Adrienne

Hi there, Welcome to the forums. To better assist you, I would need some more information. How old is this new puppy? What was the puppy doing exactly when the bite accidents have occurred? What was your German shepherd doing? Can you please describe more in detail both bite incidents? Did the first bite break the skin? If there was an injury can you describe it? Bleeding, needing stitches, What breed/age was the dog that passed 6 weeks ago? So sorry for your loss! Thanks! Adrienne

Hi there, Welcome to the forums! Since this happens after waking up, you have an advantage: predicting when the behavior is about to happen and being ready for it. I suggest carrying treats/kibble handy in a treat bag or pocket and working on reinforcing alternate behaviors. Here are some exercises that can help divert his attention from biting to these alternate activities: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/bite-inhibition-games/ There are toys and toys when trying to redirect puppy biting. Toys puppies often see around the home and that are often static (not moving) compare poorly compared to our hands and feet, which move and are fun to play with. It may help offering toys and games that offer interaction. Try offering a stuffed Kong, or try the bottle game described here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/high-school/the-bottle-game/ More tips on puppy nipping can be found here: I would avoid as much as possible restraining him when you want to get him away from something. This creates negative associations with our hands. Instead, I suggest training him the leave it and drop it command so that you don't need to manually restrain him. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/take-leave-it/ https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/drop-it/ While training these, if you need to remove him from a situation, try removing as much as possible items he may get into and if needed, try getting his attention and tossing a treat/kibble the opposite way so that he moves away and you can remove the item. Always holding some treats/kibble in your treat bag or pocket offers the advantage of dealing with these situations swiftly. As tempting as it may feel to correct a puppy or dog for growling, it's important to avoid this as by doing so we remove a dog's ability to express himself without resorting to biting. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/growling-never-suppressed-dogs/ For exercising your puppy, it would be important consulting with your veterinarian. He or she would be in the best position to advise how much exercise your puppy may need and if you are giving too much. When puppies are young, we don't want to cause damage to their delicate growth plates. Puppies also need a good amount of sleep, and when they are cranky, they tend to misbehave. I hope this helps! Let me know if you need any further assistance. Best, Adrienne

Hi there! Welcome to the forums! Here are several guides on training a dog to walk politely on leash. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/pulling-on-the-leash/ https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/heeling-attention-heeling/ Now, these are general guidelines, you may find more in-depth pulling tips in these threads: And of course, exercise, play, and lots of brain games can help drain excess energy for calmer walks!

Hi there, Welcome to the forums, Puppies are strongly attached to their owners in their first weeks, and as they mature and get closer to adolescence (which starts around 6 months) they start gaining more and more independence. Toy breeds tend to be slower to mature and this can play a role. This sounds though like a case of intense stress since it's non-stop and you have been doing a lot of correct things such as using treats for crate training and creating positive associations with you leaving. There are some extra things you can try, but we need to tread with caution here because if they are too stressed, their ability to learn is impaired since they're over threshold. You can read more about threshold levels here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/threshold-levels/ There are several things we can do to try to lower their stress and keep them under threshold. Here are a few ideas: With pups like yours, we need to go very, very gradual though as there is a thin line between making the crate a great place to be and creating negative associations while enclosed there due to the fear of isolation. In general, if your pups are crying, that's a sign that they're not ready yet for this level of separation, so we need to go very slowly in the process and try to help them out. Here you can find some exercises to help a dog love the crate: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/video-archive/love-the-crate/ Other things you can try: -Make sure your pups' needs are met before being crated. Make sure your pups have gone potty, have exercised, eaten, drank, played brain games etc. -Try calming aids. For puppies who are young, they may be missing their litter mates and mom and see us as their surrogates, therefore, a Snuggle Puppy Behavior Aid can help. This stuffed animal is not for puppies to chew on, but is rather a temporary aid that mimics mother dog's heartbeat. I have heard some great reviews on these, and used them personally for young pups struggling, but of course, there are individual responses to consider. -DAP diffusers such as Adaptil plug-ins are crafted to help puppies adapt. These diffusers spread out synthetic versions of DAP (Dog Appeasing Pheromones), special pheromones that are emitted by mother dogs and known for having a calming effect on the puppies. There are also DAP sprays and collars. -Calming music can be helpful too. You can find CDs of hours-long music composed purposely for helping restless puppies sleep. -Wearing an old t-shirt during the day and then put that in with the pups may help them feel near us. -Sometimes, what makes a difference is when leaving, giving them long-lasting goodies (stuffed Kong, safe edible chews) rather than a single treat that is consumed quickly during absences. -Start with brief absences, then mix in some longer ones, but add some brief ones too every now and then so to not make your pups think the exercises get harder and harder. -Try to place a blanket over the crate. With less visual stimulation, some pups are more likely to relax. -Some clingy puppies may need some more in-depth, comprehensive intervention to get them gradually used to being left alone such as encouraging them to hold brief sit/stays as we walk around the house. You can find some example under Tier 1: Protocol For Dogs Who Follow Owners Room- to- Room in this link: -Remember: Any time a puppy struggles by crying or howling, it means we have progressed too fast. -Finally, some pups do better being placed in an exercise pen (with the crate with the door open inside) or in an area of the home that is blocked off by a baby gate (and lined up with puppy pads in case the puppy has to potty) when they must be left alone (some dogs have confinement phobia). If the breeder hasn't crate trained this pup, it may take a while to get used to it, but some pups may struggle more than others and it wouldn't be fair to force them if they panic and taking baby steps doesn't help. I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any further questions! Best, Adrienne

