Adrienne Farricelli

Hello Manida, Resource guarding in dogs is a very context-based form of aggression. In other words, the aggression is evoked contingent upon the threat of losing possession of something perceived valuable to the dog. Therefore, you will see the aggressive behavior start when the dog is in possession of something (bone, toy, favorite person, resting area etc) and a person or other animal comes near. The aggressive display (growling, hovering over the possession, direct stare, teeth baring etc) is a distance-increasing behavior and therefore tends to escalate the closer the other animal or person comes near. I don't see in your post any pattern of this behavior taking place. The trainer you have taken your dog to seems to have assumed that your dog may have been exhibiting what's known as barrier "aggression." You can read more about it here: Barrier frustration in dogs However, in barrier frustration there's a common element: the dog acts "aggressive" when on leash, but then once off leash. he plays well with other dogs without any incidents. It may therefore be that your dog is not a frustrated greeter after all considering the recent incidents. However, we can't say this with certainty, and we would need to know what exactly evokes the behavior. Something to consider is breed. It may be your dog has genuine amicable intentions intitially, but then things get out of hand. Your dog may be therefore simply engaging in what he thinks is his job: correcting and keeping everyone in line as he would do when herding sheep. Some dogs like to also take the "fun police" role and correct any rowdy play. Dog parks may therefore stimulate this response in some dogs. Of course, allowing to rehearse this behavior is not productive and I agree with you that its best to avoid dog parks, at least for now. The good thing is that there are many alternatives to dog parks for exercising dogs and in more comtrolled settings (structured walks, hikes, brain games, doggy sports, nosework etc.) Check with your vet though before enrolling your dog in dog sports or other activities like jogging on hard surfaces to check when to expect those growth plates to close and it's OK to start such activities. To answer your question whether this is fixable, it may likely be, but it would require some behavior modification (under the guidance of a behavior professional for safety and correct implementation/make sure he/she is using positive training and behavior modification methods). However, there are no guarantees it may work well to the extent of being able to totally relax when at a dog park because the dog park is not a controlled setting and many things can go wrong there (even with a dog who has always gotten along with other dogs). It is much easier to work on training good leash manners if your dog has a tendency to lunge and bark, because you can control distance and keep an eye on his threshold levels. This would be a good starting point. Behavior modification for lunging and barking towards other dogs often entails working on recognizing threshold levels, desensitization and counterconditioning (for dogs who do not like other dogs near) or differential reinforcement of incompatible behaviors (mostly for frustrated greeters, or for dogs who previosuly didn't like other dogs near after their emotional response has changed in regards to proximity). Here are some helpful reads on dog behavior modification that may be helpful if you ever decide to pursue enlisting the help of a professional: Threshold levels: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/threshold-levels/ Desensitization: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/desensitization/ Counterconditioing:https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/counterconditioning/ Differential reinforcement of incompatible behaviors:https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/differential-reinforcement-incompatible-behaviors/ Attacking other dogs on walks: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/attacking-dogs-walks/

While luring is a quick way to get results, its major drawback is that it can turn into "bribery" if the lure is not faded promptly.You know you are bribing when: -you continue using food as a lure even once your dog has learned the behavior -your dog does not obey until you reach into your pockets -your dog thinks the action of getting food is the actual cue for the behavior -you find yourself reaching for food when your dog is not responding as wished -you are consistently showing food before asking your dog to do something -your dog believes his behavior is contingent upon seeing the treat You know you are NOT bribing when: -You stop using food as a lure once your dog has learned the behavior -your dog obeys with food out of sight -your dog reliably starts responding to visual signals or verbal cues -you do not need to reach for food to have your dog obey -you are giving food after the dog has actually performed the wanted behavior -your dog believes his reward is contingent upon performing the behavior Now, sometimes, dogs may have a bit of problems when fading food lures. Some dogs may heavily rely on the visual aspect of the treats, that if they do not see them, they do not perform the behavior. These dogs are often perceived as stubborn as it looks like they are not performing the behavior because there's no food so it looks like they are going on strike, but it's likely just a matter of the dog not following the empty hand because there's no longer anything to follow. It's sort of like us