Adrienne Farricelli

I'm puzzled by this sudden aggression. However, I believe it is one of two possible reasons, although it is hard to know for sure. First, he has been going to a dog park and has encountered dogs that play very rough. Unfortunately, I was not present to intervene and recall him on those occasions, so I'm wondering if he might be learning inappropriate behavior. The other possibility is that he was nipped at doggie daycare a week or so before the first incident of him showing aggression, so the timing leads me to believe it could be the cause. However, the staff does not know whether he instigated it or not. Still, I wonder if he may have been attacked and is now reactive to similar situations. I appreciate you cannot offer advice without observing him. Still, I was hoping to get your thoughts on the situation. Both your suspicions are very valid. Dog parks provide less structure than daycare and it is certainly possible for dogs to learn certain behaviors from other dogs, so he may have "picked up" some rougher play elements that may have "upset" other dogs in daycare. However, your other suspicion sounds even more convincing, considering how dogs may adopt an "the best defense is a good offense" attitude after being nipped, especially if the nip was carried out in a threatening manner (versus just being triggered accidentally by some rough play). Too bad that we are missing some important elements about what happened exactly to cause this dog to nip your dog in the first place. However, it is very possible that after this incident, he may be reacting defensively to protect himself from another nip. For instance, in the case of your golden attacking the dog that growled at him while a staff owner was petting this dog, he may have reacted upon hearing him growl in fear or getting another bite. If your golden was therefore nipped by the other dog in a threatening manner, consider that being attacked by another dog is an aversive experience that may lead to short-term and long-term consequences. Just seconds after the "attack," the affected dog may be shaky and jumpy as the adrenaline will be pumping. As the dog recuperates from this acute onset, there may be the onset of a negative conditioned emotional response associated with the place where the incident occurred and/or the presence of other dogs. There are ample stories of even service dogs who have proven their worth in being "bomb-proof dogs" over the years suffering the consequences of an encounter gone wrong and emotionally paying the price. It's as if an imaginary switch flips inside their head. Science calls it "single event learning." Undoing the damage is often quite a bumpy road. In this service dog story, a 30-second attack turned into two years of rehabilitation. A negative experience may therefore have an impact on how the dog reacts in the presence of other dogs. A history of an injury is not necessary for such aversive conditioning to take place. I have seen reactions range from avoidance behaviors (the dog no longer wants to play or interact with other dogs or does so very tentatively) to defensive behaviors (again, the dog feels threatened and uses the "offense is the best defense" strategy to maintain distance). There are then also several dogs sort of in between, where you really don't notice many problems readily, but at some point in the dog's future history of playing or interacting with other dogs, a new issue pops up out of nowhere (e.g., the dog starts growling during an interaction) in a dog who never exhibited this type of issues before. And should I pull him out of daycare for the time being? Staff are concerned but have not yet "banned" him and they have noted he is still welcome. However, considering this has occurred two weeks in a row, I'm concerned it will continue. Eventually, he or another dog will be hurt. Thank you for any insights you can provide. This is a good question. Firstly we may want to have a vet visit done just to ensure nothing medically is going on. What happened in the fight with the Rottweiler? Did he bite after he was pinned down? I see he ran away, but don't know what happened prior to that exactly, and if he did manage to bite too. How is your golden's over all bite inhibition? Has he left any marks on the dogs? Are there any dog trainers on staff at this daycare? Is this the daycare he has been going to since being a young puppy? Have they made any suggestions on what they can do to prevent future incidents? Like not petting other dogs in presence of other dogs? Do they by any chance happen to record play sessions so that videos of incidents like this can be watched afterward? Your concerns are very valid, as we don't want anymore fights to occur. Based on the info provided, it seems like the chances for repeated incidents are quite high so I would consider at least taking a break for now.

Hi there, I hope your goldens' TV training is progressing nicely! Please see my observations/tips/ideas in non-bold. My 20-month-old Golden Retriever has started fighting other dogs at doggie daycare. He is neutered and has been going to doggie daycare since he was about four months old. He has been well socialized since he was a puppy and, up until a few weeks ago, was known as the dog that got along with every dog, whether young, old, big, small, male, or female. Until recently, and only at doggie daycare, he has been the quintessential Golden Retriever - friendly towards all. A few weeks ago, the first incident was when he attacked a dog that growled at him while a staff owner was petting this dog (he wanted pets too). Then, last week, he attacked one of his best friends who he has played with for months without any issues. His friend (a Rottweiler), did pin him without doing any damage and he ran away frightened. Both altercations were observed and promptly addressed by staff who intervened, and he was separated and put into a timeout. It's always very upsetting when things like this happen, especially since your dog has a long track record of being super social, and I understand how shocking it may feel when dogs act this way out of the blue.

Sure thing! Keep us posted!