Hi Marlene, So sorry about your pup, but it's good that you are acknowledging the impact this may have on an emotional level. Jennifer provided you with great tips there. Protect your dog from any future negative encounters and help your dog eventually recover through some remedial socialization using the right type of dogs. Keep in mind that stress levels may take several days to go down, so protect your dog from certain close encounters until your dog is ready. This is important considering that, left untreated, affected dogs may end up reacting negatively to any dogs who remind them of the attacker (same coat color, same size, same breed) and this may even generalize to other dogs. Sometimes, in the case of suspected shock, it comes helpful to have a dog trainer or behavior professional using humane, positive-based behavior modification methods assess the attacked dog dog and help him while also monitoring his future interactions with other dogs. Not all dogs are ready to interact with other dogs and play again after being attacked. The behavior consultant should be able to assess your dog for signs of tension. If the assessment reveals that your dog is tense around other dogs, then prior to scheduling positive interactions such as play and walks with other dogs, behavior modification may be carried out to better manage and protect your dog's emotional well-being. If your dog had a negative experience, you will likely have to engage your dog in a remedial socialization program. To undo the damage done, your dog will need to exposed to dogs that have been carefully screened. Your dog trainer/ behavior professional, may be even able to provide the right friendly dog/dogs for remedial socialization. Skip the dog park where there are dogs your dog doesn't know well, and often there are dogs who really aren't suitable for group play. Instead, it would be best to stick to a handful of good doggy friends that have proven over the years to have gotten along well with your dog. As it happens in people, best a few good buddies that many friends who aren't best friends but just superficial acquaintances that haven't proved worthy of trust. For sake of comparison, the process is similar to attending a Toastmasters' meeting for those folks with terror of public speaking. In these meetings, people are encouraged to speak in a safe, supportive environment where they don't feel rejected or ridiculized. Dogs suitable for such encounters are often super socialized dogs, dogs who have met countless of dogs and who know how to properly interact. Ideally, these are dogs who are very adept in reading other dogs and in delivering the right body language. These "teacher dogs" dogs should be masters in sending calming signals to fearful, tentative dogs. Your dog needs to feel safe and relaxed so to create good memories. Creating several positive emotional responses is important so to replace the negative ones. Always end the sessions on a positive note, praising your dog lavishly so that these new events help at least partially take the edge off the fearful memories. Slow and steady wins the race in behavior modification, so it's important working at the dog's pace. The professional may therefore have to pave the path for some groundwork first using methods based on the scientific principles of desensitization and counterconditioning, such as the look at that dog method. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/university/look-at-that/ For example, if the attack occurred at the dog park, it may help sitting with your dog at a safe distance where he is under threshold praising lavishly and giving your dog treats as he looks at dogs entering and exiting the park. If the attack was on a walk, it may help praising and giving treats every time your dog sees another dog crossing his path. After some time, as your dog seems more and relaxed, your dog may be able to progress to closer encounters with other dogs. Hope this helps! Best, Adrienne

With behaviors that are intrinsically reinforcing, it helps to take a multi-faceted approach and provide outlets. Try to keep his mind stimulated with brain games, and maybe get him a flirt pole and use it to practice leave its and drop its. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/take-leave-it/ https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/drop-it/ Learning better impulse control through training can help too as terriers have a tendency to get overexcited and may develop conflicting emotions over movement, possibly frustration from prey drive. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/impulse-control-frustration-tolerance/ Many of the smaller terriers also love to be engaged in puzzles, treasure hunts and barn hunts.

