Adrienne

Hello and welcome to the forums. Do you have a family member who can train one dog while you train the other? You can start training them apart just initially, and then once you are past the luring stage, and you have added the verbal cue, you can then start asking them to perform the behavior together. To answer your question can it be done together? Well, when there is a will there is a way, I have trained some basics like sits and downs with dogs side-by-side, but it's not without challenges, such as: -Juggling treats, one in each hand, and possibly a clicker if you're using that. -Marking and rewarding each dog with perfect timing which can be a challenge since each dog learns at his own pace -Having two untrained dogs possibly getting into each other's space -Having two dogs feeding off each others' emotions (like one dog barks and take off and the other one follows) -Risking fights should the dogs be prone to resource guarding Additionally if may be unpractical with training some cues, for instance, when training them to stay, you may have to take a dog back to the area if he breaks the stay, while your other dog will be waiting for the reward, which, if it takes too long, it can cause him to break his stay too. Here is a more info about the challenges:

Thanks for the update, keep up the positive associations! Best, Adrienne

But everything I read about puppies nap are from 30 min to 2h. There isn't necessarily a specific guide for length of sleep in puppies, every puppy is a little different. If he is sleeping throughout the night well, I would continue to let him sleep for as long as he needs during the day. However, if he is waking up in the middle of the night with tons of energy, it may be of benefit to wake him up after 2 hours during the day so he is more sleepy for nighttime. I know it feels like I'm worrying about nothing, but is it normal for a 3+1/2 yo pup to make a few big +4hours naps instead of several 1-2 hours ? Should I reduce the awake part to adjust? I would let him sleep. It could be he’s going through a growth stage, and they'll start losing their baby teeth as well around this time. You may find a few here and there. I found one once in a pup's water bowl.

No worries, it's always good to engage in critical thinking. I even once took a course on that, so I am used to questioning everything myself 🙂 I'm wondering how can he learn then that the behavior he wanted to do is a bad behavior that need correction? The main problem with correction-based training is that it works on suppressing the behavior, rather than tackling the root cause. Sure, we can correct the mounting behavior by pushing the dog away, scolding the puppy in an angry tone or even delivering a harsh correction such as a scruff shake or alpha roll, but these don't address the underlying emotions. When we suppress a behavior, especially those that occur naturally like barking, digging, nipping and mounting, we also pave the path towards creating a "vacuum activity." A vaccum activity is a replacement behavior, that as the name implies, fills the "vacuum' and sometimes it can be worse than the behavior one was trying to suppress. For instance, some dogs may become stressed if they are corrected for barking repeatedly as it can happen with bark collars. This suppression can cause enough emotional turmoil that the dog stops barking but starts some other stress-induced behavior (anxious pacing, excess licking or chewing) which can even become compulsive. I used to be a balanced trainer years ago and used corrections. Corrections that aimed to suppress behaviors. Modern training and behavior modification though is straying more and more away from these methods because there is potential for side effects. These fall-out effects have been backed up by studies. Even something as simple as pushing a puppy away with our hands can lead to increasing the dog's arousal levels, defensive aggression, hand shyness, handling reactivity (dog doesn't like to be touched) and mistrust. The aim is therefore to fulfill the dog's needs or address any potential overstimulation or stress/anxiety so to tackle the underlying cause. With antecedent control, aren't the bad behavior still inside, just waiting to catch us off-guard when we miss the anticipation? We perceive behaviors like mounting as "bad" when in reality this behavior is carried out mostly as a way to play, overstimulation or even as a displacement behavior due to stress/anxiety. Before it used to be thought dogs would mount because of dominance, but research has revealed a whole different story. The mounting behavior is bad from our perspective, but to a puppy it is a totally normal behavior. When an unwanted behavior is suppressed through correction-based dog training methods, it creates a void that will likely be filled with other problem behaviors. For example, if a bored dog is punished for chewing in the yard, he'll likely start digging and barking because he's not provided an outlet for his needs for mental stimulation. Modern dog training focuses on tackling the issues at the root cause. Behavior is not just behavior, it's a sign of something going on internally. Identifying the underlying internal turmoil can help us tackle it correctly so that the root cause is addressed. For example, puppies who hump out of a desire for interaction and play, may benefit from being taught other forms of play and interaction, and making engagement in these activities far more rewarding than the humping. For example, you can teach your pup to tug on a long tug toy or you can encourage some play with a flirt pole. Puppies who hump due to excess energy, benefit from more mental stimulation, brain games, structured play, sniffing adventures (sniffing is a tiring activity) clicker training etc. Play with other vaccinated puppies can also be a great outlet. Puppies who hump as a way to get attention, can learn that their humping is unsuccessful by getting up and walking away. Time after time, the puppy should learn that the behavior is not working in garnering the attention the puppy wants. If the puppy persists, one can even walk away and leave the room. Puppies who hump due to overstimulation, may benefit from being removed from the area and placed in a quiet area for some chill time with some chew toys. Such puppies can drag a light leash or wear a leash tab so that one can move him away should he be persistent without using our hands. Puppies who hump due to stress, if one can recognize the contexts in which the dog gets stressed, it helps habituating them to stimuli or situations in a step-by-step fashion though a systematic desensitization and counterconditioning program. Training an alternate behavior is very helpful. We often tell dogs what not to do, but rarely show them what we want them to do instead. In this case, the moment we notice a puppy's intent to hump, we can pre-empt it by asking the puppy to perform a different behavior. It is hard for a puppy to hump a leg if his rear end is on the ground. In this latter example, one is reinforcing a response that is incompatible with the undesirable responses differential reinforcement of an incompatible response (DRI). Response substitution can therefore become a winning strategy. Will the behavior remain inside? Well, for some time it can, but with training and preventing rehearsal as much as we can, we can extinguish it to a good extent from the dog's behavioral repertoire so that it becomes scarcer and scarcer. The more a dog rehearses a behavior, the more it puts roots and establishes. If we want to add a consequence to an undesired behavior without incurring into too many risks, on top of positive reinforcement, we can also use what's called negative punishment. That is removing access to something that the puppy wants, to reduce the behavior. For instance, in a puppy humping for attention, we can have them drag a light leash or wear a leash tab so that one can move him away should he be persistent. After a couple of strikes, the puppy can be taken to to a time-out area to chill with some chew toys. With antecedent control, preventing rehearsal of the problem behavior, tackling the direct driving force of the behavior and reinforcing alternate behaviors, we should see a gradual, yet steady reduction in the mounting behavior overtime. It's important to keep track of the behavior so to monitor progress. Progress is usually slow initially, but should follow an upward trend.

Awww... look at that face!

I'm interested about the "behavior chain" thing, it seems to make a lot of sense... The topic of behavior chains is certainly interesting. It's not very commonly talked about and therefore deserves more attention. I may have notice that doing the lamppost on humping, then rewarding after he goes "sit" seemed to make him hump like 2 or 3 strokes (while it was more like 7-8 before), and then sit to get the reward. The decrease of strokes is the sign that the lamppost method works, or a sign that he's doing behavior chain with reduced time on the first part? I think what is likely happening here is that he is learning to reap the rewards of sitting and the perspective of these rewards are outranking his desire to hump. The less he humps, the quicker he can sit and gain access to reinforcement. At some point, you should be able to get him to sit the moment you see him approach your leg without humping being part of the equation. For example, lately he managed to get on the garden couch, usually when he's tied in the yard and me not looking. When I see that, I order / lure into "descends / pattes au sol" (we're French) which are "Get down / legs on the ground", and rewarding when he's down. Is it the correct way or am I inviting him to get on the couch, then get down to get a reward ? Maybe I should add a "sit + stay" ? Same for every kind of redirection : if he does to biting my ankle, or clothes, I get a high value treat, goes for sit+stay or leave it + sit + stay, and reward. Will he dismiss the biting part ?I also try redirection using "target" sometimes. If I have treat on me and I sense beforehand he's going for the leg, ankle and clothes, I try quickly a sit+stay (for impulse control) but if I'm not quick enough, is it still the way to go ? Because of the potential for behavior chains, is the main reason why I am big fan of catching the dog and getting him to perform a desired behavior *before* the undesirable behavior happens. This prevents a chain from forming. So dog approaches? I ideally like to ask for target/sit right there before Adding a delay between the undesirable behavior and delivery of reinforcement can help in hopes of extending the chain and confusing the dog a bit considering that reinforcement, in order to be effective, is suggested to be delivered within 0.5 seconds of the desired behavior. So a stay can come handy here. Also, preventing the inappropriate behavior from occurring in the first place, in other words " antecedent control" is something that is often underestimated, but yet very powerful. If a dog gets particularly nippy at a certain time of the day, then address the overarousal and evaluate whether there is some need not being met (need for nap, need for play, need for mental work/ engagement/interaction?). By interacting with our dogs/fulfilling a need *before* they start engaging in a problematic behavior we can preempt the behavior from happening and therefore avoid it from becoming a pattern. We can get good at this as we learn more about our dogs and their personal needs.

