Adrienne

We train lots of impulse control with people on walks, and pup is getting better Loki sometimes doing some good sits+ stay, people are all "aaawwwwww" with his cute little fluffy face... They just don't know the little rascal killed several of hoodies I like, and often make my head explode when barking non stop in the living room because he sees dogs on walks through the window.. Sounds like Loki may benefit from this game: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/university/look-at-that/

"I'll be curious to read what Adrienne has to say on this because Gertie has always allowed me to remove things, but Esther likes to do the chase game and while she's learning to trade we're not there just yet. I have been practicing putting treats in their mouths while pretending to inspect what's in there. It was like prying open the jaws of an alligator at first, lol, but we're getting there. " "As my pup is so young, and building himself, I'm often afraid that one mistake, or one slip on my part will mess him up for the rest of his life. I may underestimate their resiliency. I think the liver paste has some potential. Put a little liver paste on my finger, and offered it with asking a drop, and that worked... Sheep poop maybe not as valuable as fresh chicken leg, but it's encouraging." I put both quotes together here to discuss what needs to be done in these situations. Basically, what to do when the dog has something high value, but hasn't been trained yet at that level to drop it? I feel that in these cases, it all sums to a multi-modal approach: strict management, training and adhering to hierarchy of life lines should the dog still get ahold of something that needs to be removed from the mouth. But firstly, let's take a closer look at how it feels when dogs get ahold of something, especially something potentially dangerous. Here's the thing: When a dog grabs something that can be dangerous, he obviously doesn't know it's bad for him. All he knows is that he has found a treasure, and he wants to keep it for himself and enjoy it, possibly lying down in a corner where he can eat it undisturbed. Suddenly, we appear in the picture. As soon as we notice our dogs grabs that something, we rush in their direction. However, our dogs don't interpret us moving towards them as us trying to help them. Dogs don't think this way. They live in the moment and don't understand long-term consequences and what will happen to them afterward. All they know is that they have found a treasure that smells good, and as we rush in their direction, we are trying to steal it from them. Since resource guarding is triggered by a fear of losing access to something, it can be said that it's a matter of "mistrust." If you have a wallet full of money, you likely wouldn't trust any stranger getting close to it, but you may be totally OK with leaving it in the bin for X-ray screening by TSA agents. This is because you trust those TSA agents. In a similar way, you want your dog to trust you. Remember: resource guarding is a totally natural behavior among dogs. No dog would drop food for another dog to eat unless he is either sick, very spoiled or finicky or it's a mother dog catering to a litter of puppies. My Rottweiler Petra, even when she was sick stricken with cancer, didn't want Einstein anywhere near the food she refused to eat. Resource guarding is an adaptive trait. If canines relinquished their food to other animals in the wild, especially in times of scarcity, they wouldn't have survived as a species. Even when there is a surplus of food, a dog's ancestors would bury it for later consumption rather than have it out for others eat it. So to teach a dog to drop something, you need to establish a strong foundation of trust. This requires lots of conditioning through progressive steps and the art of fair trading with the goal of obtaining strong positive conditioned emotional responses. In the meanwhile, management is the go-to strategy. Management serves several purposes such as 1) prevents us from being in the position of having to remove something from the dog, 2) protects all the progress we have made in training/behavior modification, 3) keeps us safe (a dog who doesn't want to give up something is likely to bite). So management-wise, let's talk about walks and how to apply management there. Always Scan the Environment. We already talked about this. I call this the dog walking form of "defensive driving" because we should constantly be looking ahead for any things on the ground that dogs may want to grab. Walk in Plain View. Walk your dog in areas where you can always see what's on the ground. Avoid areas of tall grass (these can also harbor ticks too by the way). Skip the long leashes. Skip the long leashes or long lines until your dog is better trained. Retractable leashes should be avoided too. Stick to a 4 to 6 foot leash. No off-leash privileges. Being off-leash is a privilege that I feel should be granted only once dogs have proven themselves trustworthy in sticking nearby and being responsive to their recalls, leave its and drops it and with dogs who are non-aggressive. This is also for the safety of the dogs. At home, the same rules apply, avoid access to things your dog may grab that you don't want your dog to have. Keep family heirlooms out of reach, items your dog may chew on and grab and you haven't trained to drop yet, items that may be dangerous to the dog. As mentioned, management prevents putting us in the position of forcefully grabbing items from their mouths which can have a negative effect because we're taking away rather than adding. This can also impact a dog's willingness to having his/her mouth touched in the future. Management also prevents regressions. For example, if a dog has been reliable in dropping rawhides, but you haven't practiced yet with raw chicken legs, a "confrontation" over a chicken leg, where we forcibly remove it, could cause a regression that would set the progress back even with the rawhides. So this means we need to go back a few steps and work again on establishing more trust with lower value items. So your first line of defense is eradicating your dog’s environment of all items he/she has not yet mastered in the drop it exercises yet. "Think of it as hiding all the grade 12 quizzes from the grade 8 student (until he has passed grade 12)," to quote dog behavior expert Jean Donaldson. So let's say though we are managing a whole lot and one day, out of the blue, an eagle drops a big piece of meat (in Arizona it's mostly vultures which cause me to painstakingly scan over and over a half acre yard before having doggy guests out in the morning) from the sky right in front of your dog on a walk. Or...... let's make the issue even more urgent, the eagle has dropped a bar of baker's chocolate (the most dangerous type for dogs). What to do if your dog is getting very close to it (despite scanning the environment, walking in non-grassy areas and using a shorter leash)? Firstly, make it habit to always carry with you on walks something valuable so that you can work on exchanges. I like to carry with me "moo tubes" which are beef tracheas or bully sticks in my pant's pockets and some high and super high-value treats in my treat bag. Life line 1 would be asking the dog to leave it. Life line 2: if the dog doesn't know leave it yet or hasn't been trained to a reliable level, if feasible, move quickly away from the item as if you were just jolted by electricity. With the short leash you can easily do this and you're dog will be easily in the clear. Praise and reward your dog for sticking to your side. If your dog knows how to reliably do attention heeling, and he hasn't spotted the item yet, make your smacking sound and encourage several steps. Praise and reward with the high value treats (leave the super valuable ones for other emergencies). Life line 3: if the dog has already grabbed the item, asking a "drop it" would be lifeline 3 Life line 4: if the dog doesn't know drop it yet or hasn't been trained to a reliable level, you can show your valuable item (the bully sticks or beef trachea), let your dog sniff it and see if he'll voluntarily drop. Using long items such as beef traches or bully sticks can help put some distance between your hands and your dog's mouth. Line line 5: Alternatively, you can try tossing a variety of edibles (the bully sticks, soft treats) on the ground and see if they'll grab his attention evoking him to drop. While this can seem like a form of bribery, for this rare occasion it's OK because your are trying your best to exert the least amount of damage while also keeping your dog's safety in mind. Line line 6: If the item your dog has picked up is something large and difficult to eat in one setting (like a big bone), consider that as you are walking, the novelty of it may wear off, or your dog may get tired of carrying it (or he may get interested in other things) so he may voluntarily drop. Also with the heat and exertion, they need to pant eventually and they should drop it. Life line 7: This is a last resort when it's a choice between that and saving your dog from potential big problems associating with eating something potentially dangerous. If your dog therefore doesn't drop when you show the valued items and doesn't show signs of losing interest or getting tired of walking with it, you can gently and calmly pry the mouth open, remove the item and quickly in exchange place in your dog's mouth several of the softer high value items. Give several in a row to leave a positive strong impression. Of course, this should be avoided if a dog has a history of severe resource guarding and serious biting. So be warned: This can be a risky affair. Your dog may try to bite so it's your responsibility deciding whether this approach is really needed. If worse comes to worse and one is unable to remove the item and the dog eats it, calling the vet for instructions on how to induce vomiting- if that's an option (not all items can be safely vomited) or going to the vet for a shot to induce vomiting can help, if no more than two hours have passed. Items can also be grasped and removed through endoscopy, antidotes can be given for certain poisons and meds can be given to prevent absorption. Always keep the Pet Poison Helpline number handy. For indoors, should the dog grasp something potentially dangerous my favorite method is this one: Find something edible that is higher in value than what your dog has and that is safe for him to have. Whatever it is, keep it always handy so that you can reach out for it as needed. Make noise with the wrapper, open the fridge, chances are, he'll prick his ears and watch you carefully. Let him clearly see what you are doing. At this point, your dog may carry the item in his mouth and come to check what you are doing or he may drop the item he had in his mouth voluntarily once he realizes you have something better. Once you have your high-value items to trade for in your hand, let your dog see it, walk past an open door or baby gate, toss the desired item that way and as soon as he's past the door/baby gate to go get it, close the door/baby gate between you and your dog so that you can safely retrieve the item. For non-really dangerous items sometimes we can get them to drop using some temporary astute strategies, like having somebody ring a doorbell, grabbing the dog's leash, having the dog chase us around to get them tired and possibly panting, taking them out in the yard, and having a helper remove the item when the dog is far away preferably behind a closed door. Of course, if a dog is prone to resource guarding, it's important working on the issue with a dog behavior professional for in person guidance and coaching for safety and correct implementation of behavior modification. Hope this helps!

