Adrienne

You are very welcome! Starting indoors then is a good starting point (watching dogs walk by the window) and then moving to the bench can be a nice next step once you have a nice conditioned emotional response. Don't leave out counterconditioning with your desensitization work on the bench, as both methods work in synergy. With low threshold, it's important to work on distance work initially. I had cases of small dogs who would bark when dogs were very far, and something that worked for me was holding them in my arms, and the moment they saw a dog at distance, I would just place a super stinky high value treat right in front of their nose and that would quickly redirect them and give me a starting point. Sometimes, the treat went in right when the dog was about to open the mouth to bark, and the dog would realize how tasty it is and then once an association was made, bingo! the dog wanted to see more dogs just to have more if it! Of course, avoid holding your dog in your arms if that stresses her out more, some dogs feel better being free to move others are reassured. This method worked for me with some of the most over threshold dogs, dogs who would not care much about treats. It's as if they need to taste the treat to realize how good it is to get things to start clicking. Sometimes some experimenting is needed. I had some small dogs who found chewing too much work when over threshold, so I would just smear a bit of canned food or meat-based baby food (with no garlic or onion) on my finger and offer it right upon seeing a dog. If a dog is ever coming too close, it is best to go back inside, or if on walks, do an emergency u-turn. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/emergency-u-turn/ Some dogs who are very highly over threshold and are very difficult to snap out, may need medications prescribed by a vet or veterinary behaviorist. These dogs are just tot highly stressed to cognitively function and need meds to cause chemical changes in the brain. There can be some calming supplements that are found over the counter to try before going that route. Your vet can make recommendations based on your dog's level of anxiety.

I did find that giving him something to chew on/ eat was helpful. But when he finished he went back to the same behavior. If it was helpful, that was a sign it was working! Embrace these little improvements and you should gradually see more and more. Baby steps. Practice often, practice makes perfect. The more people he sees, the more they start getting ho-hum boring or at least they lose their saliency if you can keep him focused on not acting hyper. Have you practiced any more since last time? How is he doing when hubby comes home? How about when you open the crate and walk? Back to working around guests, it's important to take him back to the enclosed area, before he has finished eating or you should provide something that is longer-lasting to buy you some extra time, (bottle game, treasure hunt, play with a flirt pole-this can work great with nippy puppies) and then as soon as you notice he has finished the food or he is getting tired of the game, take him back before he has a chance of thinking about reverting to the problematic behavior. Set him up for success! Easy-peasy tasks that are brief, rewarding and that engage his brain. This whole chewing things/eating without asking for behaviors is only temporary. We are finding ways to engage his brain and prevent rehearsal of the problematic behavior. We are trying to re-wire his brain and get him into to engaging into alternate activities. Once we obtain a thinking mind, we can then start asking for behaviors like sits, lie downs, hand targets and we should work our way up to where we can can keep him on a mat when guests are over or at least tether him so that he can stay on a mat calmly chewing on something valuable while the guests are over. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/video-archive/train-dog-go-to-mat/ I don’t feel that feeding him the whole time my guests are present is a positive thing. Are you worried about calories? If so, I can provide many suggestions on how to limit those. Will your dog take kibble in the presence of guests? Then, that's wonderful as we can use that so rather than having the dog just wolf it down in seconds for free, we can put it to good use and use the kibble to work with the dog. Food is a primary reinforcer, it one of the fastest, simplest ways to train a dog or involve a dog in behavior modification. It offers a win-win situation because it prevents dogs from rehearsing the problematic behavior, it helps the dog stay focused on something other than the problematic behavior and it also impacts the dog's emotions, creating positive associations with guests (many dogs who are overly hyper/ overstimulated can have some anxiety going on too). You do not need to feed your dog the whole time your guests are present, only when you get him out to practice calmer behaviors around them. Then you can put your dog away, (when he goes back to the area, you can give something to chew on that your dog likes and is safe), give him a little break and get him out a few more times. If your dog is very toy driven, you can even try using a flirt pole or a long tug toy to get him distracted. Also I have to attend to my guests and can’t “play games with him”. When you need to attend to your guests, then you do not train, you keep your dog in his own area. We cannot keep him out and allow him to nip and bite and act hyper, that's just allowing him to rehears the problem behavior and making things worse. When you have just a few minutes of time, you take him out and practice. It can be on your own terms if you want. Just do it when you can, it's better than nothing. The problem I have with a tether is he will chew on the leash out of frustration and he can jump gates. There are indoor tethers that are made of chew-proof material such as heavy duty vinyl coated wire rope or plastic coated heavy duty steel cable, like a tie-out, but lighter and more flexible. On top of this, when he's tethered and you provide with something to chew that is far superior to chewing on the tether (bully stick Himalayan chews), he should easily make a good choice. Of course, you'll need to keep an eye on him every now and them. I really think a tether may work best for you, so that your dog can be kept out of the guests' reach so he can't nip and jump, but at the same time he reaps the benefit of being around company and learning to act calm. You can use it to even train not to jump as mentioned previously where your guests can approach and turn around when he tries to jump and come back and reward when he has all four paws on the floor. As for gates, I know of some very tall gates purposely crafted for jumpers. Some dog owners even get creative and attach a gate over another to make it extra tall. I’m feeling defeated with all of your suggestions and do appreciate your help. I’m just not sure this kind of training is helpful for him. I am sorry to hear you feel this way. Some dogs can be much more work than others. It can feel very frustrating. I understand your feelings. There is another type of training, but I have to say there are risks and one may end up with more problems down the road which can be far more troublesome than just hyper arousal/ excitement. I am talking about punishment-based methods. As a cross-over trainer, who has used such methods in the past, I must say that yes, they can be effective, but they come with a price and studies have backed this up. Studies have shown that dogs who were trained using aversive, punishment-based methods have a higher chance for becoming aggressive. The study conducted by Meghan Herron, DVM, DACVB, Frances Shofer, DVM and Ilana Reisner, DVM, DACVB, of the Matthew Ryan Veterinary Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, found that when dog owners resorted to harsh confrontational techniques, dogs responded with aggression. These methods also impacted the dog's level of trust in the owner and there were risks for dogs becoming stressed and developing fears and phobias. There are countless studies proving all of this, here are just a couple: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/12/201217095536.htm https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1558787817300357 This is why large organizations such as the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior (AVSAB) advocates that vets work along with dog trainers who focus on reinforcing desirable behaviors and removing the reinforcement for undesirable ones. https://avsab.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Dominance_Position_Statement_download-10-3-14.pdf I am hoping once he gets neutered he may calm down a bit In general, neutering removes behaviors that are hormonally-induced like urine marking, roaming in search of a mate or hormonally-induced competitiveness/aggression towards other male dogs. Calmer behavior comes with reinforcing calm behaviors (even simply capturing and rewarding them as they unfold, like praising and rewarding when a dog lies down, walks calmly, chooses to sit rather than jump), providing dogs with a stress-free environment and exercise, training, brain games, sniffing opportunities, puzzle toys and impulse control/frustration tolerance games: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/impulse-control-frustration-tolerance/ Many dogs tend to also get on the calmer side as they mature. I have seen some very hyper pups (who were on medications by a veterinary behaviorist) start getting much calmer around the age of 3 to 5 years old and no longer needing meds. I am hoping you stick around, yet, I understand if you are feeling frustrated from not seeing the results quickly as you were hoping for. I am always here if you need any help and will be more than happy to do more troubleshooting. Best, Adrienne

Lovely jaw sparring... a dog's favorite way to play when feeling too tired to wrestle, but are still a bit in the 'mood.' Gertie seems OK with it, but at the very end seems like she got more serious to get pesky pupster to stop, I can't really see her facial expression, but it seems like that. Looks like the pup got the message and left. I would, just as an extra precaution, keep a watchful eye on Gertie just in case she is giving signals of wanting to be left alone at times and new puppy not understanding/respecting them. A quick redirect and sending the pup to her own area to nap can prevent older dogs from feeling like "oh boy, I can't keep up with this pup and really would like to take a nap" which depending on the dog, may eventually turn into a more serious "don't come near my sleeping space or else...."

Hi Angie Torres, Your dog's behavior does sound anxiety-driven. You are certainly right that any underlying anxiety must be tackled prior to thinking about training dogs. When dogs are overly anxious, they aren't in the thinking mode required for them to cognitively function and absorb our instructions. They are in flight or fight mode. This is why it's so important working on the dog being under threshold https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/threshold-levels/ and aiming to change the dog's emotional state. I looked back at your initial posts, and the exercises suggested did involve training, but there were also behavior modification elements included. Like "look at that" and the 'hear that" methods aim to change the dog's emotional responses to triggers through desensitization and counterconditioning and should tackle the underlying anxiety as well. I am glad that she has gotten better with the noises in your apartment and that she's coping better on your absences. At your parent's home she may be more on edge because there are different sounds and noises. If you are there only for a brief time, management may work fine (prevent access to areas that evoke barking like windows, fence-lines, decks). If you stay longer, then it may be worthy working on he issue. Have you tried transferring the training you did at your home to you parent's home? I use the smacking sound for that when I have time to train: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/the-airplane-game/the-smacking-sound/ When I cannot train, I prevent access to the windows/fence-line etc. to prevent rehearsal of the barking behavior. I provided guidelines on this in your first post: Preparing prior to having room mates sounds like a great plan, but to be honest it will be on the challenging side if you cannot prepare some set-ups with people prior to that. Behavior modification for anxiety requires lots of low-level exposures and creating positive associations. You can start though with people who come over by default each day like when the mail man leaves the mail or the deliver guy delivers a pizza leaving in front of the door. Family can also be a good starting place. Do you have any family members you can enlist for help that your dog doesn't see too often? I would suggest reading as much as you can on how behavior modification works, how to keep her under threshold and several strategies for her tackling her specific triggers. Here are some starters: Threshold is the line we don't want to go over. When we go over threshold the dog is no longer in a thinking state: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/threshold-levels/ Desensitization consists of structured low-level exposures, taking baby steps and working at the dog's level of comfort. We organize set-ups for these so that we have control over the situation. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/threshold-levels/ Counterconditioning is creating positive associations with the triggers, so that we can change the dog's emotional response: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/counterconditioning/ A positive conditioned emotional response is what we obtain after creating many positive associations and the dog starts to look forward to seeing the trigger because it has come to predict great things: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/conditioned-emotional-response-cer/ Prior to having people enter the home, it would help to work on "look at that" from the window: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/university/look-at-that/ Here is an example on the work I did with a dog who was reactive towards people entering a room/home: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/dog-barking-someone-enters-room/ At some point, when she's comfortable around people coming into the home (tell them not to knock or sound the doorbell), you can try having them help out giving treats using he treat-retreat game: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/treat-retreat-game/ Does she mostly bark at other dogs from inside the home or even on walks? Disclaimer: behavior modification comes with risks. If your puppy or 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.