Hi Linda, Welcome to the forums! I hear you. Things can get challenging when our dogs are reactive to lots of triggers and we live in an area where we cannot allow for the systematic, exposure necessary for behavior modification to be effective as we would like. You also own a dog breed known for being highly energetic, quick and reactive to movement considering that these dogs were selectively bred to be ratters. Since your dog is attracted to movement, I would suggest trying to take a slightly different approach. Rather than asking for a sit and leave which can be difficult when a dog's body is so ready for action, I would suggest providing a more dynamic outlet. For instance, we can try keeping him at a distance and every time he notices as bike, skateboard or joggers, we can try to launch some high-value treats on the ground and encourage him to go on a little treasure hunt to retrieve them, or maybe you can try distracting him with a flirt pole with a little furry squeaky toy attached at the bottom and drop some treats once he grabs it. It also helps practicing in a more controlled environment. For example, you can practice several Look at That exercises watching people on bikes, joggers etc. from the comfort of your home behind a window. Even better, you can have some helpers volunteer as your "personal stimuli" and ride a bike, jog back and forth etc. by the window for you while you practice keeping your dog under threshold. You can read more about this method here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/university/look-at-that/ Here is a guide on how to keep your dog under threshold: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/threshold-levels/ If you don't have access to a window in your home that faces a road, or there aren't many people passing by, you can try simply driving to an area where there are plenty of these distractions and practicing Look at That from your car's window with you sitting in the back seat with him feeding him tasty treats as soon as he notices a trigger. Try your best to park at a distance from such triggers. Here are some further tips for keeping your dog under threshold: Consider health. As the saying goes, a healthy mind in a healthy body. Any time we want to work on behavior modification we need to consider health conditions that may lower a dog's threshold. For example, if your dog is in pain, consider that this may cause him to react more than if he has no pain. Consider as well that a recent study has shown that dogs suffering from skin allergies are more prone to being reactive. Make sure your dog gets restful deep sleep (where your dog dreams and his body twitches). Lay a foundation of trust. If you recently rescued your dog, it may be important to first lay a foundation of trust. Give your dog some time to de-compress. In general, newly rescued dogs take up to 3 months to settle in and start feeling more relaxed. Many newly re-homed dogs often have loads of stress hormones circulating their bodies and all the changes may cause them to be more likely to react and be more difficult to be under threshold. If your dog has a history of stress, he may need what Leslie McDeviit calls a "cortisol vacation." Provide distance. As mentioned, many dogs are calmer when the trigger is at a certain distance. You will therefore have to gauge the distance that works best for your dog. For some dogs, the distance may be 200 feet, for others it may be 600. Block the visuals. Placing a sort of barrier that reduces the sight of whatever triggers your dog may help too. In this case, you may find it helpful working behind a hedge, a wood trellis, a play pen panel or even between cars. Use more salient treats. Invest in the highest values treats you can and that your dog is super eager to have. Many have success using low-sodium sliced hot dogs, string cheese or cut up beef liver. If your dog has food allergies or a sensitive tummy, ask your vet for advice. Use calming aids. Some types of calming aids may help lower the threshold. Some dog owners have had success using calming aids for dogs such as Anxiety wraps, Thunder shirts, Rescue Remedy, treats with L- theanine etc. Get prescription medications from your vet. The goal of prescription meds is to calm the dog enough to allow the dog's cognitive functions to work and for the dog to be sub-threshold when implementing behavior modification. Medications may take some time to work. For example, fluoxetine can take a few weeks to fully kick in. It may also take a bit to find the ideal dose and type of drug to find that sweet spot where the dog is aware of the trigger yet comfortable enough to take treats and start learning. Use tools that give you more control. A well-fitted front attachment harness (Easy Walk harness, Walk your dog with love harness, Balance harness, Sensible harness, Freedom harness) can help you gain better control of your dog and increase your confidence. Make sure your dog is conditioned well to wearing it by creating positive associations. Manage the environment: Avoid situations your dog cannot handle. Your aim is for trust and confidence to grow so go slowly at your dog's pace. As the saying goes 'slow and steady wins the race." Avoid exposure unless you are doing behavior modification presenting these triggers with your dog under threshold. This may mean making an about turn the moment you notice a trigger coming your way. Hire a pro. Last but not least, your best bet is to work along with a professional using force-free behavior modification. These experts can help you work with your dog under threshold, ensuring your dog is always comfortable while also playing it safe. I hope this helps, Best, Adrienne

Hi Pat Smart, The first trials, it may seem to take forever to prepare the meal, but there's a good return on the investment if we persist. With dogs like yours, during meal preparation, I will walk towards the bowl, if the dog barks or acts impatient then I walk away from it, then I try again, I tentatively walk towards the bowl and try to pick it up, if the dog barks, I put the bowl down and walk away. Then I try again. Once he he gets the idea, trial after trial, I finally prepare the meal. I like to also ask for a sit/stay before providing the meal (see the obedience 101 section on how to train a dog to sit/stay or down/stay). Timing is important here, as soon as you hear the bark, you need to stop what you are doing and move away. With good timing, after a while your dog should get the idea that quiet makes you prepare and serve the meal faster, while barking and acting impatient slows you down and even leave. It seems like, in your case, the barking mostly occurs when you are walking with his food bowl towards his run. In this case, barking/jumping makes you slow down and even turn around (therefore you stop progressing towards the run) while quiet makes you progress/advance towards it. Dogs are often confused initially, as they are used to us moving towards the run no matter what they are doing, but if we make it clear to them that their behavior is what makes us slow down and walk away, you should see some progress after several trials.