Painful experience today : we were in an authorized farmer area, with a big field. In high herbs, way impossible for me to see beforehand, he got a fresh chicken leg, I guess a drop by the farmer...He stopped and chew on that during several minutes... Nothing did matter anymore. I try a recall, nothing... We try running away with crazy noises, nothing... I tried approaching and trade with treats, nothing, not high value enough against an unprocessed chicken leg... And when I tried to approach the mouth, he turned away and even growled on me. I have to admit I saw no other way around, and after several minutes of trying and waiting... I forced it out, while he was dodging and growling I gave treats after, then did some sits with big treats reward to try to compensate for being the bad guy just before. I felt bad after, (and actually still does), but I felt really stuck there as he seemed to have found the holy grail and I forced it out. Among our treat, I'm not even sure about one that can compete... The paste of his lick mat perhaps... After this bad event, is there anything I should do ? Rework some trust building with some hand feeding ? Or what's done is done, s**t happens, nobody was killed and I'll just to add that as an expérience to be even more careful and bring the liver paste ? I am sorry to hear about this mishap, trust me, I know how it hurts. I have been through that first growl from a puppy, and it surely emotionally impacts you, at a deeper level than any rowdy puppy biting. Here's the thing: Forcibly prying a dog’s mouth open to remove something is at the oppositive spectrum of instilling trust and teaching them to voluntarily drop. Prying the mouth to remove things, often causes them to clamp down harder and convinces them further that we are not trustworthy. It tells dog we are taker and not a giver. With a situation as such it is good though that you took several steps to at least to counteract some of the negative effects such prying may lead to. By feeding him treats right afterward hopefully you have dampened some of the negative effects. Will this negative experience impact your dog? This is not easy to predict, but to play it safe, I feel that it would be important to be implement stricter management and keep on working on establishing trust with resources with lots of positive associations with conditioned emotional responses. More on this in my next post.

Yep, just a frame in time. She was repositioning the ball and then they started jaw play shortly after, initiated by Esther. Gertie has been inviting play quite a bit more now and I've had to tell her to knock it off. They're starting to come along and Esther is learning how to check herself instead of giving in to those puppy impulses. This is all wonderful! So far since the day we brought her home there have only been two yelps in the yard during this play and both times it's been Gertrude being too rough. It was when the play first started and I chalked it up to overexcitability on Gertie's part. I often tell them to knock it off because they're being too rowdy for my comfort. Like a scruff bite that turns into a scruff drag - that feels too aggressive for me. I prefer dogs' point system - that's how I imagine their play. A bite, body bump, or paw landed on the other dog equals a point and then they move on to get another point. When they do a sustained bite I call foul. It sounds like they are learning a whole lot from each other, and with your help, they are getting skilled in moderating play. No more collars in the yard, either. They both take advantage of that and drag the other one so the collars come off to even the playing field. Poor Esther has all that extra puppy skin so Gertie still has a slight advantage. I can make Esther look like a Shar Pei by mushing up all that skin around her face, lol. She's gaining about 1 lb per week so she'll start fitting her coat eventually. I'm estimating she'll be 50 lbs when done, Maybe 55 because her paws are pretty big. Or maybe she won't and she'll just have big feet. 😆 She's approximately 7 months now and 37 lbs. Gertie has about 5 pounds before they're equal in size so she has about a month to teach the youngun how to dog before she's outsized. That's good. The risks for collar strangulation are real. There are several reports of dogs being strangled to death by their collars during play. All it takes is a dog's lower jaw to get twisted into the other dog's collar or a tooth to get stuck in a buckle hole while the dogs are playing. Both dogs panic, and by the time the owners rush to help the dogs, it may be too late. It takes only a few seconds for strangulation to occur. Collar accidents can therefore even happen with close supervision. With all this exercise their muscles are getting nicely defined and I give them a short massage each night - it's a lot of work to play like they do and I'm sure they're sore. Such pampered pets!

What a handsome fellow and what beautiful markings! It's so great you did all that testing to rule out medical issues. Bach flowers have good reviews for anxiety. DAP (dog appeasing pheromones) diffusers and DAP collars are good too. Yes, please keep me posted, I am always here for doing more troubleshooting. Thanks for all your kind words! Best, Adrienne

Hello and welcome the forums, If your dog is new to the whole concept of training, I feel that starting with shorter sessions is best and then we can always gradually increase based on how he/she does How old is your dog? What breed? Has he/she been ever trained before?

Thank you for all the advice. We'll go on with the baby steps. We also do some very short to the forest up our house just to make a little car trip that finish to a nice place / moment. Sounds like a plan. You can even split the baby steps into more tiny steps like doing lots of positive and fun things near the car at first. Like playing with toys, treat near the car, then graduating inside the car with the doors open. Then with the engine running. Then out of the car things get boring and dull, and then back in making the fun things happen only in the car. Then, very short drives and then short drives to fun places. Unfortunately I'm not sure we'll be able to do a full training baby steps...He often has to go to the vet for vaccines lately, and in a few weeks, we have quite a big trip to see family. Can this type of scenario just "cancel" the effort ? I mean, we'll try baby steps, but worst case scenario, next vet trip he vomits again, will it be a huge drawback ? Or what is acquired should be pretty solid ? I am afraid the getting car sick can lead to a setback, dogs just get miserable when they get motion sick. As I kid I used to get motion sick too (only when visiting family in Italy due to the amount of curves in the hilly areas) and I dreaded car rides, so I understand how they feel. They don't know what's happening to them and they just associate being in the car with the scary feeling. Since you have another vet visit planned, you can ask your vet if he/she can prescribe something to help him. If your puppy saw the vet recently, you can maybe even give them a call and ask if they may be willing to prescribe something for motion sickness that you can pick up.

LOL, Gerties' like rolling her eyes thinking "The things I must put up with with this pup!" Esther looks a bit tense, head lowered, hovering on the toy, looking sideways, maybe sort of worried if she'll want it back, but a picture is just a frame in time. Good that you are monitoring, always keep an eye open. When one dog has a toy, the other will always want it (even if they have the exact same toys) and that alone can increase its value. I guess Gertie needs to learn how to scratch an itch with a toy in her mouth!