Gertie must have been like "what are you doing here youngster? This is my place!" No puppy license for you!".... Glad to hear it was just noise. From the look on their faces it seems like at the end they were more concerned about your reaction than their disagreement. "Mom, why are you rushing up here so fast? Did you just see some evil monster somewhere? Where is it? We'll send it away!" Have you introduced them on neutral ground prior to the pup's arrival? Just asking because it can come as a shock having a new pup invading the home and just taking over the space. I think some boundaries can help a whole lot as they get used to each others, but it sounds like you're working on that. It can be honeymoon, or that you have just dishabituated over time on how much easier it is how to work with pups rather than older dogs with established ingrained habits. I am sure she'll come a long way with your help. Take lots of pictures, they grow so fast! Happy training!

Hi Caroline, Welcome to the forums! This is a puzzling situation and I am sure also upsetting. I have a few questions. How old is Gunner at the moment? What breed? Did anything unusual happen at the dog park before the surgery? Not necessarily a fight, but even something minor like another dog being a bit of a bully? A dog chasing him while he wanted to take a break from play? Any other behavior changes at home after the neuter? Have you reported these changes to your vet? Thanks!

Oh, what a cutie! Congrats on your new addition! Esther is a cute name and it's great that it's no longer than two syllables so you can pronounce it quickly should you need to get your dog's immediate attention. I am glad to hear that Abbi wasn't hurt seriously, but that must have been scary! I am also happy to hear that her and Gertie are playing nicely. Keep us posted on her DNA tests. I can see some Amstaff in her, specifically in the picture where she has her ears not pulled back. Those ears look like rose ears and her head looks on the broad side. And maybe she is also crossed with a frog, seeing how her legs are splooting when resting, LOL! Gotta love those canine sploots!

Hello and welcome to the forums! When dogs have sensitive stomachs, I think the best approach is to use whatever the dog is being fed for his meals. This offers the big advantage of having the dog work for his meals (which means also no extra calories) and is cost-effective. If the dog loves his meal, this is therefore a win-win. If you can provide me more info of what type of raw diet you are planning of feeding I can provide some possible options to make it less messy. As to what to work on first, it is always good to start with the obedience training for better impulse control, and some brain games to keep those minds busy and stimulated. However, if you are dealing with particularly urgent challenges, it's fine to give those priority. With Roxy's trying to run out of the front door when there are people, I think management would be best for now as she hasn't received much training. In other words, keep her on leash with you when you open the door or install a tall escape proof baby gate or pet gate (I wouldn't keep her with Ryder to avoid any redirected aggression or cause to influence her) and keep her behind it so that you can open the door without worrying about her bolting out. You can provide her with something to keep her busy like a stuffed Kong or long-lasting chew while there. This is for her safety and to prevent rehearsal of the escaping out behavior, which tends to become more and more addicting, the more the dog gets to do it. The issue of barking and being reactive requires more behavior modification than training. You can see a sample of the work I do with dogs who are reactive towards guests coming in the home here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/dog-barking-someone-enters-room/ An easy exercise to start with is working on creating a strong response to the smacking sound: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/the-airplane-game/the-smacking-sound/ And then applying it to this exercise where we have our dog learn to look at people or other dogs pass by the window and come to us for a tasty food rather than reacting: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/university/look-at-that/ Most of the behavior modification techniques I use aim to create setups using baby steps (low level exposures through desensitization) to prevent the dog from going over threshold and creating positive associations through counterconditioning. With repeated exposures, I aim to get what's known as a positive conditioned emotional response. You can read more about these methods here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/desensitization/ https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/threshold-levels/ https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/counterconditioning/ https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/conditioned-emotional-response-cer/ For safety and correct implementation of behavior modification any time there is aggression and therefore potential risks involved, I always recommend working along with a dog behavior professional using force-free behavior modification methods. I am glad to hear that Roxy has learned to wait or stay until you say OK. That's a great start for good impulse control training. With the struggle in lying down, I would need more info. What happens exactly? When you are drawing your imaginary "L'" is she following it? Is Roxy a small dog? Here is video demo of the motion needed, let me know what happens when you do this. It is good that you are taking a slow and steady approach to teaching your dogs to walk on leash and are starting from a quiet area. When there is reactivity involved, we are still looking for behavior modification, as we aim for changing that emotional response to people/other dogs. When dogs are in a too reactive mode, it is difficult for them to be in a thinking state and therefore they will not be very responsive to our cues. Here is an example of a case I worked on, although consider that every dog needs a more individualized approach, so this is just a sample: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/case-studies/03-homer-homers-reactivity/ Disclaimer: behavior modification comes with risks. If your puppy or 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.

How do you handle a puppy that cannot settle down even when taking him out of the situation? Did you provide him with something to do when in the crate? In such cases, I suggest giving dogs something to keep occupied when placed in a crate so not to cause dogs to feel as if they are being punished or socially isolated. A stuffed Kong or a long-lasting edible chew can help keep them busy. I would aim to provide things that he wouldn't normally get on these occasions. It may help to keep such things on a high shelf, table, that the dog cannot reach shortly prior to the guest's arrival so to increase motivation to have those and providing those contingent upon placing the dog in the separate area once the guests are over. However, I feel using a pet gate and giving something that will keep the pup busy as suggested in my earlier post above may have worked better than the crate so that your puppy doesn't feel left out (with the pet gate he can still see through, hear the guests and feel more part of the family) yet, he is prevented from acting boisterous, jumping and nipping. Another option would be to keep him tethered. You can do this by screwing an eye-bolt into something sturdy enough to withstand your dog if he manages to pull with his full weight (like screwed to a beam, wall) in the same room, but at a distance from where the guests are so he cannot nip/jump on them. You then attach one clasp of the tether to the eye bolt and the other to the back clip of a harness your dog is wearing. Or you can use the tether to loop around some heavy piece of furniture. Make sure it's sturdy. As always, provide your dog a stuffed Kong or some long-lasting chew that can keep him busy. Young dogs tend to get bored and frustrated quickly so giving them something to chew/vent can help. Always supervise a dog when tethered. We walked around the yard staying away from my guests and when I wouldn’t let him near them he started jumping up and nipping at me. I could tell he was very frustrated that I would not let him near them. Was he able to take the treats when on leash with you? Did his jumping and nipping at you, coincidentally start when you finished the treats? With cases like this, we need to have a good supply of ammo (split treats into many small pieces to increase the opportunities to reward non-nipping behaviors) and end the session before we have exhausted all ammo. An outdoor tether/pet gate could have come handy too in this case, so you could have placed him there at the first signs of frustration, always offering something there to keep busy. Be generous on what you offer, we are working to compete against the pup's excitement and fear of missing out. Licki-mats with a bit of canned dog food smeared on it, Kong Wobblers filled with Kibble -if your dog loves his kibble-, frozen Kongs stuffed with peanut butter are great options. I can understand how frustrating this can be. I used to foster a dog like this, and it felt like it took forever to calm those hyper-arousal levels. This foster dog, like yours, would redirect on me when frustrated, nipping and scratching from not being able to encounter people or dogs on walks. She was a 1 year old Lab mix who was a stray and was never really trained in her life and she wasn't used to be on leash so it frustrated her. At the shelter, she couldn't be walked by some staff due to her hard nipping. We had little history of her, but it seemed like she lived free and wandered the streets according to reports, and that explains why she had little frustration tolerance as she never learned boundaries. She had the peculiar habit of chasing and eating cicadas. They must have been a part of her diet! It took some time, but progress came steadily over time. It starts with the dog being able to engage in easy-peasy alternate behaviors (like eating tossed treats, playing with a flirt pole, tugging a real rabbit fur tug toy) and then gradually things start clicking as the dog gets into a better thinking state and starts gradually getting more and more responsive. The more people my foster dog saw, the better. Seeing many people lowers their saliency, but they have to be the right type of people initially. That is, people who ignore the dog and don't reward hyper behaviors with attention. Trips to the city where there lots of people and several reps of organizing "guest'" setups with the right type of volunteers willing to take directions, helped a lot. Challenges with Visits from "Real Guests" and the Whole Covid19 Situation Things can get challenging when we have "real" guests over rather than volunteers in organizes set-ups. We want to attend to the dog, but we must also talk to our guests and it's hard to multi-task. We may forget to keep track of how many treats are left in our treat pocket or miss body language of the dog starting to get frustrated and over threshold. It's not easy. The whole COVID19 situation has added further challenges. We aren't seeing people as often as we used to. Dogs get de-socialized: under-socialized dogs risk getting reactive, excitable, while social butterflies risk getting too hyper-aroused and revved up. Such scarcity makes people much more salient to dogs, paving the path to overreactions. I know a trainer colleague of mine who has even found a new niche for her business: helping new owners of COVID19 dogs cope with the impact this pandemic has had on their dogs making it her area of specialization. Here a few extra tips that come to mind: -Organize many set-ups (COVID19 permitting) where you receive " fake guests" (people pretending to swing by and act like guests) but only for a short period of time and with people who are willing to help and follow your directions (family members work great for this). Start with just one guest at a time. -On the visit day, ensure your pup had a good night's sleep and opportunity to nap prior to the fake guests' arrival. Sleep-deprived dogs have a lower threshold and are much quicker to get over stimulated and cranky, which leads to more nipping. -Walk your pup, play, do several brain games/training sessions at home using kibble. Anything that helps drain some energy prior to the guest's arrival. -Prepare goodies that your dog doesn't normally have and reserve them exclusively for these scheduled "fake guest setups." Keep them in places where your dog can see or smell them, but not access them a few minutes prior to the guest's arrival to increase eagerness to have them. -Have some back up plans. I like to call these "what if" plans. For instance, what if the goodies aren't enough to keep him busy for the length of the visit? Have some others ready to provide. What if, he starts barking non-stop? That would require a different plan. A remote training tool like "Masters Minder" or "Pet Tutor" may help reward the dog for not-barking. -Set a video recorder to where your dog is and start the recording. -Have your guest call you (no doorbell or knocking) announcing when they are about to arrive. Keep your door unlocked so he/she can just come in. Place your dog behind the pet gate or tether him, but do not provide any goodies yet. Wait for your guests standing next to your dog while holding the goodies that you have prepared for your dog to have (stuffed Kong, a new chew toy, a long-lasting chew, the more the better so he can choose what to do). Your dog by now should be waiting in trepidation hoping to have them. As soon as your guest enters, provide your dog with the goodies, have your guest sit down and calmly chit-chat totally ignoring your dog, making sure your guest talks in calm voices and don't make too many movements/ hand gestures. -Keep an eye on your dog. When he is about to finish his goodies, have him/her leave. -Watch your recording. You will have some valuable feedback there. You can see for instance, what goodies your dog selected, which tells you what is able to compete against the saliency of the guest's presence and win his attention. You can see whether he was focused on the goodies, or whether he was distracted every now and then and by what (louder voices, laughing, talking in a certain tone). Rinse and repeat the same setting several times, with different guests, and gradually up the challenges or take a few steps back based on how your dog does and watching the recording. The more guests you have over that ignore him, the better as they will stop evoking too much excitement anymore. Guests on the Couch Exercise: You can do this once your dog is calmer and better trained around distractions. So once your dog is calmer, and the guests are seated, you can have your guests hold treats in their hand behind their back. You can then bring your dog out on leash, and have them ask for sits and hand targets and reward for those. If your dog tries to nip or jump on them, you can always make a quick about turn and increase distance and then try again until you get the desired behavior. After several reps, his excitement should dissipate and he should learn how to reap reward by acting calmly. Do several reps and then place your dog back to his area, preserving the success (once again, don't over do things). Tether/Pet Gate Games: Many dogs get more excited when people advance to meet them, rather than the dog meeting them. So this is an extra challenge. When your dog is tethered or behind the pet gate and he is calmer, you can instruct your guest to approach and ask him to sit and deliver a treat for sitting. If he tries to jumps or nip, your guest should move away out of reach and then wait for him to sit. When he sits, guest can approach and deliver the treat. If he jumps, guest stops and moves away again. If he jumps as the guest is delivering the treat, he should move the treat away and hide it behind the back waiting for another voluntary sit. Practice with other guests, different ages, sex, ethnicities and then you can even move the pet gate/ tether closer to the guests, until your dog gets calm enough. The more people over, the more your dog will generalize the behavior and improve. I hope this helps! Keep me posted.