These are difficult situations when we want to play it safe, but would love to watch dogs play and all get along. I might be biased because I tend to be asked for more for help on dog-to-dog interactions gone wrong, so I tend to err on the side of caution. In general, I prefer to keep the numbers of dogs being introduced and playing low because we can monitor them more carefully and also the fact that when there are two dogs interacting/ playing together there are less chances for things deteriorating (two dogs ganging up against a third dog, jealousy, redirected bites, fun police dogs etc.) So it would be preferable for Baylee and Frisbee to be introduced on their own. Growling from an older dog directed towards a younger one is often to correct the puppy's obnoxious behaviors and to tell the puppy to try to play less rough. Older dogs can make great teachers towards puppies, but not all are cut for the task. Some dogs may growl more because they are not comfortable or they are fearful which can lead to a defensive bite. So we need to tread with caution. Feeding tasty treats to Frisbee every time he sees the pup can help form positive associations so that he looks forward to being around the pup. I rather go slow with the process working at Frisbee's pace, ensuring encounters are pleasant until he accepts her, rather than fast and risking him associating the pup with some negative emotion.

Chiming in to add that we can also organize "puppy parties" in the comfort of your home for socialization purposes (if the area where you live permits it, due to COVID19 restrictions). These parties should involve a variety of different people (toddlers, school-age children, senior etc.) and possibly wearing/carrying different types of accessories (hats, sunglasses, umbrellas, walking cane etc). During these parties make sure you watch your puppy and make sure she's never overwhelmed. So you will need to be your pup's ambassador here. If possible, puppy classes can also be a great way to allow socialization. The American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior (AVSAB) recommends starting puppy classes as early as 7-8 weeks of age. Puppies enrolled should receive a minimum of one set of vaccines at least 7 days prior to the first class and a first de-worming. They should be kept up-to-date on vaccines throughout the class. Make sure the classes are run by professionals and that they carefully disinfect all areas to prevent transmission of infectious diseases such as parvo. Here is AVSAB'S position statement of puppy socialization: https://avsab.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Puppy_Socialization_Position_Statement_Download_-_10-3-14.pdf Instructions on the window training Jennifer is referring to can be found here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/university/look-at-that/

Great to hear! Thanks so much for posting the update! Best, Adrienne

Hello and welcome to the forums! Congrats on your dog finishing a championship and receiving his CGC title. Barking centered around food or play/attention is mostly owner/mediated, which means that it derives from us dog owners who provide access such resources/reinforcers. This gives us more control over this form of barking, also considering its predictability, (knowing when it occurs the most) and the fact that we can control such resources. For example, we can train dogs to perform alternate behaviors and ask them to implement them ideally before the barking starts. So you know when the barking is about to occur? Let's say when it's meal time? Anticipate him and engage him to do a few tricks or do some "doggy push ups" (sits, followed be downs, sit-down sit-down). When dogs are in a down, they often find it more difficult to bark. Reinforce these behaviors with the treats/his meal hidden behind your back. If he happens to bark, move away and possibly even leave the room the moment he manages to bark and jump too. Come back only later once he's calmer and try again. Same with the ball, you hold the ball... he barks? You turn around. He continues to bark or jumps? You leave. Then, a little later, you come back, ask him to sit or lie down and toss the ball contingent upon sitting or lying down. The goal is to send the message that barking/jumping doesn't lead to any reinforcement- making you turn around and even leave the room, while the alternate trained behaviors, lead to reinforcement. Be persistent. You may encounter some extinction bursts along the way (barking, jumping getting worse before getting better) but if you keep up with your plan, the behavior should gradually decrease and extinguish. If he knows the basics, you can skip those and proceed with what he doesn't know. There are no strict requirements, so you can go at your own leisure. Once you have a passing grade, you can move on to the next exercise and use each exercise once mastered at your own convenience during the day to keep your dog mentally stimulated. Happy training!