Hi there, I replied to you in the other thread under which you posted, but will copy and paste my reply here in case you missed it. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hi there, welcome to the forums! Please see my observations in non-bold under your statements. I have a mini bull terrier Barry who is almost 2 years old. We did puppy school, a lot of socialising, also with kids. He is crate trained, well behaving, mischievous and stubborn but overall super happy dog. That's great that you have given Barry such a great start! He sounds like a wonderful companion, and although this breed is known for having an independent streak and a rather 'strong personality" it sounds like he's very well behaved overall. I am a bit suspicious that he sometimes felt our stress and he was then also stressed. Basic daily routine home office job stress. Not sure if relevant. It could likely be. Bull terriers are very "people-centric" dogs and very devoted. Many dogs sense their owners' stress and react accordingly. He was submissive, and great with other dogs, once he had a little fight with bedlington terrier who was very dominant (fight over female dog partially involved). Even after that he had his dog friends in the park and behaved normally, but sometimes he was a bit aggressive to some random dogs, only male. While bull terriers, may not be major troublemakers, if they notice a certain dog approaching with an "attitude" they may take that as a challenge and a fight may ensue. Some bull terrier may also struggle tolerating dog of the same sex and some won't even tolerate the opposite sex. In general, as pups most dogs do OK with other dogs, but once they reach the adolescent stage and social maturity dog-to dog interactions may start deteriorating. More about this is discussed here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/survive-dogs-adolescent-stage/ After discussion with vet we decided that we will neuter him (that was not the main reason, we wanted him also to be more chilled, and eventually want to take him to Australia where it is a rule). In general, neutering results in loss of many male characteristics that are hormonally-induced such as marking with urine, roaming, attraction to females and fighting with other males over mates. More specifically, research by Hart and Eckstein revealed that urine marking, mounting and fighting with other dogs were significantly reduced or eliminated after neutering in 50 to 60 percent of the dogs. Research by Maarschalkerweerd, Endenberg et al. also found a 60 percent reduction in sexual behavior, inter-male aggression, roaming and marking in neutered dogs. About two weeks after being neutered, a dog's levels of testosterone are expected to have reduced in half. Afterward, there should be a gradual decline and over the course of six weeks leading to a reduction in hormone-related male behaviors. Temperament-wise, owners of neutered dogs reported that 50 percent of the dogs who were neutered were calmer compared to when they were intact. We neutered him in March 2022 and we left him in April with our parents for 3 weeks (we did that a lot of times for a few days, max week and he was always coming home as an angel, like from spa - parents did a good job, even spoiling him a bit). Since we came back, he is stressed a lot, he is checking his tail (stress sign from childhood), and the worst part, he is growling and barking on other dogs, and he is initiating it now. He is doing it to females too. There is no pattern in it, he goes with wagging tail, super happy, sometimes sniff the other dog, and 90% of the times he snaps and growls/barks. Sometimes he does it from 3 meters already. He is not doing it to people, he is totally fine with them. Glad to hear he is not doing to people! The behavior you report sounds like there's something about the other dogs he doesn't like. Sometimes, if the meeting is on leash, the leash may cause the other dog to assume a certain body posture that make him assume that this other dog is 'challenging' him in some way. It could have started with just one dog and his behavior has been reinforced by the other dog moving away or the owner pulling his dog away or you simply moving Barry away. Growling and barking in this case is a distance-increasing signal, meaning that dog is asking for more space because he doesn't like something about the other dogs. Think of it as an imaginary bubble. The space bubble may be larger or smaller depending on what's at stake. Perhaps it's the way some dogs are walking (like with more energy/confidence) or it could be that you dog for some reason is more stressed on certain days and this lowers his threshold. I also realised that when he is having a positive experience meeting some other known person with dog, he first wags his tail approach lick a hand or something and then starts to do a rounds like tail chase a bit, like he is not sure about himself. It can be he is conflict and the tail chase is a displacement behavior. However, if this is a new behavior, it's always best to discuss with the vet to ensure it's not stemming from some underlying medical problem He is also unsure about himself at home, before when I told him NO, he was like yeah yeah ok sure. But now he is like more scared of me. In some research papers, neutering was associated in some cases with an increase in fearful behavior. This can be a possibility. We discussed this with vet and they recommended a dog behavioural therapist, which is very expensive. I wanted to ask if some of your techniques could help this behaviour, or we really should go for the therapist. You can try some basic behavior modification if this behavior is very recent and you want to nip it in the bud, but when there's any type of aggression/anxiety involved it's always best to work alongside with a behavior professional for safety and correct implementation. A board-certified veterinary behaviorist comes extra handy because they are really good in ruling out medical conditions first before implementing behavior modification. In general, behavior modification consists of a multi-pronged approach using a combination of management, desensitization and counterconditioning and operant conditioning (training). Here is a general rundown of the process: Management: Management entails preventing dogs from rehearsing problematic behavior by controlling the dog's environment. The more a dog rehearses the barking and growling behavior, the more it establishes and becomes habit-forming. Consider that if your dog is too reactive or hypervigilant on walks, stress hormones will flood his body and this stress will carry over to the home increasing potential reactivity to things. And vice-versa, if it's stressful at home, that stress will be carried over to walks. So it's important to carefully manage things on walks and indoors, to prevent them from becoming too stressful events. If your dog is lunging and barking, what you are dealing with is a dog who is over threshold. When a dog is over threshold, it is more difficult to get the dog's attention and work on changing behavior. An important first step would therefore be taking measures to therefore keep your dog better under threshold. One good way to do this is by increasing distance. I would no longer suggest close encounters so he doesn't get to practice the behavior and get into an irresponsive state. You can read more about dog threshold levels here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/threshold-levels/ To keep a dog well under threshold, it would be important to recognize signs of fear/stress to to prevent the dog from reaching that point. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/signs-fear-stress-dogs/ Ways to manage reactivity towards other dogs: -Walk your dog at a time when there are less dogs around -Keep distance (in your case much greater than 3 meters) -Do an about turn if a dog is approaching or you are caught unprepared, you can train the emergency U-turn as described here; https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/emergency-u-turn/ -If it's difficult to avoid dogs, stop temporarily walking altogether until your dog is better under control and has formed positive associations in more controlled settings (like watching dogs from behind a window or from inside a car) and then practice from the porch etc before moving into walks. During this timeframe, you can provide plenty of activities indoors such as brain games and confidence boosting games like clicker training and trick training. Start by training a fluent response to a smacking sound: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/the-airplane-game/the-smacking-sound/ and then apply to looking at other dogs walking by from inside the home: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/university/look-at-that/ Now this this is mostly management. To work on this behavior you would need mostly behavior modification. The goal of behavior modification is changing the dog's emotional response to triggers by training an alternate behavior to engage in. This is done through a desensitization and counterconditioning program and can also involve some elements of differential reinforcement of alternate behaviors. A dogs threshold levels often reduce if the dog is given distance from the trigger and is exposed gradually in a systematic manner to her triggers. This gradual, step-by- step approach is known as desensitization. You can read more about desensitization here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/desensitization/ Behavior modification works best when desensitization is combined with counterconditioning. You want to present triggers at a distance and gradually expose to them while also making great things happen when the trigger is present. One of the most powerful ways to do this is by feeding high-value treats that are only given during behavior modification exercises. Creating these powerful associations falls under counterconditioning, you can read more about it here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/counterconditioning/ Tip: tossing several small treats to the ground rather than hand feeding them can make them appear more interesting to dogs. Ideally, you want to create what's known as a positive conditioned emotional response (+CER): https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/conditioned-emotional-response-cer/ -Other than Look at That, another helpful form of counterconditioning is the open bar/closed bar method. This helps make it clear that dogs walking by/approaching are what make treats happen, treats are therefore fed when dogs are walking by and no more treats are fed when the dogs have gone out of sight. This is best carried out in organized setups with a helper and a dog who is calm and non-reactive. You can read about this powerful method here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/open-bar-closed-bar/ As your dog's underlying emotional response is changed and he is better under control, you can start asking for specific behaviors upon spotting dogs. I like to use my smacking noise, treat at eye level and ask for several steps of attention heeling as we walk past dogs: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/heeling-attention-heeling/ Bull terriers, also benefit from gaining superb impulse control. You want them to learn this skill so that they remain responsive to you and in a clear thinking state despite distractions. This because, when they reach a point where their adrenaline kicks into high gear, they may reach an unresponsive state where they'll act as if you don't exist at all. Here are some impulse control exercises: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/impulse-control-frustration-tolerance/ The whole behavior modification process requires observing dogs carefully to recognize early signs of stress to prevent pushing too close to their limits, making various judgement calls as to how quickly to increase criteria, implementing safety measure (muzzles, tethers, leashes, having plans in place should a fight erupt etc.) and measuring how everything is going possibly with charts (setbacks are always possible, but if they happen it means we have proceeded too fast and must take a step back or two to where our dog was better under threshold and resume from there). I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any questions! Disclaimer: behavior modification comes with risks. 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 there, welcome to the forums! Please see my observations in non-bold under your statements. I have a mini bull terrier Barry who is almost 2 years old. We did puppy school, a lot of socialising, also with kids. He is crate trained, well behaving, mischievous and stubborn but overall super happy dog. That's great that you have given Barry such a great start! He sounds like a wonderful companion, and although this breed is known for having an independent streak and a rather 'strong personality" it sounds like he's very well behaved overall. I am a bit suspicious that he sometimes felt our stress and he was then also stressed. Basic daily routine home office job stress. Not sure if relevant. It could likely be. Bull terriers are very "people-centric" dogs and very devoted. Many dogs sense their owners' stress and react accordingly. He was submissive, and great with other dogs, once he had a little fight with bedlington terrier who was very dominant (fight over female dog partially involved). Even after that he had his dog friends in the park and behaved normally, but sometimes he was a bit aggressive to some random dogs, only male. While bull terriers, may not be major troublemakers, if they notice a certain dog approaching with an "attitude" they may take that as a challenge and a fight may ensue. Some bull terrier may also struggle tolerating dog of the same sex and some won't even tolerate the opposite sex. In general, as pups most dogs do OK with other dogs, but once they reach the adolescent stage and social maturity dog-to dog interactions may start deteriorating. More about this is discussed here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/survive-dogs-adolescent-stage/ After discussion with vet we decided that we will neuter him (that was not the main reason, we wanted him also to be more chilled, and eventually want to take him to Australia where it is a rule). In general, neutering results in loss of many male characteristics that are hormonally-induced such as marking with urine, roaming, attraction to females and fighting with other males over mates. More specifically, research by Hart and Eckstein revealed that urine marking, mounting and fighting with other dogs were significantly reduced or eliminated after neutering in 50 to 60 percent of the dogs. Research by Maarschalkerweerd, Endenberg et al. also found a 60 percent reduction in sexual behavior, inter-male aggression, roaming and marking in neutered dogs. About two weeks after being neutered, a dog's levels of testosterone are expected to have reduced in half. Afterward, there should be a gradual decline and over the course of six weeks leading to a reduction in hormone-related male behaviors. Temperament-wise, owners of neutered dogs reported that 50 percent of the dogs who were neutered were calmer compared to when they were intact. We neutered him in March 2022 and we left him in April with our parents for 3 weeks (we did that a lot of times for a few days, max week and he was always coming home as an angel, like from spa - parents did a good job, even spoiling him a bit). Since we came back, he is stressed a lot, he is checking his tail (stress sign from childhood), and the worst part, he is growling and barking on other dogs, and he is initiating it now. He is doing it to females too. There is no pattern in it, he goes with wagging tail, super happy, sometimes sniff the other dog, and 90% of the times he snaps and growls/barks. Sometimes he does it from 3 meters already. He is not doing it to people, he is totally fine with them. Glad to hear he is not doing to people! The behavior you report sounds like there's something about the other dogs he doesn't like. Sometimes, if the meeting is on leash, the leash may cause the other dog to assume a certain body posture that make him assume that this other dog is 'challenging' him in some way. It could have started with just one dog and his behavior has been reinforced by the other dog moving away or the owner pulling his dog away or you simply moving Barry away. Growling and barking in this case is a distance-increasing signal, meaning that dog is asking for more space because he doesn't like something about the other dogs. Think of it as an imaginary bubble. The space bubble may be larger or smaller depending on what's at stake. Perhaps it's the way some dogs are walking (like with more energy/confidence) or it could be that you dog for some reason is more stressed on certain days and this lowers his threshold. I also realised that when he is having a positive experience meeting some other known person with dog, he first wags his tail approach lick a hand or something and then starts to do a rounds like tail chase a bit, like he is not sure about himself. It can be he is conflict and the tail chase is a displacement behavior. However, if this is a new behavior, it's always best to discuss with the vet to ensure it's not stemming from some underlying medical problem He is also unsure about himself at home, before when I told him NO, he was like yeah yeah ok sure. But now he is like more scared of me. In some research papers, neutering was associated in some cases with an increase in fearful behavior. This can be a possibility. We discussed this with vet and they recommended a dog behavioural therapist, which is very expensive. I wanted to ask if some of your techniques could help this behaviour, or we really should go for the therapist. You can try some basic behavior modification if this behavior is very recent and you want to nip it in the bud, but when there's any type of aggression/anxiety involved it's always best to work alongside with a behavior professional for safety and correct implementation. A board-certified veterinary behaviorist comes extra handy because they are really good in ruling out medical conditions first before implementing behavior modification. In general, behavior modification consists of a multi-pronged approach using a combination of management, desensitization and counterconditioning and operant conditioning (training). Here is a general rundown of the process: Management: Management entails preventing dogs from rehearsing problematic behavior by controlling the dog's environment. The more a dog rehearses the barking and growling behavior, the more it establishes and becomes habit-forming. Consider that if your dog is too reactive or hypervigilant on walks, stress hormones will flood his body and this stress will carry over to the home increasing potential reactivity to things. And vice-versa, if it's stressful at home, that stress will be carried over to walks. So it's important to carefully manage things on walks and indoors, to prevent them from becoming too stressful events. If your dog is lunging and barking, what you are dealing with is a dog who is over threshold. When a dog is over threshold, it is more difficult to get the dog's attention and work on changing behavior. An important first step would therefore be taking measures to therefore keep your dog better under threshold. One good way to do this is by increasing distance. I would no longer suggest close encounters so he doesn't get to practice the behavior and get into an irresponsive state. You can read more about dog threshold levels here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/threshold-levels/ To keep a dog well under threshold, it would be important to recognize signs of fear/stress to to prevent the dog from reaching that point. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/signs-fear-stress-dogs/ Ways to manage reactivity towards other dogs: -Walk your dog at a time when there are less dogs around -Keep distance (in your case much greater than 3 meters) -Do an about turn if a dog is approaching or you are caught unprepared, you can train the emergency U-turn as described here; https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/emergency-u-turn/ -If it's difficult to avoid dogs, stop temporarily walking altogether until your dog is better under control and has formed positive associations in more controlled settings (like watching dogs from behind a window or from inside a car) and then practice from the porch etc before moving into walks. During this timeframe, you can provide plenty of activities indoors such as brain games and confidence boosting games like clicker training and trick training. Start by training a fluent response to a smacking sound: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/the-airplane-game/the-smacking-sound/ and then apply to looking at other dogs walking by from inside the home: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/university/look-at-that/ Now this this is mostly management. To work on this behavior you would need mostly behavior modification. The goal of behavior modification is changing the dog's emotional response to triggers by training an alternate behavior to engage in. This is done through a desensitization and counterconditioning program and can also involve some elements of differential reinforcement of alternate behaviors. A dogs threshold levels often reduce if the dog is given distance from the trigger and is exposed gradually in a systematic manner to her triggers. This gradual, step-by- step approach is known as desensitization. You can read more about desensitization here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/desensitization/ Behavior modification works best when desensitization is combined with counterconditioning. You want to present triggers at a distance and gradually expose to them while also making great things happen when the trigger is present. One of the most powerful ways to do this is by feeding high-value treats that are only given during behavior modification exercises. Creating these powerful associations falls under counterconditioning, you can read more about it here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/counterconditioning/ Tip: tossing several small treats to the ground rather than hand feeding them can make them appear more interesting to dogs. Ideally, you want to create what's known as a positive conditioned emotional response (+CER): https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/conditioned-emotional-response-cer/ -Other than Look at That, another helpful form of counterconditioning is the open bar/closed bar method. This helps make it clear that dogs walking by/approaching are what make treats happen, treats are therefore fed when dogs are walking by and no more treats are fed when the dogs have gone out of sight. This is best carried out in organized setups with a helper and a dog who is calm and non-reactive. You can read about this powerful method here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/open-bar-closed-bar/ As your dog's underlying emotional response is changed and he is better under control, you can start asking for specific behaviors upon spotting dogs. I like to use my smacking noise, treat at eye level and ask for several steps of attention heeling as we walk past dogs: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/heeling-attention-heeling/ Bull terriers, also benefit from gaining superb impulse control. You want them to learn this skill so that they remain responsive to you and in a clear thinking state despite distractions. This because, when they reach a point where their adrenaline kicks into high gear, they may reach an unresponsive state where they'll act as if you don't exist at all. Here are some impulse control exercises: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/impulse-control-frustration-tolerance/ The whole behavior modification process requires observing dogs carefully to recognize early signs of stress to prevent pushing too close to their limits, making various judgement calls as to how quickly to increase criteria, implementing safety measure (muzzles, tethers, leashes, having plans in place should a fight erupt etc.) and measuring how everything is going possibly with charts (setbacks are always possible, but if they happen it means we have proceeded too fast and must take a step back or two to where our dog was better under threshold and resume from there). I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any questions! Disclaimer: behavior modification comes with risks. 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 there! Welcome to the forums! Adorable pups! In general, I would encourage training one dog at a time at first just because in the initial stages of training, you want one-on-one attention without too many distractions going on. For example, if your dogs are prone to barking/alerting to stimuli, they will also likely feed off each others' moods which negatively interferes with training creating disruptions. If they have had little training before they will also likely want to play with each other rather than pay attention to you. You also don't want one dog getting in the middle because he smells treats. Not to mention, on top of one-on-one attention, you'll be likely handling a clicker, treats and even leashes so lots of multitasking. In these cases, one-on-one training therefore is much easier in the initial stages at least until you have better control over both dogs. To train each dogs separately you can: -Crate a dog with a stuffed Kong to keep occupied until it's his turn and then swap. -Have the other dog spend time in the yard or taken on a walk with a family member -Have another family member train your other dog while you train one and then swap (you will need to make sure you both use the exact same cues and hand gestures) The great news is that once both dogs are getting more and more fluent in performing the desired behaviors, you can get them to perform the behaviors they were taught together, which works great as part of the proofing process (dogs responding nicely despite the distraction of each others' presence). Other tips/ideas that come to mind: -I would stick to treats (or their kibble if they like it) for both when training in the home for now and then use the attention and freedom later on once you'll be moving to a variable schedule. Then, once trained to a fluent level, you can wean off part of the treats and use the attention and freedom as rewards. -Misbehaving when nobody is looking often takes place when they have come to associate our presence with the training they have received. For instance, they come to learn that they should not steal items from the counter when we are there, but when we are away the same training doesn't apply. It stems from a lack of generalization. We can help them succeed by hiding or placing a camera or mirror so that we can see them while not in the room with them and reminding them verbally that even if we aren't there, we expect the same response. -Training is really lifelong commitment more than a "one time and done' ordeal where we can sit back and relax and admire all the work. Dogs are always in a learning state so the training is for life. As they mature, they can learn bad habits if we stop providing guidance. Sure, once we have covered the basics and proofed behaviors in a variety of settings/distractions, we can relax somewhat, but in order to keep things fluent, we need to do maintenance sessions and keep at it. Not to mention, most dogs thrive learning new cues and tricks if we make the training fun and this helps keep them mentally stimulated and happy. I think by training full time you mean really getting involved and dedicated in it. Correct? Because we can't really train fulltime as dogs (especially pups) have short attention spans. Short and sweet is ideal. There are ultimately no exact general rules of thumb when it comes to how long to train dogs per session and how many sessions to do a day. It's often a matter of personally gauging how things are going and keeping an eye out for signs of tiring. Some dogs can get tired after just 5 minutes of training others can go on for 15 minutes at a time. With young pups you want to stick to the shorter sessions due to their short attention spans. Always watch for signs of frustration, stress or tiring under the form of yawning, a sudden itch, walking away, loss of interest etc. You want to avoid getting to this point. To play it safe, therefore it's best to keep sessions short and sweet at first, always ending on a positive note. After testing the waters with a few brief sessions, you can eventually progress and try as many as you can fit in a day without the dogs getting bored or uninterested. You may find that you can train more and longer on some days, while some days less. Just like us dog may have more productive days than others. I hope this helps! Happy training, Adrienne

