Adrienne Farricelli

Yup, dogs excel in responding to hand signals! If we think about it, dogs have been following human hand signals from the old days when they were used for a variety of tasks in farms and large estates. It's a known fact that dogs are very observant and can astutely spot movement, especially at a distance. Even prior to their partnership with humankind, dogs' ancestors have heavily relied on reading each others' body language. A dog's slight ear prick might have signaled the presence of prey to hunt down or a predator to escape from, which could have made a difference in life and death. I have personally witnessed proof of this in several instances with multiple dogs taken on walks. My husband may walk one dog and I may walk another, and then at one point, should one dog pricks the ears and starts walking with the head high upon spotting something, the other would immediately go on high alert even without seeing what triggered the other dog's interest. Back to dogs and humans, I have noticed an interesting phenomenon when some dog owners ask their dogs to sit and simultaneously move their head (often without even being aware of it). If such dog owners try this experiment: ask their dogs to sit without the head movement, just asking with the verbal cue "sit" alone, the owners are often surprised when their dogs no longer sit or perhaps sit but with hesitancy as if they are confused. However, when they ask their dogs to sit using only the head movement without pronouncing the verbal cue "sit" the dog readily complies. This is proof that the dog has simply depended on the head movement to perform the task and to such can extent that the verbal cue has little or no validity. According to research conducted by the Italian researcher Biagio D'Aniello et al. published on the interdisciplinary journal "Animal Cognition" responses to gestures prevailed. In the study, water rescue dogs who were trained to respond to gestural and verbal requests were tested. These dogs were asked to sit, lie down, stay and come using just only hand signals, then using only verbal commands and then using hand signals and verbal commands that were in contrast with one another (e.g. dogs were asked to "sit" with voice command but the hand signal for "lie down" was used or dogs were ask to "stay" with voice command but the hand signal for "come" was used.) The results not surprisingly revealed that dogs followed gestures significantly better than words when they were used separately. When using hand signals and verbal commands that were in contrast with one another, the dogs were more likely to execute the action required by the gesture rather than the verbal command. In any case, if you want a better response towards verbal commands here's an exercise. Let's say for example your dog sits reliably with a hand signal but you want a response towards the verbal command. Simply say "sit," and then make the hand gesture for the sit. Do several reps of this. Verbal command first, then hand signal and then reward. By doing this, you are informing the dog "do you hear this word? It just predicts the salient hand gesture which tells you that it is time to "sit." After several trials, your dog should make the connection. Then it's time to do a little test: try to say "sit" and pause a bit. If your dog sits, make sure to lavishly praise and reward. If your dog is hesitant and looks at you a bit puzzled, you can make the hand signal, but make sure to offer a smaller version of it. After several reps, you should make the hand signal less and less noticeable up until the point, you can remove it completely. Praise lavishly and reward once your responds to the verbal command alone. Now, it's not a bad idea to have a dog trained to respond to both verbal cues and hand signals. There are several pros and cons to both. Here are some: Pros of using hand signals: -More salient than verbal commands -Easy to teach -Can be used in the case a dog becomes deaf as he ages -Can be used when you can't talk for some reason (you're on the phone, baby is asleep) -Dogs tend to get habituated to hearing our voices Pros of using verbal commands: -Can come handy in the sport of agility so that the dog doesn't need to keep on checking on the handler -Can come handy when it's dark -Can come handy when the dog owner is out of sight -Can come handy when your hands are full (e.g. carrying bags) -Can be used in the case a dog becomes blind as he ages Training both can therefore come handy in different situations. However, it's a good idea not to offer them simultaneously considering the fact that hand signals would likely block the verbal command and this may weaken it. Doing routine sessions with either one or the other so that the dog responds to both, may be helpful if you're up to that. About the urination, forgot to ask you, is she spayed? Just checking as intact females may ask often to be let out to urine mark as they reach their estrus cycle. Just thought to rule this possibility out... Hope this helps, Happy training!