when we are used to driving on the highway following signs to our favorite restaurant, but one day the signs are missing and we are a bit lost. So here are a few steps to help fading the food lure. All it takes often is breaking the process into smaller steps. So we try making the food lure gradually smaller and smaller, protruding less and less from out of our fingers until it's barely there and then completely gone. If the dog still has difficulty, we can pass some treats on our hands rubbing them so our hands still carry the heavy scent of the food (this works well with hounds) and proceed as if we still have food in our hands. Another option is to do several reps quickly in a row with the food showing and then in the midst of these, as the dog gains momentum, do one without the treat being visible. Then, the percentage of treat-less reps should be increased gradually. Finally, it's a good idea at some point to aim on doing several reps every now and then with no treats on you or inside your treat bag. Ask your dog a behavior and then say "yes!" enthusiastically and both of you rush to go get a cookie from a cookie jar or you grab your dog's already filled up dish bowl you have prepared earlier and placed in a cabinet ready to serve. The "yes" in this case works as a "bridge" connecting the performed behavior with a reinforcer albeit the reinforcement occurs a few seconds later and at a distance. Once your dog performs the behavior fluently at least 80 percent of the time even around distractions (this may take 1-2 months, but there are many variables) then it may be time to move to a variable schedule. It's important to not move from continuous to variable too quickly as that's often when the behavior starts breaking down. Now, a variable schedule means that your dog's behavior still gets some form of reinforcement every time he performs the behavior correctly, only thing is that it won't always be food. This is when you can use secondary reinforcers (things your dog has learned to like because of a history of pairing with primary reinforcers) such as praise words. For example, if you tell your dog “Good Boy!” and follow up with a treat several times, eventually it can be used to reinforce behaviors, even that day you forgot your treats at home. However, something important to consider it that you need to imaintain this association for part of the time if you want it to stay strong enough to keep reinforcing behavior. Hope this helps, happy training!

OK, now to picking up toys and holding them and then giving them. This is not an easy task. It sounds easy and looks easy, but it is not, especially if the dog in question is not a breed known for retrieving items, (and even among these breeds there are often challenges). We usually train picking up things, holding them and giving them to the owner with service dogs as we need them sometimes to grab things dog owners drop on the floor and it's one of the things that pose challenges at times. It's a form of advanced training for many dogs and for a good reason, the task of picking up toys and putting them in a basket (which is similar to bringing to the owner and dropping in the hands) is listed in the brain games section of this course at the Einstein level (which is the last, most advanced one). This may therefore be too difficult for your dog to train at this time and pushing it too much, may make her confused and reluctant to further training because she has asociated it with being too difficult. If you are following the obedience course, I would stick for now to just training a simple "take" without the bringing it to you portion at least for a little bit until she becomes a faster and more enthuasiastic learner. Steps for training "Take" are outlined here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/take-leave-it/ You can also find some troubleshooting tips for "take'' in this thread: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/forum/showthread.php?40-Take-Leave&highlight=pick I will be back shortly to offer some tips on how to get a dog to rely less on the visual aspect of treats.

Thanks for the clarifications. I will try to address the issues you are facing one by one in separated posts. Let's start first with the difficulties in training indoors and the problems associated with repeating commands. You would have to carefully evaluate what changes have taken place between the time she was interested in training and now. Here are some suggestions on what to evaluate: -Use of less high-value treats at home versus outside. While I may suggest sometimes kibble to train indoors, it's for dogs who love their kibble and you can see they love it from their level of motivation to continue the training. If you are using treats that she doesn't seem too enthusiastic about, try a different type. -Make training a super fun and rewarding activity. Like, when training recalls (coming when called) make it a super fun activity that is highly-rewarded. Call your dog for meal times, perhaps have a helper hold your dog on leash as your dog hears you or sees you prepared food, then once done, call your dog (helper releases leash) and ask your dog to sit and put the food bowl down. If your dog loves going on walks, ask for a sit before putting the leash on and going out the door. If your dog loves to play with toys, ask for a sit before you toss the ball or toy. Make training super fun. Hide a stuffed Kong behind your back, ask for a sit or down, then once yor dog sits or lies down, reward by giving it. Make it a daily habit. Play a fun game where you ask