Hi there, Welcome to the forums! We see this type of barking when dogs aren't comfortable having certain dogs or people around. With a car being enclosed, such dogs tend to feel rather ''trapped,'' and therefore, feel like engaging more in a "fight" since their flight option (the ability to retreat) is removed. By barking he may be saying something along the lines "go away, I don't like you!" and because most dogs or people on bikes tend to move away at some point, these dogs will feel as if their barking has worked to fulfill their mission. Hence, the behavior will put roots and tends to repeat. Being a German shepherd, this behavior isn't uncommon considering that they have a history as 'guardians." GSD are described as being vigilant dogs who remain poised, but when the right circumstance demands, switch into being eager and alert. These traits have made German shepherds cherished guardians of the home and farm. In general, young German shepherd pups are happy and eager to greet people. As they meet and greet, they are all wiggly and may solicit attention and petting from people. Things may start to change though when German shepherds reach the adolescent stage, a time when their attitudes about people being nearby their properties shifts into territorial behaviors. At around 8 months, one may notice how strangers or other dogs approaching have now become potential threats. From wiggly, the young teenager may now bark or even growl upon noticing intruders. As pups turn into teenagers, they are more likely to therefore become more emotional and reactive, but without guidance it can morph over to suspiciousness, mistrust, and even excessive territorial tendencies that may develop into aggression. Most behaviorists seem to agree that territorial tendencies starts around 8 to 10 months and escalate around the age of 12 to 24 months. So how to work on the issue of dogs barking at people/ people on bikes approaching the car? Here are some general tips: 1) Manage the Environment The more a dog rehearses reactive behaviors such as barking and lunging, the more it establishes and becomes habit-forming In order to help a reactive dog, you will therefore need to do everything possible to prevent him from feeling overwhelmed to the point of barking. In other words, you'll need to prevent him from going over threshold as much as possible. Here is a read on threshold levels in dogs: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/threshold-levels/ So what can we do to manage the dog's environment so to make him less likely to bark at triggers? Here are some ideas: -Invest in a car crate. Many dogs will be less likely to bark when they are crated in the car and they are also safer this way too. -Placing a blanket on the crate can help too so to prevent the dog from seeing triggers. -Try a "calming cap." Like the Thunder Cap, for instance, helps reduce visual stimulation so there are lower chances for the dog to react. -Play Calming Music. If feasible, bring along calming CDs made just for dogs such as Through a Dog's Ear. Nowadays, you may also find a lot of music specifically crafted for dogs offered for free on YouTube. Did you know? After a stressful event, a dog’s cortisol levels may remain at high levels for days or even weeks. Back-to-back stressful events may lead to the phenomenon of trigger stacking where the dog suddenly "explodes." Management helps prevent the dog from rehearsing the undesirable behavior and helps keep stress hormones low, but in order to work on the issue we will need to implement some form of behavior modification. Management therefore is important to use for those times when you cannot implement behavior modification. However, many owners find that management is often enough to reduce the occasional barking in the car and therefore rely on it long term. 2) Behavior modification Behavior modification for barking at triggers in the car requires desensitization and counterconditioning. Desensitization involves exposing the dog systematically to his triggers. In order to work well, in a good desensitization program the dog needs to be kept as much as possible under threshold. Here is a read on desensitization: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/desensitization/ Counterconditioning involves creating positive associations with the dog's triggers. In order to work well, a good counterconditioning program incorporates things the dog finds very reinforcing provided contingent upon the exposure to the trigger. Here is a read on counterconditioning: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/counterconditioning/ Putting it together: for barking at triggers from the car, you would therefore need the aid of a helper (like a family member) who can sit in the back seat with your dog and feed him high-value treats every time he sees a trigger. The "look at that dog" exercise can turn helpful in this case. Start by training a fluent response to the smacking sound: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/the-airplane-game/the-smacking-sound/ then use that for Look at That Exercises done in the car with a helper sitting in the back seat with your dog, making a smacking sound and feeding treats every time a person rides on a bike from a distance where your dog is better under threshold: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/university/look-at-that/ the goal is to repeatedly present the triggers with something perceived by the dog as pleasant such as food to the point of the trigger becoming a predictor of great things, creating what is known as a positive "conditioned emotional response." https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/conditioned-emotional-response-cer/ If your dog at any time reacts, take that as a sign that he has been exposed to a too intense situation. Take a step back and increase further distance from the trigger. You may find it extra helpful to purposely create "setups" in controlled settings where you can have your car parked and a person riding a bike/walking by the car starting at a distance and coming gradually closer, always using your smacking sound and super high value treats. On walks; On walks, you can follow a similar protocol. Management-wise, to prevent rehearsal of the problem behavior as much as possible, train an emergency U-turn so that you can turn before he has a chance to act reactive and bark. Then come back when there is no more people standing by your property. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/emergency-u-turn Practice having people standing by your property and you feed your dog treats when your dog spots them from a distance where he doesn't react. The open bar/closed bar method can work well with this: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/open-bar-closed-bar/ Knowledge is power. You know know that people near your home or people on bikes on car rides are high on the list of triggers. This means that when you see people nearby your home, you should steer clear if they're coming too close as much as possible and aim to work on them by presenting them in their least intense forms and then build gradually. A good starting point is watching people pass by windows if that's feasible: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/university/look-at-that/ Consider that allowing a dog to bark at people from windows or fences can contribute to elevating stress hormones and can carry over (generalize) to barking at people on car rides or people in the neighborhood. Management therefore remains important in these cases too. I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any questions. Happy training! Best, Adrienne Disclaimer: behavior modification comes with risks. When dogs are over threshold or in a highly aroused state, dog owners are at risk for a re-directed bite (sometimes just from being touched!) and other people/dogs around can be at risk too if not enough distance is taken or should people come too close or should the dog lunge forward or escape. For safety and correct implementation of behavior modification, it is therefore best to enlist the help of a dog behavior professional for in-person coaching and to ensure the dog is kept under threshold and not exposed to stimuli/situations that may be too overwhelming.

