Biting

[H.P.]

Sydney and I doing pretty well as far as getting the biting under control. The only time it is really a problem not (and it is a big problem every time) is when I am trying to put her leash on her or take it back off. I am thinking to give her a treat when I reach to put it on, so that she is distracted therefore won't bite, and gets rewarded? Does that sound ok? or would that be giving her a reward before she earns it?

[Angies Man]

I wouldn't reward her unless she lets you put the lead on or take it off without biting you.

Biting is one of those things that you can't allow. EVER! A very strong NO! will shape her behavior. If she starts to bite you again you yell "NO" again at the same exact second that she starts the bite. Keep at it, she'll get the picture.

Protect yourself, tho, wear some gloves for a while.

[MyBirdIsEvil]

I disagree with the gloves thing. Wearing gloves only teaches the dog not to bite gloved hands, and the gloves may actually make it worse since it will give her material to bite.
My puppy used to be really bad about this. I'm guessing she's biting leash because when she sees the leash she knows leash=outside and she gets excited.
Teach her to sit and be still when you put the leash on (note: you should already be teaching her the sit command, if you're not, do it!). If she's not sitting still leash doesn't go on and she doesn't get to go outside.
If she nips say "no" and stand back up looking away from her. Give her the sit command and then go to put the leash on again. Do this until she realizes the leash doesn't go on until she doesn't bite.
This is hard on such a young puppy since they're so hyper, and don't expect too much out of her too soon, but it is possible. I taught my puppy this at about 8 weeks old. She learned pretty quick to sit nicely when having the leash put on and sit nicely while having it taken off or no outside.

[tenderfoot]

Toss the treats! You are the treat - your praise and touch. Try to softly whisper your praise so that she doesn't feed into the energy of a high pitched praise. Be calm and clear in your intentions. Don't put up with her fussing. Keep giving her another chance to make a better choice. If you fight through her bad manners and get the leash on and then go out - she learned failure. You have to practice success.

She should be sitting quietly for this exercise. Put 2 collars on her. Practice putting a leash on one collar while you have one already on her. The one that is on her can help you control her manners while you are putting the other one on.

Then take a leash off and put it back on again. Go back and forth between them. After she has calmly received the leash a few times, then you can praise and take her out. This is something you should do many times a day and not just in relationship with going out. Make it happen lots of times - around meals, before you toss a ball, etc. Sometimes just reach for her collar and don't have a leash. Desensitize her to you going for her collar overall.

[H.P.]

"note: you should already be teaching her the sit command"

She does "sit" on command very well, also "lay down"; "stay" and "drop it" work immediately about 85% of the time.

I don't think I will try the gloves, she doesn't usually break skin.

"You are the treat"

I do feel like the treat when she starts chewing on me!
But I understand what you are saying. I need to calm down my praise for sure. Every time she does something good, and I start to praise her, she get excited and starts to nip. I hadn't really made the connection before, thank you.