OK, keep me posted! I am always here to do any further troubleshooting as needed.

I'd like to know about playpen training. Usually crate training is a subject with many discussions on it, but playpen is not as well documented. Yes, I agree. I think it's because a play pen being larger requires less conditioning to get a pup used to, but if you're using it for when you need to step away, your approach is spot on since we're talking about teaching a pup to self-sooth and learn to be more independent. First we tried to do as crate training : toss food and high value treats when he doesn't see, so once he get in, he sees some good stuff in there, and think of it as something that spawns good stuff. Then other thing we did was to put him with a chew bone, or lick mat, close the door, and go in and out of the room for reduced periods of time, like 30 secs, 1 min, praise him when we come back, then go again, and repeat. This part is the easy one... he doesn't miss us much here Awesome, I like the baby-step, gradated approach! It's good to mix in brief absences with the longer ones so to prevent a pup from noticing an upward trend where things get more challenging, which can be unsettling. Then the morning, I fill a Kong with kibble, and go just to get my morning coffee... He goes one minute on the Kong, and then 4 minutes of whining / cry. Of course, I do not open while he's crying, I walk around outside the room and wait a quiet moment, then I enter and free him. So I'm wondering if I'm too greedy... 5 min to take a coffee does not seems much to me as the first "alone time" Should I try something perhaps more enticing than a kibble-filled kong ? I have chicken leg that he loves for chewing??? Should I try my coffee with this, as it's perhaps higher value ? or 5 min is a minimum, and he will have to deal with it, and so am I ? There will be whining, an extinction burst, but then it will get better. Mornings can be a bit more challenging for pups as they can be particularly clingy as they haven't seen us the whole night, so we may be more salient than usual. Pups also are full of energy at this time and eager to stretch their legs. So a few romps in the yard, some training, play and sniffing around can help satiate a bit these needs. Going a bit higher value can certainly help. Sometimes all that is needed is adding to the kibble something that makes it a bit more enticing such as peanut butter or a little bit of plain yogurt. Or you can certainly try using something else your dog likes. If the Kong is too challenging to empty or if the pup isn't that good at it, it can put the pup off in using it so something easier to eat/lick may help. Something that can help too is placing the Kong (and even some toys he doesn't see too often) inside the closed pen in sight so to build up some eagerness for your puppy to have it. And then, when it's coffee time, opening the pen and letting him stay in there. Or if the pen has no cover on top, you can toss kibble in there while it's closed and let your pup see you do that, and when he looks eager, you can let him in to go on his "treasure hunt." Once your pup gets older and better at at holding a longer stay, you can ask your pup to "stay" as you toss kibble/treats/ chewable edibles around and then as you leave the room you can say enthusiastically "go!" Remote monitoring (with a camera or even better a Furbo camera made for dogs) can help too so that we can strategically time our returns in such a way that we come back when the pup is right about to finish eating. Here are more ways to work on fostering a sense of independence in puppies: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/exercises-to-prevent-separation-anxiety-in-puppies/

Thanks for the extra details, they are very helpful! New pups take some time to adjust in their new homes, it can be stressful, especially if the breeder hasn't acclimatized the puppy to the crate before. New home, new owners, loss of mother and siblings (pups like to sleep in piles and are used to warmth), plus possibly, never haven been in a crate much before, all this can cause pups to struggle. The first week or two are generally the worst, then in the weeks that follow, things start getting a little better. I am glad to hear that she has been doing OK in the crate at least during the day, that's a good sign. As for the night, it sounds like you are doing many things right. You are ensuring that she has peed and pooped before being crated and you are keeping the crate in your bedroom. You are also providing a walk before bedtime to tire her out. It sounds like you have also purchased a Snuggle puppy Behavioral Aid but it's not working. So let's do some troubleshooting as to what can cause her to sleep for a while and then wakes up and cry. -Ensure the room is dark. Any lights of the early morning can trigger pups to wake up as pups tend to be early morning risers. If needed, you can try to place a blanket over the crate and see if that helps. -Try a small bedtime snack. Pups can wake up early when they feel hungry and there is excess bile buildup. You can try to give a little snack before bedtime and see if that helps. -Make sure the air isn't too dry and the room isn't too hot. You puppy may be waking up thirsty or may be feeling hot. A fan can sometimes help. -Keep the crate with the door facing your way so that your puppy can see you and feels reassured she's not alone. -Try providing at bed time a Kong that has been stuffed with some peanut butter (make sure it's not the sugar-free version with xylitol which is toxic to dogs!). If you freeze it hours prior, it makes for a longer lasting treat. This can keep her occupied and awake for longer and therefore she may then sleep longer. -Too many day-time naps may also cause less sleep during the night. Yes, puppies need their sleep and lots of it, but overdoing things can also put a dent. In general, puppies need between 15 and 20 hours of sleep a day. -Last but not least, at this age, I would expect her to need another middle of the night/early morning potty trip. So if she whines, it may be worthy giving her the benefit of doubt and taking her out on leash to see if she may need to potty. I would make this outing very calm so not to overstimulate her. No excited talking, no petting. Just acting matter of fact. Take her straight to the potty spot, give her a few minutes to see if she potties and then straight back to the crate. Hope this helps! With new pups in the home, it often feels like having a new baby, restless nights and lots of changes.