for a sit and then toss the treat instead of hand feeding it. Use a happy voice when your dog performs the behavior, pet your dog, and toss treats in the air (or just get a treat and break it into several pieces and toss). -Consider the level of motivation outside versus inside (perhaps outside there is more motivation to help the dog suceeed due to social pressure). For example, we may use a more enticing tone of voice outdoors to make ourselves more interesting to get ourselves out of sticky situations. For example, I may do my best when training outdoors to keep a dog I am training from wanting to jump on people by using high-value treats to reward a few steps of heeling, movement and an interesting tone of voice to keep the dog to stick by my side. -As mentioned, asking more challenging behaviors indoors can have a negative impact. When the training becomes too difficult or confusing, dogs then have a negative experience with training and this can put a dent in progress and training altogether. To solve something like this, we need to take baby steps, be extra clear on what we are trying to train and use a high rate of reinforcement to keep the dog motivated. Ending a training session on a positive note is very important as it's beleived to be the last thing that sticks to the dog's mind and is carried to the next session. -When training indoors, we may get more easily frustrated. It's important to spit training is smaller steps and stop a training sessions before we get to this point as training once again may assume negative connotations in sensitive dogs. Again, always end a training session asking something the dog knows how to do well and reward so to leave a last positive impact. Resume later. Now to the subject of repeating cues over and over. Repeating a cue over and over may lead to a phenomenon known as learned irrelevance. The dog may be slow to respond or doesn't respond at all. So in the case of saying "sit, sit, sit ' over and over, one has simply trained the dog, after a series of repetitions, that the actual command is now ''sit, sit, sit'' and no longer just "sit." The dog may therefore listen only after hearing sit sit sit three times, just like a child may learn not to attend to mom the first time she tells him to do his homework because he's waiting for her to say it again and again until she rushes into his room to shut off the TV. Repeating a cue over and over may also sometimes lead to the cliche' of increasing the tone to a more authoritarian one. We may therefore start with a calm "sit" and then, as frustration builds in, we may use a much louder or much harsher tone of "I mean business." This tendency to escalate will only lead to further problems. Dogs will wonder why their owners are getting madder and madder each time, and owners may wonder why their dogs are getting more and more stubborn. Let's take a closer look into the dynamics taking place. When some sensitive dogs perceive the build-up of frustration in their owners, they will often shut down and just freeze or they may engage in calming signals which are often misinterpreted as the dog simply being stubborn. Calming signals in dogs are behaviors dogs engage in as an attempt to calm their owners' down. The dog may therefore perhaps yawn, turn around, sniff the ground, move in slow motion, walk away or lick his lips. Dog owners at this point often get even more frustrated and give up training as they feel their dog is just plain stubborn. In some cases, dogs may end up actually slowly sitting upon hearing the owner says ''sit-sit!" in an angered tone of voice. In this case, the dog is likely simply sitting as a calming signal and most likely it's accompanied by other signs of appeasement such as looking away and licking his lips. But you may be wondering at this point, how can you train your dog again to realize that sit is a one-word cue and no longer two or three? It is quite easy. Grab some high-value treats, let your dog sample one (reinforcer sampling) so he knows what's in for him and then fill your pocket with a few and ask your dog to sit. You'll need to be waiting a little bit as you bite your tongue making sure you only say it once! Praise and reward if your dog happens to sit. Although this sit may be initially slow, you can always remedy this later by rewarding only the fasted sits. If your dog though doesn't respond and looks at you confused, you may have to take a few steps back in training and teach your dog again exactly the behaviour you want (by using prompts such as your hand signals) and then attaching its name once your dog gets the idea. This is OK to do because it's just temporary and you can then fade the prompts if you want to just stick to a verbal cue. Praise lavishly and reward when you accomplish your mission. Positive reinforcement as always is the best approach. Please note: If your command has been repeated too many times and has assumed negative connotations, you may be dealing with what's known as a "poisoned cue" (a cue that your dog has associated with something negative confusion or frustration) and therefore you may be better off starting using a fresh cue from the get-go (in other words, re-name it). These are just a few pointers as to some dynamics that may sometimes inadvertently take place when training and that may have an impact on the results. Of course, there may be several other things going on (like a dog feeling tired when home or perhaps stressed by indoor/outdoor noises etc) I will shortly post other troubleshooting tips for the other issues you are facing in my next post.