Hello and welcome back! At 14 months, Lola is now an adolescent, and as dogs reach this social maturity stage, they can get a little pickier on who to befriend and more standoffish, less accepting of certain types of interactions. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/survive-dogs-adolescent-stage/ Statistically, females dogs, especially those close in age are more predisposed to squabbles compared to two male dogs or one female and one male dog. Squabbles may be just minor disputes or serious dog fights. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/dogs-suddenly-fighting-each-other/ From what you describe, it sounds like there may be some disagreements, but so far it sounds mostly ritualistic. If dogs want to bite, they usually do. An air snap is done on purpose as a warning. It's a purposely missed bite, a ritualistic way for dogs to "use their words" rather than harming each other. In a natural setting, true fighting is often a waste of energy and can result in real harm and even death. The use of ritualized aggression therefore offers a symbolic way to resolve conflicts without causing serious harm. If she did bite before, but not aggressively, that tells us that she had good bite inhibition and is still engaging in ritualistic behavior. However, it is also important knowing what the other dog does in response to the ritualistic display. So when Lola barks and snaps, does Betsy offer some pacifying gesture? Like backing away, turning around, looking away, lip licking, yawning, sniffing the ground, exhibiting a lowered body posture? If so, she is offering an "apology" and the squabble should soon be over and both are friends again. However, with time, as Betsy matures, she may decide to no longer back down and may take a more active role and decide to "talk back." At this point, then, more serious issues may take place, although it can just solve with lots of noise and no one gets hurt. So it's important to always closely monitor the interactions among dogs for any changes. Interactions among dogs can be complex, there can be things going on at a very subtle level. It may seem like Lola is the one acting "aggressively", when in reality, it's Betsy who is now also maturing and is trying to "push buttons." She may play inappropriately or too rough, or not back down when Lola is asking for a break. If Lola needs a break it's important to grant that. Make sure the dogs get breaks every now and then. Repeated, long-lasting play can get tiring. I like to use a smacking sound to interrupt play and give some breaks before getting to the point of a dog being pestered too much and the dog having to "take matters in her own hands." It is best to interrupt play before it gets to this point. Here is how to train the smacking sound: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/the-airplane-game/the-smacking-sound/ Train this in quiet areas with little distractions, away from other dogs, and then practice with more distractions around, and then in presence of the other dog, and then in more distracting contexts such as during play. Here are more ways to interrupt play when a dog starts "pestering" or at the first signs that things are getting a bit out of hand: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/rough-playing/ Also consider, other constructive ways to have both dogs enjoy each others' company, but without it being always play, such as as taking them on walks, hikes, sniffing adventures and car rides. If too long play sessions are done, dogs can get tired of playing and cranky which ups the chance for a squabbles and fights. It is certainly possible that, when a dog is with the owners nearby, he or she may feel more confident and may therefore take a bolder approach. Perhaps, Lola would have ignored Betsy's rowdy play style if you and your partner were away, but since you are there, she may feel a little more bold. With these dogs, sometimes just leaving the scene contingent upon noticing the initial signs of the interaction deteriorating, will often make them withdraw and follow their owners. Jealousy is also a possibility, studies have proven dogs can get jealous. However, I expect that to happen in specific contexts. Like, when you are with Lola and Betsy approaches you or your partner, and Lola attacks Betsy, or if Betsy is trying to approach you or your partner and Lola gets in between and sort of herds her away. If that's the case, let me know as this requires a different approach. Hope this helps, gives pats to Lola and Betsy for me! Happy training! Best, Adrienne