Hi Danenloe21, This can be challenging because when I used to work for the vet, I recall that sometimes, dogs with a history of having frequent or prolonged urinary tract infections for some reason were stuck with the belief that they had to go out frequently. Owners of these dogs often brought their dogs in to see the vet convinced their dogs had yet another UTI when in reality they were clear despite extensive testing. These dogs simply learned to pee often. If there is a learned component and your dog is truly 100 percent UTI free and free of other conditions known to cause increased urination (read further down below for more info on this) and has shown the ability to hold it the entire night, then there are several things you can try. Here are a few options that come to mind: -You can try to start gradually lengthening the times you take her out. So if your dog asks to go outside every hour, next time push it to every 70 minutes, then 80, then 90 etc. During the intervals, make sure your dog is engaged in activities that keep her mind off her bladder. Try to offer her toys that you keep out of sight and bring out only at certain times or provide a portion of her meal in food-dispensing toys. At other times, engage her in a game of tug or fetch, in some brain games or in a training session. At again another time, you can keep her crated with a chew toy to encourage a nap if she is crate trained. Ideally, try to engage her in these activities before she has a chance to go to the door. -During this time frame, keep your dog confined to an area where you have clear view and where you can supervise her to ensure she doesn't sneak off to pee or poop somewhere. -You can then wait for her to signal to go potty and reward it by opening the door and letting her go potty. -Another thing that comes to mind is that can try to train her to go potty on command. This may come helpful as it puts the behavior under stimulus control so that it takes place when you tell her to. This can take a while to train, but it can come handy in many situations and many service dogs are trained this skill because it offers many advantages. Once learned, make sure to allow her scheduled potty breaks as dogs prone to UTI need to empty their bladder frequently as concentrated urine causes bacteria build-up in the bladder. Here's how to train it: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/potty-on-command/ Now, a disclaimer is warranted here: These tips are based on a healthy dog with no UTI or other conditions that may cause increased urination (diabetes, presence of crystals or stones in bladder (seen on x-ray/ultrasound etc.) Generally, a good way to tell whether a dog is truly clear of a UTI post antibiotic, is by having a urine culture done,-not just a regular urine test- (ask your vet if this was done) about 1 week after finishing. This helps ensure that the infection is gone. Sometimes, some nasty infections may persist especially if the antibiotics didn't target the specific bacteria or when dealing with a particularly resistant strain. If the infection is truly gone and there is still increased frequency, checking bloodwork for kidney or endocrine related problems such as diabetes is ideal. So consult with your vet to inform about your dog asking to go out hourly just to play it safe if certain things weren't considered. It would be awful if she truly has a medical issue going on and we're trying to make her hold it longer. I hope this helps, Best, Adrienne

Hi Jennifer, I was thinking of you the other day as I was reading a great book about dog noses: "Being a Dog, Following the Dog Into a World of Smell" by Alexandra Horowitz. One chapter explains how smell to a dog is never the same. Every day, every moment it's as if those doggy noses capture different nuances and facets of life. It might be scent of pollen from weeds and flowers wafting through the breeze, the scent of bugs, animals and people, or humid molecules associated with distant thunderstorms. Every day there are new scents and dogs seem to never grow tired of exploring them. To quote the author "Each departure from the house brings a new scene, one never visited. Each day, each hour, wears a new smellscape. There is no such thing as “fresh air” to a dog. Air is rich: an olfactory tangle that the dog’s nose will diligently unknot." To us microsomatic beings a spot may just seem like the same each day, to our dogs, macrosomatic animals par excellence, there's surely a lot going on there. It's hard to imagine how the world must feel to a dog when us humans can just detect 1 teaspoon of sugar in cup of coffee, while our dogs can detect a teaspoon of sugar in a million gallons of water. Crazy as it sounds, that's just about the size of two Olympic-sized pools!