Our pup is really afraid in the car. We have a transportable crate that we put on the back seat. When we got him, we went on a several days road trip, because the breeder was very far. He usually whines and cries at the beginning, but settles once in the highway. I figured it would be the acceleration and turns that bothered him, but long straight lines were ok. During this road trip, we used this crate also as his sleeping crate in people house while on the road, and he seems kinda ok with that. Yes, those accelerations, the braking and turns can be very unsettling. The fact he does well when you are on the highway suggests he struggles with all those movements and there are chances he suffers from motion sickness. Lately (that means several weeks after we finally settled at home), we used the car for vet appointment, or other obligations, and didn't make much training of it. Vomiting in the car started, and it seems anxiety spiked. We had whining and crying almost for every trip the whole time. Yes, this heightens the chance for it being mostly motion sickness. It's very easy for dogs to get anxious when they have nausea, and then, next thing you know, car rides and nausea associations are made creating a vicious cycle. We try to start from the beginning : - put him in the car, start the engine, engine off, that's it. Rinse and repeat - then put him in the car, start the engine, advance a little, back a little, rinse and repeat - then a few minutes trip... Little progress at some point, but not much on bigger trip. For example, today was vet appointment. Longer trip + heat ==> vomit in the car We cleaned the crate, and tried some crate training on this specific crate outside of the car, and bad thing is that he seems afraid of this crate now. He does not go full in. We tossed treats in it, just put 2 paws, took the treats, and went out. Your are on the right path with the baby steps, but it would take time to build up to the level of going on a longer trip. It sounds like he has started associating this crate with the nausea. From this story, how do you think we should proceed ? - start to reengage trust in the crate with training outside of the car ? - force car training with the crate inside: with no ignition first, then ignition and no move, then little moves, then longer moves - or car tolerance comes with age ? I may have read that internal ear builds with age, so they support cars way better with age We have really nice place around to go to. Now, we are forcing it, and have a pup that whine until we get at destination... but we would be happier if he would enjoy the car a little. Often, rather than suffering primarily from anxiety, dogs get anxious in cars and travel crates secondary to car sickness. Often car sickness and motion sickness go hand in hand, leading to a chicken-or-the-egg dilemma (dogs can even have a combination of both!), but often behind a case of car phobia is a case of car sickness acting as the leading culprit. Dogs are naturally prone to car sickness because their sense of balance in their brain is much better than ours so they become particularly susceptible to the motion of cars. Puppies are particularly predisposed to car sickness, and many luckily outgrow it with help, but not all dogs outgrow it as they mature. Dogs prone to car sickness tend to whine, salivate excessively, lick their lips, yawn and drool. They may also pace, pant, shake, and swallow often, and some even manage to vomit. What makes things particularly challenging though is the fact that dogs who are primarily anxious, also tend to drool, pant, shake, whine and pace when stressed, so often, it is not possible to entirely distinguish one case from the other. In general though, dogs who are motion sick tend to feel better once the car stops moving although it may take a little bit of time to feel better. The fact Loki feels better in the highway, seems to be suggestive of motion sickness. With motion sickness, you can work a whole lot of creating positive associations with the car, but if the nausea persists, you are stuck in a vicious pattern, because all it takes is for nausea to set in and all your progress to be lost. So I think it's important to tackle the root cause, especially for the longer trips. Here are some general tips for motion sickness: -Avoid feeding your dog at least a couple of hours prior to the car trip. Vomiting is more likely to happen when your dog travels on a full stomach. -Motion-sick dogs may benefit from breathing some fresh air. Keep a window lightly cracked open, enough to allow some air in but without allowing your dog to stick his head out. -Schedule frequent stops to help your dog feel better and avoid roads with too many bumps and curves. Make sure to take corners slowly and accelerate smoothly. -Gradually desensitize to car movements and create positive associations with the car. -Motion sick dogs may also benefit from antinausea medications. Ask your vet for help on dosages and the right medications for your dog. Medications may include diphenhydramine (Benadryl), dimenhydranate (Dramamine), meclizine (Bonine) and a prescription medication known as maropitant (brand name Cerenia). So if you travel often and long distances, I would discuss this with your vet. Your vet can help determine if Loki would benefit from antinausea medication to use in conjunction with an anxiety-reducing plan. Here is just an example of one that is similar to yours: Start by allowing some fun time in the car while it's stationary. Give toys, play with him, lots of praise and then end all the fun once out of the car. Rinse and repeat several times. Eventually, turn on the car, while offering toys, play and lots of praise. Stop all the fun, once out of the car. Progress gradually to driving the car for just a few seconds while a helper praises, play with the dog etc. etc. Gradually increase the length of these trips, but randomly mix in some short trips as well. Bring to happy places (pet store, parks, friend's homes) not only the vet. If, at any point, he shows signs of anxiety, the process should be halted and the exercise must resume at a level the dog was able to tolerate and gradually built from there. So it's important to carefully gauge how long a drive he can tolerate (factor in the amount of curves, acceleration/decelerations)and avoid push too much past his tolerance level, until he's fine with a shorter drive. Similar baby steps are needed with creating positive associations with the travel crate. It's good that it's a different crate than the one he sleeps in at night. Make sure it's cleaned very well as the smell of vomit can cause them to go into avoidance mode. Yes, in general puppies outgrow this motion sickness phase. In my Rottweiler Petra it went away once she was 6 months. A large percentage of pups I had as fosters that I had to drive for long trips to get spayed/neutered, would at some point vomit in the car.

We definitely did that : my gf and I were each on one side of the yard with a yummy treat One would call "come"... we learn at puppy school that "come" has a meaning only if he comes close enough so you can grab the collar... so we grad the collar at come then the other one call a "come" from the other side, grab the collar, reward... rinse and repeat Yup! I am all for those collar grabs, I recommend conditioning to them by creating positive associations with them, and then practicing them with recalls, this is covered in the recall section and handling games: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/recall/ https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/exercises-to-teach-puppies-to-tolerate-touch/ Used the frozen washrag advice. I cut the sleeves of an old tshirt, tied in knots, watered them, and go in the freezer He seems to like to chew on it Glad to see he is enjoying chewing on them! Always supervise to ensure he doesn't chew off parts and eats them. Happy training!

Nioko started to pee a month ago just like this. He is really peeing. He is castrated ( neutered) with 10 months. It’s not dog marking territory . He is not peeing when he is alone only in our presence. Actually, he is a very good dog when he is alone. Sleeping, not barking, not peeing. Very pleasant. In our presence he is sometimes really difficult to cope with. Barking( on the noises that only him can hear), peeing, steeling, jumping on to gat food in the kitchen... No, there was not a stressful event. But my husband since he thought that he is peeing again just to show his bad character reacted angry few times. Of cours it didn’t help. When we trained him , he took ages to understand that he should not pee in the flat. He stoped very late , he was 8 months old. We were not yelling, we will just let him pee and then take him immediately out side to finish the job, and then give him treats and verbal rewards. I really don’t know what to do. Shall I start all over again as when he was a puppy? Hmmm, this is interesting... So by exclusion if likely Nioko's peeing is: -not hormone- related (because he is neutered and this behavior is recent starting just a month ago) -not territory marking (which entails usually peeing in small amounts, typically lifting the leg in male dogs and having a preference for vertical surfaces) -not separation-related (because he's not peeing when left alone, and actually does very well when left alone) This leaves us with a few other possibilities: Submissive urination, however you would see this form of urination take place mostly in specific circumstances. You can read more about it here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/submissive-urination/ Excitement urination, you would see this mostly when you say hi to him after being away or being in another room, you can read more about it here too: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/submissive-urination/ Anxiety, I know you said there is no lately stressful events, but you said he is frustrated with being inside, so that can cause enough emotional turmoil to elicit this type of peeing. In this case, it can help to make the indoors more stimulating (with brain games, fun training sessions etc).For some sensitive dogs even minor changes in their lives can be disruptive such as furniture rearrangement, conflicts between household members, new household members (a human baby or another pet), unusual noises (thunderstorms, fireworks, traffic), changes in the dog’s routine and schedule. These dogs benefit from an anxiety-reducing program. Incomplete housetraining: this simply means that dog wasn't completely potty trained to start with so have moments of regression. You mentioned he took long to potty train and stopped when he was 8 months old and now being 10 months, it could be he is regressing. Studies on adolescent dogs have found that they may go through regressions in their training, so it wouldn't be unusual for potty training to be impacted too. In this case, yes, going back to basics is what would be needed, putting the dog on a potty schedule, careful supervision, confinement (not full run of the house), jolting down when accidents happen and preventing them, cleaning all urinated areas with an enxyme-based cleaner and using a black light to identify any missed spots. However, it may help to play it safe to exclude medical problems just in case. When a dog is perfectly housetrained and start peeing again out of the blue, this should raise a red flag. Sometimes male dogs can get urinary tract infections too or they may get bladder stones. I looked up your breed because the name was new to me and just noticed he's a Brittany! I worked with one a few years ago. She also had some peeing problems but was more a matter of spay incontinence. She was high energy so lots of outdoor activities and lots of indoor mental stimulation was needed. We had play mates for her too as she was very sociable so that helped drain a lot of energy that way that too. She was very fast and light on her feet and Einstein could never keep up with her. She loved the agility tunnel and I told owner to consider enrolling her in agility. Below are some pictures of her:

You're very welcome! Keep me posted on how that harness works for you. Saluti cari:)

Gertie is so nice for tolerating that much! She's even has Esthers' whole rump on top of her neck! Good to hear you are allowing breaks and some space, it can be too much for them at times and patience can get thin as these young pups have so much energy. Looks like there is never a dull moment with these pups!