Thanks for the extra details, they are very helpful. Amish breeders- a good percentage of them run puppy mills, but of course this doesn't apply to all of them. I am glad to hear that your pup usually doesn't growl or bare teeth. You say though that it has happened once or twice, do you happen to remember in what circumstance? In these cases of the bites directed towards your husband and son that drew blood, do you remember as well what happened? Was he acting aggressive? Does he bite this hard still as of today? I see that you stated he is only nipping now. Since you had him for only six weeks and it sounds like he is biting roughly to break skin, we can assume that the breeders or who had this puppy in their care didn't work much on bite inhibition. It is not too late though as he's still young. The screaming and any fast withdrawal of hands movement often revs pups more, especially those of herding breeds (like shepherd dogs) and running of course is movement and once again entices them to chase. These pups need lots of feedback to learn to gauge the pressure of their bites, management to prevent rehearsing the problematic behavior, training to teach them to engage in alternate behaviors, low level exposures to set them up for success, and outlets for natural behaviors. Feedback-wise, we should be praising/rewarding when the pup uses a very gently mouth. Puppies have very sharp teeth. They need to learn to gauge the pressure of their bites before their jaws get much stronger so that, when they play, interact with other dogs (and with us too!) they won't cause much damage. With us humans, it's important to let them know that we have even more sensitive skin than dogs. A good place to start is by teaching the puppy to take treats gently: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/train-dog-take-treats-gently/ Management simply entails preventing putting puppies into overstimulating and overwhelming situations that evoke wild nipping behaviors. The main goal of management is preventing rehearsal of the problem behavior. We can use management when we don't have time for training and for circumstances the pup isn't ready to cope with yet. Here's the thing: the more dogs are allowed to rehearse problematic behaviors, the better they get at it and the more habit-forming the behavior becomes. Below are some examples of management. Of course, these are just temporary, transient solutions until the pup learns to better gauge the force of his biting and learns better impulse control. For instance, when your husband and son are not around, since your pup doesn't seem to nip you much, he can be allowed more freedom around the home and should spend time training, playing and learning gentle mouth on human skin. When hubby comes home or you son comes over, then management options can be used and rotated as needed when we cannot train. Using a baby gate. A baby gate can provide a "split-plan" with puppies having their own area and guests another area. A baby gate may also turn helpful to prevent a puppy from chasing people when they move from one room to another. Keeping the puppy in an exercise pen or behind a pet gate. Make sure your pup has water, toys and safe chew items to keep occupied. Tethering the puppy. The puppy can be tethered to something stable and safe, or to you (umbilical cord tethering) when your husband or son enter the home. Pups should always be supervised when tethered and they should never be tethered to objects when wearing a collar, but only when wearing a harness. Keeping the puppy on leash with you so he's at distance from them and cannot jump on them or nip them. Training: When husband and son are away and the home is quiet, it's a good time to work on training the puppy. Puppies have short attention spans, especially the younger ones, so you want to split your training into several brief sessions lasting no more than 3-5 minutes at first. You can train a puppy to sit, lie down, leave it, drop it, hand target, lie on a mat and come when called. Later on, you can use these to your advantage in many situations. Make sure to start training in a quiet room and when the son and husband are not around. Then, practice in other areas of the home and under more distractions, adding them gradually. Use your pup's kibble if he likes it or try some low-calorie treats to reinforce those desirable behaviors. The science of positive reinforcement training tells us that when behaviors are reinforced (with food, treats, toys, life rewards) those behaviors tend to strengthen and repeat. If your puppy is at any time not attentive, it can often mean that there's something too distracting going on or your puppy may need to go potty, is thirsty or is getting tired. Always keep sessions fun and brief and end them on a positive note to increase eagerness in training. Also work on the smacking sound, practicing in various parts of the home and gradually increasing distractions. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/the-airplane-game/the-smacking-sound/ Low level exposures: these are at a level that don't cause the dog to get overstimulated and go over threshold. We start with low level exposures and then gradually increase the level as the pup progresses. Here's a read on thresholds: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/threshold-levels/ So once you have a solid response to the smacking sound you can try practicing it when your pup sees your hubby come home from work from the window as explained here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/university/look-at-that/ And then once you have a solid response to that you can progress to having him on leash at distance from the door when hubby comes home, make your smacking sound and deliver treats. Deliver higher value treats as the distractions levels increase as you're competing with strong distractions and want to help your pup succeed in making good choices. Then once you have a solid response, you can start working on the same exercise closer to the door. At some point, you can have your husband participate as well when he has time, practicing something similar to the exercise below. The goal is to make it clear that jumping/nipping makes the person leave, while calmer behavior makes the person enter and even toss a kibble /treat or two (keep them handy by the entrance of you can be the one tossing it when your dog behaves) to reinforce those calmer behaviors. Please note: I am acting exciting in the video below. I would suggest your husband ignore your dog as he enters (no talk, no touch, no eye contact) to help your dog succeed. When your dog jumps or nips, you hubby turns around, and even leaves if the behavior persists. Rinse and repeat until you can obtain calmer greetings. As time goes by, you should be seeing calmer greetings as your dog will look forward to his treats/kibble tossed when he comes home. Asking for a sit before dropping some kibble can be used too once he's calmer. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/case-studies/02-maggie-practice-greetings/ When you son comes over, it may best to keep him in a separate area until calmer. Seeing people less often increases their saliency and makes it more of a challenge. He can then try interacting with flirt pole or dragging a long tug toy around. Long tug toys may help reduce the chances for puppy biting. The Tumbo Tough Tug Rope is 5 feet long and can dragged around behind. This can work well as pups will usually choose to to nip this rather than moving feet, clothes etc. Training hand targets is also a great way to train puppy to interact differently with hands: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/preschool/targeting/ Provide Outlets for Natural Behaviors Puppies have a natural need for playing and exploring the world through their mouths. Make sure to provide plenty of outlets during the day so that these needs are satiated. Provide brain games, feed meals in food puzzles, provide toys that your puppy can tug on and chase, stock up on a variety of age-appropriate chews to help teething puppies. Rotate toys to keep interest alive. If you have access to a friend with another vaccinated puppy, you can organize play dates so that your pup can get rid of excess pent-up energy and play as he likes. Ensure Your Puppy isn't Tired! Puppies can get particularly nippy when they tired or overstimulated. Even the most inhibited puppies can become mouth-crazed when tired or overly excited. Sort of like toddlers throwing a tantrum. It is best to provide your pup with a quiet place to relax and nap during the day, ideally before your puppy has a chance for starting to nip. Track for Progress You won't stop a puppy from nipping/biting children overnight, but with time you should see a reduction in the intensity and frequency of the biting. To better grasp whether progress is being made, keep track of the biting episodes. Even if there are small signs of progress, embrace those as they should pave the path for more and more progress. Last but not least, if you are struggling and the pup still bites hard or your puppy acts aggressively, don't hesitate to consult with a behavior professional using force-free behavior modification techniques. I am glad to hear you are already seeing progress with the handling exercises. Your breed is highly intelligent and they thrive on training. I am always here if you need more troubleshooting, and if you have any other questions. 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

I am glad to hear the skiing boots strategy has been working for you. It helps a lot to stop moving body parts and squealing in pain like a hurt animal which often excites puppies more thinking we are up for the game. It's unfortunate that puppies have sharp teeth, while us humans and children in particular have very delicate skin. Otherwise play with them would be very fun. However, there is an evolutionary reason for why puppies have very sharp teeth. They need to learn to gauge the pressure of their bites before their jaws get much stronger so that, when they play, interact with other dogs (and with us too!) they won't cause much damage. With us humans, it's important to let them know that we have even more sensitive skin that other dogs. And we do this through feedback, praising/rewarding when the pup uses a very gently mouth. A good place to start is by teaching the puppy to take treats gently: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/train-dog-take-treats-gently/ More games for redirection: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/bite-inhibition-games/ It's also important to work on handling exercises: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/exercises-to-teach-puppies-to-tolerate-touch/ And with young pups, exercises to prevent resource guarding: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/the-importance-of-preventing-resource-guarding-in-puppies/ Puppy nipping/biting doesn't stop overnight, it's a gradual progress, waxing and waning over time, but with feedback to reduce its intensity, management to prevent rehearsal of over threshold behaviors and encouraging engagement in alternate behaviors, with time you should see a reduction in the intensity and frequency of the biting. At first, there should be small signs of progress, the biting initially reduces in pressure and intensity, and then gradually reduces in frequency. Most pups get better by the time they are 5 months, although some may take a bit longer. Keep me posted on how things go, I am always here to do more troubleshooting or if you have other questions. Best, Adrienne