Hi Peter.glynn, Sounds like you're on a roll! Kudos to you for taking your time in training your pup, border collies are very smart and love keeping their brains busy. The issue you are facing is not unusual. Dogs do best initially learning in areas without distractions, and then you must gradually increase distractions going at your dog's pace. If your wife is such a strong distraction, you can perhaps try the exercise with your wife at a distance where your puppy is under threshold. You can read about threshold levels here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/threshold-levels/ So find that "sweet spot" where your puppy can see your wife but he remains to a good extent under control. Skip when your wife comes home from work as he may be extra excited to see her, wait for him to get calmer. Ask your wife to just stand there, not look at your dog and not doing anything in particular or maybe just looking at her phone. Practice the exercise at a distance for some time until you get a solid response. Then, practice with your wife closer, then progress from there. If any time, your puppy gets distracted, then you know your wife is too close and your puppy is too excited to focus. Increase distance again momentarily and then again trying at gradually closer distances. Progress to the point where your wife is standing next to you and you can get your pup to focus on you. You may need to use extra valuable, smelly treats (think freeze-dried liver) as the distance decreases so to overcome the distraction at first. Same with the leash. Have your wife stand at a distance from your pup and practice heeling back and forth with high-value treats watching for signs of your puppy going over threshold, and increasing distance as needed. If your dog pulls towards her, make an about face and walk the opposite direction increasing distance until he's able to focus again. Make it a fun activity (talk to your puppy with silly voices if it helps in between using your smacking sound!) and very rewarding (reinforce every step at first with a treat). You want your puppy to form positive associations with you so he'll want to stick with you more and more because it's so much fun. Distractions are not to be feared, but should actually be embraced as opportunities to improve. These challenges ultimately make us better trainers. Glad to hear you have your pup enrolled in puppy classes, they can be very helpful! Happy training! Best, Adrienne

You're very welcome. Biting the lead is not uncommon in puppies and it's often seen as a result of play or excessive emotional states (excessive excitement, frustration) that the puppy doesn't know how to cope with. Teething can act as an aggravating factor considering that puppies finish teething anywhere between 6 to 8 months. Here are a few ideas that come to mind (I might have offered similar ones in another post so I apologize in advance if this is repeat information) -Try to focus on getting your puppy to perform desirable behaviors rather than trying to stop an unwanted behavior. We want to do as much as possible to prevent rehearsal of the behavior (the more dogs engage in a problem behavior the more it puts roots and becomes a difficult habit to eradicate) by asking for/engaging in alternate behaviors. -Try redirection. If your puppy bites the leash the moment you put it on, ask your puppy to sit in front of the door and reward the nice sit with a treat. Sitting will keep your puppy's mind off the leash as he awaits for his treat and then keeps his mouth busy eating it. Once you provide the treat, be ready to walk out the door so your pup can focus on outdoor stimuli rather than thinking about the leash again. -Have a back-up plan. If your puppy goes to bite the leash the moment he gets up from sitting, take it off and sit on the couch. Rep after rep, puppies learn fast that their behavior results in no walks. -Offer a stuffed animal to carry. Use one your puppy doesn't see often. Many puppies will happily carry the stuffed animal which will keep their minds off the leash. -If your puppy is particularly eager to play tug, make sure that during the day you provide outlets for this need with tug toys. While you're at it, make sure you put playing with the tug toy on cue. Tell your dog "take!" when you present the tug toy. Teach your puppy also to drop in exchange for a treat. -If the biting happens on walks, train your puppy to heel and deliver treats at a high rate so to help keep your puppy's attention on the treats rather than on the leash. Practice a few steps at a time and then progress to more steps. The goal is to make the activity far more rewarding than biting the leash. -Some puppy owners have success switching to a harness that clips on the back. With the leash no longer dangling in front of their pup's faces, puppies soon learn to ignore the leash. -While there is always the option of switching to a chain leash (which puppies don't typically like to chew on), it's important to consider that this solution won't fix the issue. However, it can be used as a last resort as a management measure while alternative behaviors such as sitting and heeling are trained. Hope this helps, Best, Adrienne