This sounds like excitement urination and submissive urination. Here are two articles covering both cases. In general, puppies outgrow these forms of urination as they mature, but there are some things we can do to reduce these behaviors. Submissive urination: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/submissive-urination/ Excitement urination: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/urinating-when-excited/ I often find that for pups who pee excitedly when we come home, tossing a handful of treats to the ground helps keep them busy so they don't think about peeing. Happy training!

Jumping is covered here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/behavior-training/jumping/ Case study: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/case-studies/02-maggie-assessing-jumping-behavior-desensitization/ Forum Discussion jumping in guests:

Hi Jeannette, Welcome to the forums! I am currently traveling (at the airport) so will reply briefly with some links that tackle barking at people walking on the street, but if you have any questions, we can go more on depth on this on the 14th. You can start by training the smacking sound: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/the-airplane-game/the-smacking-sound/ then use that for Look at That Exercises: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/university/look-at-that/ the goal is to elicit a positive conditioned emotional response: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/conditioned-emotional-response-cer/ When you can't use training, you should manage the situation by blocking access to windows/not allowing dog in the yard alone Fence solutions to reduce barking at visual stimuli: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/fence-ideas-dog-owners/

Wow-wee! She is so much more responsive in this video! Kitty is still persistent in swatting at her tail (LOL) and it's normal for Atari to react to that, but you were able to redirect her nicely! Two little tips that come to mind: 1) at around 11 seconds and then at 38 seconds, the "leave it" was said when she wasn't really doing anything demonstrating an intent to interact with the cats, so I would suggest using your "leave it" when you notice that she's about to approach or orient towards the cat so to stop her in her tracks and that way she knows exactly what you are asking her to do. For instance, at second 3, right when the cat swats at her bum, a well-time "leave it" followed by the treat could have prevented her from getting up and moving towards the gate area. It's still OK though because you were still able to redirect, but she may have gotten a bit too excited at that point to respond, but it's great she did! Sure, we can still use "leave its" to remind them every now and then as we build duration, but it may be best to use those later on once the concept of "leave it" sinks in more. 2) you many find that more than saying " look at me," a smacking sound may give a bit quicker/ more reliable response. You can still use the look at me, but I have found that smacking sound works better because our voice is always changing so we offer more fluctuations, whereas a sound is less likely to have all the fluctuations. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/preschool/look-into-my-eyes/ You are progressing wonderfully! Great job Atari! Happy training!

