Need dog training tips.

[HollyHamster]

Well, just got a new foster puppy and she is very cute but has a very dominate personality. She is also food aggressive. She bit my hand and now I have 4 puncture wounds on my hand ( two on fleshy part of the palm below the pinky, and two more on the back of my hand near the wrist and thumb ). I also have an inch long gash on my palm near the puncture wounds. Thankfully, I don't think its bad enough for a trip to Urgent Care. I would take a picture but I don't want to gross out those who are sensitive toward that kind of thing.

Anyways, the pup, named Josie, is going to need some behavioral reinforcement training. Any tips? I have heard about hand feeding but am kind of tentative to do that.

[Lynternette]

Does your vet run puppy classes? We did a six week course when we had. Sonny. We'd never had a dog before and it was a good start for us and the dog.

I hand fed Sonny from the day I had him. Its well worth doing it. He's not protective of his food at all now. Sometimes he still brings his food to be hand fed. Its especially useful where you have children. We learnt to use pliers to hand feed if he's a biter. We had Sonny neutered as they said he had too much testosterone and it would quieten him down. I was going to have him done anyway as Yorkies are prone to testicular cancer.

I think the biggest thing I learned was to be the boss. You eat and then him, always walk through a door first, not him, don't let him sit any higher than you. I think my friend gave me the most valuable piece of advice. When he knows his place he'll be a happier dog as its how it should be in his world. He'll try it on for a bit but you must be the leader and let him know it.

Teaching him to sit was easy. Put a treat by his nose, using the pliers if you have to, take it over his head and he'll sit. Say firmly sit as he does it and praise him a lot. Down is even easier. Sit on the floor with your legs up making an arch. Again show him a treat and take it under your legs. He'll have to go down to get under. Say down firmly as he does it and again lots of praise.

I'm no expert but that's how I started off.

[p_anda]

Josie could very well end up a little nightmare when she grows up, so it's good that you're taking care of things now!

Puppies will try and challenge their owners, it's a part of their natural development. It's best to reinforce the idea that you're the alpha dog, and she's the omega - I don't care what most people say about it being cruel, in my opinion it's the best to teach their dog that their place is at the very bottom in the pack, otherwise they could be a potential danger to you and your family as they will constantly challenge your authority, and it's not unusual for them to bully someone in the family whom they think ranks lower in the hierarchy than them.

When Josie bites, even if it's playful, poke her with one of your fingers in the side immediately and make a loud hissing sound. There's no need to say anything. Do this assertively, there's no need to be soft. This will let her know that you do not stand for what she does and it hurts you. Walk away from her and let her come to you after that. She might be a bit confused the first few times you do this but she'll get the message.

After she stops the biting you might want to start teaching her basic commands like sit, lie down, come, leave it and stay. I think these are the most important. They form the basis of most other commands. You can find plenty of info on how to teach these.

To stop any food aggression, only feed her after all your family has already eaten their meals. Don't feed her off the table, and don't allow her to come near when you eat. You can do this by using the stay command. Tell her to stay in another room or a certain distance from the kitchen table. When it's time to feed her, make her sit while you prepare the food. When you put the bowl on the floor tell her to stay. Unless she listens to the command, don't let her eat. When she listens, say come and let her come up to the bowl. When she starts eating, tell her to leave it. If she doesn't, take away the bowl. Keep doing this until she leaves the food when you tell her. When she does, give her a treat and some encouraging words and let her eat the rest. This should make it easy for you in the future if you need to take her food away at any time. If she growls at you when you try and take away her bowl when she's eating, poke her with a finger and make a hissing sound, same as to what you would do when she bit you.

To be honest I find that once you assert your dominance your dog will be very easy to train and will make a happy family pet. Most dogs are happy when they know where their place in the pack is. Teach all the members in your family not to let Josie boss them around.

[RubyDooby]

Puppy training classes, Puppy School is a network of UK schools for training young puppies. (http://www.puppyschool.co.uk/)

This is the place we recommend at work :) Loads of classes run nationwide.