Great to hear you are training a nice solid sit when joggers and other people walk by. By doing so, you are training good impulse control and at the same time forming good positive associations with people (every time I see the jogger, I sit and get a tasty treat, I love joggers!). I love your other training plans as well (rewarding good loose-leash walking and recall work). It's quite interesting that she isn't eager to be trained indoors as I often stumble on the opposite problem: dogs who are too over treshold outdoors and are more challenging to train and won't even take treats. Things that may come to mind is that perhaps the things you are asking at home are more challenging? Will she sit and do a recall at home at all? or is it just training to pick up toys that you are struggling with? You also mentioned that "I also struggle a bit with taking away the snacks" can you please clarify this for me? Are you trying to train your dog to "leave it' when you drop snacks on the floor? What happens when you are taking away snacks? Also, please clarify "just using the word to make her do something" what word are you trying to use? Thanks for the clarifications! Adrienne

You are very welcome! I like you plan. Just to clarify, more than a dog trainer, you will need a behavior consultant. Dog trainers work on training behaviors (sit, down, heel etc) dog sports etc, while behavior consultants work on behavior cases and the field of changing emotions. Now, there are many dog trainers who also offer behavior consults, but behavior consultants have made the area of behavior their area of specialty, hence why many dog trainers refer behavior cases to veterinary behaviorists or certified applied animal behaviorists. I agree with you on the fact that dogs shouldn't be allowed to solve issues among themselves.This method of thought has left many dogs injured, veterinary blills and dog owners upset. Now, in some cases of resource guarding, there are often minor squabbles around resources, but these are just noisy affairs and nobody get hurt. Although loud, these cases may not always require professional intervention as the dogs are engaging in ritualized aggression (a way to ultimately avoid real aggression, dogs "using their words") and that's a form of communication just as sometimes children fights over a toy. However, there is always risks for things to escalate and this often happens if the other dog gets defensive towards the resource guarder rather than "apologizing" and retreating. I tend to be a proponent of reducing areas of conflict also to reduce the chances for stress in certain contexts and areas of the house. You are correct that in this case, the same methods of desensitization and counterconditioning would likely be applied. Things can get challenging though when there is no predictable antecedent. In behavior terms, an antecedent is what happens right before the behavior takes place. In other words, it's the trigger. A predictable trigger facilitates behavior modification because it provides the opportunity to recreate a similar circumstance but in a less threatening matter with the dog under threshold. Therefore, for example, let's say Dog A is the resource guarder and Dog B is the victim. If fights would occur most of the time around the dinner table when you and your boyfriend are eating, a sample of behavior modification would entail something as such: Dog B is kept on leash nearby the table and fed food (not necessarily food from the table to discourage begging, but just on a mat nearby the table), while Dog A is on leash at a distance held by a behavior professional and fed food as well just a split second after. Several reps of this take place over the course of several sessions. After several trials, Dog A should start looking forward to Dog B being fed food because it has become a predictor that Dog A will be getting food too. With time, more sessions are conducted at gradually closer distances, up until the dogs can be kept nearby with no tension. The ultimate goal may be to set up a nice dinnertime routine with both dogs laying on their mats. Dog B gets a long lasting treat to chew on like a bully stick and then Dog A also gets a bully stick. Dog A learns that when Dog B gets a bully stick, he will get a bully stick too and starts looking forward to it. Both dogs must learn a solid down stay and to not get off their mats until released by the owner. Care must be taken to avoid conflict after being released from the mats as sometimes one dog may want to check the others' area for leftover crumbs. Here' another example of behavior modification for resouce guarding: owner is cooking and Dog A approaches in the kitchen looking for food. Dog A is not fed any food until Dog B comes into the kitchen too. First sessions require both dogs on leash. Dog A is on leash and Dog B is on leash. Every time Dog B is brought into the kitchen, food is fed first to dog B, then to dog A. When dog B is not in the kitchen no food is ever fed. Dog A eventually learns that food happens only when Dog B is present. Of course, these above are just examples and only the behavior consulutant coming into the home to assess the behavior can assess which method would work best or may suggest some totally different methods. In any case, strict management (preventing access to resources) may be necessary in the meanwhile and a back-up plan for emergencies where one dog or both dogs are taught to respond quickly to a cue so to interrupt them quickly before there are chances for fights. All dogs in the household should have a fluent response to training cues so to have the situation better under control. As mentioned, though, there may be some cases where no major intervention is needed. Sometimes when dogs are new to each other, they need to establish what roles they play in their relationships and after a few squabbles at first then things just tend to adjust. However, sometimes things do escalate and often times it's because Dog B decides to become defensive one day or perhaps the resource at stake is too valuable to let go. There are several dynamics that can take place, hence why having a professional assess the situation in person is often the best option for safety and correct implementation of behavior modification.