Thank you for the extra details, they are very helpful! I will try to cover several of your concerns and then go deeper into how these issues can be tackled, but since there is a bite history, for safety and correct implementation of behavior modification, I recommend working along with a reputable dog behavior professional specializing in dog aggression using force-free behavior modification techniques. So let's get into some nitty-gritty details. So to recap you have described to me owning 2 purebred intact female littermate German shepherds since October that are now 10 month old (and which you plan on breeding) sharing the household with a 10 year old rescue GSD and 2 other mutts obtained from the human society as adults (thank you for rescuing!). You have described issues with the 2 GSD dogs who in the last 5 days have exhibited unprovoked aggression involving biting. One incident involved your neighbor who walked into your yard and ended getting bit on the hip. The second incident involved a UPS driver with a history of playing with them and giving them treats who also ended up getting bit. Your dogs though appear to act normally at home (with your 5 children) and have been perfectly fine with visitors entering the yard until now. Your dogs receive lots of exercise and are contained in 2-3 acres with an invisible fence most of the day, especially when you are working. OK so there are several aggravating factors we need to consider: 1) Being littermates. While littermate syndrome in dogs hasn't been researched enough, we have lots of anecdotal evidence about it. What is reported often is competitive behaviors among the two dogs, and the more similar the dogs are, the more competition develops. With littermates being the most similar two dogs can ever possibly be, we can therefore deduce why they often end up getting into conflict with each other. You may not see competitive behaviors among them yet, but they may possibly pop up later on as they develop and sometimes can lead to some nasty fights. On top of this, as littermates grow together, they become strongly bonded and that often puts a dent in their receptivity to us (ability to attend to us and following our guidance and directions). Left together outside, they may likely form a sort of teamwork modality and co-dependency. It could likely be that one dog in particular is the biter, but the other dog joins in just to work as a team. This can be said with any dogs living together, but in littermates such issues are more established. German shepherds are also prone to same-sex aggression which may raise its ugly head at any time, and things can get particularly heated when they reach the estrus stage. Due to this reason, many reputable dog breeders won't send littermates to new homes, although there may be some rare exceptions. 2) Territorial predispositions You already mentioned taking measures to prevent them outdoor access and that is great as well as not allowing visitors to show up announced. As you may know, German shepherds are described as being vigilant dogs who remain poised, but when the circumstance demands, switch into being eager and alert, with a willingness to put their life on the line in defense of loved ones. These traits have made German shepherds cherished guardians of the home and farm. These dogs are not the average Golden retriever who, as "social butterflies" rush to great and befriend anyone they meet. Rather, as German shepherds mature, they edge more on the reserved side and their standard clearly states that their aloofness "does not lend itself to immediate and indiscriminate friendships." With this breed's innate predisposition, it is therefore important recognizing how, without proper socialization, training and guidance, one is walking on a fine line. With not much guidance (such as being outdoors on their own) a German Shepherd's natural aloofness can therefore easily morph over to suspiciousness, mistrust, and even excessive territorial aggression. 3) Age of onset In general, young German shepherd pups are happy and eager to greet people. As they meet and greet, they are all wiggly and may solicit attention and petting from people. Things may start to change though when German shepherds reach the adolescent stage, a time when their attitudes about people being nearby their properties shifts into territorial behaviors. At around 8 months, you may start to notice how strangers or other dogs approaching have now become potential threats. From wiggly, a young teenager GSD may now bark or even growl upon noticing intruders. Of course, not all dogs follow this timeframe, and may take longer to develop this. While it's rather normal for German shepherd pups to act this way, you want your puppies to engage in these protective instincts later on, as they develop so that they're mature enough to make better decisions. When we are not around, the ideal guardian dog will carefully evaluate the situation and may emit a low-level threat, under the form of a bark or a growl, then, based on how the intruder reacts, they may react accordingly. Problems arise when German shepherds take the role too seriously and engage in territorial aggression ignoring the owner's requests to settle or when the aggressive display is directed towards people who have shown no signs of threat or aggression. Whether a German shepherd develops territorial aggressive behaviors or not may vary based on several factors such as hereditability (the puppy’s parents were prone to being fearful/aggressive), lack of socialization and training, encouragement for the behavior and lack of guidance (puppy left alone to make bad choices). When a predisposition for territorial aggression is combined with the immature adolescent stage and lack of confidence, this can become a recipe for disaster. As an adolescent, pups often struggle making savvy decisions about who is friend and who is foe. This should not be underestimated, as even a young adolescent German shepherd can cause harm with sharp teeth. So this could have been part of that "teenage flakiness" stage where their immaturity has led them into trouble and a misjudged non-threatening situation, so we need to take steps for not allowing this to happen again. You can read more about the teenager stage here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/survive-dogs-adolescent-stage/ 4) Presence of invisible fence I know that you mentioned that you have had no issues with it, but there are some potential issues of them triggering territorial aggression. Let's take a closer look into what may be happening. According to Dr. Dodman: “there’s enough information to suggest that an invisible fence may increase territorial aggression. It can make territoriality even more pronounced near the line." The issue is that an invisible fence allows people like the the mailman, the pizza guy and the child whose ball landed right by the edge of the property to trespass the dog's perceived property. That inability to keep these people out makes dogs feel more on edge and reactive and can lead to even biting. 5) Breaking skin When we evaluate prognosis for dogs who bite, we refer to a bite scale. The Ian Dunbar bite scale goes from 1 to 6 with 1 being no skin contact and 6 causing death. Your dog/dogs managed to break skin so it's not level 1, but may be level 2 or 3 or possibly even 4 depending on how deep it was. A level 2 is known to be the be one of the best predictors of a good outcome being that it is sign of a certain level of bite inhibition, although we can't make generalizations. 6) Home with kids I am always concerned about dogs who bite when in a home with kids. Sure, they can be wonderful family dogs, but a bite history tells us that they are likely to bite when the right circumstances present and that their bites can break skin and cause considerable damage to young child's skin. While they may do fine with your kids, we need to think about what could happen if your kids bring friends into the home and for some reason something triggers a need to bite. We can manage the situation, but there are always risks with kids that a door is left unlocked or a gate unlatched. 7) The unpredictability You mentioned that the bites were "unprovoked" and this also raises a concern. We like when we can identify easily triggers because that gives us predictability and with that comes a certain level of control. If you mentioned that they reacted when the neighbor yelled at you in a threatening manner or raised his hands up in the air or when the UPS guy was wearing a big hat and sunglasses, we know that we can work on those triggers which gives us a better prognosis. When things occur unpredictability, we lack information on what exactly to work. Sure, there are good chances there might have been a trigger that we haven't noticed. Maybe, your yelling truly alerted them, making them think you were under attack and you were "barking' at the neighbor aggressively, and from that day on, they decided that nobody entering the premises is welcome, but we can't be 100 percent sure on that. So these are some things that concern me. On the plus side though, they are still young and it can happen that their immaturity has led them to misjudge things. Another plus factor is that this behavior is fairly new and new behaviors are easier to be nipped in the bud compared to older ones with a long history of rehearsal. So here are some general thoughts, but please note that I am not there to observe the behavior and cannot make an accurate assessment. Your dogs may need a less or more involved plan depending on various variables and factors. Also, we need to consider whether this incident could have been triggered by some potential medical issues lowering the dog's bite threshold or whether they may be going into heat causing them to become more reactive. -Safety: Safety of people is of the upmost importance, hence the importance of having strict management rules in place. Following are important management measures, always best being safe than sorry. : Dogs are no longer allowed to be outdoors in the yard unsupervised (which you are already doing) Nobody should ever enter the premises unannounced Secure all gates and doors to prevent mishaps Place window film on windows to prevent habit of barking at cars or passerby Keep the dogs locked in another room or behind a secure pet fence or baby gate when guests are over and preferably separated from each other Disable the doorbell and put a sign to avoid visitors to knock. They should call you instead giving you the exact time of arrival so you can lock your dogs. When outdoors, take turns having each dog tethered to you on a long leash. Keep the dogs separated when around triggers Purchase a dog on premises sign. Consider that beware of dog sign could open up the possibility of property owner liability if the dog escapes. Keep dogs always leashed on neighborhood walks since many dogs perceive their neighborhoods still as their territories and walk each dog separately. Keep dogs away from children visiting. -Importance of Management Because rehearsing territorial aggressive behaviors makes them more established, it is vitally important to implement management. Management simply means taking steps to prevent the dogs from practicing the undesirable behavior. Here's the thing, even allowing a certain degree of territorial aggression could potentially undermine the best behavior modification plan, because it allows the dog to act on her own judgement potentially contributing to making bad choices in the future. On top of this, consider that allowing dogs to engage in undesirable behaviors that are self-reinforcing sometimes yes and sometimes no, put them on a variable schedule and makes dogs more eager to engage in them sort of like the addicting nature of gambling and winning every now and then in Vegas. In cases of dogs who act aggressive or have managed to bite, their license to protect may therefore need to be revoked so to play it safe and avoid rehearsal of problematic behaviors. Management doesn't solve the issues directly, but prevents them from getting worse. Behavior modification is what tackles the root causes. -Body Language 101 All owners of dogs who have demonstrated aggression benefit from learning all the signs dogs give before they start feeling uncomfortable and likely to react. Recognizing early precursors signs of the dog being uncomfortable in a situation is important so to prevent the dog from going over threshold. Here is a read about threshold levels in dogs: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/threshold-levels/ Signs of stress/fear https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/signs-fear-stress-dogs/ -Use of Desensitization If the biting stems from territorial aggression, German shepherd dogs need to be exposed to low levels of the stimulation known to trigger the behavior. This is accomplished by using desensitization, a step-by-step systematic approach where dogs are exposed to low levels of stimulation so that they are kept under threshold. More about desensitization is covered here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/desensitization/ Often one starting place is distance. Dogs are better under control and capable of being more responsive and receptive to training if we present intruders from a far distance. -Use of Counterconditioning Desensitization works best when coupled with counterconditioning. In counterconditioning the goal is creative positive associations with triggers (cars, people approaching the dog's territory) so to change the dog's emotional response to them. From wanting intruders to go away, dogs may therefore start looking forward to seeing them because they have associated them with great things (like tasty treats). More about counterconditioning: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/counterconditioning/ The goal is obtaining what is known as a "conditioned emotional response" where the dog looks forward to the trigger appearing rather than dreading it. More about this here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/conditioned-emotional-response-cer/ Desensitization and counterconditioning works best in the cases where territorial aggression stems from underlying fear, which in many cases does. -Implementing The Training Once the dog's emotional response has changed, and the dog is in a learning state and less over threshold, it is possible to implement some training. Hopefully, your German shepherds have been trained to respond to several cues. If not, you will need to very deeply train each of your German shepherds separately starting in low distraction areas. It's important training them separately so they don't feed off each others emotions in face of triggers. Then once reliable, you can train them together, but always starting under controlled settings (like dogs together, but one handler with one dog with the leash on) and making safety always top priority. German shepherds are working dogs and they thrive on being kept busy with training and brain games. A well-trained German shepherd dog should demonstrate the ability to be under good voice control in spite of seeing triggers. Once this level of fluency is obtained, each German shepherd can be kept on leash when guests or delivery people approach and be responsive to the owner's requests. The dog therefore can be trained to look at the owner and rush towards him/her rather than charging at people or lie down at a mat rather than barking at visitors. Other helpful exercises: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/the-airplane-game/the-smacking-sound/ https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/university/look-at-that/ https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/video-archive/train-dog-go-to-mat/ https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/recall/ https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/take-leave-it/ -Prognostic Factors Depending on each case, there may be different outcomes. Following are several prognostic factors. -How long the behavior has been practiced. In general, the longer the dog has been allowed to rehearse the problematic behavior, the longer it will take to work on it. -Genetics. German shepherds coming from protection lines or from breeders who have paid little attention to temperament may be more difficult to treat. -Age. In general, dogs over the age of 1 may be difficult to treat since they may no longer be as malleable as younger dogs. -Owner commitment. The more committed and willing the owners to manage, supervise and train, the more they may be more likely to succeed. Having the whole family on board on management can help. -Level of management. Families able to better manage their dogs' environment are more likely to succeed. -Level of dog bites. The more severe the dog bites, the more risks involved, especially if there are children living on premises who enter/exit the home with friends. Last but not least, I would also carefully evaluate whether your pups are worthy of breeding. I always hate to sound judgmental, but I think it's important in this case to carefully evaluate things. I know they must be wonderful and stunning dogs, but we need to carefully assess the situation and see how things fold out as they mature. I would highly suggest having a trainer/behavior professional carry out a temperament test so to screen out for fearful behavior, and possibly, individualizing which of the two dogs did the biting. The modus operandi of the bites appears to be biting when people were about to leave/turning their backs. This is the classical approach of fearful dogs. Fearfulness is a big problem in this breed and can be passed down from a generation and another. Sterilization may therefore need to be considered if that's the case and also to prevent moodiness during the estrus cycles (unless steps are taken to manage them) . I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any questions! Disclaimer: behavior modification comes with risks. 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 there! So awesome that your smart puppy has learned so many things! Welcome to the forums! I have a few questions to allow me to better understand the situation and do more troubleshooting. Can you please post exactly which techniques you have used? There are several articles/posts on biting puppies, and on the forums I post several different techniques as every case may need an individualized approach. We can go more in depth on them so to ensure correct implementation. Also, what have you done so far when he bites when you pick him up and put him on your lap or after you place him down off your lap and he starts barking/growling? Please understand that tackling puppy biting is not something that will work overnight, puppies are teething and they can get cranky when they are sleepy, they also have very short attention spans, and they need to learn to play in different ways that don't involve constantly wanting to bite us, so it takes a multi-faceted approach to teach them all these things, but as we implement them constantly and the pup develops it should start considerably subsiding. Your pup is very young so it's great that you're tackling this issue now. Thank you for the extra details! Talk soon!