Since your puppy tends to nip/bite, you can use targeting as a way to shift his focus from biting hands to nose touching them. You can do several reps using a portion of your pup's kibble tossed away from you as a reward. You can schedule several training sessions (like 3 times a day) of various commands/brain games lasting 5-10 minutes each switching commands/games to prevent your smart border collie from getting bored. Of course, this is just a general guideline, some puppies may do well with more sessions while for others this may be enough. Watch your puppy for signs of getting bored/tired and if you notice any, cut the sessions short next time before reaching this point. Always end training on a positive note (letting your puppy do something correctly and praising rewarding). You can use any verbal cue (touch, target) as long as it's only used for that exercise and it doesn't sound too similar to other verbal cues. Happy training!

Hi Peter, We may never know for sure what they perceive us as exactly when they play with us, but most likely, they simply perceive us as play mates because when puppies leave the breeder, they leave behind their littermates with which they have played with for several weeks. So when they come to our new homes, they seek to continue play, only that, when they have no other dogs to play with, they seek play with us. If your wife is for the most part at work, since you are around more often, he may simply seek interaction and play with you more often, hence why you are his favorite playmate to nip. Also, if you tend to move a lot and encourage him to play with you by going on a ll fours, he'll think you are much more fun to play with. I would not encourage this though (going on all fours) if this triggers his mounting and biting. While the grabbing and nipping may be somewhat tolerable at this time, we want to address this before the age of 7 to 8 months when those permanent teeth are in and the jaws get much stronger. A good way to accomplish this is by redirecting to toys. Here are a few tips: -Since border collie puppies enjoy quick movements, you can use this to your advantage to redirect your puppy from your hands, ankles and feet to toys. Make toys particularly salient by wiggling them or tossing them around. -Avoid encouraging rough play by wrestling or offering a hand or arm to grab onto. -Avoid correcting puppy nipping by smacking puppies on the nose, closing their mouths with hands, pushing them away or alpha rolling them. This may trigger biting, but this time, no longer out of play, but defensively. -Redirect your puppy to an alternate activity any time you see him approaching you with the intent to bite. Carry balls in your pocket or a tug toy or a stuffed Kong to shift his focus. -Ask your puppy to target your hands rather than bite them. When he targets your hand, toss a kibble across the room. Repeat several timers. -Encourage brain games and fun games such as hide-and-seek as outlined in the brain training for dogs section. -Get your border collie puppy used to handling (having his ears touched, paws touched, coat brushed) by creating positive associations with treats. Every time you touch your puppy, feed him a treat until he seems to tolerate handling better. Practice often. -Border collies (as other active dog breeds) have many needs! Provide ample opportunities for training, play, socialization and mental stimulation. -Puppy classes offer a good opportunity to train your puppy manners and how to properly interact with other dogs and people. -When all of your border collie's needs are met and he keeps nipping, consider that he may just be cranky and in need of a nap. Provide him with a dark quiet area to rest with a safe chew toy. Chances are, he'll chew the toy a bit and then fall soundly asleep. If you search puppy biting or puppy nipping in the search bar of this forum you will find many others dealing with similar issues and lots of other tips and ideas.

Another option would be a timer, like an egg timer starting it with 5-10 extra seconds (just enough for your to get back to your dog with all the necessary items ready in your hands and get started).