Thanks for the details! So it sounds like one dog in particular will proceed to attack your other dog specifically when this other dog is put on leash, placed in a crate or tied up. Let's call this particular dog who goes into attack mode, "the instigator." If the fights occur only in these specific circumstances, we have power over this behavior since we can take steps to manage the situation. So management-wise you can do the following: -Have the instigator crated (give some tasty treat when crated) before the other one is crated so that he cannot go initiate fights -Have the instigator tied up (give some tasty treat when tied up) before the other one is tied up so that he cannot initiate the fights -Have the instigator on leash with a helper/family member at a safe distance or outside, before you go put a leash on your other dog. -Take both dogs on separate walks or have a helper/family member walk one dog while you walk the other one at a distance from each other These are management strategies based on the assumption that one dog in particular is always the one initiating the fights. If they both tend to fight in this same way, then your best bet is to have them separated to avoid the fights from erupting. Of course, this is just management. To work on this behavior you would need a mix of training and behavior modification, which needs to be carried out under the guidance of a behavior professional for safety and correct implementation. The goal of behavior modification is changing the dog's emotional response to the trigger by training an alternate behavior to engage in. This is done through a desensitization and counterconditioning program and can also involve some elements of differential reinforcement of alternate behaviors, and it is a rather complex process requiring observing dogs carefully to recognize early signs of stress to prevent pushing too close to their limits, making various judgement calls as to how quickly to increase criteria, implementing safety measure (muzzles, tethers, leashes, having plans in place should a fight erupt etc.) I will just post a couple of examples of this work, but every case requires a different, individualized approach based on a careful in-person assessment. For example, one may train the instigator to engage in an alternate behavior that will be rewarding enough to surpass his desire to initiate these fights. One helpful behavior could be training him to respond to a smacking sound. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/the-airplane-game/the-smacking-sound/ In other words, the smacking sounds means "come to me for a tasty treat." The goal is to get the instigator dog into a "thinking state" rather than a reactive state, so one can lower those arousal levels to a good extent. It goes without saying, that in order to get the instigator dog to be in such a responsive state one would need to practice very diligently to obtain a fluent response. If the instigator dog isn't responsive to this cue in the absence of the other dog, then there is little chance that he will respond obediently when in presence of the other dog and when facing his triggers. So the training would go something like this: the instigator is trained to respond to a smacking sound where he will be receive tasty rewards. This is initially done without the other dog present. Then, once obtained a fluent response, one can practice having him responding to the smacking sound with the other dog present at a distance. Once obtained a fluent response with that, one would increase criteria and have the instigator on leash at a distance from which the instigator can see him but without being reactive, and the helper would put the leash on the other dog as the instigator is prompted several times to respond to the smacking sound for the duration of the leash-putting on behavior. Several repetitions of this set-up this can be done, where the helper removes the leash on the other dog and one would stop feeding the instigator treats, and then when the helper puts the leash on again, treat delivery starts again, in an open/bar closed/bar fashion. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/open-bar-closed-bar/ The helper can also occasionally deliver treats to the other dog having the leash put on to keep him motivated and happy. The goal is to obtain what's known as a conditioned emotional response where the instigator looks forward to the helper putting the leash on the other dog because he has associated this action with getting treats. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/conditioned-emotional-response-cer/ After several reps, criteria can be further increased then by decreasing distance building up to the point where the instigator can happily watch the helper put the leash on the other dog. If at any time there is a setback, that is sign that the process has been going too fast causing the instigator to go over threshold. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/threshold-levels/ The same exercise can be done with closing the other dog in the crate. Helper puts the other dog in the crate, the smacking sound is made and instigator receives treats. Helper gets the other dog out of the crate no more treats. This is rinsed and repeated many times to make it clear that the instigator gets treats contingent upon the other dog being put in the crate. Another option is to train the instigator dog to go his mat when the leash is put on the other dog, the other dog is tied up or when the other dog is crated. Once again, this going to the mat behavior must become fluent enough prior to being exposed to the other dog and then the behavior is asked in presence of the other dog, and then in the presence of the other dog being leashed or placed in the crate. The instigator may be given a longer lasting edible when on the mat to help him stay there and the dog placed in the crate or tied up can receive something as well once crated/tied up. This is the guide for mat training:https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/video-archive/train-dog-go-to-mat/ The instigator should be prevented from approaching the other dog once crated or tied up and therefore he should be as well quickly crated/tied up to prevent him from failing and making a bad decision. I hope this helps, Best, Adrienne Disclaimer: If your dog shows signs of potential aggression (lunging, barking, growling, snapping, biting) for safety, please consult with a dog behavior professional who uses force-free behavior modification techniques for direct in-person guidance. Articles, videos and general info found in the forums or course (or any online source) are not meant to replace in-person training/instruction. By using this course and forum, you are waiving any liability claims or other type of claims related to any dogs' behavior against you or others

Hi Julie, Welcome to the forums! Is your puppy doing well in the crate at night, but is struggling only during the day? How long after being in the crate does your pup whine? Do you make sure your pup has peed and pooped before being closed? Where is the crate located? Have you created positive associations with the crate? Here is a section on that with videos: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/video-archive/love-the-crate/

Hi Nicole! Welcome back! In your last post of about a year ago, you had one Rottweiler puppy, and now I read you have two, congrats on your new addition! How old is your new Rottweiler? When you say " The real horror begins when they are on leash" does that mean that you are taking both together on walks, meaning you are walking both dogs yourself? If so, when does the fighting occur? Right when they are leashed together, or when they see something like another dog or something exciting going on during the walk? And when "one of them is in the crate and they start fighting" is the one in he crate with the door closed and the other is coming nearby? And finally when you "try to tie them up when there are guests" can you explain more in detail what you are doing? Are you putting them both on leash? Are you tethering them? How are they tied up? Thanks for the extra details.

Do you think we should put stuff in it, like chew toys ? We're afraid he wouldn't sleep in it then and just chew. If your pup struggle to settle when crated, the chew can help keep him occupied and help him relax which can help in falling asleep afterward. Licking and chewing activities are known for releasing endorphins. Actually, chewing activities have been known to increase serotonin and endorphin levels in the dog's brain, as these high serotonin and endorphin levels in reduce the production of of adrenalin and stress hormones. On top of this, chewing can help a dog vent his frustration, providing an outlet. This explains why dogs who are frustrated or stressed are so intent into chewing. They are getting relief and redirecting their feelings of frustration. It doesn't hurt to try and see how it goes. Does he chew and then relax and fall asleep? Great! Does he chew on it and play with it for some time before falling asleep? That's also good as long as he's in a relaxed state and not getting hyper but just keeps chewing in a relaxing way. Does he chew on it and then proceeds to playing with it in a hyper way or starts whining to be let out? Then it may be too overstimulating for him, but I would also evaluate other things before thinking it's necessarily the toy (too much light, too much noise, toy is too new and entertaining). Perhaps you won't need it when you crate him after the walk since it sounds like he's pretty much worn out to fall quickly asleep, but it may help for those times when he's whining after being closed. An edible chew may work even better. I like to use Kong toys with some kibble and a little peanut butter (ensuring it's not a sugar-free version that has the toxic xylitol). This helps maintain strong positive associations with the crate. When the crate is open, I like to place some toys in there as well and see if they can help pups "crate themselves" on their own, chewing and relaxing. Letting them find an occasional kibble in there every now and then can also help create positive associations and pave the path for crate visits. And also is it ok to have this rigid organization : training / games then walk then nap / sleep in crate ? Or should we vary ? I think dogs do better with routines. Indeed, I like to have feeding schedules, potty schedules and walk schedules. If the pup has gotten adjusted to your schedule, I would stick to it, "if it's not broken why fix it?" Of course, it's a different story if somebody is at home now and will need to go to work or we expect a major change, in which case it would be important gradually getting them used to the new schedule. I was wondering also if I should open at specific times. For now, we wait until he whines after at least 1h-1h30 of nap. As he's usually awake 2 hours by session, we want to ensure he has a sufficient time of nap. But sometimes, he can go almost 3 hours without whining, and I'm afraid in that case he is not sleeping, but just lying down there doing nothing, and that can be a not so positive experience for him. We have a monitoring camera, we see if he moves but during the day we can't be sure if he sleeps, as it's too bright (even with the curtains closed) to get the infrared mode that shows the open eyes (we have this at night though). Most likely, after the nap he is whining to be let out and go potty so that's good. You can eventually train him to sit (once he knows sit well) before you open the crate, just to train some impulse control. I like to have polite pups sit for their meals, sit when the collar is put on, sit before a door is opened. If he is just lying there doing nothing and he's not vocalizing, it can be he's just enjoying being in a relaxed state which is OK. Leaving him with a chew toy that is safe can help him do something while he waits to be opened. Thank you so much for that. Those kind of words are so nice to hear, and gives me strength and hope. I'm the kind that focus way more of what I did wrong, and what I should do better, but never on what I give and what I do well when that arrives, like the positive part is normal and granted, and only the negative should be looked at. I guess I'll have to work on that too 😄 😄 Yes, just as we praise/reward our pups for little steps of progress, we need to remember to pat ourselves on our backs too!