Hi Emma, Please see my response to Steven above as it explains why puppies tend to bite and how this behavior is ingrained and takes some time to tackle. In the meanwhile, management is important while we work on providing gradual, baby steps as our pups learn new ways to interact with us and get better in controlling their impulses. Are there some specific contexts when the biting occurs on top of when being touched on the head or brushed? If so, please list them as that would be important to know. Also, is there ever any growling or baring of teeth or aggressive displays when he bites? Did you just recently get this puppy? If so, did he come from a breeder, rescue or pet store? There are some handling and bite inhibition exercises outlined below, but you may want to use extra caution and use gardener's gloves since your pup draws blood at least until he develops a softer mouth. You may want to skip the car wash game done from sitting on the floor if your puppy get too excited when you sit on the floor or tries to bite your face. It may work best by sitting on the couch and the puppy just standing and walking back and forth as you pet him while he moves by to get his tossed kibble/treats. Handling games: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/exercises-to-teach-puppies-to-tolerate-touch/ Bite inhibition games: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/bite-inhibition-games/ You may also find it helpful investing on a flirt pole and allowing him to play with that as you take him on walks as a management strategy to prevent rehearsal of the nipping behavior. However, you want to also aim on start training him indoors to walk besides you in the hallways rewarding him often for walking next to you: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/heeling-attention-heeling/ and every now and then make your smacking sound with a treat at eye level: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/the-airplane-game/the-smacking-sound/ so to do just a step of two of attention heeling: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/heeling-attention-heeling/ Then try bringing this activity to the driveway, always making sure to make the training fun and rewarding. Remember puppies have short attention spans so we need to train for short periods of time (just about 5 minutes initially several times a day can help). When pups get tired, they tend to get cranky which leads to more biting so make sure your pup has several opportunities to wind down and sleep. Physically correcting puppies (like through muzzle grabs, alpha rolls, scruff shakes) or other forms of intimidation tend to lead to more problems down the road. From the puppy biting out of play or seeking engagement, we risk getting a puppy who bites defensively which becomes a much bigger problem and much more difficult to solve. Puppies aren't trying to dominate anyone, they are just like toddlers who are act out at times just because they haven't learned any better and they have very little impulse control. You can read more about the dominance misconception here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/bite-inhibition-games/ 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 Steven, Welcome to the forums, You are on the right path with the bite inhibition games and training the other cues. They seem to be working in not getting your puppy to nip you too often. However, when it comes to children, we are exposing a very young puppy to a level of distraction that he is not ready for. Here's the thing: puppy biting is totally normal behavior in puppies. All puppies go through the "landshark phase." Pups who don't go through is are either sick, have been traumatized or have endured some unusual deficit disorder. Puppies use their mouths to play because they don't have dexterous fingers and hands as we do. If we watch puppies interact, we will see how they are constantly nipping each other in play. Puppies find legs, floppy ears and tails irresistible to play with because they move and provide interactive fun. Movement triggers predatory drive and therefore a puppy moving away and running will be readily chased. A moving tail will be nipped. The forward moving legs will be quite an attraction too with funny episodes of a pup trying to walk while the other pup is latched on to a leg with a crocodile hold. Deprived from a littermate to focus on, it is natural for puppies to therefore want to play with the humans in their family in the same way they play among each other. Biting when playing with owners/family members is therefore a very normal activity most commonly seen in puppies and dogs under the age of 1. If you just bought home a puppy, it's therefore very typical (and expected!) that he will try to interact with you or others by mouthing and nipping. With no more puppies to play with, once introduced to their new homes, puppies will therefore be seeking out play with the humans they share their homes with. It's not unusual for children to be the preferred nipping targets of puppies and young dogs. Moving erratically, running and screaming or talking in high-pitched voices, children act a lot like dogs and their body movements are perceived as an irresistible invitation to play. I am glad to hear that your German shepherd puppy is not breaking the skin which means he is able of inhibiting his bite, but with needle sharp teeth, unfortunately teeth scratches and marks aren't unusual. In such cases, when there are young children in the home, it is best to not expose the puppy to them when they are actively playing or doing anything that overstimulates the puppy. Puppies get over threshold in these cases and it's difficult for them to listen. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/threshold-levels/ It would be helpful therefore to use management strategies that prevent putting your GSD puppy in the position of being overstimulated and wanting to constantly bite. The goal of management is to prevent dogs from rehearsing problematic behaviors while we work on teaching them more appropriate behaviors. This could mean, using a baby gate so that puppy and children have their own play areas, keeping your puppy tethered or on leash with an adult when he is in the same yard or room with the children, or keeping him in his play pen, crate or behind a pet fence etc. Management also entails not putting the puppy into situations that are too over stimulating or overwhelming which may prompt excessive nipping behaviors. Children should not pet the puppy if this causes the puppy to turn nippy. In the meanwhile, when children are away, the puppy can be taught various easy behaviors to engage in. At 10 weeks your puppy is very young, but we can do some basic sits, hand targets and downs. I also find training a response to the smacking sound helpful: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/the-airplane-game/the-smacking-sound/ to redirect as needed. With a short attention span, training sessions in pups of this age should be very brief no more than 5 minutes, better 2-3 minutes several times a day making the sessions fun and upbeat. When around children, the children should act as calm as possible and the puppy should be encouraged to engage in alternate behaviors that do not involve nipping. Bottle games https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/high-school/the-bottle-game/ treasure hunts https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/elementary/the-treasure-hunt/ and tossing balls tossed across the room can help provide outlets for play. Kibble toss games work great too as the pup has fun chasing a portion of his daily meal rather than eating it all in one setting. Puppies who are teething should be provided with suitable age-appropriate chew toys. I like to use a frozen wash rag for teething puppies as outlined here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/behavior-training/chewing/ The problem with the pup not being responsive to leave it, drop it or other cues in presence of the children is likely because the puppy is very, very young to learn these cues at a fluent level. Just consider that an average dog obedience class lasts 6 to 8 weeks, and with these classes, they aren't even taught at a fluent level because not around the many distractions of the real world (joggers running, cars, bicycles). A puppy of this age will therefore need lots of fun sessions initially with no children around and then gradually practicing with the children at a distance, initially acting calmly, then gradually adding distractions etc. For instance, you can train your pup to respond to the smacking sound initially in a quiet room with no children, https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/the-airplane-game/the-smacking-sound/ and then progress gradually to respond to it when watching the children play in the yard from a window, https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/university/look-at-that/ and then can progress with the pup on leash watching the children play in the yard from the deck at a distance, and then practicing on a long line (long leash like 10-15 feet). The desire to play at this age is very strong and children entice puppies to chase and play in the only way they know. Children can participate in training when the puppy is in a calmer state (preferable while leashed to an adult so he can be removed if starts to nip) by sitting down on the couch (on the floor is too overstimulating for pups) and one by one calmly asking for behaviors such as hand targeting, sits and downs. If the puppy struggles, it's sign that he's too over threshold to learn and needs more gradual, less overwhelming settings. So to recap, the fastest option right now is to use management when the puppy cannot be trained, and then dedicating every day time to training and focusing on brain games, initially away from the children, and then systematically creating low-level exposures over time, gradually progressing at the puppy's pace. Something that can further help management-wise if the biting is directed at children feet and legs primarily, is having the children wear thick jeans and tall Wellington boots which can allow them to "turn into a tree" and therefore stand still without feeling the sharp teeth. I know how frustrating this can be! When I was 6, my dad came home with a special gift: a black Lab puppy. I was ecstatic and the happiest child ever. Until when the pup started biting my legs and my mom grew concerned about me running around and squealing in pain with a mix between a crocodile and landshark firmly attached to my leg. She finally, out of desperation, decided to give the puppy away although I still missed the pup and cried. Fast forward a few weeks and my cousin gets a puppy too for her kids. The poodle puppy was biting and scratch their kids arms and legs up to the point of them crying. She also gave away the puppy assuming the pup was coming from bad breeders. With my mom and my cousin talking things over, we assumed that some pups must be just nuts and not family friendly. Until later on, as I grew up and moved out and decided to get my first dogs. I finally understood that biting is a normal part of puppyhood, --of course, no longer being a child made it easier. I sort of regret now though not haven had the amazing experience of growing up with a dog. You can read many threads here about biting puppies in families with children by searching the forums. Fortunately, most pups outgrow this phase when given gentle guidance. Any physical corrections (like tapping on the nose, alpha rolls, etc) tend to exacerbate the problem, often lead to more problems down the road. Puppy classes under the guidance of a good positive reinforcement trainer can help provide the puppy safe play opportunities with other pups (which can help drain some energy) while also working on hands-on obedience training and children are often welcomed to participate. I hope this helps, keep me posted on how things go! 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 Felicia, Nipping unfortunately is something that takes time to tackle, but the good news is that if we work diligently on preventing rehearsal and encouraging alternate behaviors that are fun and reinforcing, we should see a decrease in the biting and an increase in engagement in these alternate behaviors. Of course, not all cases are the same, and some pups may be more challenging to work on. With a pup who has been rehearsing nipping for a good six months, of course, it will take longer, than with a puppy who was trained much earlier. Puppies of herding breeds can be more challenging and so can pups with high levels of energy and in great need of lots of mental stimulation. From what I read, Cunucus are rare and very agile dogs as they were bred to hunt lizards/iguanas. With such agile dogs, we need to be very quick in redirecting so it's best to always be prepared (carry kibble/ treats in your pockets, a tug toy, ball or flirt pole with you, so that you can engage him before he has a chance for biting). You claim that the games, treats etc do not seem to be working. Is your dog refusing to engage in the games or training? Is he not eating the kibble or treats? A dog who is playing the games or responding to training is good as we are encouraging alternate behaviors to engage in. You should see an increase in choosing these games rather than nipping. Improvement starts at baby step levels. It starts with the dog choosing to hand target, play tug or go on a treasure hunt, play a bottle game rather than nipping. Over the course of time, steadily, you should see a growing desire to interact in these ways rather than biting. We measure improvement very gradually. How much was the nipping happening over the course of the day initially prior to the training? How much nipping is occurring since introducing the games, training and preventing rehearsal of the problem behavior as much as when we can? There should be a very gradual, but upward trend with the engagement in alternated activities slowly outranking the nipping episodes. If the dog went from nipping most of the time and now is nipping only in certain particular circumstances, that is progress and you want to embrace every little sign of it. I see that you are particularly struggling with the nipping in certain circumstances. Then, we need to carefully evaluate what is happening in these circumstances, and work on those systematically. Knowing when the behavior is likely to happen gives us power as we can predict it and take steps to prevent it from happening and offer something else to do that doesn't involve biting us. In other words, it gives us the opportunity to have a plan in place. If I were you, and the nipping happens first thing in the morning when you let him out of the crate, I would do the following and track over the course of several days how it goes. Firstly, I would be prepared. Since he is in the crate, you can keep by the furniture nearby all your "ammo" so that you are prepared. Have kibble/ treats in your treat bag or carry several balls or have a flirt pole ready, so that you can engage him before he has a chance for biting. Secondly, I would avoid patting him to say hello if that evokes the nipping. He is too excited in the morning to accept affection. Leave the affection for only when he is calm. You don't want him to rehearse this morning nipping behavior forever, you want to establish a new routine. *Please note: You may need to work on creative positive associations with touch if he tends to nip when touched even when calm. In the video I have provided Jimmy above it has a game known as touch and treat which aims to create a positive conditioned emotional response: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/conditioned-emotional-response-cer/ Thirdly, I would do any of the following and see what works best: -After you open the crate, start tossing his kibble in front of you as you walk, one kibble at a time, make it fun praising him as he eats the kibble. A dog busy eating kibble cannot bite because his mouth is busy. You can use a portion of his morning kibble so to put it to good use rather than just serving his whole meal in a bowl. You can do this every morning until you take him to the yard where he can drain some more energy until he settles. Many dogs are overly excited in the morning, but it often lasts just a few minutes. -After you open the crate, you can toss your dog one ball far from you which he should chase, once he gets that ball and he is coming back in your direction, toss another ball, far from you, once he gets that too, toss a third one. With him running after the balls and keeping his mouth occupied catching them, his mouth should be too busy to nip. -After you open the crate, wiggle the flirt pole in front of him and let him catch the toy at the end. Gently let him tug at it while you are walking out to the yard where he can go burn a bit more energy. use the flirt pole only for when you need help he most. If your dog sees it too often, it may lose it's appealing value. Notice how I haven't added any obedience exercises in these games. There is no asking for sits, hand targets or lie downs. This is because we may want to start really easy-peasy with your dog, in case he's struggling, as dogs who are too excited in the morning may be too over threshold to think well. You should aim though to train hand targets, sits and downs, when he is calm and then start gradually adding these gradually to distraction-based settings such as in the morning. This way, as your dog learns more impulse control, when you open the crate, you can ask your dog to sit before you toss the kibble, sit before you toss a ball, sit before you let him play with the flirt pole. By putting his mind in working mode (operantly), we can reduce his excitement. If someone coming into the kitchen is causing him to jump and start nipping, your pup needs to eat in a separate area until he is better under control or you should keep the dog tethered or on leash with you to prevent rehearsal of the jumping and nipping behavior. Then, when you have time for training, you can organize set-ups with guests but in very gradual systematic settings as explained in the first post. Children are often very overstimulating for young dog. How old is your daughter? Would you be able to erect a baby gate so that your daughter can leave without your dog running after her and nipping? This at least until he attains better impulse control and learns to engage in calmer behaviors such as going to lie on a mat when you ask him to. As mentioned, the more the nipping occurs the more habit forming it becomes. If your dog bites and jumps when you husband comes through the door, once again manage by keeping him on leash or behind a baby gate until he calms down a bit when you can't train. On days your husband has time, you can then practice something similar to the exercise below. The goal is to make it clear that jumping/nipping makes the person leave, while calmer behavior makes the person enter and even toss a kibble /treat or two (keep them handy by the entrance of you can be the one tossing it when your dog behaves) to reinforce those calmer behaviors. Please note: I am acting exciting in the video below. I would suggest your husband ignore your dog as he enters (no talk, no touch, no eye contact) to help your dog succeed. When your dog jumps or nips, you hubby turns around, and even leaves if the behavior persists. Rinse and repeat until you can obtain calmer greetings. As time goes by, you should be saying calmer greetings and your dog will look forward to his treat/kibble tossed when he comes home. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/case-studies/02-maggie-practice-greetings/ I hope this helps! Keep me posted on how things go. Best, Adrienne Disclaimer: If your puppy or dog shows signs of potential aggression (lunging, barking, growling, snapping, biting) for safety, please consult with a dog behavior professional (DACVB, CAAB or dog trainer specializing in aggression) 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 Jimmy, thanks for the video and welcome to the forums! It is great that your pup has great bite inhibition, I see him mouthing quite gently which is very nice. I think what's needed here is some tweaking by offering activities that make biting your hands, arms and legs less appealing because the activities you are offering are far more rewarding to engage in. With puppies like this, I like to carry around toys and kibble/treats so that I can use them at moment's notice. I would therefore carry a tug toy in one of my pant's pockets (I love pants with lot of pockets!), some balls in my other pockets, and possibly, even a flirt pole (I carry it laying around my shoulders or like a purse over my shoulder so I can use it when needed) and let the pup vent with these rather than rehearsing the nipping of human body parts. I would also keep kibble/treats in one of my pockets or treat bag. If the biting mostly occurs in some specific contexts, like when out in the yard, or when the pup is frustrated about something, you have the advantage of predictability. When we can predict when a behavior is about to happen, we are in power as we can control the situation by being prepared and changing the outcome by offering alternate activities. I would therefore ask for some sits and downs and mix in even some hand targets, and reinforce those by tossing a treat/kibble at a distance from me before the puppy has the chance of even thinking about biting. Tossing the treat, versus hand feeding gives me time to "reset the dog' so to say, gaining some distance and precious seconds, so when the pups returns to me, I can quickly offer some activity or keep asking for some behaviors before the dog thinks about going into "bitey mode. " It also provides pups with a work-out as they keep running back and forth. When I am done, I would end things by asking one last behavior and then may toss several kibble in the yard "treasure hunt" style to give the pup time to do something while I leave the area or I would have the pup latch on the flirt pole toy and gently tug the pup back inside the home. If I were to be caught off-guard, like say I had no kibble or toys to use to preempt/redirect the behavior, I would try to turn into a lamppost. In other words, I would cross my arms and stand as stand stationary as possible totally ignoring him. This is difficult to do with pups who have a poor bite inhibition, but if your dog is overall gentle, you can try this approach when caught off guard. Most dogs lose interest after a few attempts of biting. As I watch the video, I see how his behavior escalates the more you move around and say no bite. Around second 14-18 as you are dangling your hand low, he seems to calm down for a bit. I emphasize though the importance of preempting the behavior from occurring in the first place. Once again, by providing alternate activities. Initially, it could be just tossing kibble the moment the dog approaches if the dog is too over threshold to listen. After ward though we can incorporate some training with sits, downs, hand targets. We just don't want to have a behavior pattern to establish and become ingrained (when I can't do something, I will start biting) as rehearsal of behavior causes it to put roots. By providing an alternate activity instead, we can get "when I can't do something, my owners offers me to do something else and I get reinforced for that too! Win-win!" Your puppy did a very nice down at the end, too bad there was nothing to reinforce that like giving a kibble/treat or access to toy. The science of positive reinforcement tells us that behaviors that are reinforced tend to strengthen and repeat. I am a big fan of using a dog's kibble for training if the dog likes it and when training in low-distraction areas. With just a portion of the dog's daily meal, you have loads of desired behaviors to reinforce. I would not recommend nose bops or anything physical as that can trigger defensive biting. Hand targets are fine, but they need to be reinforced to make them more likely to happen and become a preferred activity over the nipping. Here's the guide for hand targeting: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/preschool/targeting/ Finally, 'leave its' need also some type of reinforcement to keep the response strong. Reinforcement can include kibble, treats, play with a toy, tossing a ball the opposite side when the dog stops digging and listens to "leave it", encouraging the dog to dig an another area (I use my feet to dig in the area and most dogs will rush and start digging to join in the fun). Keeping the response strong through reinforcement is important as we want to build a strong foundation that will pay us back that day the dog is about to do something potentially harmful or get ahold of something potentially toxic. Of course, all the tips above apply as well, such as providing outlets for the need for exercise and mental stimulation, training better impulse control ad frustration tolerance, https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/impulse-control-frustration-tolerance/, encouraging calm behaviors and reinforcing them. I am providing a link of a video I just uploaded. I made it a while back for my GSD clients, it talks about German shepherds pups who nip and how to encourage different forms of interaction and making them fun and reinforcing so that the pup chooses to engage in these more and more, eventually outranking the nipping. Before doing this training, this pup nipped on almost all occasions. Nipping was his default behavior to use when around anyone. He didn't like to be touched and the owner told me that her vet told her to alpha roll this pup when he nipped, but this only made matters worse as this pup went from playful nipping to wanting no hands near him due to negative associations. Fortunately, we were on time to work on this and make a change for the best. I hope this helps! Keep me posted. Happy training!