Since your puppy has had all his vaccinations and he is 5 months old, walks offer a great opportunity for learning good leash manners and continuing socialization. Here is how to teach heeling: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/heeling-attention-heeling/ While the park may seem far if it's half hour to go and half hour to come back, walking around your neighborhood is a sensible choice until you can ask your vet for specific exercise recommendations based on your pup's developing anatomy and physiology. In between walks, socialization and opportunities to nap, you also want to ensure to provide training, brain games and access to interactive toys. You can turn games of fetch into more structured activities by inserting some obedience in them. For example, ask your puppy to sit every time you toss the ball to reward calm behaviors, and with tug, ask your pup to "drop" on request. Most dogs will drop the tug if you stop tugging, freeze and present a treat. The moment your pup drops the toy, praise, reward with the treat, then ask your pup to sit and then invite him to play again saying 'take'. More on how to train drop here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/drop-it/ A 5 months, doggy adolescence is right around the corner, here's just a head's up on what to expect: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/survive-dogs-adolescent-stage/ Hope this helps, Best, Adrienne

Border collies can be a handful! They have boundless energy and strong instincts due to their history of being selectively bred as herding dogs. If he is trying to bite you when you go to put on the leash, it may be because he doesn't like to be touched when you put it on, (or perhaps he bites simply because your hand is so close to his head) or he is too excited/aroused about going out. Here are some tips: 1) You can try to distract him with a treat held between your fingers in one hand as you clip on the leash with your other hand. Practice several times, snapping the leash on and unsnapping it as you feed a treat. Do several of these trials several times a day until he seems more collaborative. You want him to form positive associations with the leash being snapped on and off so that he looks forward to it rather than dread it. 2) If he knows sit, make it a habit of asking him to sit while you put the leash on. This will help tone down the excitement and your dog learns that you'll clip on the leash only when he is calm. Find how to train sit here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/sit/ What if your dog gets up from sitting right when you are about to clip on the leash? In that scenario, stop trying to clip the leash, turn around, and walk away. By doing this, you are informing your dog that their excited behavior sends you away. Be Persistent: Come back and try again. If your dog is still wiggly and bouncy and tries biting, make a turn and try again. At some point, your dog will tire out from acting excited and will get the message. You should, therefore, start seeing some calmer behaviors. At that point, ask for the sit, clip the leash on, give a treat and go for a walk. Make sure you exit the door only when your dog is in a calmer state of mind. It may take some time to get out of the door the first few times, but since you keep going towards the door and then turning the moment your dog acts hyper, your dog will get tired; you will eventually start to see a calmer dog. Things get better once your dog understands that calmness equals walking towards the door and getting out. If you are consistent, you should notice an improvement. I will be sharing some ideas for providing exercises and mental stimulation in the next post.

Hi Peter Glynn, Just wanted to let you know that I am working on some tips for you and will get back to you shortly this evening.

You're very welcome! Sends pats to Poppy for me, Best, Adrienne

That's where a helper comes handy, he/she may count or hold the stopwatch/timer and activate it for you. If you have a watch in your wrist, you can start it and quickly proceed to do the exercise ( although you may lose a split second or a second), or alternatively, you can record your exercises and see how long it takes after watching it.

Hello and welcome to the forums! A stop watch or timer may be your best bet because it's difficult to count while you need to be focus on what your dog is doing along with juggling with a target stick, clicking and rewarding. A helper comes handy if you want somebody counting for you.

Hello, and welcome to the forums, Great Pyrenees are great dogs and very intelligent, but they can sometimes seem a bit aloof due to their tendency to want to check things out and pace around the yard to verify scents and sounds. I wonder if this is what you are seeing? Is this your first Pyr? How old is he? He might be in the adolescent stage when they can act a bit odd. Bonding can take time to build in some dogs like the Pyr due to their independent nature (they were selectively bred to be livestock guardians) so this can make them somewhat different compared to certain dogs breed that were selectively bred to be more like loyal companions.