Thanks again, you are really helping me so much! You're very welcome! Keep us posted.

Hi there, Welcome to the forums, I am so sorry to hear about these last bite incidents, this must be very upsetting! I have a few questions: How long have you had these 2 female GSD? Where did you get them from? Are they littermates? How long ago was the invisible fence set up? Were they always perfectly fine with people entering your property/home before these incidents? Do they "team up" and bark at people walking by the fence? Did the bites break skin? Did the first neighbor and UPS driver come into the yard on their own or did you let them in? Were you present in both cases? Did you notice whether one dog in particular is doing the biting, while the other watches? Were both bites when the people were leaving (showing their backs)? Did you see any precursor aggressive behavior prior to the bites? Barking, lunging, growling, baring teeth? Are they kept out in the yard on their own most of the day? Thanks

I caught him before contact and issued an "off" command(he's familiar with that one well) he went immediately into a sit and was fine, but I'm still uneasy with him. They had been playing together for a bit, and I really think its the case of him getting over stimulated so going to work hard on that and see where we are. Will keep you posted!! Well, the good thing is that he listened despite the distraction/overstimulation. He needs to know that you are closely monitoring him like a hawk and that you won't keep eyes off of him even for a split second when around children and that have a zero mounting policy. I wouldn't allow close off-leash interactions yet until you his mind is less fixated on mounting. If you're uneasy, or need a break, you can tether him to you (-umbilical cord style, basically leash clipped to your belt or I make a loop with the leash putting the leash through its handle and then slip it over so it's around my waist, holding on to it if it's very loose) when you have your grandkids over so that he can't make mistakes since he's right next to you and if he tries to move towards them, you can use your body to quickly move him away. While tethered to you, you can cue desired behaviors like sits and downs and reinforce those. Definitely watch for overstimulation. Do you recall what your granddaughter was doing at the moment that prompted him to want to mount? In what type of "play" were they engaging? If you know what triggers it, you're one step ahead and can take steps from preventing it.

Oh wow, so much going on in your home right now, and all you needed was a sick kitty on top of that. It's so sad when they don't want to eat. Makes one feel so helpless. I guess if he was really dehydrated, they would have given him fluids. Wet food and baby food at least helps them get a bit of hydration. I hope it's nothing major. I wonder what was up with Esther pooping so much! Maybe all the excitement going on, or a change of treats? Hopefully her tummy will adjust as she settles down again. I worked with a dog not too long ago who would get the zoomies after removing his harness. He really didn't like it too much, so removing it was super party time for him. I once made the mistake of removing it in the elevator to speed up things, and he jumped and got all nippy. Lesson learned, harness would come off only once in the home where he had more room to "zoom" LOL. Your frog is so cute! I have never seen one like that. I think I would have no problem feeding crickets because I have developed a negative conditioned emotional response to them because in Arizona there are so many and some like to sneak into the walls and they'll chirp all night long driving us nuts. My husband one night was literally wanting to rip the wall apart LOL. They also managed to eat my zucchini that I was watching and watering for months and was so happy to have because in the desert it's so hard to have anything green growing. My friend who has grown zucchini for years in Italy told me not to worry that crickets don't eat them. I had to send her a picture of half zucchini eaten up as proof. They even ate our olive tree's leaves which are supposed to be the most bitter things. When we got chicken I was happy that they finally got predators, but even the chickens couldn't catch them 😞

Hi there, Welcome to the forums! Thank you for opening your heart and home to a rescue! This breed already has a rep for being not much motivated by food due to a slow metabolism, add to that being "free-fed" leaving food out to graze all as day as wanted, and you have the perfect recipe for a dog who sees little value in food. I am glad you have put him on a feeding schedule and were able to attain results. It may feel like "tough love" at first, but it's worth it in the long run. Putting down the food bowl and removing it if not eaten within 15 minutes can help increase motivation to eat since they won't see any food until the next meal. Since you mention he's hungry, I assume your method has worked so far in making his food attaining some value, so that's great! If he's getting hungry, maybe you can try to use a portion of his meals to train as a starting point, at least indoors? Many dogs perceive their food as more valuable when they "work for it. " For instance, rather than putting the food in the bowl, when you know he is hungry and more motivated, you can use it for training. You can test him before hand. For example, when you know he's getting hungry closer to meal time, if he follows you when you prepare his meal and waits for you to put the bowl down, rather than doing so, put a portion of that in your pocket and use it to train. Use a kibble to reward every behavior and give several kibbles as a jack pot for extraordinary performances or to end a training session. Start with something very easy, like look into my eyes. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/preschool/look-into-my-eyes/ Once you get him into "operant mode" you can then make this a daily routine. Once dogs realize they must "earn their food" that often gets the ball rolling. Other ideas that come to mind: -You can try clicker training, using his food, starting with the easy exercise of "charging the clicker:" https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/clicker-training/ Often the clicker yields a more enthusiastic response to training since the reward system of the brain is more strongly activated and the food's value may increase since it's fun. -Make the sessions short and fun and always end them on a positive note. -When he's hungry and ready for his meal, hide behind a furniture nearby when he's standing and call him in a happy tone or make a use a silent dog whistle, if he comes to you, praise happily and drop several kibble to the floor. Rinse and repeat hiding in different places. This game is a good starting point for recalls! -Try to not be frustrated and don't feel pressured, he doesn't have to learn everything in one day. He's a livestock guardian and not a Lab. If he senses your frustration, that risks putting a dent in his attitude towards training, and by association, also the value of the food. With these independent thinkers, training needs to be upbeat and fun-basically think about it as a game! Often as our behavior changes, their behavior changes too. -Think that he needs to eat to survive. So if he eats his meals, you can use that food for training, at least as a starting point indoors. -Use other forms of rewards. Think what your Pry finds reinforcing. The last Pyr I trained, she was eager as your Pyr to go outside. I therefore only opened the door once she sat in front of the door. You may need to use "capturing" for this. In other words, any time you catch him sitting on his own, praise and rush to the door to let him out as a reward. Once he does this more and more, "name it" saying "sit" right when he's about to sit. You may need to be patient with this as initially you may not get many sits, but once he recognizes a pattern of "every time I sit, I am praised and let outside" you should see more and more sits. Only problem with this: he may ask to be let out too often and may even bark if he doesn't get your attention right away, so you may need at some point to put those sits on cue and make it clear that you open the door only when you decide it's time to go out and ask him to sit beforehand. You can also use this method for downs. Sit with him on leash nearby the door and wait for him to tire and lie down (this is easier with Pyr as they are a little lazier than other dogs). Once he lies down, praise and take him outside immediately. Timing is important, the praise and being let outside needs to happen right after they sit/lie down. -If he likes a tug toy see if you can use it to get her to sit or lie down in lieu of a treat and then praise and let her tug. For stays, you may not even need any food, as being freed from the stay is reinforcing on its own, but still try to toss something to reward her and see if he'll eat it. Some high value foods you may have not tried yet: Baked calf liver (fresh and baked in the oven and cut into trips) Liverwurst (Braunschweiger) Freeze dried liver Green tripe treats (stinks to high heavens but many dogs go bonkers for it) Cheez-its Cheerios Shredded rotisserie chicken Low sodium organic beef hot dogs Cut up mozzarella stick Zuke's mini training treat salmon Ziwi air-dried dog foods Air dried beef lung treats Of course, everything in moderation. Cut off treats in small bite-sized pieces so to reduce calories and discuss with your vet if your dog is prone to digestive issues or other medical problems. Pry are very smart dogs, it's just these dogs were selectively bred to work independently without much human interference and they may need extra motivation to find learning certain tasks valuable to them. They tend to want to save their energy for what they feel matters the most- protecting their turf and their people/animals. I hope this helps, Happy Training!