[Lougarry]

I think this guy is amazing. Try watching some of his YouTube videos. He has an amazing rapport with his dog. There's a puppy training one which might be a good place to start:
tab289 - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/tab289)

[crazygal330]

I agree with lougarry, I have watched his videos and they are brilliant.
I highly 100% recommend you to buy and read a book called Culture clash by jean Donaldson. it's amazing! you won't need another dog book in all honesty. also don't believe what people say about dominance. the idea that dogs think they are dominant over their humans is based upon studies done on groups of captive wolves, and observations from their behaviours. however this is neither an accurate representation of true wolf packs nor of how dogs form social groups. dr Ian Dunbar has written a lot of great things about this as well. Dogs aren't dominant over people, they have learnt that certain behaviours will either get them what they want, or not be discouraged. there's nothing inherently wrong with using negatives in training but positive reinforcement is generally a more reliable training method unless you are really good at timing and can be sure you won't be creating a nervous dog about factors you werent trying to punish for.
Oh, theres also a website/training ideas called kikopup, it's really good as well.

but yeah culture clash would be my best recommendation. I think Ian Dunbar has a website with training ideas etc.

[Lougarry]

I am much more comfortable with positive reinforcement as a training method.

Also, if you are fostering does that mean the pup has been abandoned? My dog is a rescue dog and you need to be even more careful about making the dog nervous and fearful.

I haven't read 'Culture Clash', but crazygal's got me intrigued so might have to order it. I was recommended 'The Rescue Dog' by Gwen Bailey which was really helpful for early introductions etc. I think it's out of print but I got it via Amazon Marketplace.

Good luck!

[racinghamster]

I am a big Cesar Millan follower (being in the US you will probably be familiar with his work). Food aggression and dominance are something that the owner needs to feel confident about because a dog reads your body language and energy. Speaking or shouting/saying the dogs name does nothing as far as dog training is concerned. The rewards thing is okay for many people and it can work in many cases, but when you have a dog that already has issues, it`s worth learning the phsycology of that particular behaviour. This is why Cesar is such a master at what he does. Most of the dogs he trains are difficult cases, while some are just simple. It`s mostly the owner that doesn`t understand how to approach it. Not the owners fault! It`s something that has to be learned.

If you get a chance, try and view some of Cesar`s DVD`s as he done some cases where dogs were food aggressive and just terrirorial over things. Something like this isn`t solved overnight, but if you work at it and stick to a strict routine, it will work. To practice Cesar`s methods though you need to be a little dominant yourself. Not angry (that`s not the same) but project a forceful energy forward that the dog will understand. If you go in half hearted, it will fail.

I feel Cesar is your best bet here as she sounds as though she would benefit from his methods. What that man doesn`t know about dog phsycology, nobody does! I have two of his books. She`s broken your skin already and that`s unacceptible behaviour and dangerous to anyone (especially a child or other dog) who might come into her area while she`s eating. It`s what Cesar calles `unacceptible behaviour` or `unwanted behaviour` and there are ways to help her to overcome any fears she has if she has to `protect` her food or her space. It`s YOUR space not hers.

[mangoandmimi]

Another for Cesar Millan :mrgreen:
When Raggy was a pup, no amount of puppy training would help. Well. All of the trainers were pants anyway, all he learned to do was sit and come :/
I've also watched countless other dog programmes, although they just didn't seem as effective.

[fluffymunchkins]

Seconding racingham, Cesar Milan is fab, I was lucky enough to see his show when he came to birmingham :)
I think its important to establish that humans are at the top of the pack, otherwise a dog will put itself above the less authoritive members of the household. Everyone must have the same rules in the house (e.g. no feeding scraps off the table or no going on the furniture etc.) so that training is consistent.
Some of the key commands for my dog are 'wait', which she now recognises as me holding my hand up (this stops her from entering a room or moving when I need to put her lead on or get her to wait whilst I give her food). I also use it when entering a doorway whilst leading her, making sure i enter a room first. 'Leave it' is a way of getting her to not eat things if they are accidentally dropped, very important if something dangerous is dropped. And 'out' followed with a point towards the door, so i can get her to leave a room on command (useful if she enters and i have a hamster in the playpen).
It helps if your dog is very food orientated as it keeps them focused to teach these commands. Authority naturally follows if a dog responds positively to these commands :) I don;t know if you have anything like the kennel club awards where you are, but the classes I went to and got the bronze were a great help in setting the basics up for us. This my families first dog so it was hard to know where to start!