Hello, and welcome to the forums! I hear you, many puppy and dog owners deal with such issues. One first step if she is indiscriminately and constantly on the prowl for something to eat and the items she eats are things that aren't normally considered edible, (like rocks, dirt, socks, sticks, paper, cigarette butts, etc) is to mention this to your vet as some dogs who eat odd things almost compulsively may be suffering from pica - an abnormal craving to eat items that are not food that may be caused by nutritional deficiencies, digestive issues and sometimes can be a sign of obsessive compulsive behaviors. With health issues ruled out just to be safe, two very important life-saving commands you may want to practice, practice and practice and master up to a highly fluent level are the leave it and drop it commands. You can find how to train them here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/take-leave-it/ https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/drop-it/ Going to grab things from the mouth is not an optimal solution considering that it may lead to dogs who become more and more reluctant to relinquish items by playing keep-away, swallowing items before you can get them (very dangerous as these can be toxic things or dogs may ingest large items that may cause blockages), or even resource guarding when push comes to shove. The fact that you can only get her sometimes to trade, and sometimes not, is a sign that she hasn't been trained to a certain level of distraction yet. However, this can take time. In the meanwhile, a muzzle can be a sensible solution that may come handy, but mostly for management purposes. However, while the muzzle can be a good management tool, it's not a solution. A muzzle (make sure it's the type that allows your dog to pant) should be therefore used as a temporary measure while investing time on perfecting the leave it and drop it commands. So to tackle the issue here are a few tips: 1) Practice leave it/drop it in the home in controlled setting until fluent. For example, you can have her on leash at home initially and create some setups like practice walking her past safe toys she usually sees in the home, saying "leave it" and praising and rewarding her for leaving them. Then progressing to practicing with new safe toys or other safe toys she doesn't see too often. Then practice off leash until obtaining a solid response. 2) Then practice leave it in the yard initially on the leash, then on a long line, and then off leash using toys once again, and then try to practice walking past toys on the ground on a brief walk on leash nearby your home. 3) Next, you can practice some set-ups: try to place some large sticks (that she can't grab and ingest in a mouthful) in some areas you walk with your dog and make a mental note of where they are. Practice walking past these sticks saying your "leave it" cue. You may have to use very high value treats to help with this distraction if sticks are very valuable to her. Remember that what you offer when trading needs to be higher in value than the item left. 4) As well as with leave it, practice "drops its" first in the home, then in the yard and then on walks using toys. At first, you will show the treat you will trade with, but then at some point early on, you need to say “drop it” without showing her the treat. This is important to avoid falling into the trap of dogs who won't drop until they see what they are offered. Make sure the action of dropping becomes almost reflexive. It's a matter of trust so practice always with food to exchange. These are all cold trials to prepare for a possible big day when we might be caught empty handed. Ideally, when your dog picks up something from the ground that she shouldn't have, you should praise her and if trained fluently, she should come to you to trade whatever it is with a tasty chew or a treat. On walks, always hold in your pocket or treat bag some very high value treats or even try a longer lasting treat (like a large cookie) to swap with your dog should she get a hold of something she shouldn't. If she ever gets a hold of something you want to be ready to say "drop it" and then praise and swap with the high value treat. Of course, prevention is worth a pound of cure, so if you can scan the road ahead for any odd items laying on the ground, you can avoid them, or at least, once she's fluent walk around them at a distance that she cannot reach, them but see them, and use these situations to your advantage as a training opportunity for practicing "leave its." Because training fluent leave its and drop its (along with recalls) is important for safety, it's always ideal to have a dog trainer provide in-person coaching and assistance considering that these commands can turn out being life saving. So I always recommend this for those who have the time and will and are struggling with these commands. Hope this helps! Best, Adrienne

Oh, great! Good to hear, I was wondering about how things were going! Yes, your plan makes sense and it sounds like a good middle-ground option. Slow and steady wins the race, which means you may have to go very gradual in the transition. Although, there are also ways to train dogs to stay put in the bedroom and not wander around at night or they can transition from a crate to a larger soft play pen for the night if kept in the bedroom. The noise of a dog moving in a crate at night can be very annoying! If she struggles with the bedroom door closed, there's also the option to install a baby gate so that she can still see through the bars versus a door which removes all the reassuring visuals and buffers sounds (many dogs feel reassured by just hearing their owners breathing). Calming aids such as pheromone plug-ins, calming music played etc. can sometimes also help with transitions from one room to another. Also, as Jennifer pointed out, a blanket over the crate may help reduce barking if there is light seeping through windows in the morning and awakening your dog which may trigger early morning barking. So you have several options there and back-up plans if things don't progress as planned.