Thank you for the further details! Honestly speaking, I would avoid putting dogs into situations that may deteriorate, and the one where the woman is throwing treats to all the dogs would make me nervous as I can see the potential for a fight to erupt (even among dogs who are not normally resource guarders), because there's just too much competition going on. If your dog gets along well and plays well with other dogs when there are no toys or food around, I feel it would be better to look for a dog park that has stricter rules about feeding dogs and bringing toys or a potentially better option may be finding a few dogs that match her energy levels and play styles and organizing some fun "play dates" with them. Of course, while always keeping in mind avoiding putting her in difficult situations that she may not know how to handle well. Now, a disclaimer is warranted here: there are always chances for possible altercations as we never know when a resource may 'pop up' from no where, even in a dog park (think the carcass of a dead bird or a leftover sandwich wrapper carried by the wind). A plan should be in place to cover these instances. For example, should a child playing nearby accidentally toss a ball close to a group a dogs, the owner should be able to redirect the dog before an accident happens by calling the dog. I find that a strong recall at a dog park is a must for several reasons, whether a dog is about to engage in bullying behaviors, a dog is being pestered or there is an opportunity for resource guarding or some other sort of problems. To answer your question, yes, there are ways to curb resource guarding between dogs but it would take implementing behavior modification in a very controlled setting and that is definetely not in a dog park. This would entail managing every session very carefully and preventing as much of possible rehearsal of the problematic behavior especially in the inititial stages. To work on the issue of resource guarding toys or food from other dogs, therefore it would be necessary to work with the resource guarder under threshold, starting from a distance far enough that the dog is relaxed with the other dog being around, despite the presence of a resource, and then, in time, distance can be gradually decreased. Behavior modification in this case mostly entails preventing rehearsal of problem behaviors and creating positive associations to situations that triggered mild resource guarding in the past. Behavior modification for resource guarding against other dogs usually entails desensitization and counterconditioning with the goal being teaching the dog who resource guards that the approach of other dogs makes great things happen. For safety, both dogs should be on leash and held by two different people. With time, after some reps and correct implementation, you would expect seeing the resource guarder beginning to relax and the expression should change from being worried to actually looking forward to the other dog coming near. Most dog owners would require the aid of a behavior professional (veterinary behaviorist, behavior consultant using positive behavior modirifaction methods) for safety and correct implementation at least to get started. Until then, prevention is neccessary by not providing anything a dog finds valuable when other dogs are near, and with good management so that the resiurce guarder doesn't have a chance for rehearsing the behavior, or worse, getting to steal chews/toys from other dogs which will only further reinforce the behavior. Albeit the fact that positive changes can be seen in resource guarders using behavior modification, there are never guarantees that the dog will be able to apply what he or she has learned in these controlled settings to a place like a dog park where there are often stranger dogs and variable dynamics. Following are some resources explaining some behavior modification terms more in detail: Under threshold: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/threshold-levels/ Desensitization:https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/desensitization/ Counterconditioning:https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/counterconditioning/

Hello Rebecca Monchon, Welcome to the forum. It is great to hear you have opened your home to a dog with such a sad past. She is very lucky to have you. Good to hear that now your two dogs can share toys. The changes you have seen in personality are not unusual. Many dogs get along well with other dogs at parks and play dates during puppyhood and then as they reach doggy adolescence and social maturity, things start changing. You can read more about the adolescent stage here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/survive-dogs-adolescent-stage/ Just to clarify: is the growling taking place when she is in possession of a toy or food or when the other dogs are in possession of it? To answer your question, I don't think your dog is acting "abnormally" as countless dogs growl when there is food or toys and other dogs around; however, this is a behavior that we do not want a dog to rehearse because it can escalate and lead to squabbles and sometimes even serious fights. Of course, these unpleasant situations can be easily avoided by simply avoiding areas where trouble like that may be brewing. This brings to the next question: Is this a regular park or a dog park? Many dog parks have strict rules of no toys, treats, food allowed so to prevent potential fights among dogs.