It's a shame. Gertie used to be sharing like Esther is. It Is a fairly new toy. I ended up trading Gertie a few treats for it because she chews the nibs off of squeakers rendering them silent. I do have a longer tug rope around here somewhere. It would be great if dogs could share, but it's not very common, sure pups may play in a sharing way when young, and some may even eat food from the same bowls without any signs of problems, but there is this predisposition for not sharing as we would like as they mature. However, on the positive side, dogs are pretty good in communicating their emotions through body language and this helps prevent them from getting into physical fights where harm is done. In general, we expect socially skilled adult dogs to not steal objects from another dog by persistent pestering or force. When a dog claims an object, and he's lying down with it, the other dogs should respect this sort of like "OK, OK, I got the message, I will leave you alone." If the dogs know each other well and are still in a playful mood, there may still be some play, with one dog trying to lure the other dog away so the object can be stolen, but it's often done with a lot of play bows from the "stealer" and the other dog may growl/bark but in a playful tone and then may decide to get up to resume play. In my experience, (generally) male dogs may give female dogs some more leeway, allowing them to get away with things more compared to two same-sex dogs and adult dogs and young puppies allow also some leeway but only up to a certain age. With young puppies, generally under the age of 4 to 5 months old, well-socialized adult dogs will be quite tolerant giving leeway for the puppy to act as a mischievous, silly pup. Things change though once the puppy matures. At some point, the "puppy license to misbehave" is revoked and foolishness is no longer tolerated. Past this point, puppies need to learn to control themselves and behave more politely. So the respectful tendency to not get too close when a dog is in a serious: "stay away from my toy" mode is something youngsters learn, mostly through trial and error. Sort of like: "Whoops, I pushed her buttons, next time I will just keep my distance, she's serious about it. " With forms of quite mild guarding between dogs where's there's mostly communication (leave me alone now) and respect for personal spaces (I understand, I will stay away), intervention may not be needed, however, this doesn't mean we should ignore it. It requires careful monitoring to ensure things don't escalate and that a puppy doesn't continue to persist. We don't want a dog to feel stressed often when around the other dog to the point of developing constant fear of losing resources, and we don't want the other dog to become stressed about even innocent things such as just walking around and breathing. As long as Esther continues to do a good job of reading body language I'll be happy. It's significantly better than it was with Momo and infinitely better than Abbi. 🙂 I can at least have these girls next to one another for training and no arguments break out. I couldn't treat Mo and Gertie at the same time because he'd get snippy even with them on opposite sides of the room. It looked like in the first interaction, Esther backed away with her apologetic lip lick. Sure, she could have laid down a bit more distant, but she's likely new to this. Teaching her to not insist with a "leave it" or smacking sound may help if she keeps on trying to pester. This way she has Gertie warning her and you to more convincingly back her up that "yes, you need to move away." Gertie and Esther were doing okay today with a ball but I'm guessing I missed signals and when their bodies touched Gertie snapped at Esther. Instead of backing down this time Esther snapped back and it escalated. The biggest issue is that Esther reacts more intensely than I think she should when she gets corrected / shut down / snipped at. Instead of leaving she attacks and goes for the neck. Fortunately it's the top of the neck where Gertie has more hair and muscle than tender parts, but with those sharp puppy teeth I worry about injury. Everyone checked out - it must have been more noise than anything. Glad that it was noise more than anything. It would be important in this case knowing whether Gertie snapped because she was concerned about Esther trying to get the ball or if she reacted to the touch. Getting toys out of the equation could help with such assessment to determine whether toys evoke her behavior or she is trying to temper Gertie's play style. If Esther doesn't back down or listen to cues given from a dog that communicates well, then that is a concern. Such pups needs a lot of interruption. They should be very responsive to a solid recall/smacking sound before being allowed to play with the older dog. Actually, both dogs need to be responsive so that you can interrupt play before things start escalating. Play should be carefully monitored and there should be a plan to break up play into manageable, fun bursts. Investing time in training individually come, leave its and go to your mat behaviors can turn helpful and then practicing when the dogs are together. This helps manage them by being able to redirect one or another to separate them. As always, aim to train better impulse control frustration tolerance Make sure both dogs are enjoying the interaction. Look for bouncy body movement, play bows, high-pitched barks, rocking-chair gaits, happy play faces. If the dogs show signs of genuinely enjoying each other, the prognosis is much better than if they merely appear to tolerating each other. Also, it helps to create positive associations though bonding activities. Taking both dogs together on walks or hikes can be a good bonding experience. It also helps to create a safe haven for each dog where the dogs can take breaks from being around each other and enjoy some peace and quiet. This is a good time to work with Esther at a distance where Gerties cannot see or hear what you are doing (like out in the yard while Gertie is inside preferably with somebody else giving her attention) on some obedience training and brain games so to drain some of that energy. Things we have going for us are that she's still small, young, and submits when I pull her off - though I am not a fan of having to do that because *I* don't have hair and muscle as protection. I'm quite a bit softer than Gertie! Consider that young pups tend to become over stimulated easily (they don't have an off switch) and that can easily tip over to aggression. Both overarousal and mild social anxiety can lead to a nervous puppy who reacts more easily. Consider as well that high arousal/frustration can spark aggression that includes redirected aggression. So caution is needed in separating the dogs should a fight erupt, always best to interrupt before things get to that point. Once again, train for quick responses and monitor play. Have a plan in place to break a fight without getting in between physically. My concern is Esther's going to Probably be around 50 - 55 lbs when she's done growing and more powerful than she is now. 97% of the time they're best buds and still play together very well when resources aren't involved. For now my plan is management. No more new toys when they're together. Esther plays with the old toys while lying on top of Gertie and Gertie sleeps through it so I can only guess it's new things that will be an issue. I'll take a second here to say if Gertie hadn't chewed a hole in most of the old toys trying to get that nib off the squeakers I wouldn't have had to buy new toys. 😆 Then I'll say if someone had been watching Gertie more closely there wouldn't be holes in those toys. 😉 When I find someone to help me I think it will go something like: Give Gertie a low value toy, have her on a leash and one of us in control of that Esther on a leash and the other of us in control of that Walk Esther past Gertie at a distance acceptable to Gertie Give Gertie a high value treat Praise Esther for leaving Gertie alone Rinse and repeat until we can get closer Go at Gertrude's speed My husband isn't comfortable enough with training to assist and with behavior I'd feel more comfortable having someone More experienced than me. Mo gave me plenty of experience, but it's still good to have a fresh set of eyes. Eyes that are versed in doggy body language at that. Whew! I understand why folks prefer to go to a breeder for that known history, but I have it in me to get this sorted and give this girl a life she deserves. ❤️ Who knows what happened in the house she was first adopted to. They had a special needs child and said Esther was too much for him. I've seen some signs that make me think she may not have had the best treatment while there and some of the answers they put on the intake sheet don't jibe with what I'm seeing (e.g., it said she chewed up furniture and other things - she hasn't damaged a single plush or bothered our furniture. Pee pads are a different story, lol, and they must be ripped asunder). Management always works best for things like this, until help can be enlisted. Your behavior mod program sounds like a good plan, you would aim for a conditioned emotional response where Gertie looks happy when Esther walks by. It can be started even without Gertie having a resource yet. Just plainly making it clear that Esther walking by makes good things happen. When Ester is away, no more treats. Open bar/closed bar method. After several reps with a positive CER obtained, then it can be done with Gertie and a low-value toy. Same thing, always aiming for +CER. Practice in different areas of the home to help generalize the behavior. It would have to be clear to her that it's Esthers' walking by that makes good things happen. Then, one would work with Gertie and a higher value toy same exercise, different areas, always aiming for +CER. With this work done though, I wouldn't feel safe to let Esther just approach Gertie when she has a toy. I would aim for a second line of defense just in case. That is, I would also train Esther that when Gertie is with a toy or other valuable resource, she has to withdraw when cued. She would also have to withdraw immediately if Gertie would give a hard stare or nose wrinkling/snarl. I like to use the smacking sound for that. With close supervision, management in place when not doing behavior mod (no toys around), behavior modification to change Gertie's emotional response, training Esther to withdraw and a plan in place to separate dogs in case of a fight (without having to get in between and risk a redirected bite) you should have covered many basis, however as you know, behavior mod. is something I always recommend doing in presence of a professional for safety and because it requires a very structured setting and lots of judgement calls, especially initially. Finally, something to think about. If "assuming" she is really resource guarding and this is very uncharacteristic of her, consider that when a dog who was part of the social group passes away, things can be quite unsettling for the first week or so. It's as if their world turns upside down. So it could be she is undergoing some stress from the loss of Momo. A little anecdotal story: When Petra passed away, Einstein was acting very odd. He never ever in his life acted possessive over stuff against us, and there he was now sometimes out of the blue hovering over a toy. This was so out of character for him both I and hubby at some point were wondering whether Petra was walking around as a ghost! Now, I am not much a ghost believer, I am more for things down to earth and "sciency," never appreciated much nor believed in the paranormal so this just didn't make much sense. Einstein and Petra always resource guarded stuff from each other but it was rather mild and always ritualistic. One would get a toy or bone and would go to their own mat to enjoy it. If one came too close at times, a quick growl and grab of the toy would make the point. They each respected their requests for space with an "OK, OK,I got it that toy is very important to you, you can have it." Only a couple of times in their 10 years together they got into a more intense squabble. Once hubby was bouncing a ball making them too excited and building too much anticipation they ended up fighting over it when he tossed it. The other time, was when Petra was sick and didn't want to eat so she turned her body away from food acting disinterested, and Einstein interpreted it as her not wanting it so decided to get closer and was met with angry growling, barking and snapping. "I am sick, but not stupid, and no you can't have that!" With little explanation over Einstein's new behavior, we chucked it up to the stress of the loss or he was just so used to b guarding stuff from her, he no longer knew what to do when he had a toy from this point forward. After a week or so, he was back to his normal relaxed state. Just something to think about. Sometimes these losses can impact them in unexpected ways and can generate stress as they create profound changes (as they do to us) so that may be too something at play that is making her more over the edge. Hope this helps, Best, Adrienne