Thanks for your details, very helpful! Please see my observations/answers under your bolded quotes: "With the new harness it is way less of a performance for me to put on , I struggled to put it on , Pip was very tolerant of this and sat patiently waiting for the idiot owner put the harness on , I usually gave up and threw it at my partner to do." Some sensitive pups may pick up our emotions, so if you struggled putting it on, and maybe got a bit impatient fumbling with it, your pup may have felt that. Today I got his harness on made silly noises etc , big treats etc, harness , he headed for the door and around the back to avoid the lead, right , " I am going for a walk by myself " he immediately came over to me , fastened the lead and off we went , was perfect all 2,5K, so i suspect , it had been turned into a game , of me catch him and them the walk .Will try again this after noon and see what happens. That's wonderful! I was about to post some general desensitization and counterconditioning methods for dogs who dislike harnesses for some reason, but it looks like you're on the right path to turning it into a great activity and it seems to be helping. Keep me posted. The name test was done to see if he responded to his name, while standing quietly , with no real distractions , but was out side at local school , no kids around. With coming to his name , will generally ignore being called by name, usually have to find him often asleep somewhere or plying with his toys. I think my main concern is the recognition of name and the lack of recognition of it With name recognition, it's important to firstly create positive associations with the name. If this step isn't done it can lead to poor responses. Here the thing: your dog's name has very little meaning at first. You will need to create positive associations with it, so that it becomes music to your dog's ears, informing him that something wonderful is going to happen. The Name Game Upon hearing you say your dog's name, you therefore want a response, a state of attentiveness that tells you that your dog will be looking at your immediately for information on what you would like him to do next. To give your dog's name a meaning, you will therefore have to start in a room with little distractions. Pronounce your dog's name and toss him a tasty treat his way. Do this several times, and then, at some point, wait it out. In other words, just say his name and see if your dog starts looking at you in anticipation for the treat. When he does, make sure to praise and give him a jackpot of treats (that's several pieces of treat scattered all at once for a fun treasure hunt). This is the ultimate goal of the exercise: your dog stopping whatever he is doing to look at you. Make sure you use yummy treats to keep your dog's interest alive. Practice in various rooms and then try the same exercise outside in a quiet yard or other fenced area without many distractions. If at any time your dog doesn't look at you, consider that the level of distractions were likely too much for him or you have went too fast in the process. Walk away and evaluate what may have happened: Too many noises, was he concentrated on sniffing? When a dog sniffs a good percentage of the brain is devoted to that, so best to skip pronouncing his name while actively sniffing for now. Once you identify what happened, resume the exercise later in a quieter area so you can aim for more success and then gradually expose to the more distracting environment using baby steps. Aim to practice this several times a day (like a dozen of times) until you get a reliable response. Your dog's name should be music to his ears! Consider that, the more attention you get, the more you are energizing your dog's name. The less attention you get, the more you are weakening it. So make sure to set your dog for success by increasing the chances of him responding. Adding Recalls to the Name Once your dog looks at you reliably upon hearing his name, start adding obedience cues. For example, with your dog nearby, you can say "Rover, sit!" or "Rover down" or "Rover stay" and then, the moment he complies, praise and reward. To use your dog's name for recalls, you'll do the same. You'll be saying "Rover come!" in a happy tone that denotes great happenings. Of course, you'll need to train your dog a good recall before your dog comes rushing to you. This should be started once again in a room with little distractions. You can have a helper hold your dog initially across a hallway and you can crouch down and say "Rover come!' and your helper releases your dog and he is fed several small pieces of treats in a row as soon as he reaches you. You can take turns with your helper holding or calling your dog. You should then start doing this exercise in gradually more distracting environments and as always carefully evaluating how your dog responds. As with the name exercise above, you want to increase the chances of success so that you can power-up you recall as much as possible. It's important to recognize that no recall is not without struggles. All of us, even the best trainers, have stumbled upon situations where our dogs were too distracted to come when called. As upsetting as this can be, embrace the challenge and take it as a lesson to further empower your recall by overcoming these little hurdles by taking a more gradual approach. A Word About Your Dog's Name So lets consider your dog's name: Pip. This is an adorable name, but if you say just "Pip!" if may be a little too short to grab his attention as fully as we need it. Indeed, when naming a dog it is usually recommended using two-syllable words like my dogs were named " Pe-tra and Ein-stein" (Einstein was actually his name of art, his call name was Kai-ser). This first syllable alerts them, while the second one gets them running. If they are distracted or miss the first part, they receive confirmation when they hear the second. However, this doesn't mean that you have to re-name your dog, you can just attach the cue to it to help your dog out. So if you haven't done this already, try using "Pip, come!" rather than just Pip! Let's do a little troubleshooting now.... Why Doesn't My Dog Respond to His Name? When a dog doesn't respond to his name, it's important to carefully evaluate what may be happening. Training a dog to come when called is something that is built though time. There's a lot more to it than just calling a dog to come to you as you do when calling a child to tell him dinner is ready. It's about establishing a strong reinforcement history, it's about creating a strong relationship, it about competing against distractions, and it also entails making good judgement calls. Not to mention, it's important knowing about a few phenomena that may take place without you even knowing. With all this in mind, let's take a look at several possible causes as to why your dog doesn't respond to his name. Avoid Playing the Repeat Game It's a strongly ingrained human habit to repeat stuff when we don't get the results we want. Don't make the mistake repeating cues (commands) in dog training. For example, avoid calling your dog repeatedly if he doesn't come the first time. If you are guilty of this, you have likely trained your dog, after a series of repetitions, that the cue is no longer just "Rover come," but "Rover, come, Rover come, Rover come!" This is similar to a child who has learned not to attend to mom the first time she tells him to do his homework. However, don't get upset with your dog. It's not like he's blowing you off and being stubborn for not listening the first time. Very likely, if your dog could talk he or she would be saying something along these terms: ''You have recently taught me the command is ''Rover come, Rover come, Rover come'' so when I don't come rushing you you right away the first time, please consider that I am simply politely waiting for you to finish the command!'' Jokes aside, while your dog won't likely think exactly this way, there must be some similar phenomenon going on. Solution: So what to do when Rover doesn't come the first time? In such a case, if you really need to get your dog, avoid repeating the cue but rely on a second life line, for example you can try making a smacking sound https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/the-airplane-game/the-smacking-sound/to get him coming or you can try running away in hopes he chases you. Never chase your dog. Afterward, don't forget to keep tabs and evaluate what happened so not to fall in the same trap next time. Watch Your Tone As mentioned, your dog's name should be music to his ears. You need to sound happy and welcoming. If you are upset with your dog for some reason, as frustration builds in, you may use a louder or much harsher tone which can put your dog off. The use of this tone will only lead to further problems. As dogs perceive our built-up frustration, they will often shut down or engage in calming signals in an attempt to calm us frustrated owners' down. The dog may therefore perhaps yawn, turn around, sniff the ground, walk away or come walking very slowly which only irritates owners more. Solution: avoid harsh tones. Even if you are frustrated, try to hide your emotions and think about some endearing traits or something you love about your dog as you call him happily. Avoid Poisoned Cues Have you been guilty of calling your dog to give him a bath, trim his nails, or close him in a crate when you were about to leave for work? Well, if you dog dislikes any of these activities, he has learned to associate his name and your recall with these negative happenings. In such a case, it can be said that his recall has been "poisoned." Poisoned cues are common in dog training and the recall is one of the cues that is most commonly impacted. Once your dog makes this negative association, he may become tentative in coming to you or eventually stop coming altogether. Solution: once a cue is poisoned, it is complicated restoring its value. It is often just easier to switch to just start fresh with a new cue and train it all over. So if you have been guilty of this and said "Pip come!" to give him baths or something else he hates, it may help to swap to "Pip over here!" Avoid Learned Irrelevance Learned irrelevance is a phenomenon where your dog stops attending to your cues because they have become insignificant somewhat like the birds chirping in the trees. This often takes place when you call your dog too many times and you fail to get a response. This weakens your cue considerably, leading it to reaching the point of no longer having an effect. Solution: avoid calling your dog when you are unsure if he will listen. For instance, at the dog park, do not call him while he's playing if his recall isn't too reliable. Remember to add distractions gradually; you can't go from teaching a dog to come in your hallway and then move to the dog park the next day. So these are just a few examples of dogs who may be reluctant to come when called. Of course, we also need to consider the dog's general health, whether it is hot, or the dog is thirsty, whether there are too strong distractions around (female in heat, loud noises, dog is anxious and over threshold), poor reinforcement history etc. If you recognize any of these patterns, feel free to post and we can discuss more in detail. I hope this helps! Best wishes for Pip's speedy recovery after his surgery. Adrienne