That's great that you have a plan in place, I find parallel walks on neutral territory very useful for introductions/ re-introductions. I didn't know you had a frog, LOL! That must be cute as a pet, never had one! Only found one in my home back when I lived in Missouri one morning and it was staring at me from the wall when I was still in bed and that was a funny wake-up call! Managing things is always a good approach. I too would agree on not keeping dogs on the couch. If one is allowed and the other not though, this can possibly become source for conflict so I would be watchful for that. Wishing you the best of luck!

The big day is coming closer! I am sure you have a mixed bag of emotions going on. Esther is going to be so happy to see you again! It's good that you're meeting at the pet store so that you can see how she performs in that environment. It's a great place to proof things. Keep us posted on how things go!

Hi there, thanks for the video, very helpful! Ok, so now that I put a face on Atari, WOW, I see a whole LOT of heeler in there! This explains several of the behaviors you report. Let's delve a little deeper on things. Ok that’s all very helpful! Thank you for responding to both posts. I’m sorry if we seem so dramatic - the struggle is real over here. But understanding her working breed stuff and why she is so high strung helps. No worries! I can fully understand your struggles. You are dealing with a dog who is for a good part a herder, and herding dogs aren't for the faint of heart. I mean, they have the potential for being wonderful pets, but that takes a lot of guidance, management and redirection for them to reach their full potential and it can feel exhausting, especially when you need to juggle work, family, cater to other pets and so many other things. They can be very demanding and high maintenance. One main struggle is convincing these dogs that cars, cats, fleeing children and skateboards are not cattle or sheep to herd. We moved the sleeping mat to another room and she just had her bed now so no more peeing at night (yet). She did pee on some papers at my parents’ house yesterday and the old dog was not around - my mom said she was playing with her outside and then she ran around the house and then peed somewhat randomly. One common pattern seems to be that she's looking for certain surfaces to pee on. Likely her bed no, because it's associated with sleep and dogs are naturally inclined to not pee where they eat, play and nap. Perhaps the breeder used pee pads and now she is always looking for some type of absorbing material? Just speculation at this point. It may be difficult for pups though to carry over their potty training to new places. They can't generalize well just as it's hard for them to sit in the yard, when they do just fine sitting in a kitchen. I mean even adult dogs have accidents when they move to new homes or are in new places and when around different people. It could be she really had to go- or again she may be leaving her scent to communicate something. Dogs can purposely leave scent on places for other dogs to sniff later on-even when the dogs aren't present. Managing her environment so to not offer absorbent substrates (like mats/newspaper, rugs) and letting her indoors only once she has emptied her bladder outdoors may help. I wouldn't worry too much as long as she maintains a higher success rate at home and she's home most of the time, but we can take steps to make these little accidents less likely to happen-unless there's a medical issue going on. but otherwise, after reading your response I took her on a longer walk this morning and it helped a lot. I think if I walk to little then she gets wired but if I walk a lot then she gets worn out. It can be challenging finding the right balance, but if you find what works best, try to stick to that plan for several days and see how it goes. Factor in though that every day is never the same. If for instance, you take her on a walk, and there are lots of overstimulating things going on, or right after the walk, she gets to rehearse aroused barking at other dogs for sustained periods of time, that will put a dent in her ability to relax. If she is for a good part herding dog, consider that they are very sensitive to environmental changes. As herders, they are responsible for many things, maintaining order, driving herds in specific directions and ensuring the safety of the herd at all times. These dogs are bred for paying attention to every tiny detail. Herders are therefore expected to respond to situations in lightning-fast ways, they will therefore pay meticulous attention to their environments, their associated familiar patterns, peoples' emotions/bodily cues and they are prone to actively spring into action if something appears amiss. They'll need our patient guidance and redirection to more appropriate responses such as coming to us rather than barking, or attention heeling rather than lunging at cars. Then tonight instead of a second walk we took her to the dog park since she is now fully vaxxed. When we came home she napped and then she was able to play in the backyard for about an hour until she decided to bark at them and we redirected her and then brought her inside. Fetch outside also helped a lot last night. so we’ll keep working on the stuff you suggested - thanks again! That's great! Just a little word about dog parks. They are frowned upon by many trainers. I don't personally frown upon them because I feel that they can be a perfect solution for exercising and socializing dogs, BUT, only for certain dogs and only in certain settings such as dog parks with known dogs with matching play styles or where there are trainers supervising and moderating play and finding suitable play mates. The problem is that we ideally want to expose our dogs to dogs who have proper social skills, especially when they are puppies and are literally sponges. Exposure to the wrong types of dogs and in a settings where there is not much moderation going on can cause problems. Play also needs to constructive with dogs learning to read other dog's body language and ensuring it's a pleasurable event for all participants. In dog parks sadly there are often dogs being bullies and other dogs subjected to bullying. Some dogs singled out and chased by a group of dogs. Some others don't respect other dogs' needs for a break. Sure, many dogs go home tired, but they may be exhausted from the mental stress of being chased or from the high arousal that chasing triggers. With herding dogs, we need to be careful about their desire to chase and control motion with tenacity. If allowed to rehearse on certain dogs, this will reinforce the behavior making it more likely to repeat. However, one day they may meet a dog who doesn't like to have their moves micromanaged and this may cause frustration which can escalate. This is most likely to occur as pups of herding breeds further mature, but something to be aware of. Of course, Atari being a "mix" may not inherit all these traits. There are also many stories of owners taking their dogs to the park and never having problems, although chances are high one day some "mishap" will eventually happen- hopefully not serious though. For this reason I mentioned puppy classes, you have trainers there who can help ensure safe, moderated exposures to other puppies in a structured way. Even better if they have adult "moderator" teacher dogs who can help pups learn proper social skills. As for the cats, she’s doing great but can’t handle the fence being down. How will we know if we can progress? I can’t find a play pen that looks sturdy enough for her size and since we haven’t crated her I’m not sure how to advance this. This video was after 10 minutes of her sitting and doing training/games with cats there - tonight was even better than what you see here - we let her look at them as long as she stays calm but as you can see I struggled to redirect her too. I think her “come” has definitely become poisoned . Thanks for the video, I watched it with audio and without audio. When you say "leave it" was it for the cats or for the treat you placed in front of Atari? Have you already practiced "leave its" on cats? I think part of the issue is possibly knowing what it applies to and the cat swatting at Atari's tail may be a little too much for Atari to feel enough "safe" to just ignore it. Maybe if we lower criteria a bit and work with the fence farther away (or even better, place something so that kitty paws don't come through) we can gain a more responsive state. I think you are doing a good job, it's just not easy paying attention with a curious kitty swatting at her back! It was funny to watch, thanks for the giggles! This cat seems comfortable over all!