Hi there! This is a great question. Training to walk on a loose leash is something that will take some time to master. Dogs weren't born to walk at our pace, nor where they born to walk on a leash. They also weren't born to walk in a straight line. Dogs are also cursorial animals (built for speed) and they walk on their toes (digitigrades) while su humans walk on our soles making us walk at a much slower pace. On top of this, dogs are macrosmatic mammals which means that they have a greater reliance on their sense of smell while us humans are instead classified as microsomatic (with little reliance on smell) and they aren't born with good impulse control, which is mostly an acquired quality that becomes easier and easier to master as we train them and they mature. With this in mind, training them to walk on a loose leash requires time, consistency and patience. Here are a few thoughts and ideas for your situation. I am basing these answers assuming your dog is an adult (generally over the age of 8-9 months in smaller breeds). If she's still a puppy, consider that she will have shorter attention spans and therefore will require very brief and fun sessions for now, gradually building up as she matures. -Start Training at Home Without a Leash Start training at home in areas without distractions, even without the leash. Pretend you are carrying one and reward your dog every time she walks next to you and deliver the treat next to you, in the" reward zone "right behind you knee. Then practice the same in the garden. You may need to increase the value of the treats when in the yard as you will be competing against stronger distractions (smells, sights, sounds). Then, put the leash on and do the same in your driveway. Practice this a lot and then start going on short walks in quiet areas around your home. -Stick to Your Neighborhood It is often a big challenge for a young, energetic dog to resist all the temptations that come with the great outdoors. In your initial outings, it helps to set the bar low and just stick to short boring walks the first few times. Based on how well your dog does, start slowly expanding your walks. The longer your dog walks on a loose leash, the longer the walk. -Provide a Consequence for Pulling As you practice, you may notice at some point your dog reverting to his pulling behavior. This is normal. When dogs have been rehearsing pulling behaviors for some time, it becomes strongly ingrained and habit-forming. Dogs just walk that way because it's natural for them or they haven't learned another way. It's important to provide a consequence for pulling. No, this doesn't mean jerking the leash, or getting angry with the dog. These methods risk exacerbating problems and can ultimately back fire. Instead, the consequence will be not reinforcing the pulling with any forward movement. So you can mark the pulling by saying something like "oops!" stop in your tracks and stand still and entice your dog back into heel position rewarding that with a treat, or you can try walking backwards a few steps (careful not to trip!) or even making an abrupt turn in the opposite direction and praise/reward when the leash is slack again. I'll be honest here: your first walks may seem like they take forever and you might only walk a 10 foot strip in front of your house, however, you will still be getting your dog exercise because you can always walk almost the same amount of time in your driveway and reward her for staying by your side. Remember: The more you practice, the more your dog should learn that a loose leash is your accelerator and a tense leash is your break. So try your best to use every single walk as a training opportunity to teach good loose leash skills. Following are some tips on how to pave the path for polite leash walking. Exercise your dog's body and mind. If you exercise your dog's body and mind prior to going on walks, chances are, she'll have less pent-up energy which can make for some more relaxed walks. So make sure to play with your dog, provide brain games, do some training and offer food puzzles. Swap training gear. For instance, when working on loose leash training you can attach a leash to the front of the harness, and for pleasure walks, you can attach a long line to the back ring. It will be more difficult for a dog to pull when being on a 10 to 20 foot line as you'll just stop and call your dog back only once at the end of it. Dedicate parts of the walk for the dog's pleasure. Snap on the long line so that at some point of the walk your dog gets to sniff, romp around and explore. This helps meet a dog's natural needs for engaging in species specific behaviors while also allowing the dog to burn some energy. Sniffing is a very rewarding activity and it can be very tiring too! Use a long line also for new places. Many dogs will pull to explore when they are taken to new places or places your dog doesn't frequent too often. Allowing your dog to explore on a long line for some time should calm him down and then you can work with your regular leash. The long line can be used as well for when you have to walk your dog and have little time to train. Since it's longer, the dog doesn't get to pull as much as when on the leash. Use a front-attaching harness. Chihuahuas are small dogs and have very delicate necks. Harnesses may work best for them. A front-attachment harnesses (harness with a leash that attaches to a front ring) can turn helpful considering that,when the dog pulls, the dog will pivot around, but this time towards you. This gives you the advantage of reinforcing the dog with food. Use high-value treats. Help your dog make good choices by offering high-value treats that your dog drools buckets for. Walk fast with your dog. If you have the chance, you can try walking at a brisk pace (your dog's normal pace) with your dog in the initial part of the walk so that your dog gets to burn some energy without pulling. With a small dog likes yours it shouldn't take long to burn some energy. Then practice loose-leash walking at the end of the walk when your dog is calmer. Vary your speed and motions. As your dog does better, introduce some variety to walks. Walk slow, then fast, take a right turn, then a left turn, then go in an out around trees, circle them, do figure eights, about turns. This will keep your dog guessing and keep her attentive to your movement. Work on the emotions. If your dog pulls because she's fearful, stressed or overly anxious, she may need more behavior modification than training. With the help of a professional, expose very gradually in baby steps (desensitization) and create positive associations with triggers (counterconditioning). Here is a thread with more tips/ideas: I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any other questions! Keep me posted and happy training! Best, Adrienne

You are very welcome, keep me posted on your pup's progress! Happy training! Best, Adrienne

That's wonderful news! Glad to hear that you're opening your heart and home to this new pup!