Awww... I love how he waits so patiently! What a good pup! And so cute! I am sure he got lots of compliments in class. I think getting pups to think and find solutions is good. I suspect the issue here is that the first ball is a little too slippery, add to that some saliva, and it becomes slippery and slimy. Indeed, he then grabs the other ball with his mouth better since it has more texture and 'grip". Swapping to another type of ball may help get you more mouth grabs over pawing if you prefer those. I think it's good for dogs to learn to use both their mouths and paws. Mouth use is good for games like grabbing a toy on cue, fetch, the tidy up game, paw use is good for targets, closing doors, getting toys from under cabinets, etc. etc.

I dont do much reward with toys. Either it's something new or what I find not easy, otherwise it's mainly praise. Only case I could think of toys as reward is when we try "Jazz up and settle down" On top of the novelty factor, adding movement to the toys can turn them into a reward. In other words, you can ask Loki to sit, and then to reward the sit, you toss a ball or offer him to play tug with a toy. If you rotate toys, keeping some out of sight for some time, when you re-present them, they re-assume a novelty factor. Although I said almost as I made a mistake : I was low during a fetch to make him come back, he went on to me as if he wanted to snuggle, coming in my arms.. he really has under threshold energy level, so I really thought he wanted so I started to pet, and boooom it was a diversion from the little rascal that went for the sleeve after that. Hmm... maybe rolling up the sleeves when playing fetch can help for now? At least until he's past the teething phase and fabrics may be less appealing? Even if this was for attention, your sleeve likely feels good in his mouth and has a history of that, sort of like a baby always sticking his fingers in his mouth to alleviate sore gums. Glad to hear you had the ball handy! He made us ashamed 2 times : - he was the only one humping other pups 🙂 Puppy humping may look bad to us, but it most of time just play. It can be redirected if you notice the pre-humping behavior if he's persisting in doing that. The area trainer can help you with training that. - during the recall exercise, he was the only one that failed it... I'm reassuring myself, thinking he was the oldest, thus the only one in the "flight period" and a little more independant 🙂 He started to come to me on the "come when called", and mid-way went straight to a ball on the side Was really nice though, and he was exhaaauuussstted after. Will redo next week, and try on his recall meanwhile 🙂 Well, you know what to work on this week! Placing a ball or other toys in the middle of the room and practicing him coming to you despite the distraction of it rewarding with something higher in value compared to the ball.

Sounds like a good plan, keep us posted on how things go!

I don't know if we should be proud or worried, but for less than 4 months, we're quite happy (now that I've changed my mindset also, passing the worst of the puppy blues :)), imho it's still so young. Not much for the state he is right now, but for the progress we've seen. The better stay, the better impulse control during walks... Besides we will attend puppy school starting tonight, we'll see what the instructor will say. I think you are doing really well considering your pup's age! Great to hear you are taking Loki to classes! That's great! He'll have a blast playing with the pups and it's so great for socialization. He might be too excited to apply what he has learned at home in this setting, but sometimes pups can surprise us, showing that they have retained stuff at a higher level than thought. he would agree with some training, but if he sees I have treats, but in excited way, maybe even overthreshold...I mean, he respond quite well to the cue, specially inside the house, but I feel the excitement when getting the treat, or the impatience when we try some longer stay... He shouldn't be seeing treats in plain view. They should be in your treat bag or pocket or at least behind your back. Have you tried rewarding the stays with toys? If you are working on the stay and he's getting impatient, it's often a sign he isn't ready for such length. How long are your longer stays? And how long are the stays he does well with? In the end after about 1 hour of mixing little spurs of mental / physical / training, the excitment is still there, and I see no sign of tireness. Make sure to also work on relaxation rather than just play and stimulation. Not necessarily relaxation to get him sleeping, just calmer activities like enjoying being handled and brushed calmly, getting his teeth brushed (toothpaste for dogs comes in yummy flavors!) https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/exercises-to-teach-puppies-to-tolerate-touch/ sniffing around or just relaxing on a mat. My question about this "discovery" is : can the need to gnaw / chew at his age could be a "primary need" that need to be address almost like feeding ? I'm wondering about teething. If teething is unconfortable for him, could the excitment + no-willingness to engage under threshold in any activities , just be the consequence of him having a desperate need to gnaw to relieve / soothe what's happening in his mouth ? Puppies who are teething are like babies who are teething, they get restless as the permanent teeth are cutting through. If that's relevant, perhaps should I tweak a little the morning routine and make : Wake up, chill time, breakfast, potty, CHEW / GNAW, and only then to try engaging other activities like physical / mental / training ? You can experiment and see how it goes, every pup is different and there are no rules set in stone on what routine to follow. In general, with pups, I take the pup out to potty first thing in the morning, then breakfast fed through brain games and then any remnant fed in the bowl, then out in the yard to potty again, then some exploration in the yard, followed by play, training, socialization, walk, then nap time, then potty time again. You can tweak your routine a bit to accommodate his recent needs and keep track on how it goes. I don't know if it makes any sense at all, because he has a rubber chicken on which he sometimes chew or a cow hoof accessible also, but I really tend to remark that after a good session of gwaning, the energy level is more adequate for anything. Chewing is a stress reliever, it helps vent boredom or frustration and has a calming effect. The poop taking was just an example. He also occurs when I'll take his toys in the yard. This morning, I got another hole this way : 7am, he was lying down on his mat, and I'd say to myself "ok, nice, a little cooling time, lets take advantage of it", and I went lie down on the sofa. Two secs later, pup went rushing to get on also, so I try a "get down / four on floor" with the hand signal... Big mistake, it gave access to my sleeve, which he took and tugged directly, and I had to drag a croco-pup to reach for a toy. Sounds like playing with the sleeve with your moving arm gesture was far too stimulating to resist. The sleeves are his "reindeers to herd" so he's on a mission. And of course teething makes your sleeves even more appealing because it provides some relief, so your pup gets a double whammy of reinforcement. That's why I love to keep a tug toy in my pocket! It would be nice to get him at a time he is calmer and try working on desensitizing him to your sleeves. Does he know clicker training yet? If not, you can use a verbal marker instead. Here's the guide on clicker training: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/clicker-training/ Just watch if he's fearful of the sound, if he is, here are other options:https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/your-clicker-best-friend-or-worst-enemy/ You can try sitting on the floor with him, one arm has the sleeve rolled up and holds the clicker, the other has the sleeve rolled down and has treats in the closed fist. Lower the arm with the sleeve rolled down slightly, the moment your puppy looks at it, be extra quick to click and treat, then lower that arm more, click and treat for just looking at it. If puppy is ever about to grab the sleeve, be ready to set a consequence, get up and stop the game. Then resume a little later. The goal is to build up where you can wave your sleeve in his face and then offering it in different positions, sitting down, standing up etc and he'll resist the temptation to grab on. Of course, he may still grab on to it at other times of the day when you're not training, but if you can carry a small clicker and treats in a closed pocket you have a powerful game to teach him some impulse control. The attraction for sleeves or anything cloth just makes me think, it's mostly a matter teething- related so yes, lots of chew toys, different textured toys, frozen strawberries, banana slices and blueberries can be soothing too and they have toys that can be frozen to help out teething pups as well. You can also get a clean washrag, wet it, wring it out, and twist it into a ropelike shape, then freeze it and offer it to him. The cold temperature and texture will be greatly appreciated! Just make sure he doesn’t eat any of it.