Hello Peter Glynn, The behavior is not unusual if that is what you're concerned about. If you ever watch dogs latch onto tug toys and keep their hold even when the toy is lifted, you can see how strongly they can hold. You can also see that strong grip in the sport of Schutzhund when the agitator's sleeve is attacked. Ouch, I imagine that vice-like grip on the arm must be hurting if you don't have some padding! It may be best to redirect this behavior from the arms to tug toys or flirt poles because if the puppy finds it fun (which I am sure it is), it risks becoming a behavior that will keep repeating and can of course, can get quite out of hand!

Cockapoos are very smart and social dogs who particularly love to be with their families (as many of the smaller dog breeds who were selectively bred for a good extent to be companions). Generally, with puppies it's a good idea to start with them in a crate in the bedroom (next to the bed the first nights) and then move them very gradually away if the bedroom is not going to be their permanent area, although most dogs do best sticking nearby if that is possible as they feel reassured by their owner's presence. It may be possible with time as she grows more confident (and steps are taken to help her increase her independence so to better keep her under threshold) that she may be gradually moved again to the kitchen. Generally, sleeping in the same bed with the owners can be counterproductive in dogs who show signs of separation anxiety, but sharing the bedroom or keeping the dog nearby, can be a good middle ground that reassures the dog, reduces stress and keeps the dog under threshold-and of course, also helps keep neighbors happy:)

You're very welcome. Kudos to you for getting her to use her paws in such a productive way! Your pup must be adorable! Best, Adrienne

Well, with the many odd things dogs do, we can often only speculate until a day comes when dogs can talk and tell us what's really going on their heads! By looking at a dog's conformation in respect to ours, I agree with your theory about him just being utterly oblivious. I am guessing that a certain level of clumsiness must come with being four-legged, I mean it in the sense that dogs, unlike us, have four legs and their back feet aren't as visible to them as our front feet are to us. It's easy therefore for dogs to accidentally step (with their back legs in particular) on things they shouldn't. Which brings me to something really icky that happened a few days ago. Einstein accidentally stepped on his poop with his back legs after pooping. Of course, this wasn't intentional and I could tell by his face that he was really upset about it because he was walking very gingerly away with a disgusted expression on his face. Of course, it was my unpleasant task to clean up and I was lucky to have had handy wet wipes in my car. Another possible theory is that foot stepping has become part of a reinforcement-based stimulus package associated with closeness to you. If he's coming close to you seeking your attention and touch, and your feet are in the way (feet must be a bit cumbersome if we look at them from Rover's perspective aren't they?) it's almost inevitable he'll step on them. If coming closer to you (and stepping on your feet in the process) results in you looking at your dog, talking to your dog or petting your dog, (which are all signs of attention), you can bet that the foot stepping and coming into close proximity to you are behaviors that will be reinforced, and therefore, will repeat. Emotional arousal is likely also a big contributing factor. Dogs who step on feet perhaps may be too overwhelmed with emotions to realize what they are doing. So for example, dogs may be too excited or too anxious to realize what they are doing with their feet. Just a few ideas...