We'll make sure to avoid situations that encourage her to guard or feel like her personal space is being encroached upon. It'll be tricky because she loves people and attention so much, but if there's another dog there we'll have to be firm about it. I assume it would help to reward her when she doesn't react negatively in these specific situations as well. Ideally, in a perfectly structured world, it could work, but we need to consider some factors and risks. For example, in order to reward her for not reacting negatively, we would need to have the other dogs present, but they would have to be at a distance and presented in a way that doesn't make her react. In other words we would need her to be perfectly under threshold: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/threshold-levels/ Now, if she is very focused on being given attention, will she be able to associate her being rewarded for not reacting with the dogs at a distance? This can be tricky. On top of this, we need to consider that, when she is given attention, she is already being rewarded in some way, so if we want to add treats into the picture, we are increasing the rewards, giving her a double whammy of attention + food rewards so we therefore need to consider the risk that these people could potentially end up turning super valuable to her, to the point that she may feel even more motivated to guard them if we aren't doing a super diligent, clean job on watching what associations are being made. I would exclude the option of having the dog owners stop giving attention contingent upon her reacting to other dogs, as that could lead to a double whammy of negatives (the approaching dog increasing her stress, and now on top of that, the presence of this dog making the good things (attention) end, which can lead Ripley to think that dogs approaching are now super bad, with the addition of them becoming predictors of all the good attention stopping. It *could* be possible to do behavior modification on this in an open bar/closed bar fashion where treats are given contingent upon the presence of other dogs initially walking at a distance and then gradually closer, but it would need to be done in a very structured manner making it crystal clear that she gets the good stuff only when dogs are present and not when they are not present, but you would have to have great control over the environment (organize setups ideally) and ensure these criteria are met: -You would need the other dog to be in a calm state (most dogs struggle with dogs who move fast and with energy) -You would need to have one person walk a dog back and forth at a distance where Ripley wouldn't react while the other person is giving attention -You would need to feed Ripley treats with perfectly good timing until the other dog is no longer in sight -You would need to ensure Ripley *does see* the dog while she is given the attention/treat -You would need to carefully screen Ripley for signs of stress to prevent her from going over threshold -You would need to gauge how things are going before walking the other dog closer and build up to the point of coming near -You would need to methodically track progress to ensure this method is yielding results It goes without saying it's a time consuming affair and for safety/correct implementation you would need to work under the direct guidance of a behavior professional to ensure everything goes smoothly and reduce risks for setbacks and negative associations that could generalize to other settings. In cases like this, therefore I feel management works best, especially if it is something that can be easily avoided. To your point about people not asking permission to pet a dog - I've found children are much more likely to politely ask to pet my dog, whereas adults are more likely to just go ahead without asking. We've even had to pre-emptively tell people not to pick Ripley up because so many people will just do it without asking! So strange, I'd never just pick up a stranger's dog without permission. And they never even do it properly, they always pick her up awkwardly and she struggles to get down. We've had to become very forward and adamant about not allowing people to do it. Oh wow, that must be very upsetting, especially that they pick her up in an uncomfortable way! Reminds me of when I once had a child pop up from nowhere, sneak up from behind us and start hugging Einstein so tightly I swear his eyes seemed to be popping out. His mom was at a distance talking on the phone completely unaware of all of this. Fortunately I had hot dogs on me on that occasion and I fed Einstein several pieces in a row as he endured the headlock style hug. Once the hug was over, I stopped feeding treats. Phewww... Bless Einstein's heart for his patience!

He's giving me the hardest part of my life, with the sleep deprivation, and the anxiety of doing correct education, but looking at his face, I cannot not love him 🙂 I hear you! Having a puppy is a lot like dealing with a baby who walks around with no diapers, mouths a lot (but with super sharp teeth!) and has moments of fussiness. The first weeks are very draining, both emotionally and physically from all the sleep deprivation, frequent outdoor trips, active supervision etc. However, things get better over time as you start noticing that you are no longer getting up as often at night and taking him out less during the day, your puppy is finding other activities more interesting and rewarding than constantly nipping, and he starts learning how good it feels to relax. That until.... the teenager stage pops up, but that's another story 😉 We do have the crate, and crate training is going not that bad I would say. There's a section on crate training here in case you haven't seen it and it guides you though on how to make it pleasant place to be in. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/video-archive/love-the-crate/ We did order a playpen. Have now to figure out how to make the best out of it, and how to train it well. I'll be glad to hear your advice about that, or if you have an article. I don't feel like setting up the playpen and toss him inside is the way to go 🙂 Exercise pens and play pens were specifically designed to provide a place of confinement, offering a middle ground between a crate and free access to a whole room. A play pen/exercise pen can help prevent destructiveness. Puppies will get into everything just like a toddler romping around the home and mom repeatedly yelling "don't touch that!" A play pen or exercise pen therefore offers your puppy a designated area where he has the freedom to hang out and play without you constantly reminding him to "leave it" every single move he makes. It's a free space that is devoid of things that you don't want your puppy to chew on or that can be potentially harmful. It can be filled up with *safe* toys that your puppy can chew on and keep himself busy. Make sure though to rotate the toys to keep your pup's interest in them alive, and as always monitor as chew toys can be destroyed and there is no such thing as a 100 percent safe toy with puppies. Also, make sure to inspect them often for signs of wear and tear. Having a playpen or exercise pen can be a great sanity-saving option allowing you to finally enjoy a cup of coffee while it is still warm, make a quick phone call you have been postponing for long and just sit down for a bit to watch the news. For extra peace of mind, consider using a baby monitor to supervise your puppy when you're in another room. This can allow you to check on your pup without disturbing/waking him up. An exercise pen or play pen can also come handy for potty training purposes. It qualifies as a good option for "long-term confinement. In other words, it's a place where you can keep your puppy when you must briefly leave the home, but can't crate your puppy because you'll be out for longer than he can hold it. Of course, you can use a pen in such fashion as long as it's sturdy and your puppy cannot jump out, climb over or destroy it. The main advantage of the pen is therefore that it offers a longer term solution. Therefore, instead of coming home to a dirty puppy who has peed and pooped in his crate ad risks getting into a bad habit, your puppy has the option to remain clean and use a designated bathroom area in the pen. To set up a good long-term confinement area, you' ll need to create a space for sleep, play and eating/drinking and a space for going potty. So you would place on one side your puppy's open crate with a blanket inside, food bowl, water bowl and toys, and at the opposite side pee pads (if he doesn't destroy them) or a grass patch. Your puppy should be naturally drawn to use the pee pads or grass patch because puppies should have an instinct to not want soil near where they sleep, eat or play (denning instinct). Not all puppies have this instinct, but good breeders generally help inculcate it from an early age. Puppies from pet stores and puppy mill puppies lack such instinct making them more difficult to potty train. Small pups may do fine with some types of play pens, but larger pups need sturdy exercise pens that they cannot push down or jump over. X-pens that come with a cover would be important for the pups who want to escape. A big perk is that you can move your pen around depending on your need. For example, if you want to spend time outdoors with your puppy, but you don't want to give him the whole yard, you can take the pen outdoors and sit nearby. You can also take your pen with you when you are traveling so that your puppy has a familiar place to wind down. No problem on this side. Vet said the area is pretty safe, and dogs around are well taken care of. My concern was more about time of the walk as we read so much that bones are fragile, and pups shouldn't walk much... but the breeder said he's quite robust, and she chose one atheletic for us, as we presented doing quite some sport. One of the main concern with exercise is damage to the pup's growth plates. Veterinarians advise not to jog/run/allow to jump pups until heir growth plates have closed (10- 18 months approx. but this varies a lot between breeds). Walks should be less of a concern, but it would be important monitoring how the pup does (is the puppy heavy panting? needs to stop and rest? getting thirsty? or is he still running around everywhere after the walk?) I would discuss this with your vet to play it safe. As a new owner and non professional, it seems to me there is a very thin line between "keeping the training fun and interesting" as you mention, and doing a little too much. Specially with taking account different parameters : for example, after a 3h nap, he could go treasure hunting for quite some time, but after just 1h nap cut for potty, after 2 kibble he would sit and look at me like "what do you want from me, human ??". I guess a lot of it comes from experience, and learning to know your pup. Yes, it can be tricky at times figuring out when to stop. Doing several brief sessions scattered throughout the day helps. Naps in between are helpful as they help retain what has been learned. Every pup is different. Some pups are very eager to train and focused and they can take a little more than a pup who is easily distracted and slack. Thank you again for your reply and your concern. As an anxious parent, having such guidance really gives me hope and help me to cope with harder moments You are very welcome! You are a very dedicated pup parent and Loki is very fortunate to have you!