Hello Theresa and welcome to the forums! It sounds like you are doing a great job with Mirgan; kudos to you for training him exceptionally well! And thank you for rescuing! So let's do a little troubleshooting of what may be going on here and see what can be done to prevent him from perceiving the recall as a game and acting reluctant to come home. In cases like this, there can be several phenomena going on. Let's take a look at several to cover several basis. -Finding the outdoor very reinforcing. "Time flies when you are having fun," goes the saying. It sounds like Mirgan is finding outdoor stimuli and situations very reinforcing. Whether sniffing around, chasing furry critters, eating rabbit poop or digging holes leading to China, just bein outdoors keeps him busy and happy. Just the mere perk of being able to stretch the legs and release some pent-up energy makes the outdoors super rewarding. All these stimuli and situations draw our dogs like magnets competing against us. When we call our outdoorsy dogs when the are having so much fun, they start associating their recall with the fun coming to an abrupt end. Recall after recall, your dog therefore comes to dread being called and when you move in his direction, he may even play hard to catch because he simply doesn't want to leave to go back home. -A Matter of Negative Associations. With rescues, we don't know what may have happened to them before. Perhaps he was called by the previous owner to give him a bath, trim his nails, or close him in a crate before leaving for work. Therefore, Mirgan, may he have learned to associate being called with these negative happenings. Or if you have called him in the past to bring him home, and for some reason he's not too eager about that, there are chances his recall has been "poisoned." Poisoned cues occur quite often and the recall is one of the most commonly affected. Once a dog has associated being called with something unpleasant happening right afterward, they'll eventually stop coming when called and will even attempt to run away if you try to get him. -Playing a Game of "Keep Away" The "keep away game" is a favorite game among dogs. Indeed, the keep-away game among dogs is a game that comes naturally to them with zero learning required. You'll therefore see puppies and dogs play it with their owners and other dogs. Requirements involve an owner willing to run a bit (or at least willing to try to) and a dog loving to be chased. Perhaps the previous owner used to chase him to grab him by the collar. Dogs love this game of "Come and get me, catch me if you can!" -Sensing some frustration. One major cause of dogs being reluctant to come when called is because they are sensing our growing frustration. As sensitive beings dogs can readily interpret our body language, movements and tones of voice, even when we try to keep cool. When dogs sense us getting angry or frustrated, they are often intimidated by us and this only pours fuel to the fire. No dog likes to come to us when we are in this type of negative mood because it makes them think they are in trouble. -Falling into the "Treat Trap" It is often tempting to reach out for food or toys to lure a dog in hopes of getting him come close enough for us to clip on the leash or reach for their collar. However, with time, this method often backfires. Soon, the dog starts associated the treat with being reached for and taken away from all the fun. While the treat may initially work as a bribe, sort of like a promise that says "come close and you'll get this in exchange" soon the dog realizes it is a trap. The treat therefore no longer works to draw the dog near as he understood the trap. So with several possibilities covered, let's looks for some solutions to ameliorate this situation. -Provide enough exercise and mental stimulation. Many dogs run off when called because they need for exercising their bodies and minds. Ensure your dog receive a sufficient daily dose of exercise (walks, swims, hikes, play, canine sports) and mental stimulation (training, brain games, sniffing and foraging opportunities). Fun indoor activities will help increase the bond between dog and owner and create positive associations with being inside. -Never call your dog for unpleasant things. Avoid using your recall to scold your dog or to do anything that your dog perceives as unpleasant. Also, don't use treats to lure your dog to come to you to avoid falling into the treat trap. If you need to get your dog for anything unpleasant, spare your recall from becoming a poisoned cue. Your recall needs to be perceived as music to your dog's ears. -Rename it and refresh it. If your recall has already been poisoned, rename it and refresh it with some positive training sessions. For instance, if a dog has learned that ''come!'' often means ''time for bath time,'' you are better off teaching a whole new cue such as ''over here!'' said in a happy tone of voice and followed by some tasty treats. And of course, aim to make bath time more fun though desensitization and counterconditioning. -"Proof" your dog's training gradually. This needs to be done before granting off-leash freedom. In other words, work diligently and systematically on training a strong response to a recall starting in areas with little distractions and gradually exposing to more and more distractions. Start training your dog to come when called indoors in a quiet room, then progress to a room with more distractions, that move to your yard, then off leash in a fenced area or with your dog on a long line. Gradually introduce increasing levels of distance and distractions. Only once you have attained a reliably response (with your dog coming when called at least 80 percent of the time) can you then try off leash in a safe area around mild distractions. Remember: off-leash freedom is a "privilege" that a dog must earn through repeated successes. -Reward to impress. You want to leave a strong impression on your dog when he comes to you when called. Make sure to be generous. I like to praise lavishly and feed 5-8 pieces of small treats in a row, making the dog feel as if he struck the lottery. -Acclimatize your dog to collar grabs. This will teach your dog to not fear being grabbed by the collar. Touch the collar and give a treat, then grab the collar with your whole hand around it and give a treat, then grab the collar and let your dog walk one step and give a treat, and then practice grabbing the collar and letting your pup walk a few steps towards his food bowl a helper has placed on the floor. Let go and have him enjoy his meal. Do these exercises often enough to obtain what's known as a conditioned emotional response. More on this here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/conditioned-emotional-response-cer/ Afterward, start practicing recalls and grab the collar before feeding him several treats. This will help change your dog's emotional response towards having his collar touch and can help prevent further instances of playing hard to catch when you're reaching for the collar. -Reward voluntary check-ins. This is a great bonding exercise that will provide a foundation of trust and establish a reinforcement history with you. Walk around a fenced yard and carry treats in your pocket or treat bag. Deliver a tasty treat to your dog every time he comes close and "checks-in" with you. With time, you'll see him paying more and more attention to you despite the all the stimulus package of the great outdoors. -Put going inside on cue and make it a fun, happy event. When you are out with your dog, randomly say something like "let's go inside!" in a happy, enthusiastic tone of voice and then let a rainfall of treats fall to the ground as you close the door. Of course, also work on making being indoors extra rewarding by organizing fun brain games like organizing treasure hunts, bottle games, muffin games etc. Also, make sure that your dog isn't too hot indoors as some breeds with heavy coats tend to get very hot. This alone can make some dogs dread being indoors. -Make mental notes of failures. If your dog fails to come when called, make a mental note of exactly what may have happened. Perhaps your dog was exposed to something that was too distracting or perhaps something had a bit worried. Next time, you may want to create a set-up, where you systematically expose your dog to lower levels of these distractions to find again his responsiveness zone and restart from there. -Preempt potential problems. When in doubt, leave it out. In other words, avoid keeping your dog off leash and calling him when you aren't sure if he'll come. Every time you call your dog and it goes to deaf ears, imagine it as if you were emptying a piggy bank in which you have diligently placed coins over time. Every time he comes to you instead you are filling it up and even getting a nice return on your investment. -Take off in an emergency. Finally, a little tip if you ever find yourself in an emergency situation where you need your dog to stop running away and come towards you. Try to make silly noises, move your body away and run the opposite way. Most dogs find chasing us irresistibile and this may prevent them from running off. I hope this helps! I am sure you are already aware of several of these phenomena and tips, but it's always good to cover all basis and they may always help other readers who may be struggling with the same problem. Training a dog to be off leash and come when called is advanced training. It's something that comes after loads of practice and it's a privilege that dogs have earned over time after showing a history of showing signs of reliability. Both my Rotties took time to master off leash skills and we had to proof in a variety of environments. It got better and better as they matured, so remember that your dog is 2 and he is in that butt-headed stubborn adolescent stage and we don't know much about his history, so you are likely dealing with a strong rehearsal history of not coming when called or never having learned a recall before! So baby steps and lots of fun training and proofing! Happy training!

