Chewing through harness

[RoxannewithJasper]

I have had a two year old doxie / chihuahua mix male for about three weeks. He came with a chain choke collar on a leash. There was another leash and a muzzle in his things. There was also a jacket of some sort. I noticed right away when we walked that no one taught him to walk with a loose leash by the side. I also do not believe in choke collars so I ordered a harness from Petco. When I first started using it on him he would rub his body on the blanket or rug to remove it, so I took it off each time after walking him. When I go to put it back on he runs and hides and puts up a fight to not put it on. However, it has been a week and he has not been acting like he wants it off, so I figured he was getting used to it and left it on. Last night he chewed through it. I wondered why the previous owner had him on a choke chain and why a muzzle was included. I think now I know the muzzle was not for him biting people, but to keep him from chewing through stuff. I do not like muzzles anymore than I like choke chains. I also notice that he wants to play by grabbing my thumb or finger. I was going to get him a tug toy so we could play tug of war. Will this make him aggressive? I also notice he does not fetch. He has a ball. I toss it and he runs to it, but stops shy of it and returns to me. He also came with Pro Plan shredded dry food, but now has to have something mixed with it, like canned food or bacon grease. What is up with that? I have heard you can give a dog a raw egg to help their digestion and oil on their food for shiny coats. Are these statements true? What do I do about the harness? Should I just remove it after each walk? How do I get him to stop pulling me on walks? He seems to begin to gallop at intervals too and I have no clue why? Does anyone have any idea what he is doing there?

[Pawzk9]

I'd take the harness off except when you are walking him. They do make some harnesses for small dogs which are close fitting fabric and almost like a shirt. That might be more comfortable for him, and also harder to chew on. Several things you can do for better loose leash walking. First thing I would do is teach him to look at you. I use a clicker and teach them to look when I say their name. While their eyes are on my face, I click and then treat. Then I do an on-leash game where I drop a treat and ask pup to "find it" After he eats his treat, he's probably going to look at you to see if you're going to drop another. As soon as he looks, click and drop another treat. And so on. I also will do some off leash work (in a safe, uninteresting area) where I can walk around, and click the dog for coming towards me. If he can stay with you off leash, on leash shouldn't be that much of an issue.
However, many dogs don't know how to make a leash loose. When someone pulls on you, the natural opposition reflex says "pull the other way." This is true of humans as well, and many dogs learn to pull because their people pull. And can't learn to keep a loose leash becaue their people never give them an opportunity to have a loose leash because the person takes up any slack. So, I like to teach the dog that when he feels any tension on the leash (and even if you're not pulling or jerking, sometimes they will feel tension) they need to understand how to move INTO it instead of the opposite direction. So, I apply a light, steady sideways tension, anchoring my hand so that if the dog gives me slack, I don't continue to pull. The INSTANT the dog even leans into the tension, or takes a step into it, I click and treat. Then do it again. Soon when the dog feels pressure on the leash, they know how to move closer to relieve it. Finally, never go with your dog when he pulls. If you've done this exercise, if you stop and he makes the leash tight, he'll know how to move back and you can go forward again with a loose leash.
Do a lot of work on eye contact, attention and connection. Because loose leash walking is really about the fact that the dog isn't paying attention.

On the food issue, I use the best quality food I can afford, and will use a little salmon oil for coat, and sometimes some live-culture yogurt for good digestion. But if you add a lot of "good stuff" if he refuses dry, he's going to be smart enough to hold out for the table scraps. Here's a really good article on teaching a dog to eat when you feed him. http://dragonflyllama.com/%20DOGS/Writing/TeachEat.html First of all, though, make sure he's not intolerant of the food you're feeding. or there's no physical issue that's making him not hungry. And with the tinies, you do need to make sure they get some calories. There's a product called nutri-cal (not the stuff for humans) that you can supplement with between meals. But begging a dog to eat or adding tastier stuff really creates a picky eater.

[Mattie]

I never leave my dogs harnesses on, they are taken off as soon as they come into my house after their walks,I don't like leaving collars on in the house either but sometimes that is necessary.

For teaching your dog to walk on a loose lease, have a look at this threat, some good information on there viewtopic.php?f=20&t=858 I like my dogs to be catching up when teaching to walk on a loose lease, I become very unpredictable and my dogs very quickly learn to watch what I am doing or they get left behind.

You can make your own tugger toys out of old fleece tops, cut on the diagnal and plait the strips, have an know at both ends. These are very soft and strong so when you get hit with one, and you will many times, they don't hurt. No, playing tugger doesn't turn dogs aggressive but the tugger has to be your's, you say when the game is over not your dog.

[***Melissa***]

I also use the harness only for walkies.

Striker got stuck on his collar in in a bush a while back, and nearly choked himself by trying to get loose. (I was with him, so helped him immediately). So now I even take their collars off - they only wear them when it's really necessary.