Hope at least something helps :) I'm sure shes very lucky to have found a foster home with you, its great to get puppies back on the right track before more serious problems arise x

[HollyHamster]

Not that I am arguing with anyone, but I prefer the whole positive reinforcement training method. I love watching Victoria Stilwell. She is a dog training genius. Her method, which is positive reinforcement, is also what is recommended by our fostering organization. Caesar is good in his own right, and I have nothing against him, just prefer Victoria's methods over his.

Josie was a stray in a neighborhood, probably born into the life of having to fight with other dogs to get the smallest of scraps to eat. She was found by someone living in that neighborhood who called the adoption organization to help find her a forever home. She is still young, around 3-4 months old, so I think with the right training, she can be adoptable.

[Lougarry]

I have a few issues with Cesar Milan. I think the way he likes a collar to be high on the dog's neck, for example, could be painful. I would rather, like Tab, teach the dog to heel without a lead so you can keep the lead slack when it's on and rely on the dog to stay with you.

I think it's like anything - you have to find a style you will be happy and confident applying, especially when the dog might already be damaged.

Josie sounds a little like Prentiss in some ways. Prentiss was on a puppy farm where it's believed she had to scavenge for food and it's tricky now to get her not to inhale her meals (a special bowl has helped) and empty the bin every time we are out for 5 mins. But she is very very loving and we are sure we can work through it.

[mangoandmimi]

I find cesar milan's methods work best with more aggressive dogs. Mac our shepherd came as a nasty thing who would bite at any possible possibility, would growl at other dogs and try and attack little ones :/ We tried everything, and nothing worked in the slightest. Then we became hooked on the cesar millan series and now he's the most docile dog.
I don't actually believe he hurts the dog, see it might look harsh, but with Mac he doesn't even feel a pincer collar, let alone a choke chain. You may aswell let him free range if you got him a normal one :mad:

[Vicki S]

With my dog when wee first got her everytime she bit we pushed are hand to the back of her mouth however this did not work so we started grabbing her muzzle everytime she did it then she got crafty and pretended we had caught her tongue then before you even grabbed her muzzle she yelped and even move her own tongue into her teeth so we then ignored that and held her muzzle anyway she doesn't bite anyone now at all


And the food i would put the bowl down let the dog take some then move the bowl with your foot and if the dog goes to bite or growl look at the dog and firmly say NO! if it bites i would take the food off it and get it to do something like sit and then give it back (make sure when you do this your wearing boots or something protective on your feet)

I like the training with praise too but i feel you need to do both with a dominant dog as they can be very stubborn with training

And i have been brought up with boxers and have a staffordshire bull terrier now

Vicki

[racinghamster]

I like Victoria Stilwell too and she knows her stuff, but she and Cesar are two different approaches to dogs. Victoria is a dog `trainer`, Cesar is a dog `rehabilitator`. Both very different. Cesar doesn`t `train` dogs to behave, he changes their whole phycology by not using voice commands or hand-fed treats. He uses body language and energy. Dogs don`t speak human, they speak dog, which is why asking them vocally to do something goes in one ear and out the other in most cases. If you watch Cesar`s television episodes, each case is different. Some dogs are easily turned around quickly, while others are a bit more head on. I love watching how he doesn`t just rehabilitate the dog, but in many cases, the owner aswell. They can become quite emotional and Cesar is a good tonic for their emotions aswell as their dog. It`s wonderful to see him give the owner the power to move on and understand why their dog is behaving the way it is.

Cesar often comes in for criticism from the dog `training` people because his whole approach is not what they do or like to do. Cesar grew up in Mexico where he witnessed great suffering of dogs and he has now built such a following because of his whole compassion for dogs and their wellbeing. I totally admire what the man achieves and good on him. He`s a listener to dogs and their owners and some of his shows moved me to tears just watching how he turns around the emotions of people who have had great loss in their lives and then find the strength to do something they never thought they would do. Be able to handle a dog that was in such a mess mentally that they were at their wits end.

Wish his new series would come back onto Freeview again as I miss watching his shows.