Hello, I am glad to hear that several of the methods posted have been working for you. I would suggest continuing with the ones that work best. I am looking at the video and see a pup who is looking for interaction/engagement. I don't see aggressive behavior in this clip. Here's the thing. Teaching a young puppy not to bite, takes time. I know, the puppy biting stage seems to last forever, those puppy teeth are so sharp and sometimes it can be difficult to teach these pups other ways to interact with us that doesn't involve biting. Fortunately, with time, most puppies grow bored of this way of interacting unless we encourage rough play or allow them to perpetually keep on biting us without providing alternate activities. In order to better understand why puppies seem to keep coming back to us for biting rather than chewing on their chew toys, it helps to take a look back into their life in the litter. At 8-12 weeks of age, most pups leave their litter mates and their past time when in the litter entailed for a good part roughly biting and chewing on each others' ears, legs and tails. A good amount of their day was spent this way, so once welcomed inside our homes, they'll want to play with us and interact with us the same way. With no more litter mates to play with, these young pups are eager to play with us and they'll do so by engaging in the only way they are most familiar with: nipping! And this means they'll be nipping our feet, legs, arms, fingers, pants, skirts, hair, ties, hoodie strings and even shoe laces! Fortunately, by the time the puppies are ready to go to their new homes around 8 weeks, most have learned to play a little more gentle. This is because when they played too rough, their playmates squealed (as if saying "ouch!") and withdrew from play. Play session after play session, bitey pups learned to bite with less and less pressure. However, us humans have really sensitive skin compared to their litter mates so these pups need to learn to interact with us at a whole new level and this takes some time. While it's true that puppies are attracted to toys, once the novelty effect is over, they'll get pretty boring. If your puppy sees the same toys each day laying around, after some time they become quite irrelevant. Rotating them is a good idea, but if your puppy keeps going back to you after maybe playing with them a bit, it's a sign that the chosen toys may not be entertaining him enough, he has excess energy to disperse, is overstimulated, and he may need more mental stimulation. One of the biggest reason why puppies ignore their toys and choose to bite us owners is the fact that toys are rather static and lack the level of interaction they crave. In other words, what stimulates dogs the most is movement. The average dog chew toy is pretty much static when it's laying on the ground and even if your pup carries it around, it's not likely to move around as much as people do when those sharp teeth make contact with your skin. Us humans therefore rank as the best thing around to play with, at least the closest to his former playmates he has left behind and misses playing with. From your video, I see that he is repeatedly looking for engagement while you are sitting on the couch. The arm withdrawal stimulates him to nip more because he perceives it as a fun game. Sort of like cats who will chase a string that moves. Pointing to get a dog off, will only make them have more fun in biting as they are after movement. Wrapping the arms away, so that we no longer extend them may work with some pups, but it's difficult to stay still with a puppy nipping with sharp teeth. On top of this, pups may get frustrated and try to nip more or do other things just to get a reaction from us or as an extinction burst. It is interesting to see his reaction when you said "ouch". That seemed to stop him, but I can't see if the "ouch" is what stopped him or if there was something redirecting him as I see him turning around and trying to mouth something else. update: now I see that it was your husband's hand and he was trying to mouth it. Some pups may learn to react to our "ouch" and nip more softly (as they did with their littermates),' but in many others it overstimulates them more and makes them more nippy. We sort of become like a fun toy that on top of that squeaks. So the reaction can vary on an individual basis. Afterward, it looks like he stops nipping you, and he goes for your husband, trying to hump his leg and biting. This can be just overstimulation/ frustration or just continuation of the play. It's almost as if he enjoys an orchestrated game of "I nip mom and then dad interacts with me and now it's time to interact with him." Telling "off, no bite, stop" is mostly perceived by pups just as random words that accompany the play and therefore become just an insignificant part of the play repertoire. I like the praise he gets when he stops biting. However, praise will only work for a bit at this age because the drive to play and seek engagement is very, very strong. Also puppies find it frustrating when we are sitting on the couch because they are bored and want something to do (think toddlers who whine and get cranky when we are on the phone or watching a movie and they don't have much to do). In any case, I would just suggest preventing rehearsal of this behavior as much as possible and continuing offering alternate activities. Take baby steps. If the lick mat, brain game, prized treats, have worked even if for a very short period of time I take that as a small success that is paving the path to more and more. When we get a little improvement like that, it opens up the chance for more. I would suggest protecting this improvement. So one can try providing him this alternate activity (lick mat. brain game, bottle game etc) when hubby comes homes and then once he's done calling it a day and removing him before he has the chance to practice the undesirable behavior. I can see the use of a flirt pole for dogs (Google it) helpful to engage him and use the flirt pole to gently tug him away to an area to chill down (play pen, exercise pen, tether) where he is provided with some type of calm activity. A flirt pole can work greatly in redirecting because it provides movement. With nippy pups I keep always handy by carrying it with me looped around my waist or just wearing it like a purse over my shoulder to use at a moment's notice to redirect the biting, preferably intervening before the puppy even starts to bite. Or if this happens mostly when hubby comes homes, you can change the routine and spend time in the yard organizing a treasure hunt, take him on a walk or maybe organize a fun play date with another pup who was vaccinated that can provide him some of the play he is craving. We want to create a new highly rewarding and fun routine to replace the one of "biting mom when on the couch and then involving dad in the game" or if it's a frustration/overstimulation driven behavior, we want to provide an alternate outlet. We also want to start implementing training because we want to build up better impulse control and frustration tolerance as he's getting closer to doggy adolescence. Finally, I want to share a little background history from my early childhood. When I was 6, my dad came home with a special gift: a black Lab puppy. I was ecstatic and the happiest child ever. Until when the pup started biting my legs and my mom grew concerned about me running around and squealing in pain with a mix between a crocodile and landshark firmly attached to my leg. She finally, out of desperation, decided to give the puppy away although I missed the pup and cried. Fast forward a few weeks and my cousin gets a puppy too for her kids. The poodle puppy was biting and scratch their kids arms and legs up to the point of them crying. She also gave away the puppy assuming the pup was coming from bad breeders. With my mom and my cousin talking things over, we assumed that some pups must be just nuts and not family friendly. Until later on, as I grew up and moved out and decided to get my first dogs. I finally understood that biting is a normal part of puppyhood, of course, no longer being a child made it easier. You can read many threads here about biting puppies in families with children by searching the forums. Of course, there are puppies who do actually engage in aggressive behaviors, but these are more an exception rather than the norm. We see this with pups who resource guard things mostly, or pups who start biting defensively because they were physically corrected, or developed some fear. Every pup is different, and therefore no blank statements can be made. If you have seen aggressive behaviors, its important to work along with a behavior professional using force-free behavior modification. More threads on nippy puppies and children: Of course, close supervision is always a must considering that a 4-month old puppy with little bite inhibition can cause bruises, scratches and wounds to a child's delicate skin. Any sign of overstimulation that may turn into boisterous jumping, nipping and scratching should be promptly redirected. Also, an extra level of protection is offered if you can spend some time training the pup better bite inhibition, here are some games: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/bite-inhibition-games/. I hope this helps! Best, Adrienne Disclaimer: behavior modification comes with risks. If your puppy or 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.

Hello and welcome to the forums, In regards, to your pup's interaction with your 2 month old cavalier, can you provide more details on what is happening? Is he playing roughly? How is the 2 month old puppy reacting? Are there signs of fear? Is the younger puppy trying to hide? If there are any concerns over safety or the 2-month-old puppy seems scared, please keep them separated until you can train your lab to be better under control. I will provide in the meanwhile some general tips in regards to the behavior around the kitten. With a young pup and a so young kitten it's important to make safety your top priority. Here are some tips: -Make Your Kitten's Safety Top Priority Dogs can injure or kill a cat very quickly even if just out of play. All it takes is to shake the cat by the neck once picked up just as they would do with a toy. On top of this, a dog can also be injured by cats. Cats may aim for the eyes and cause corneal injuries and even loss of vision. To keep your kitten safe, you can install a sturdy and tall baby gate that keeps your cat and dog separated. This way they both have their own areas when you cannot actively supervise. Make sure your cat cannot jump over it walk through it. There are pet fences and baby gates made specifically to separated cats and dogs. -Prevent Rehearsal of the Behavior Dogs are very habitual creatures, and therefore, the more they rehearse a problem behavior, the more this behavior puts roots and becomes established over time, making it more and more difficult to extinguish. It's therefore very important to prevent your dog from getting into the habit of chasing and picking up your kitten. This falls under management strategies. -Train Your Pup to Be Responsive It goes without saying, the importance of responsiveness. If your dog is predisposed to chasing and picking up your cat, you need a reliable response to your verbal cues. Train your pup to respond immediately to a smacking sound with your mouth. This can be a bit easier to train than leave it as many dogs respond more quickly to sounds: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/the-airplane-game/the-smacking-sound/ Train him the leave it command: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/take-leave-it/ Train the drop it command as an emergency (if he ever picks up your kitten): https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/drop-it/ Train your pup a strong, reliable recall:https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/recall/ Train your pup to lie on his mat: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/video-archive/train-dog-go-to-mat/ This training needs to start in low distractions areas (away from other pets), and then distractions need to be gradually added before trying to use them in the presence of pets. This is the biggest challenge we often face, our dogs responds well in calm settings but not when around strong distractions such as pets. Start with your puppy on leash with the kitten at a distance. Then practice on a longer leash. It's important to make it clear to your puppy that the kitten is delicate and he needs to be gentle. Always supervise and redirect quickly if he starts getting rough using your smacking sound. Most puppies will prefer to play with a kitten or other puppy compared to toy as most toys (unless stuffed with food like a Kong Wobbler or stuffed Kong) are static, motionless and rather boring in comparison.

Oh my, I just read your first post and was hoping to read some good news in your next post, only to find out he passed! It broke my heart reading this and can't imagine how you must feel between losing him and the hospital downplaying things and then even sending you away! I am sorry for your loss of sweet Momo.😭 In my neck of the woods, in a town that is not that big to have a veterinary emergency clinic but not that small to not have any, we have dealt with too many potentially unnecessary losses. After hours and on weekends there is no emergency vet. Zero. Closest emergency vet is over one hour away. So many dogs and cats have died on their way. We have complained a lot, but all the 3 veterinary clinics we have tell us is that they cannot afford overnight staff as it's too costly. They would need to hire security, there is not enough need and they can't hire overnight staff. If somebody's dog or cat is sick after hours, they would therefore provide first aid and then send them over to the emergency vet over an hour away as they have zero staff at night. I still feel this is unjust and unacceptable. I haven't had the chance to talk about it yet, but we lost our last Rottweiler recently so we are for the first time officially dog-less. Hubby and I are taking a little break from dog ownership and have kept busy fostering and training dogs in need of homes. We feel this helps us with the grieving process and feel it's a good way to honor our dogs'. It's very tough losing them. I feel the need of getting another batch of dogs soon, but hubby still wants some time. Time will hopefully heal. Again, so sorry for your loss. It's so heart breaking to lose them. RIP sweet Momo.

Hello and welcome to the forums! Often, when dogs aren't listening there is something going on that interferes with their ability to learn. Here are just a few problems that may occur when training a dog to stay: -Too many noises/ distractions -Asking for a too long stay -Asking for a stay from too much distance -Getting frustrated (dogs can feel our emotions and may want to leave the area) -The dog needs to drink or go potty and therefore is unable to focus -Too long training sessions (aim to make the training brief and fun) -Dog feels confused/not sure what is being asked -Dog is unable to maintain a position due to pain -Keeping the treats in plain view which attract the dog For this latter, keep your treats in your pocket or treat bag. If he's too distracted by treats, use your dog's kibble. Leave the treats for when you are training in higher distraction areas like outside. This read may also turn helpful for further troubleshooting: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/dog-listens-treats/ Keep me posted!

Glad to hear that capturing worked! You must have been very patient and diligent as it can feel initially like watching paint dry! About his behavior when you ask him to sit, this is interesting. If you have most of the time asked him to sit and he was always at a distance and on the side and you rewarded that, it could be thinks that stepping away and turning sideways is part of the exercise. Other thing that comes to mind is that he's still a bit shy and his sideways movement is sort a calming signal. Conformation issues or medical issues aside, in these cases, it's mostly a matter of perfecting the sit, by getting a bit picky and rewarding with tasty treats only the sits that happen faster, straighter and that are closer to the type of sit we want and only verbally praising the ones that are not as great. With this approach, we should see an increase in the better sits. Keep me posted.