In these cases, we would want to troubleshoot what may be going on and act accordingly. It's important to avoid getting angry or frustrated with the dog. This only causes dogs to become more reluctant and adverse to training. Despite what it may look like, dogs aren't spiteful or vindicative and they don't voluntarily disobey to upset us or because they want to "be the boss." Dogs simply perform behaviors which produce positive outcomes or gets them out of negative situations. This is known as reinforcement. This thread covered several possibilities: If you recognize any possible patterns, please reply and we can go more in depth and do more troubleshooting. Best, Adrienne

Hi Leon Ramos, welcome to the forums! In these cases, we need to carefully assess what may be triggering his paying attention to other other things/acting distracted. Here is some troubleshooting that you can do to determine the underlying issue. A Too Noisy Environment Pay close attention to your Dane's body language and watch his ears. Are they orienting towards distant sounds? Dogs have 18 muscles in their ears and these allow the ears to swivel in all directions capturing sounds like satellite dishes. There may be distant noises that we may not hear, but they can easily sense. In these cases, we need to train in an area with less noises or we may need to buffer sounds by using some type of white noise (fan, TV or radio station, YouTube white noise channels). A Matter of Anxiety If a dog is worried about things going on around them, they will be unable to cognitively function. Therefore, we need to closely evaluate in what circumstances dogs are unable to pay attention to us and work on making them feel more at ease and relaxed. For instance, if a dog responds well to our cues to sit in the living room, but then on walks he appears distracted, stress or anxiety may be at play. We can deduce this by looking at our dog's body language. If our dogs are walking in a zig-zag fashion, their ears are moving in all directions, they look in all directions and want to sniff everything, and their face and body is tense, chances are they stressed or overstimulated. There is little space for learning obedience cues when they are in this state. These dogs won't be interested in responding to a sit cue because they are worried about other more important things, such as finding an escape route. These dogs will also often not take treats. You can read more about this here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/threshold-levels/ The Onset of Adolescence As dogs reach their adolescent stage, they are prone to undergoing some behavior changes which can make them less in tune with us and less responsive to our cues. This is a time of raging hormones, with dogs seeking out more reinforcement in their environment. These dogs may rather go sniff and explore at a distance from their owners rather than stick nearby and obey to obedience cues. Fortunately, things start to get better as they mature, but if we keep up with their training and aim to train in a way that keeps them interested and motivated, our consistency and patience will be rewarded as they mature. Here is more about this stage: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/survive-dogs-adolescent-stage/ If your dog is not neutered, there are chances of some female in heat nearby and/or he may want to sniff and urine mark, so he may be not interested in practicing obedience cues, especially during walks. Use of Low Value Treats Sometimes, dogs may simply grow bored of the treats used to reinforce the behavior or they may not find them worthy of working for. There are treats and treats when it comes to training. So-so treats lead to so-so responses. Over the average treats can make a difference in their responsiveness. It may take some experimenting to see how dogs react to different treats and which ones yield more enthusiastic responses. I have seen dogs who acted lazy during training session transform into enthusiastic participants once introduced to the right treats. In higher distraction areas, higher value treats need to be used. For instance, in the home, kibble may work well in dogs who love their food, but then on walks, you may need to use high-value treats to get the same response. Pet stores offer a vast array of treats nowadays. In areas with strong distractions, such as in training classes where several dogs and people are around, dog trainers often suggest to use baked calf liver, roasted chicken breast or low-sodium beef hot dogs. Training Not Generalizing If the dog can sit no problems at home, but struggles on walks, you may need to train in an intermediate area before he'll be able to respond in such a distracting environment. Dogs are that great in generalizing cues unless we help them. So after obtaining a fluent response in the living room, practice more in other areas gradually increasing the level of distractions. For instance, ask for sits in kitchen, then in front of a window, then on the deck, then in the middle of the yard, then in front of the home, then nearby the home on walks, then in front of a school, then at a distance from dogs, then watching dogs playing at the dog park. If your dog struggles in any of these environments, take a step back and train more in a calmer place before attempting to train in that area again. Remember to increase the value of the treats as you move to more and more distracting areas. Importance of Temporarily Going Back to a Continuous Schedule As our dogs improve in our training, it's tempting to stop giving treats for every single good sit, and start giving them at intervals such as every other sit and then randomly. This is a good thing to do, especially once the behavior happens fluently, but it's important go back to a continuous schedule every time there is an increase in challenge just to ensure our dogs get the feedback they need. For example, if our dogs have been sitting well on walks every time we stop at a traffic light, and we have started giving praise in place of a treat every now and then, that day when we take our dog to a pet store, we should go back to giving a treat for every sit (and use treats that are higher in value) since this is a different environment. Once our dogs do well on this too, up to a fluent level, it is possible to go back to a variable schedule, but we need to be extra careful on extra challenges that may present themselves (for instance, asking a sit in presence of a barking, reactive dog) where we'll once again up the ante in our training. More on this is covered here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/polishing-up-training/fading-continuous-rewards/ Training is For Too Long If your training sessions are too long, they risk becoming tedious and your dog may become tired and less responsive. We also need to consider that a sudden loss of interest may be due to the dog getting thirsty or needing to go potty. Medical Issues Sometimes dogs may act distracted when they have some underlying medical issue. For instance, older dogs may have pain in their joints, small dogs with long back may have back issues, dogs with anal gland issues may find it painful to sit. As large dogs develop, they may also get growing pains (panosteitis) which can cause achy joints. Any time a dog suddenly refuses to respond to a cue and there's nothing distracting going on in his environment or no other possible identifiable issue, consider whether something medical may be going on and discuss with the vet. Here are several other possible issues with solutions: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/ignoring-commands/ If you identify a pattern or possible cause, please discuss it here and we can go more in depth on it. Happy training! Best, Adrienne

It must be so exciting getting Esther back! I thought they were keeping her longer, but maybe they are satisfied with her progress so far. That's funny! The coughing up the treat-episode. When it happens during clicker training where timing is everything, I often wonder what must go in their mind as the treat goes flying out of their mouth, but then they go gather it again all happy! Cool tricks you're training Gertie! I am not sure how happy she will be to see Esther come back, with all the attention and pampering she's been getting these weeks, but hopefully you'll have some in-person support during this delicate re-integration time so to up the chances for a smooth transition.

Last night we do not know why but she peed on her mat again when we were getting ready for bed. There was no yelling or upset - she was just sniffing around something really intensely under the dresser but we don't know what she was smelling - and I was just trying to get her to settle down for bed. Dan was sort of playing with her, trying to get her to relax. I went to wash my face and then I heard him calling me. She peed all over her mat. Neither of us got mad and we were just cleaning it up which took a while as there was tons of pee. OK, so if she is peeing always on a specific mat and there is no exact trigger, something about the smell of it must be at play. Make sure to clean up with enzyme-based cleaners, and use a black light to ensure there's no remnants, but at this point, we may want to consider removing access to the mat if it is what triggers her peeing. I left to throw away the paper towels and as soon as I walked out, she peed on the floor. We didn't get mad - but we don't know why she did it twice. She did drink a lot of water last night but she also peed before we brought her to the room. I think it was behavioral but we're not sure what is going on. We're going to cut her off from water a couple of hours before bed but she gets thirsty so I don't know how well she'll take that. That's interesting that she did it again. Getting her checked out for a urinary tract infection would not be a bad idea at this point, especially if she was doing pretty well with her potty training before. This morning, she has been a handful. We let her out three times and she went potty and then went straight to the fence where the neighbor dogs sometimes are. They weren't there and she cried nonstop. She would not listen to us when we tried to distract her and we had to use high value treats that we save for puppy class to lure her back. She threw several tantrums and has stood at the sliding door and barked since we brought her in. I could not redirect her constantly as we both had meetings so we just let her bark it out. I would take her at this point outside on a leash so that you no longer need to lure her back inside and risk poisoning her recall/redirection cues. She's so bored but doesn't want to use licking mat, kongs, frozen rag, or toys. She just wants to go outside. She also went to bark at the door where the cats were. Also, she had seemed calm at first but the cats wanted out so we decided to let her stay on leash with them and moved the gate to the bedroom so the 1 yr old cat can feel safe. (She had been doing so well with the cat training so I guess we got cocky). The 8 month old cat went to the hammock above the couch and Atari didn't chase her at first but then changed her mind and jumped on the couch, over the spikey mats, onto the back of the couch so she was face to face with the cat who hissed at her. I grabbed her and we took the cats out of the living room again. Yes, we moved too fast and now I worry we stepped backward. Now she's been barking nonstop at both doors. We're not giving her attention - she finally gave up and fell asleep right now as I was typing this message but it was about 2 hours of this. So anyway, not sure what to do about the obsessive wanting to go outside and bark at dogs + constant boredom. She literally only wants us to engage with her and will not play alone. Even with her stuffed kong, she will only eat them if we hold the kong for her. I thought about getting her a puzzle but I don't think she'll use them because she tends to get frustrated very fast. Also, when I was throwing the treats to get her to walk away from the doors, she started doing it for attention and to get the treats so I think I must have done it wrong. The only thing that makes her quiet/calm is giving her a bully stick and obviously we can't give her bully stick after bully stick. I worry they'll lose value and upset her stomach. So I feel like I must be doing everything wrong because she's peeing at night almost every evening now and she's no longer redirectable - starting to behave even worse all the time. Puppies can be a handful, and the active, outdoorsy breeds can be a lot of work due to their selective breeding. She may benefit from some play with other puppies, like if you are taking her to puppy classes discuss this with the trainers, they can help you organize play dates. It may also help discussing with them about the possibility of starting her on the ABCs of some canine sport, see what they offer in your area, although we can't have her do any sports fully yet until her growth plates in her legs have closed. With these types of pups, it may feel like we need to invest lots of time to keep them entertained, but it's sort of investment. Like we may need to schedule our time around them to then get them to relax/sleep and we can then dedicate our time on other things. For example, in the morning when they are the most active, we may need to spend time on walking them, playing with them, engaging in brain games and doing some training with them before getting them ready for their mid-morning nap (like around 11), then after the nap, we need to do organize some more activities for another nap, rinse and repeat several times and create routines. A game that can turn handy is the "sit/kibble toss" game. Basically the pup has to come towards us, sit and we toss a kibble to reward the sit, then rinse and repeat using a portion of the pup's meals. Mix and match games and offer them in between the nap times. Often, in busy households, this requires taking turns with other family members.