Hi Heidi. Generally, we want to keep the name as positive as possible so we want to avoid pronouncing it followed by something negative such as a "no" or for something the dog doesn't like to do. Also, we want to avoid saying it too frequently other than when we want to call our dog to maintain it as salient as possible, so we can use to say: "Baylee come!" or when want her attention "Baylee, sit!" and always followed by something positive such as a praise/reward/ or something else positive such as a life reward such as going out in the yard to sniff, or anything else your dog loves doing. If she isn't coming when called to play, it could be she isn't too eager to play in certain ways or may feel a bit overwhelmed/intimidated if there's too much action going on (kids screaming, running etc). It may help to therefore start attaching the name to her recall, using the methods explained here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/recall/ Or you can do an easy game such as saying her name and then tossing a treat. Rinse repeat several times. And then once you get her turning her head often in response, you can start attaching it to various commands followed by reinforcement. The dog's name should be music for the dog's ears, so always keep it fun and positive!

Roxie is adorable, thanks for posting her lovely picture, Happy Training! Adrienne

Hi Janet Beller, It sounds like you have a very sensitive fellow, but he's very lucky to have such a patient and dedicated dog owner like you, who was even willing to sleep outside with him! It's good that you are preparing in advance for your moving trip as this gives you time to try to work on this issue. With dogs like this, it's all about taking baby steps and creating positive associations with the things they are uncomfortable with or fear. It is also very important that we keep an eye on the dog's comfort levels making sure your dog isn't overwhelmed during the process. If we do see signs of him being uncomfortable at any time, we need to take a slower approach and go back a few steps to where he was comfortable. Here are some reads to get you started on understanding the process. Desensitization, which is how we take small baby steps: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/desensitization/ Counterconditioning, which is how we create positive associations: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/?s=counterconditioning And here is a guide on making sure your dog isn't overwhelmed during the process. In behavior terms, we say that we keep a dog "under threshold." This applies to a variety of emotions such as fear, excitement, stress, reactivity, aggression. We always want to make sure we don't push our dogs into situations that evokes intense emotions. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/threshold-levels/ Now, these cases often require an individualized approach. We need to find out what exactly they fear and work on that. So a big question is, is your dog uncomfortable mostly in using the ramp? Or is he scared of going inside the truck? Or is it maybe both? Maybe he was never on a truck before since this fear started once you got him on his first trip with you. So yes, it can certainly be that the people who gave them to you were very rough, but it could also be he was never in a moving vehicle before so this may too be a factor. And who knows maybe he was also a bit nauseated (many dogs suffer from motion sickness the first time in vehicles- which is often confused for anxiety) and this acted as an aggravating factor, so if nausea may be an issue, contact your vet for meds to help with that. So to cover all basis, we may work on first getting him used to re-using the ramp in the home and then once we have that pat down, trying it with the truck and then working on creating positive associations with being in the truck, then going on a very short ride (maybe have somebody drive as you feed high value treats, praise), making great things happen when on the truck and then making things boring again once off. Here is a guide on getting a dog used to a ramp (use lots of caution, as there are some models of ramps that are wobbly, have a helper assist him going up and down to play it safe) https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/video-archive/train-your-dog-to-use-a-ramp/ If the ramp is a problem, depending on how high your truck is some dogs may do better just jumping from the passengers' back entrance, with the seats moved forward away from the floor. You can see a guide for training jumps on a truck here, starting from training a dog to jump on a couch. It helps too having a dog who jumps up enthusiastically to show how easy it is, so if you know somebody with a dog who loves car rides and your dog gets along with, these dogs can make great "influencers." https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/fear-getting-car/ If your dog's fear is more widespread than thought, meaning that he's struggling with more than just a fear of getting in the truck but more generalized fears such as fear of novelties, fear or confined spaces or a generalized anxiety of the unknown, know that you will have to work on many fronts and things may be more challenging. These dogs often need a multifaceted approach, focusing on increasing their confidence levels, reducing their fears, using calming aids etc. Here are some reads for this: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/exercises-build-confidence-insecure-dogs/ https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/helping-fearful-rescue-dog/ And of course, it's always helpful to rule out orthopedic problems considering that some times a dog's reluctance to jump up or use a ramp may be due to orthopedic problems. I hope this helps! As the saying goes " slow and steady wins the race!" Let me know if you have any questions and keep me posted on how things go, Best, Adrienne Einstein learning to use the ramp. The chairs are meant to prevent him from jumping off the sides.

Katie and Duffy are both adorable! Thanks for sharing their pictures!