He made some quite long naps lately that had me worried (even if I know you replied to me to sleep him, because of the potential growth spikes 🙂 I'm sorry I'm just anxious by nature :)) : like 4h30, and actually I cracked and opened the crate, and I'm pretty sure I woke him up. I understand! When it comes to dogs, I become a worry-worm too. The fact they can't talk to us means that we must try to figure things out and it's not always easy! I often wonder how vets must be able to sleep at night with self-doubts, since with dogs, spared from the ability to talk, they are missing important (and vital!) information and often must just go through periods of just guessing. First time this morning, after the walk, he went in, got asleep without touching the toys and hoof. Got asleep in the pen btw, not in the crate... maybe the floor is more fresh... It could be, since it's getting hot and he has lots of fur. If he avoids it all the time though, I would evaluate whether he may not like it too much and add some toys in there and remove any blankets or towels in it if you had any in there to see if it's a matter of the heat. Also, ensure as he grows that the crate isn't too snug. In the summer dogs like to sleep more spread out rather than curled in a ball so they take more space;) Btw, he have 2 days of heat spike, which concurred with his gigantic naps. With Loki big fur, could this make him tired and sleepy during the whole day, and more in shape at the end of the day when the sun start to set ? He was way more energetic in the end of day. Yes, the heat can certainly impact them. Every time summer was around the corner our Rottweilers would get lazy. The first time it happened, I was about to take them to the vet to make sure, because it was so unusual for them. But like yours, they would perk up in the evening. Then, when fall was in full swing, they would go back to their non-summer energy levels for most of the day. Same with many dogs we had over during the summer months. We had Germans shepherd dogs and great Pyrenees who were always hot no matter how high we would put the A/C on. The GSD always pleaded me to sleep outside in the summer, while the great Pyrenees slept on the bathroom tiles hugging the toilet seat 🙂 Of course, if he acts out of the norm all day long or if any doubts, it's always a good idea to check with the vet to make sure.

Chew was buffalo ear, please let me know if you think they aren't safe I would be on the conservative side with a chew like that just because it can be difficult to digest and it can take time to break down. While some dogs may do perfectly fine with them, there is always some risk of intestinal blockages and other issues. It is not easy really finding a chew that is entirely *safe*, which is why I often recommend to consult with a vet as they are the best source for this kind of info because they do surgeries all the time and know which chews are the most problematic and tend to be quite up-to-date on this. Stores of course will be propense to tell you all chews are OK to give, but vets know another side of the story. So there are really no 100 percent safe chews, but only "safer" ones. Last time I had a batch of pups spayed/neutered, I asked the vet doing the surgery which chews he thought were OK with young pups and he told me the usual Kongs, food puzzles, snuffle mats and Liki mats were the safer options, but if I really want to give a chew that lasted longer, he told me to go with beef esophagus chews since they tend to break down a lot easier. Bully sticks were also "okish" as long as they were bigger than what would be good for the pups' size so that it cannot be consumed in one sitting and that I would be careful to remove them once they became smaller. But this is just a vet's opinion, you may also find vets who aren't totally OK with bully sticks as they feel that, if a big enough chunk is swallowed, it can cause a blockage too even though it's doesn't happen as frequently as with the infamous rawhides. So I would suggest to ask your vet for info on the best edible chew to give to play it safe. I thought I could retry the morning coffee with a 10 min edible chew. When I finished my coffee, he was whining and crying, and the chew was not even half finished I really thought there would be enough improvement, but the morning clinginess seems to be higher than expected. Maybe for the morning coffee I should try the chew with me in sight, and stick for the playpen only in less clingy times of day. If your pup was whining and crying despite the edible chew it may be possible that: the chew wasn't high value enough to compete with your absence, the edible was too much work for him to work on because he was over threshold, and yes, in the morning you may be extra salient as pups come to throw parties to celebrate togetherness after a night of not seeing/interacting with us much. If they have been crated all the night, the last thing they may also want is to be closed again. So it can a combo of all of this. You can certainly try giving it with you in sight, and then gradually over some days, you can try moving with your chair a little more and more out of sight, but mix in closer proximities every now and then to prevent your puppy from detecting a trend. Also a little tip that comes to mind: try to occasionally give the chew you provide as well at other times of the day when you are around so that the action of you giving the chew doesn't always become a reliable predictor of you leaving. Little question here : is there any downsides to give edible chew regularly to a pup? Should I be conservative with the edible chews, or can I indulge a bit more, as it's exactly what they are designed for ?I mean, for us, it's like a super joker. When he get one, he works on it depending on the time of the chew, and usually feels more calm afterward. I don't want to abuse it, and give him one each awake session, because I'm afraid it can lose value, or create dependancy or stuff like that The vet I spoke to was comfortable with me giving one beef esophagus every day, but he weighed the pups and therefore knew the foods I fed them and their total calories intake and other things such as their size. So I think this is something best to check with your vet. But with the Kong, he wants an easy satisfaction : if it's too much work, he get bored easily, so unless we find a recipe that works, its not much of an option Indeed the calorie intake is something to take account, but apart from. If he refuses to work on the Kong or lick from a Lick-mat when you are away, but does un-stuff these toys or licks them when you are around, I would take that as a sign that he's too over threshold to enjoy these. If he still refuses to work on these in your presence, then it could be he needs some guidance/help. It can take some time for a young puppy to learn how to effectively get food out of a Kong. It helps to pack the food in it very loosely so that it comes out easily. Praising him when he gets it out can help foster a sense of accomplishment. Your puppy is still quite young. In the wild, pups of this age never want to be alone because instinctively they know they are vulnerable. I would aim for gradual departures and keep track on the timing, and make adjustments based on how he does. If there are setbacks, it's too hard for him, if there is progress you can try a little longer. Mix in short absences with the longer ones so that he doesn't predict a trend of things getting progressively more difficult for him. The good news is that generally, as puppies mature, things tends to get a little better. Starting between 4 and 8 months, pups go through the flight period where they tend to become more independent. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/flight-instinct-period-4-8-months/