Sorry, just noticed I missed something! Also I figured out a bit that after starting using high value treats for training and redirect, he just follow me around and offer sit, in the hope of a treat 🙂 I guess that's better than biting my ankle, but is this expected ? Will this pass ? Should I reward the sit ? His behavior now looks to me more interested than natural 🙂 In dog training, we call these "default sits" and they offer many advantages. One main one is that you are helping your puppy make good choices. By encouraging a default sit he is therefore being helped to succeed. On top of this, default sits helps your dog learn how to think for himself. You can see the wheels turning in his head as he starts thinking rather than acting impulsively. Finally, be encouraging default sits you are encouraging your dog to engage in what you would like him to do, rather than focusing on what you don't want him to do. It therefore gives your dog the opportunity to engage in something you like. Now something important to consider: When reinforcing default sits, you need to be very careful in what you are reinforcing to prevent other behaviors to inadvertently become part of what is known as a "behavior chain." For example, it's good to reinforce a default sit when you are walking around the home, and as your dog approaches you, he decides to sit rather than start nipping your legs. In this case, you are reinforcing your dog's sit and helping him make good choices. However, problems start if your dog decides to nip your leg as you are walking and then does a default sit right afterwards and you reinforce that. Why? For the simply fact that you risk reinforcing a behavior chain. In other words, you risk your puppy thinking that the nip first is part of the exercise, which of course is not what you want! In such a case, it is best to not reinforce that default sit and find a strategy that prevents that initial nip from happening. An initial strategy for this may be training behind a baby gate, exercise pen or indoor dog gate initially so that your puppy can't nip you until the sitting gains a strong reinforcement history so that your pup will feel motivated to keep sitting even once he's no longer behind the baby gate. Finally, something important to keep in mind is that dogs who repeatedly nip, jump, paw or bark are often over aroused/over stimulated dogs. It is therefore important to tackle this underlying state of mind so that the dog feel less propense to engage in undesirable behaviors. Is your dog misbehaving because he doesn't have anything better to do? Provide him with lots of safe chew toys of different textures, make sure to rotate them so to keep his interest alive, feed his kibble in food puzzles, do lots of brain games and help him engage in alternate behaviors. Is your dog misbehaving because he's tired and overstimulated? Puppies need to nap a lot and they tend to get cranky when sleep-deprived. It's therefore important helping puppies to nap by creating a calm, dark and quiet environment.

At some point during fetch, he has enough running to get the toy, just stays here, and prefer to attack my shoe / ankle / sweatshirt. This is very frustrating. I go get the toy trying to switch to a tug, but it is worse as now he has a moving target... I quite lose patience over this particular point because I'm caught off-guard, and I'm a little lost what to do at that point... I even pushed away, even pushed him on his back, and I regret it now the more I read the site and your replies. I know exactly what you mean. A pup I had not too long ago over for training, had a similar habit, only that this pup would play tug of war with me and then decide out of the blue that grabbing my arm was more fun than grabbing the tug toy. With these dogs, I have found the following helpful: -Offering a Higher Value Toy There are toys and toys. If you offer your puppy a toy that is always around and that your puppy sees on a daily basis, it wall fall short when it comes to competing with your hands. Hands will always beat that toy because they move around quickly (nobody can withstand those puppy teeth for long!), are unpredictable, and puppies in many cases are more likely to seek play with humans and other puppies rather than with toys because pups love physical play and this is what they are naturally drawn to do. In this case it therefore will be helpful to hold in your pocket or fanny-pack, a toy that your puppy isn't used to seeing much around. Toss it on the opposite side of the room and let your pup have fun with it. Rotating your puppy's toys is always a good idea so that they remain "fresh" in your puppy's mind and keep him interested. -Ending the Game If you are playing with your puppy and you puppy finds it more rewarding grabbing your hands or sleeves rather than your tug toy, you may want to put a consequence to this behavior. The moment he "misses" the toy and goes for your hands, say "oops, too bad!" and get up and end the game. This makes it clear to your pup that tooth contact on your skin ends the game. You can then resume the game after a minute, and if he keeps tugging at the toy continue playing, if he does though happen again to bite your hand, get up again, say "oops, too bad!" and end the game. Rinse and repeat, but if a third strike occurs, get up and leave the area completely. -Offer More Mental Stimulation Puppies are very prone to biting and they often do this out of play, but it's important providing them outlets for their needs of being "mouthy" without overly depending on us humans. Encouraging independent games that don't involve nipping us at various times of the day can turn helpful. For instance, rather than just offering meals in a bowl for free, put the kibble in a Kong Wobbler so that your puppy has to work to get it out. Or keep the kibble in your treat pouch and give a kibble for each desired behavior your puppy performs. For instance, you can toss your puppy a kibble for doing a sit, then for obeying your request to leave alone your slippers and for looking up at you rather than chasing the cat. -Consider Tiredness Sometimes puppies get tired of playing, but are too overstimulated to recognize it. When puppies get tired this way, they get cranky which often leads to more nipping/humping/barking. In such cases, it helps to pre-empt the behavior by stopping the game before the puppy even thinks about biting. Do only a few fun sessions, then leave the area or take your pup to a quiet place to chew on something and nap. Hops this helps!

With dogs, here's the thing: we can't use a cookie-cutter approach with all dogs. There are too many factors to consider. There are pups who nip for attention, there are pups, pups who nip for frustration, there are pups who nip for engagement/play there are pups who nip for exploration (mouthing), pups who nip because they are teething, pups who nip because they are cranky and in a dire need a nap. I don't like to lump all nipping in one category, although it is true that most puppies nip because they're playing but it is also true that play can incorporate a variety of feelings. When we are not entirely sure why a puppy is nipping, we can try different methods and see which one works best. When we do so, we need to keep track of the behavior over time. I like to use a graph to collect data. Is it increasing, decreasing or staying the same? Even a small decrease often means that we are heading in the right direction. If it is increasing, we need to evaluate whether it can be an extinction burst. If it is staying the same, chances are that the pup needs a different approach or the pup's needs aren't satiated enough, but there can be other factors at play. Nipping behavior in pups are one of those things that take time to work on because it's so deeply ingrained (that's what puppies do) and it takes time to teach the pup other forms of independent play that don't involve biting our body parts and other behaviors he can gain reinforcement from which will begin outranking the nipping. The becoming a tree method is a behavior intervention method that can work in certain cases. It can work for mild cases where the pup is seeking attention or is particularly drawn to movement. It can cause a pup to lose interest in the best case and learn that "biting makes my owner freeze and become boring" but it has the extinction burst component that can be difficult to endure and most people struggle with that (understandably!). If a puppy is biting from frustration or overstimulation and the puppy "vents" his frustration overstimulation by humping, that can be become reinforcing enough to establish if it happens over and over in a behavior chain fashion, so it won't help if that's the case. This is one of the reasons I am also not a big fan of this method as it can work for some but not all.

