk finds.

Pattern walking: I reward her every few steps for walking with her head up and looking at me. This teaches her that paying attention to me is more rewarding than scanning the ground. Over time, I space out the rewards so she walks longer stretches without needing constant treats.

The penalty yard: When she lunges for something and I catch it in time, I stop walking completely. We stand still until she looks at me. Then we continue. She is learning that lunging toward things on the ground makes the walk stop, which is the opposite of what she wants.

The Ongoing Challenges

Poop eating: This is the worst one. Some puppies eat other dogs' feces, and Dodo is one of them. It is called coprophagia and it is disgusting but usually not dangerous unless the other dog is sick. I manage this by scanning ahead on walks and steering her away from any deposits. I also added a digestive enzyme to her food, which our vet suggested might reduce the appeal.

Speed eating: She can grab and swallow something before I even register what happened. Rocks, acorns, mulch. I have learned to watch her jaw. If I see chewing when she should not be chewing, I immediately do a mouth check.

Selective hearing: Leave it works great when she is mildly interested in something. When she is locked onto a high-value target like a discarded sandwich, she becomes temporarily deaf. In these moments, I physically redirect her with the leash rather than relying on verbal cues.

Progress Over Time

At three months, every walk was a constant battle. I could not go 10 steps without her diving for something.

At four months, she started responding to "leave it" about 50% of the time.

At six months, walks are manageable. She still tries to eat things, but she responds to cues more often than not. I can walk a full block without a major incident most days.

My vet says this will continue improving until about 18 months when the puppy mouthing phase fully ends. Until then, vigilance and high-value treats are my best tools.

The Non-Negotiable Safety Rule

If your puppy eats something potentially dangerous, like a cooked bone, chocolate, grapes, xylitol gum, or a sharp object, call your vet or the ASPCA Poison Control hotline (888-426-4435) immediately. Do not wait to see if symptoms develop. Time matters with toxic ingestions.

I keep the poison control number saved in my phone. I have called it twice in six months. Both times it was a false alarm, but the peace of mind was worth the call fee.