Hi there, Welcome to the forums, Here are some exercises that can help divert his attention from biting to alternate activities: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/bite-inhibition-games/ You can also work on refining your pup's biting with these exercises which you can incorporate in your daily training: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/train-dog-take-treats-gently/ Here are some extra ideas/games: If he's aiming for the legs, it's because they move and he loves to play tug with them. Legs have become her best play buddy, the equivalent of another puppy to play with considering that, at this age, what puppies do is play all day long with other pups. Have you tried walking around with a flirt pole? A flirt pole is a stick with a toy attached at the end, sort of like a fishing pole. JRT may in articular like toys that squeak. The secret may be to catch him *before* he has the opportunity to latch onto legs/ankles/pants. If you catch him once he's latched on, by then, he's likely deep into "croco pup modality," and therefore, too focused on the task making it much more difficult to redirect him. This means, as soon as you notice him coming towards you with the intent to grab your ankles/hands/ clothes, stop walking in your tracks since movement is what mostly attracts him. So as soon as you notice his intent- before he latches on- you can try to: -Wiggle around your flirt pole. Move it around in unpredictable ways while you add some funny sounds to make it super fun. Let him latch on to it and create gentle resistance, by tugging back when he tugs as that resistance is what keeps him going. Once he's latched, you can try to walk around holding the flirt pole and he'll likely lag behind tugging back at the toy at its end to his heart's content. -Toss a tennis ball the opposite side. Your pup should go catch it, leaving you time to walk around. When he comes back, have another ball ready to toss. Careful if he starts nibbling on tennis balls as many pups love removing the fuzz and ingesting parts. -Play some kibble-tossing games. As soon as he approaches you, toss a piece of kibble the opposite way. Once he comes back, keep tossing him kibble. Turn it into a fun game. With time, he may rush towards you with the intent of playing this game rather than biting. This is a great way to put a pup to work for kibble rather than than just eating it straight from the bowl. -At some point, add obedience exercises into the treat tossing games. This requires you to train your pup to sit. Puppies can learn to sit from a very young age. Below are two seven weeks old pups who learned to sit for their meals in just a couple of days. So once he comes your way, ask him for a sit and then toss the kibble the opposite way to reward him. Here's how to train sit: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/sit/ -If possible, once she sits, you can reward him also with an empty water bottle with no lid. Most puppies cannot resist the crinkling sounds produced by chewing on these. They make an economical. temporary chew toy. Always monitor your puppy when chewing if your puppy tend to ingest things and consider that excess chewing can make some parts sharp. To make the bottle even more interesting, fill it up with a portion of your puppy's daily ratio of kibble so your puppy will keep busy trying to roll the kibble out. You can read more about this fun game here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/high-school/the-bottle-game/ These redirection methods all require that you walk around with something when you are "actively training." When I have pups to train, I like to "wear" my flirt pole around my waist or around my shoulders like a scarf so it's always readily available. Treat bag with kibble just clips to my belt or pocket of my pants. Kibble can be also be kept in a pocket. Several balls can be easily transported in a small bag or pocket. When you are not actively training him to not nip, your pup should be kept busy in other ways, like playing independent brain games at a distance from you, sleeping in the crate, training other skills, exploring the yard, learning brain games, socializing (in a safe way if he hasn't been fully vaccinated yet), settling on a mat with an interactive toy etc. Finally, consider that young pups need a lot of sleep. Many puppies when tired get cranky and may start biting a lot. These pups should be sent to a quiet area with some safe chew toys to relax and drift into some restorative sleep.