I am sorry to hear that you got some poor reactions, was this on his forum? I don' recall seeing that post. Great questions! Please see my answers/observations below: My understanding in positive reinforcement is the use of lots of treats, and also having them available at all time The technical definition of Positive reinforcement training is the addition (+ positive) of something that increases a behavior and strengthens it. With this definition in mind, anything that we provide our dogs with, that increases a behavior, falls under positive reinforcement. It can be a treat, it can be a toy, it can be even our attention for dogs who crave it. Treats are commonly used because they are a primary reinforcer, meaning that dogs are innately drawn to them, there is no learning involved to like them. It is one of the easiest, most effective ways to communicate to our dogs that we want that behavior to repeat. On top of this, treats are capable of causing important chemical changes to take place encouraging dogs to learn and helping them overcome emotional states such as fear and anxiety. There are also other types of reinforcers we can rely on such as life rewards, but we need to know for sure that the dog finds these reinforcing enough for the behavior to be maintained (prevented from extinguishing). An example of a life reward is using a dog's eagerness to go out in the yard as a reinforcer. So one may ask for the dog to sit in front of the door and then reinforce the sit by opening the door and allowing the dog outside. What happens though if the dog is scared of the yard or doesn't like the neighbors' dogs who are barking? In such a case, asking the dog to sit to be let out of the yard risks making a dog less likely to sit rather than making it more likely to occur. We do not need to use them all the time. As the dog learns the new behavior, we can start giving them on an intermittent schedule, just enough to maintain the behavior and prevent it from extinguishing. You can read more about this here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/use-treats-training-dog/ Being sure we can redirect in case of bad behavior, or capturing good behavior, means we should walk around with a bag full a treats right? There is training and then there is the art of modifying behavior. In training, we can carry treats on us only when we are planning on scheduling a training session. So if I am planning on training a dog to sit or lie down, or do recalls, treats are carried only then. When we want to modify behavior, such as capturing calmness, reducing nipping or excessive jumping, we can then carry treats (preferably the dog's kibble if the dog likes it) on us at all time so that we up the chances for catching desired behaviors. Of course, this is not a requirement, it is just something I like to do and suggest others do the same if they are dealing with challenging behaviors. On top of the dog's kibble, I also like to carry flirt pole on me when dealing with nippy puppies and even some balls in my pocket (yes, I go around with a lot of stuff which is why I love cargo pants with lots of pockets). Now, this doesn't mean the dog is fed all day long. It just means that on those occasions when the dog isn't in his separated area, and I notice calm behaviors such as lying calmly on a mat or sitting nicely rather than biting I use the kibble/treats to reinforce those behaviors. The good thing is that, as we capture calm behaviors, these calm behaviors start occurring more and more often in the dog's behavior repertoire. With time, the dog learns that it actually feels good to be calm and the kibble/treats can be gradually weaned over time. Other times, I may use the flirt pole or long tug toy to redirect a nippy puppy or toss some balls the moment I notice his intent of biting-not once he's biting, but before, because once the pup is attached to my leg, he's too over threshold and less inclined to pay attention and we may be creating a behavior chain. My pup is 3 months old now, so I guess I should only use high value for every new training / behavior ? And let lesser value treats (like his kibble) more for jackpot, or cues he's already good at right ? (I switch to cooked chicken from hotdogs because hotdogs gave him liquid stools) This varies from puppy to puppy. You can gauge how things work based on his response. If your puppy enjoys his kibble (I like to toss it to make it more fun for a double whammy of play and eating rather than just hand feeding it), it can work well for indoor training and training in areas with little distractions. If your puppy is isn't much a fan of kibble, then you can use medium-value treats indoors/in areas with little distractions and higher value treats for work outside. For the luring stage of training you may find it more practical using something that smells good and that your puppy is willing to follow. For behavior modification, especially on walks, you may want high-value foods that are easy to deliver quickly and that are easy to chew. How I know I should stop ? when we do targeting, he seems to be able to go all day on that... I cut very little pieces, but still in the end, it can make a lot. Is it ok to go on with an exercise if he hasn't show any signs of wanting to end (I will have to re-supply treats then :)) I always like to stop before the puppy has a chance of tiring. We want to stop with the pup still eager to train as we have found that that increases motivation in training. Here are some tips on recusing calories. 1) Split Treats into Small Pieces Many dog owners are often surprised when they see how small I can break up the pieces of a regular-sized treat. I often can get as many as 10 to 20 smaller pieces, and each piece can be used to reinforce one desired behavior. This means that with just one treat I can reinforce as many as 10 to 20 behaviors! So if your dog is small and you have found treats your dog loves, consult with your vet and ask about how many treats your dog can eat a day based on your dog's weight and the treats' caloric count. Then, once you have the ideal number, split those into small pieces and arrange your training session around that. You can then divide them into groups based on how many times you can train your dog a day, strategically ending the session when you have finished the allotted amount of treats. 2) Look for Low-Calorie Options The fewer calories a treat has, the more you can provide without surpassing Dr. Freeman's 10 percent rule (treats should comprise no more than 10 percent of your dog's total daily calorie needs Look for treats therefore that are advertised as being very low calorie. For instance, Bixbi Pocket Trainers provide less than 4 calories per treat. I have used these for training dogs, especially when clients are concerned about their dogs filling up and where every calorie counts. For example, last time I had a small Yorkie mix that weighed a little less than 7 pounds. Her vet assumed that her caloric requirements were probably around 200 calories/day. With that in mind, considering the 10 percent rule, she would therefore need to not go over 20 calories from treats. At 4 calories per treat, she could get up to 5 treats a day (5x4=20). While 5 treats a day may seem like very little, once you break them up into 4 pieces each, that leads to 20 treats that can be used to reinforce 20 desirable behaviors! There are many other low-calorie options on the market nowadays, like Zuke's Mini Naturals (one of my favorites) which contain just a mere 2 calories per treat! 3) Use Dog Friendly Fruits and Veggies Many dog owners use fruits and veggies for training their dogs. This is a good option considering that these healthy human foods have low calories which helps dog owners ensure their dogs don't eat more than 10 percent of the daily calories. Board-certified veterinary nutritionist Dr. Deborah E. Linder lists several low-calorie options for dogs on Petfoodology by Cummings Veterinary Medical Center at Tufts University.https://vetnutrition.tufts.edu/2017/12/does-an-apple-a-day-keep-the-vet-away-harmful-vs-healthy-foods-for-pets Please don't just feed any fruit or veggie you come across without ensuring first that they're not toxic to your dog. For instance, consider that grapes, raisins, nuts, onions and garlic can be harmful and some of them even toxic to dogs. 4) Train With Cheerios Cheerios are a favorite low-calorie food that can be used to train dogs. They offer the advantage of taking on the smell/taste of treats pretty well, so you can mix them in with other treats/kibble to make them more appetizing. 5) Use Your Dog's Kibble If you have used up your dog's daily allotted quantity of treats, but would like to train more or capture more desired behaviors, you can keep on rewarding, but this time using your dog's kibble. Have you ever counted how many pieces of kibble are in your dog's daily meals? Those are many lost opportunities for training! If your dog loves eating his kibble, and you can get your dog to think that kibble is as good as treats, then you'll easily have plenty of training opportunities without having to depend on higher-calorie treats. Here's the thing: you can persuade your dog into loving to eat kibble by simply making him earn it. The scientific term is "contrafreeloading." This term was coined by animal psychologist Glen Jensen in 1963 who described the phenomenon of animals who come to prefer eating food that requires some effort to obtain versus food offered freely. To put this in practice, simply measure the recommended daily ratio of kibble you should feed and place it into a treat pouch and feed it throughout the day. If you happen to have any leftovers, you can serve this extra kibble in your dog's bowl, Kong Wobbler or you can organize a fun treasure hunt game. Always consult with your vet if your dog has a health condition (like tummy troubles or low blood glucose) for guidelines.