Hi Dave, Many times this type of barking can be solved by simply moving the crate in the bedroom or at least by the entrance of the bedroom. Anything that allows her to see you/hear you, perceive your proximity and feel part of the family. Many dogs wake up in the middle of the night wondering where their family is and then fall back asleep reassured of hearing their owners breathing or just anything that informs them of close proximity. If your dog is far away in the kitchen, upon waking up she may feel away from her social group, her family. On top of this, if you get up to and walk into the kitchen when she barks to tell her to shush, you will have reinforced her barking which creates a habit of her barking every night just to be reassured of your presence. If she would be closer, there may be chances she won't need to do this anymore or she may do this less. On top of this, dogs with anxiety need their restorative sleep and rehearsing their anxiety creates a vicious cycle. Howling is something dogs often do when they are away from their social group and want to reunite. With her family close by, she may therefore no longer feel a need for this. Hope this helps, Best, Adrienne

Sounds like a plan! Keep me posted on how things go, Best, Adrienne

Thanks for this update: it sounds like that or he's feeding off her emotions when she sounds the alarm (when dogs are walked together they tend to feed off each others' emotions) or perhaps a combo of both factors. It's nice to hear he's been behaving so nicely with all these dogs!

Sounds like she's perhaps overly excited or frustrated or trying to engage you in a different form of play (tug). A bit challenging to tell without seeing the behavior. In any case, I like that when you stand and don't move (your movement is what triggers the biting) she seems to calm down and sits. That's what we want. I would reward that sit with a toss of the ball if she's eager to play fetch. It would be great to shape this and make it a habit. Toss ball, bring ball, sit, toss ball, repeat. It's a lesson in impulse control, the Premack Principle to be exact; where "you can get your ice-cream (ball tossed) only after you eat your broccoli (dog sits)." Once you are done playing, you need though to outsmart her though and find a way to go back inside the house without her attacking you. Here are some options that you can try: -Wear tall boots (like Wellington boots): many puppies lose interest when biting boots also because when wearing boots we are less likely to get hurt and move. Movement is what mostly attracts puppies so lack of movement makes feet/legs lose their big appeal. Wait for her to calm down and toss the ball only when calm. -You can try holding several balls in a bag and every time your pup returns the ball rather than bending down to get the ball (and making yourself vulnerable to being bitten) you can just toss another ball from your bag before she has the chance to come to bite. -Redirect her biting to a long tug toy or flirt pole. Keep these handy so that you have them ready to redirect at a moment's notice. It sounds like your pup may enjoy playing tug or chasing a flirt pole. When it's time to go back inside, try to let her chase this toy wiggling it on the floor rather than focusing on your legs. If she focuses on your legs, stop, turn boring and wait for her to tire/redirect to the toy. -The main goal in getting a puppy to stop attacking feet/hands/arms is to teach the puppy that it's boring playing with body parts because there are far better forms of play out there. Move less and make your toys move more. Wriggle them, toss them, provide toys that contain food. With their strong urge to bite and play satiated with better forms of play, soon, puppies should outgrow the habit of chasing feet/legs just as they outgrow the habit of chasing their tails. -Provide your puppy with a structured program involving games, training and mental stimulation during the day. A 10 to 15 minute session every 90 minutes should help in channeling a pup's urge for playing and discharging pent-up energy during the day. If the behavior you see is after staying indoors all day, it could be she has excess energy. -Finally, and I know this is the opposite of what just mentioned above, but it happens at times that puppies are provided with too much excitement and stuff going during the day that lead to considerable tiredness and over stimulation. Young puppies as yours need to play, be socialized and trained, but they also need to sleep and they can get cranky and bitey when they are tired. Sometimes puppies are just misbehaving because they are tired but can't self-sooth. Maybe she's tired of chasing the ball and is looking for a less "intensive" form of play and is trying to switch to tug. If all your puppy's needs are met, give your puppy a safe chew to gnaw on his/crate in a quiet dark room. Your puppy should find his/her off switch and should soon fall soundly asleep. The good news is that biting is often just a temporary phase (some call it the "crocopup phase") that passes if the pup is provided with structured games, training interactive toys and of course brain games (check out the treasure hunt game, muffin game, ball pit game, the bottle game -supervised if she tends to ingest parts- which you can find in the brain game section of the course) and things tend to gets better as the puppy matures.