In the end it says to avoid removing things from pup by force, but even when walking with treats, the highest value we have does not compete with used tissue, or used Covid masks (people are pigs) I think in these cases, we need to evaluate and troubleshoot what may be going on. For instance, if we say our "leave it" too late, that is, once the dog's nose is already sniffing the item and getting ready to pick it up, it would likely go to deaf ears. Fun fact: when dogs sniff, they use 30 percent of their brain to study those odors so there's quite a good amount of concentration going on there. That's also why sniffing is considered such a tiring activity. So we want to say "leave it" before the dog is already close or getting close at sniffing point. I like to work on "leave its" purposely creating some set-ups. This can be a fun game to play. You can have a helper place some mildly interesting items on a path ( items that are safe and can't be eaten by a puppy in case he grabs a hold of them) and then you purposely walk by them, initially far enough the he can't reach them, and the moment you catch your pup's interest, you would say "leave it" and then feed the higher value treat. This is a great exercise to consolidate the training for leave it you have started at home. It's also a great exercise for you so that you can work on your timing in catching your puppy before he's already in sniffing/grabbing the item mode. An important consideration: when we haven't trained a fluent response to a cue like "leave it" or "come" well enough and the dog therefore doesn't respond fluently to it, we are at risk of creating a phenomenon known as "learned irrelevance." In other words, we cause those words to risk becoming irrelevant and the dog starts no longer being responsive to it. So we need to ensure that we set our pups for success by starting with easy leave its and gradually increasing difficulty so that we maintain the power and energy of those words. Learned irrelevance is our enemy as it ends up draining that power. For me, in that case, it's a matter of safety... Is there a way to limit the impact of those forced removal? He's definitely turning the head when he senses I will go for it, but if he doesn't take the treat, I'm not sure I want to leave him chewing on a used Covid mask...(we train Leave It, which is OK at home with a kibble, but way more difficult outside with a new thing he never saw before) Scanning the environment is one of the best things to do in these cases, I call it the defensive driving version of walking puppies. My hubby is often upset with me when we go for a walk and I am bringing along a pup and I never pay attention to what he tells me. This is because I am constantly scanning the road for things on the ground and stimuli approaching. I become the dog's eyes and ears. I struggle concentrating in this state of mind. I am overly cautious because there are things out there that can really harm a small puppy. I imagine walking with a toddler surrounded by potentially poisoned candy on the floor. No phone allowed on these walks! The moment I notice something on the ground, I will walk at a distance from it so that the pup can't get a hold of it even if at the end of the leash, or if the pup knows "leave it' I will purposely walk close enough to it to the draw the pup's interest, but not that close that he can snatch it. I will say "leave it" the moment he makes eye contact with it and reward with the treats in my treat bag or pocket. To answer your question about limiting the impact of a forced removal, there is a strategy I use, but I practice this a lot before hand at home, so that the pup always has a positive association with it and isn't startled or defensive. It's mentioned in this article under "mouth inspections:" https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/the-importance-of-preventing-resource-guarding-in-puppies/ I am posting that section here: "Getting your puppy used to having his mouth checked is good for getting your puppy used to having his teeth brushed and mouth checked by your vet, but also in case you ever need to retrieve some item out of his mouth. Every now and then, open your puppy’s mouth open and stick a tasty treat inside. At some point, if you catch your pup with an item in his mouth (that he isn’t prone to guarding), let him sniff a super high-value treat as you gently extract the object from the mouth, promptly replacing it with the tasty treat. This will make your puppy more collaborative and help him learn that when you remove something from his mouth, something tasty will follow. However, aim to train your puppy to “drop it” so he’s a willing participant and you no longer have to manually extract things." As Jennifer has mentioned below, you need to work on finding what your pup really loves. *Note for Jennifer: Yes, Jennifer you are correct! We aim to form those strong associations so that, when the dog hears leave it or drop, it's music for their ears sort of like "ding-ding-ding! you just won the slot machine!"

Management really helped I walked with a rubber chicken in the pocket when I went to get the poop in the yard this morning, and when the little hunter came to his prey (me) he was presented the rubber chicken and was ok with that (I guess it was still an interaction with me, even with a lesser value toy than my clothes) Yay ! celebrating small victory ! Glad to hear! Baby steps. This is a win-win because your puppy, not only didn't get a chance to nip you or your clothes, but you surprised him with a little "gift" which reinforces your position as a provider of great things. On the other hand, I came accross also using bite inhibition scream / yelp for the clothes, the rationale being that the pup does not need to know the difference between skin and clothes, as they're both off limits of strong bite and tugging. With skin, I understood the biting should be ok with a controlled strength, as it is necessary for them to undertand how much is too much, and avoiding any biting at all will prevent them to have good control about their strength Is this relevant ? can this be given a try during an "off guard moment" ? (I'll try my best on management for now on, but I'm realist in the fact that there will be one time I'll be caught off guard again) You can try the method of screaming or Ian Dunbar's "ouch" method, and see how he reacts, however I am a big proponent of managing when we cannot train so we aren't caught off guard, and then systematically working on training when we are more prepared. So if this type of nipping clothes happens when you are bending down in the yard picking poop and are too busy to offer the toy as you did greatly earlier, it may be better to manage for the time being (like keeping him inside the home/ or with a family member) and then, when you have finished picking up the poop, or later when you have more time, you can repeat the same situation (pretending to bend down to pick up poop as you watch carefully for him approaching) so that you can help set your pup up for success by paving the path for him to make goof choices. Be ready as he approaches to: -Offer him a toy he doesn't see too often -Toss him kibble to go catch -Ask him to sit and reward by tossing several kibble to find -Offer him a long tug toy to play tug with -Offer him a flirt pole -Ask him to hand target and reward by tossing several kibble to find -Ask him to sit and reward by tossing a ball away from you to catch You mention that tug or fetch seem to overstimulate him. I can see this happening, but I like to add the Premack Principle https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/premack-principle/ to tone down some of the excitement by asking for a sit before each tossed ball for fetch and asking a take and drop when playing tug. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/drop-it/ How is his obedience training doing? Does he know sit well and hand target well enough to respond to those cues when he approaches you? These would be great opportunities to implement some training. Back to the screaming/ouch method, as mentioned, it may yield mixed results. It may work for some dogs, it might not work for others. Evaluating whether a behavior intervention plan is working requires tracking the behavior over time. What's important to do is to have a baseline of what the biting currently looks like. Jolt down in a journal the current date and when the biting occurs the most, the intensity of the biting and how long the episodes last. Then, start tracking over the course of several days whether it's improving, staying the same or getting worse. When a method is working, there should be a steady yet gradual reduction in the biting behavior. Of course, you need to factor whether he is being exercised/socialized/trained/ provided with mental stimulation enough on certain days (like rainy days things may be worse) .Keep in mind that as puppies are teething, you may see an increase in biting so make sure to provide soothing chew toys. Your puppy is now in the full teething phase. In most cases, when puppy nipping persists past the age of 6 to 8 months it's because there are factors that are putting a dent in the process. For example, allowing the puppy to persistently nip children, other family members or guests, allowing over aroused play, not providing enough outlets for exercise/mental stimulation, allowing puppies to take rewards roughly from our hands https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/train-dog-take-treats-gently/ or the use of physical corrections. Some pups may be genetically more prone to biting so some pups do take longer.

Hello and welcome to the forum! Sounds like your pup is having a feast! Here's the thing, when dogs find food or a tasty morsel unattended on the counter top of table, they automatically think it is fair game just waiting for somebody to appreciate. So as opportunistic beings, dogs will eat whatever comes their way, and that includes scavenging the trash bin in the kitchen or surfing the counter top. With a pup who is tall enough (and determined!) to reach a table or countertop, it must certainly be very tempting to easily smell and find little treasures at nose level. With cases of countersurfing, we often need to take a multi-faceted approach, tackling it from different angles. This often entails a mix of management and training. Management is mostly applied when we cannot train (or when we cannot supervise our dogs), and then we can strategically organize set-ups for those times when we can train. Management simply means taking steps to prevent the problem behavior from occurring. This is often underestimated, but there are two main advantages in using management. 1) it prevents rehearsal of the problematic behavior. Every time a dog grabs something from a counter top or dresser, the behavior is reinforced, causing it to put to put roots and establish. Think of it as being addictive as playing the slots at Vegas. If we often play the slots and win a prize, we are more likely to want to play again and again. 2) it keeps our dogs safe. You may never know what your dog may get into. Baker's chocolate left unattended on the table and consumed in modest quantities can lead to an emergency veterinary trip and a dog who swallows socks may end up on the surgical table. Management therefore prevents rehearsal of the problem behavior and helps keep our dogs safe. Management may therefore entail the following: -Keeping the counters always immaculate and clear of food so that your dog's almighty nose won't feel tempted. -Keeping any table tops and dressers free of knick- knacks and things that your pup may feel tempted to grab. -Erecting a baby gate. It is not easy to keep tables and counters always free of food (especially in homes with children). By erecting a baby gate, Rover doesn't get to visit the kitchen with all its wafting smells and temptations. Out of sight, out of mind! Training aims to teach the dog better impulse control and resisting the temptation of stealing things. Training in this case requires firstly working with very mild temptations and gradually raising criteria up to reaching the most tempting things. Here are some tips: -Train the leave it and drop it commands. This can prove to be even life-saving if your dog is about to grab or has already grabbed a potentially toxic food or something your pup may chew on and risk an intestinal blockage. Make sure to practice this even when you are at a distance from tempting items and always reinforce by giving your dog something much higher in value (from your dog's perspective, not yours!) than the item left/dropped. Here is how to train leave it and drop it: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/take-leave-it/ https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/drop-it/ -Train an alternate behavior. We often tell dogs what not to do and invest very little time in telling them what to do. Since, most likely, your dog counter surfs when you are busy preparing your meals, if would be helpful to teach your dog to lie on a mat and turn that into your pup's favorite surface to receive goodies. This way, your dog/dogs will eagerly go there when you're cooking and you have established a desirable routine. Praise and reward your dog with treats (or safe people foods) given at various intervals so that your dog holds his/her stay there. Here is how to train a dog to lie on a mat: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/video-archive/train-dog-go-to-mat/ I would also aim to provide outlets to your dog's natural "foraging" behavior. You know, that big desire for dogs to scavenge/look for food and stuff? You can provide outlets for this tendency with several brain gams such as the treasure hunt game, muffin game, bottle game and with food dispensing toys such as Kongs, Kong Wobblers, Buster Cubes, Snuffle mats and Licki-mats which you can fill with your dog's kibble/canned food to keep that brain busy. With no more food left around the counter when you are not around, a fluent response to the "leave it" and "drop it cues," food being fed contingent upon your dog lying on the mat, and outlets for natural scavenging behaviors, with time, you should see a reduction in your dog's counter surfing behaviors. Hope this helps, Happy training! Best, Adrienne