Hello and welcome to the forums, I have seen the picture of Loki. What an adorable fluffy puppy! It's so great to hear that he's doing so well in potty training. Keep up the great work! At your pup's young age, you should visit the puppy sections to make up the most of this time to socialize, potty train and prevent any future problems by nipping them early in the bud. You can also do some of the easiest brain games (pre-school/elementary) to keep his mind busy. For the treasure hunt game, a helper can hold him on leash as you work on hiding the kibble around the home or yard until he's able of holding a longer stay. It is common misconception that puppies should start being trained when they are older (years ago training in puppies was commonly started at 6 months). You can train puppies some basics the moment they come home as early as 8-12 weeks (this varies among breeds). You will need to factor in the fact that at 3 months, your puppy has a very short attention span so you'll need to keep these session short and fun. "Wait," (in the course it's "stay)," at this age should be very brief to set the pup for success, starting in areas with little distractions and very gradually working on areas with more distractions. Walks may be too overstimulating for now, but practicing "wait" very briefly near the home at the end of the walk may work better for now. You may need to lower our criteria initially when going outside (if she could wait for 4 seconds in the home, go back to 1-2 seconds outdoors) and you may need use higher-value treats to leave an impact. If she struggles still, set criteria even lower, baby steps in areas with minimal distraction. We want to help her succeed because if we keep asking a cue with no response that leads to "learned irrelevance" which weakens our cue to the point of no longer eliciting a response. In regards to Loki's inability to settle alone on his own going from post wake up high energy to restless over excitement with little " under threshold" state of mind, this is rather common behavior in puppies of this age. Puppies are known to have very little impulse control. Like toddlers they are all for wanting instant gratification and they'll romp around and get several bouts of zoomies rushing around the home and engaging in wild play. I don't think you have reason to feel guilty. Dogs actually like routines as they find them reassuring since they know what comes next. The behavior you describe when left alone in the home sounds more like a management issue. When left alone, pups should be crated or kept in their exercise pen or small area of the home (with some safe toys) that has been puppy- proofed (like a small bathroom). Left to their own devices, given freedom around the home, pups will play with everything they find. It is only once they are older, when they have proven themselves of being entirely trustworthy that we can give them the freedom to be kept around the home. In general, the high level activities that you describe causing dogs to become addicted is the excessive Frisbee and fetching seen in dogs who become obsessed about the game (they live to have the ball or Frisbee thrown) or the every-day visits to dog parks and daycares which allow dogs to be stuck in prolonged moments of arousal and stress. It's more of a "too much of a good thing" affair and can impact dogs at an individual level. Even with these adrenaline pumping games, it is possible to add a touch of structure by incorporating some obedience into them and having dogs engage in the in moderation. For instance, with dogs who like to fetch, I like to ask for sit first before I toss the ball, and then when the game is over I like to say "game over!" as I put the ball away so to give a sense of closure. With dogs who are hyped up and struggle with the end of the game, I provide a brain game to cool down. With walks, please check with your vet as young pups who haven't finished their vaccines are still vulnerable to infectious diseases. This may or may not be an issue based on your location and the areas you take your puppy to. How often should a puppy be trained? There are no general rules set in stone on how long and how often a puppy should be trained. It tends to vary on an individual basis. Just like us (think students who can sit in class concentrating on lessons while others are glancing out of the window daydreaming), some dogs can tolerate more training than others. For instance, how is the pup's attention span? Is he easily bored? Nothing is worse for a puppy than a tedious training session that is boring or too difficult. With a puppy of 12 weeks, the attention span should not be too long, it would be therefore be important doing brief and easy sessions. As a rough estimate, a young puppy may do well with 5 to 6 brief sessions a day lasting about 2-3 mins each session. The aim should be doing a total of about 10-15 minutes of training every day split into brief sessions spread throughout the day. This would be a good place to start, making sure you end the session on a positive note and always when the pup is still interested. This builds a strong desire to learn. Making the sessions fun will make them less likely to feel "intense" for both owner and puppy. As the puppy matures and the attention span sharpens, it is possible to do longer and longer sessions. Consider that puppies can get bored easily and they have short attention spans so mixing up different behaviors can help them stay focused. You can take advantage of your pup's energy levels and plan what to train accordingly. For instance, most puppies wake up with lots of energy or they may get the "zoomies" after finishing a meal. These are good times to take advantage of these energy bursts and train some fun recalls. Then, as the puppy gets a bit tired, why not focus more on some stationary exercises such as sit, down and a brief stay? And how about some brain games? Once they are relaxed more, then you can resume with some more kinetic energy exercises such as polite leash walking. These exercises feature shifts in energy that are more in tune with a pups' activity levels and therefore can help maintain interest. On top of training different behaviors, it's important to also train them with different people and locations. All family members should be involved and take turns asking for behaviors. While training should start in a quite room, it should progress to involve various rooms of the house and the yard and then outside the home. Although basic obedience is important, with young pups under the age of 16 weeks, it's important to also focus on safe socialization. Puppy parties are an excellent way to introduce people of different ages to pups. Basic handling exercises are important too to teach the puppy to accept being touched for future grooming and vet visits. Use treats to create positive associations with being brushed, touched and having those paws handled. This is covered in the puppy section. Brain games are optimal ways to keep that busy mind occupied. Recently, more and more behavior experts are emphasizing the importance of keeping the mind busy than lots of exercise which increases endurance making dogs very fit and in need of more and more exercise. When dogs are engaged in brain games or are offered food puzzles, or when we allow them to sniff and explore on walks, we are engaging the dog's seeking system of the brain. This is vital to an their mental wellbeing as their bodies and minds were designed for seeking. Puppy needs a lot of sleep, usually 18 to 20 hours a day. Sometimes they can get overstimulated and struggle with falling asleep. Being overly tired makes them cranky and more likely to misbehave like bark and nip. Puppies need good quality, deep sleep (REM type) to restore their batteries, develop and retain what they have learned. We can help promote sleep by: Bringing the puppy to a quiet place where they usually sleep (crate, exercise pen). Remember though that puppies being very social, are always happiest being near you. Removing access to overly stimulating toys. Encouraging calming activities by offering snuffle mats, Licki-mats and food puzzles. Providing a chew toy or edible chew to gnaw on top of a mat/ dog bed (these can act as pacifiers). Talking to the puppy in a quiet, soothing tone of voice. Acting calm. This will help your puppy calm down too. Closing all curtains and blinds. Turning lights off (or place a blanket over the crate). Providing a quiet area. If you get up often or walk around and your pup sees you this may wake him repeatedly up. Playing calming music (like Through a Dog's Ear) so to cut down on any residual background noise. Finally, consider that, from the day you bring your puppy home, your puppy will be constantly learning, and that includes both good behaviors and bad. If you keep your mind focused on this very important fact, you will be more likely to provide guidance so that your puppy will often make good choices. Puppies are learning with every interaction so they are perpetually in "training." Play is training. Resting is training. Walking is training and even learning to be away from you is training. Embracing all these life events as training opportunities is incredibly beneficial in helping a puppy develop into the dog of your dreams. Because let's face it: by encouraging good behaviors from the get-go, we can avoid the hassle of fixing bad habits that worsen over time and become more and more challenging to overcome. Hope this helps, Happy training! Best, Adrienne

Hi Fraser, What a lovely mix of colors, she sure is an interesting mix! She does look like a sweetheart.

HI Loki! What an adorable pup!

Yes, please keep me posted. Also, don't forget about capturing calmness! When you catch him doing a nice sit, shows calm behavior like lies down, acts chill, make sure to praise and reward that. By capturing these little moments of calm, we should see a gradual yet steady increase in these calmer, less hyper behaviors. I am always here to do any further troubleshooting if needed. Best, Adrienne

Hi Jennifer! Interesting interaction! It did look like Esther was trying to shove the toy in Gertie's face in hopes of a game of tug. Sometimes, a longer tug toy may help to encourage this type of cooperative game as some dogs do not like to tug when the toy puts their faces too close to each other. Gertie though isn't as bouncy in this form of play as Gertie is, so it can be her goal was to simply gain access to the toy and chew it more than playing tug with it. Was this a new toy? I do see some signs of resource guarding in Gertie. The taking the toy to her spot, lying down and hovering over it and then that second of stillness (maybe some nose wrinkling?) when Esther sniffs her. That sniffing could have been Esther's way of trying to test the waters and see what she could get away with. Esther though gave a quick pacifying tongue flick and seemed respectful of Gertie's initial request to be left alone and that was nice. Some rule setting behaviors like this are not unusual in the interactions between an older dog and younger puppy. At Esther's age, puppy license is usually revoked. As Esther matures though things may change and there may be some squabbles over things along the way. Hopefully things will remain for the most part ritualized.