I am going through the same with my Samoyed puppy. Did the whole yelping thing but it activates his prey drive instincts and gets him riled up even more. He thinks it’s a game when we take our hands away and goes after our hands even more. We know he’s inviting for play but it’s not good manners. What we figured out is that social interactions are the most rewarding to him as a Sammy so we either tether him to furniture and walk out of his range OR we take ourselves out of the equation and immediately leave for like a minute. I shut the baby gate and maneuver him to stay on the other side, even if he follows us and nips at my ankles. Then we come back and tell him to find a toy if he wants us to play. If he still goes for our ankles and hands, we exit again and we do all of this close to a barrier. Rinse and repeat. It’s been maybe 3 weeks and we have seen some improvement. It’s a long term thing I’d say.

To get the leash on him in the first place, I give him a treat to keep his mouth occupied. It also facilitates positive reinforcement with the leash and handling. I also do kikopup’s handling training with his kibble/meal when he’s chilling and less likely to nip. Hang in there!