Hello! Please see my observations under your questions/concerns. We definitely have progress here : - I try my best to avoid too much fetch or too much tug, so I do limit a bit the over excitment that would appear from that - when a bit above threshold, treasure hunt helps him cool down a bit while having mental stimulation - we started the ball pit game... He goes with the paw instead of grabbing with the mouth... But still works to get the treat right 😂 - we rotates toys. New isn't always best, so this is an area of expérimentation... But it's better than when it was always the same toy With him getting stimulation while being under threshold, we saw improvements Great to hear that you are seeing progress and kudos to you for working so diligently with your pup! Loki is very lucky to being offered all these great games and that his toys are being rotated. You are doing a wonderful job in recognizing when he is overstimulated and in need of cooling down. But (and a big but), there still have some point of out of the blue attack, usually targetting my sleeves. For example, he'd seem calm at first, I go get the last poop in the yard, and booom, few seconds later, I have a pup tugging of my sleeves with all I have in the hand is a bag of poop... He's a young pup and those sleeves are irresistible. Dog eyes are crafted for detecting movement and those sleeves moving are just calling to be grabbed as they move while you work. The sudden out of the blue "attack" is just that, predatory drive, he's likely stalking calmly and slowly and then pouncing. Dog play is all about that, practicing behaviors that would make dogs better hunters. Dogs chase balls? The bouncy balls mimic the fast, erratic movements of prey animals. Dogs vigorously shake stuffed toys while holding them in their mouth? Most likely, they are mimicking what they would do to break the neck of a small critter they have hunted down. Dogs tug sleeves and pant legs? Items tugged are perceived as parts of "pretend prey," and therefore, it evokes a desire to "play fight" mimicking what a dog's ancestors did cooperatively in the wild when bringing down a large animal. The behavior of playing tug-of-war is ultimately reminiscent of a dog's ancestral past. Back in those olden days, "dogs" didn't have access to all the fancy toys we have available to offer them today. Deprived from colorful bouncing balls, squeaky toys and tug toys, youngsters had to therefore come up with their own forms of entertainment. Chasing tails may have provided some form of entertainment, but this game may have gotten old at some point, so why not play a game tug by recycling some remnants of a former meal? Perhaps a sturdy piece of hide from an arctic fox or a long piece of bone could have come handy. A game of tug therefore offered several components that would have turned helpful in a dog's future as a hunter. The pulling could have certainly helped dogs develop more strength, confidence and skill. When tugging of my clothes he sometimes growls. Should this be a concern ? For me it's not, as I read they build confidence like this, they act all fierce and mighty, but this is still play. A growling in a fear context would be problematic, but in a play context it's just him being a "big guy wannabe" If it's play growling, that is totally normal behavior. Typically, the play growling occurs as a puppy has the tug material in his mouth and he pulls back, perhaps even shaking his head. The sound of the growl is described by Meyer (2004) as being a “tonal vibrato growling" while Ludwig (1965) describes it as brighter than the deeper, longer growling used outside the context of play, when describing it upon observing boxer dogs playing. More serious forms of growling typically take place when a puppy is prone to resource guarding, that is acting possessive of food, bones, toys, resting places or other things. These pups may take these tug games too seriously and may growl because they want to keep the resource (the toy). They will growl because they are tense since they feel compelled to guard the tug toy from you. Being that he's growling when tugging your sleeves, resource guarding sounds quite improbable. In these cases, the growl sounds much more serious than the play growl. The body language is tense rather than loose. You may notice that your pup's body is stiff and he may display a hard stare. He will typically not leave the toy when asked and will be reluctant to give it back. This can be to a good extent prevented by instilling trust and cooperation: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/the-importance-of-preventing-resource-guarding-in-puppies/ Only avoidance méthod is walking with a high value toy and redirecting I guess ? Management is a form of "avoidance" so to say, to prevent rehearsal. It could entail having the puppy enclosed in a pen outside in the yard, having a family member keep the puppy busy with some alternate activities (digging for toys in a sand box?, sniffing games?) not wearing long, loose sleeves, using a pooper scooper to avoid bending down, wearing tall Wellington boots to prevent grabbing pant legs. Since the "attack" happened so quickly and stealthy (as a good hunter!) I doubt you would have been able to redirect before he grabbed on. Am not sure at all about the lamppost method here. I'm sure I can endure even if he touches the skin, but with him nipping and tugging, I'll have Swiss cheese instead of a sweatshirt... Or maybe the lamppost is the way to go, and I should just get a cheap sweatshirt when with him, and sacrifice it for the greater good until the behavior is over ? This is why I am not too crazy about this method. Firstly it requires one to stand completely still, secondly, the puppy may resume interest once the person resumes moving, thirdly if it works, it can trigger an extinction burst that a person with delicate skin may not be able to endure, and fourthly, it doesn't do much to address the pup's underlying needs. However, it can work (mostly in having the puppy lose interest in that setting, more than stopping the nipping completely) if one wears tall Wellington boots and extra padding and therefore can stand still without wincing. I tried the "getting away from the scène", but with his tugging, he has a good grasp, and I end up tracting him. Also, when leaving, it excites him a little more until I pass the door, as I would walk away and he would go on the feet then, or even try jumping during my walk and I wonder if that do not reinforce... Yep, that's the typical alligator hold (croco-pup) I describe often on the forums. It's reinforcing for them to grab on our clothes like that and when we move we are playing with them because we are offering "resistance." So the pup will look forward to this game more and more. That's why I am a big fan of management and catching the puppy before he has a chance to latch on. I offer more tips on redirection before the pup attaches here: If he is nipping hard, you may also find the game of tug with a tug toy helpful (since he loves to tug so much!). Make sure he knows take and drop it. Eventually, as you play tug, you'll notice how sometimes he may accidentally make contact with your hands. Take advantage of this and make it a teaching moment. Screech “OUCH!” (even if it didn’t hurt) and end the game in its tracks for a minute or two. Then resume playing. Rinse an repeat as needed. This can help in bite inhibition as you remind your pup of the hypersensitivity of human skin. This may not work with all pups as some become more overstimulated by our "ouch," but in some pups it can be effective so it may be worthy of trying. Consider that young puppies have baby teeth and their jaws are still developing so it's important to gently tug and keep tugging sessions short. Avoid lifting a dog up by its teeth during tug of war. For me that's his worst problem, as it appears unexpectedly, when I off guard, and I usually feel lost at the moment, which cause huge amount of frustration on my side, not mentioning me being pissed with the increasing number of holes in my sweatshirts... I would aim to manage when you cannot focus on training alternate activities so that you are not caught off-guard. When you have time to train, then preempt the behavior as often as you can. When I have puppies to work on, I walk around with kibble in my pocket or treat bag, a flirt pole over my shoulder like a purse and a long tug toy in my other pocket.

You are very welcome!