Hi there, Welcome to the forums, With her behavior, it would be important first of all to not allow rehearsal of the problematic behavior considering that, the more a dog rehearses the behavior, the more it puts roots. This is mostly done through management. In this case, it would therefore be important to prevent her from trying to control the movement of guests around the house and nipping at their feet and blocking their path. We have a couple of options here. One would be to erect a baby gate so she is separated from the guests, another would be enclosing her in a crate or exercise pen. Also, we should not have guests petting her until she is more comfortable around them. This is both to prevent rehearsal, but also to keep your guests safe. If we want to tackle this behavior directly rather than strictly managing it, we would need to employ behavior modification. This is different from training and focuses on changing the dog's emotional responses towards specific triggers or situations. For behavior modification to work, we first need to become familiar with how it works, how to prevent setbacks and how to put up a plan so to do it safely, minimizing the occurrences for incidents. For safety and correct implementation, therefore, owners of dogs who display potentially aggressive behaviors (lunging, barking, growling, nipping) should seek out the help of a dog behavior professional for an in-person assessment and guidance. Here are some helpful reads to better understand behavior modification, how it works and to better understand why it's important to do so correctly. When dog are uncomfortable towards certain stimuli and/or situations, the goal is to present them in forms that are perceived as less threatening and intimidating. For example, your dog could be kept at a distance from guests (a distance where she feels more comfortable) where she can watch them move a little, then get up briefly at first, then a little more, and then move around, then move around more and more and then get up, move around and leave etc. When we present stimuli in gradual, less threatening forms, the process is known as desensitization. You can read more about desensitization here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/desensitization/ Along with presenting stimuli and situations in less threatening/less intense forms, we should also aim to create positive associations. So in this case, every time guests move around from a distance, we would start feeding high value treats. Once guests are stationary, no more treats. The process of creating positive associations is known as counterconditioning. You can read more about counterconditioning here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/counterconditioning/ Here is an example of a counterconditioning based protocol known as open/bar closed/bar: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/open-bar-closed-bar/ Now, when using desensitization and counterconditioning, we need to do in controlled settings where we have control over what the guests do while always being observant, constantly scanning the dog for signs of stress. In other words, we want to keep our dog under the threshold. This takes some level of expertise and a good eye so that we are able to recognize the most subtle signs of stress in our dogs and intervene swiftly upon noticing them, modifying the plan so that the dog is once again comfortable and set for success. You can read here more about threshold levels in dogs: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/threshold-levels/ Here is an example of behavior modification protocol I used with a dog who was uncomfortable around guests, (the concepts are similar regardless if the dog is uncomfortable with people entering or exiting the home or moving around, the aim after all is to present stimuli/situations under threshold and work on creating positive associations) https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/dog-barking-someone-enters-room/ Once the dog is more comfortable with guests moving, walking around, exiting, at the behavior consultants' discretion (he or she will decide- if feasible- when the work can progress to getting the dog more comfortable in situation involving touch) similar behavior modification protocols may be instituted to create positive associations with hands. Now, due to the higher risks involved here due to closeness, and being that every animal is an individual, and there are several factors to consider (dog size, level of bite inhibition, whether the dog gives warnings prior to biting, how the dog does with different people etc), the behavior professional may decide whether it would be best to 1) bypass petting altogether (some dogs may never be totally comfortable/reliable being pet ), limit the amount of petting (you instruct your guests to limit petting to just one stroke or two (many dogs do best with briefer petting with guests -keeping it short and sweet) or getting the dog used to longer petting sessions (there may be risk factors involved here though- there are never guarantees the dog may continue to like/tolerate that or may react differently based on the person petting, what if it's a child? the risks at stake may be too high based on certain dogs). Because behavior modification can be quite involved, it's not unreasonable for some dog owners to decide to just carefully manage their dogs rather than actively work on these issues directly. Of course, this varies based on owner's expectations ("I want my dog to be friendly or at least tolerate certain things"), the level of commitment to work on the issue (requires time, patience, close monitoring and money when working with a behavior professional) the amount of visitors stopping by (if you have just a couple of visitors every month, it's easier to simply keep your dog away from visitors than if you have visitors every day), the risks involved (small dog, dog with good bite inhibition, versus larger dog, dog with little bite inhibition), the ability to manage situations carefully (can the dog always be safely confined? how secure is the confinement? are there kids/spouses/family members that may forget a gate open? can the dog be trained to respond quickly to a sit/stay, down/stay should he escape a barrier?) and several other factors. As seen, there are several variables to factor in and we must also account safety above all (muzzling is also an option, but we would need to look for muzzles that are safe to use in brachycephalic dog breeds- such as French bulldogs-, and we would still need to avoid putting the dog in situations that may prove stressful) so careful consideration is needed. I hope this helps, Let me know if you have any other questions, Best, Adrienne Disclaimer: behavior modification comes with risks. If your dog shows signs of potential aggression (lunging, barking, growling, snapping) for safety and correct implementation of behavior modification, please consult with a dog behavior professional who uses force-free behavior modification techniques.

Thanks for the additional details, they are very helpful! Puppies are strongly attached to their owners in their first weeks, and as they mature and get closer to adolescence they start gaining more and more independence. You can read more about this process here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/flight-instinct-period-4-8-months/ With pups like yours, we need to go very gradual though as there is a thin line between making the crate a great place to be and creating negative associations while enclosed there due to the fear of isolation. In general, if she is crying and howling, that's a sign that she's not ready yet for this level of separation, so we need to go very slowly in the process and try to help her out. Here you can find some exercises to help a dog love the crate: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/video-archive/love-the-crate/ Other things you can try: -Make sure your puppy's needs are met before being crated. Make sure your puppy has gone potty, has exercised, has eaten, drank etc. -Using calming aids. For puppies who are missing their litter mates and mom, a Snuggle Puppy Behavior Aid can help. This stuffed animal is not for puppies to chew on, but is rather a temporary aid that mimics mother dog's heartbeat. -DAP diffusers such as Adaptil plug-ins are crafted to help puppies adapt in a new environment. These diffusers spread out synthetic versions of DAP (Dog Appeasing Pheromones), special pheromones that are emitted by mother dogs and known for having a calming effect on the puppies. There are also DAP sprays and collars. -Calming music can be helpful too. You can find CDs of hours-long music composed purposely for helping restless puppies sleep. -Wear an old t-shirt during the day and then put that in with her when she needs to be left alone. -Give her long-lasting goodies (stuffed Kong, safe edible chews) to give during your absence. -Start with brief absences, then mix in some longer ones, but add some brief ones too every now and then so to not make your pup think the exercises get harder and harder. -Try to place a blanket over the crate. With less visual stimulation, some pups are more likely to relax. -Some clingy puppies may need some more in-depth, comprehensive intervention to get them gradually used to being left alone such as encouraging them to hold brief sit/stays as we walk around the house. You can find an example under Tier 1: Protocol For Dogs Who Follow Owners Room- to- Room in this link: Any time a puppy struggles by crying or howling, it means we have progressed too fast. -Finally, some pups do better being placed in an exercise pen (with the crate with the door open inside) or in an area of the home that is blocked off by a baby gate (and lined up with puppy pads in case the puppy has to potty) when they must be left alone (some dogs have confinement phobia). If the breeder hasn't crate trained this pup, it may take a while to get used to it, but some pups may struggle more than others and it wouldn't be fair to force them if they panic and taking baby steps doesn't help. I hope this help! Let me know if you have any further questions! Best, Adrienne

Hi Joselito, Welcome to the forums! To better assist you, I will need some further information. How old is your dog? What breed? And how long have you have him? Where did you get him from? Has he ever had a collar/leash on him before? Thanks

Hi Casey Stephens, Welcome to the forums! Another helpful behavior modification method for fearful dogs is the Jolly routine, you can read more about it here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/using-jolly-routine-fearful-dogs/ I am glad you are finding the resources helpful, let me know if you have any questions in regards to your specific situation, Best, Adrienne

Hi there, Welcome the forums! This is something I would suggesting reporting to the vet, just to play it safe. There are some medical conditions that can cause dogs to drink excessively which can then trigger them to have accidents around the home as their bladder gets so full. In these cases, it's important to not restrict water, considering that if there there may be an underlying medical condition, and this increased drinking may be an important compensatory mechanism. Once all medical causes have been ruled out, the veterinarian may confirm there is nothing medically going on, and perhaps may suspect a case of psychogenic polydipsia, which is a form of compulsive drinking in dogs, although often it turns out to be more than an annoyance than anything. These dogs just want to have their full and aren't happy unless they empty the water bowl. I have seen some dogs develop this when they were deprived/limited from drinking water in their former homes or maybe lived off the streets, or perhaps there was competition with other dogs and they wanted to drink all the water before another dog would get to it. Stress can do this too considering that dogs may drink as a displacement behavior.

Hi there! Welcome to the forums, How old is your puppy? How long have you had her for? Do you know whether the former owner/breeder ever used to crate this puppy before? Where are you keeping the crate when you close your puppy in it? Is it nearby you? When does the crying howling start? As soon as you close it? When you leave the area? How long are you crating her for? Are you providing her with anything when you close the crate? Treat, toy, stuffed Kong? These questions will help me better understand your pup's situation. Most puppies need some conditioning to being in the crate before they are comfortable staying in it.

This is something you would have to check with your vet as he's/shes' the most qualified person to answer this. Mention to your vet the dietary change. Maybe it's possible that a diet being more rich and fatty could change the cholesterol values. With the lower thyroid values, perhaps you can ask your vet whether a full thyroid panel was done or just a T4 measurement. If I recall well, (based on my own personal experience with my dogs) T4's tend to fluctuate throughout the day so they can be very iffy. Maybe it just came back low due to these fluctuations and your vet ordered another test to confirm and all came back fine and therefore it's possible this may be unrelated to the diet. I would therefore suggest following up with the vet about this and see what may have happened and whether you should monitor your dog for signs of low thyroid in the future. If you are concerned about your dog's diet and feeding him the best, a consultation with a veterinary nutritionist may be a good idea (one dog food may be great for one dog, terrible for another). These experts are great to provide personalized diets based on the dog's age, health, breed, activity level etc. Best, Adrienne

Hi there, These are delicate situations as whether objects will pass through without problems in general depends on several factors such as how big your dog is (smaller dogs and puppies have a harder time passing things because their intestinal tract is smaller) whether your dog chewed up the glove or swallowed larger pieces, how thick the gloves are, material, how long ago it was ingested etc. Your best option is to call your vet for directions. Depending on how long ago the glove was ingested, your vet in general may tell you to induce vomiting based on your dog's weight (usually this is an option only within two hours of ingestion), close monitoring for the next days or an evaluation with possible x-rays to see how things are moving through. Best, Adrienne