Please do not blame yourselves. Reducing nipping takes lots of consistency and a mindful purpose and loads and loads of patience. Often things get worse, before getting better. If your puppy is biting you less, it means that something you are doing must be working. With children, things are always more challenging because they move faster or scream or do other things that excite the puppy. It's important to monitor the interactions to ensure consistency. Everybody must be on the same page. Failure to have the same standards confuses the puppy and if the puppy gets to randomly perform the mouthy behavior, this will only make the behavior stronger. If the children are engaging in boisterous play among each other (running, screaming, playing with a ball) it is best to keep the puppy in another room to prevent her from getting too excited and engage in excessive biting and barking. Best to avoid the children engaging in games that encourage the pup to chase and nip at them. Remember that all interactions are training opportunities, so best to involve the puppy when the kids are calm and there is space for good learning opportunities. Make sure you are all ready for the training and equipped (treat bags on you, toys handy). Teach games that encourage the pup to use her brain (hide and seek, target, obedience training). Make more and more room for interactions that do not get her into full biting mode. Once she is doing better in controlling the barking/biting, then we can increase the challenge and try training her when there is more excitement going on. If the puppy is still biting the kids most of the time, keeping the puppy leashed when around the kids to prevent rehearsal of biting behavior may help (otherwise the puppy will keep seeing the kids as big tug toys). While on leash at a distance from the kids, you can try practicing replacement behaviors (sit, target, heeling nearby etc.) and reward these behaviors heavily until the puppy is very fluent on these and the pup learns that alternate behaviors are worthy and much better than biting. You can then try off leash and see if the kids can get the pup to perform them when she approaches them and toss a treat/kibble the opposite side of the room for a fun workout. At 12 weeks, a puppy will be still prone to bite, albeit with training and redirection, we should see a decrease in bite pressure and frequency. Twelve weeks is still a very young age. I usually expect the nipping to subside considerably by the age of 5-6 months. However, overtime you should see a reduction in the biting. It sounds worrisome though that you mention the word "aggressive." Occasionally, among all the pups that nip and bite, some may be particularly challenging and yes, may require the intervention of a professional to come in person and observe the body language and exact dynamics going on. Your case may be one of these. In a previous post I offered the following options to try: 1) Turn into a lamppost. This helps to make the rough nipping at your feet, arms, legs extra boring. When you are walking and you see your puppy approach, stop in your tracks and become boring like a tree. Movement as we have seen triggers more biting and the more we resist by moving, the more a puppy will latch on and treat us as tug toys. 2) Since your dog is doing good with training and loves treats, great! Let's use this as an opportunity to ask for a replacement behavior (that you have trained prior to the point of a certain level of fluency). As discussed, you have several options as to what replacement behaviors to use (target, sit, heel). They all offer the puppy an opportunity to perform a behavior that is incompatible with biting. Teaching these replacement behaviors requires you to carry a treat bag on you during the day so that you are a ready to redirect at a moment's notice when you walk around. Kibble rather than treats can be used for pups who love their food a lot and for those owners concerned about extra calories or digestive upset. 3) When the training session is done, to prevent the nipping behavior you can get creative and try several options. a) finish up with an interactive toy/game to keep her focus off of you. Ask for a last behavior, praise and reward by giving choice of a stuffed Kong, muffin tin game or a fun treasure hunt (toss handful of kibble in several directions) as you walk away b) let your pup chase a flirt pole as you walk out the yard and let her get some steam off in the yard (most dogs will sniff in the yard rather than focus on us, c) ask a last behavior and end the session by tossing a ball the opposite direction as you walk away d) ask your pup a last behavior and have a helper call your pup away and place a toy in the crate and let the pup chill out a bit in the crate e) have a toy handy in your pocket and end the training session by redirecting your pup to play with the toy (before the nipping begins). You mentioned that nothing works. Can you please provide more details on what happens when the kids turn into a lamppost and the puppy is asked to sit, target or perform a replacement behavior? Is the puppy fluent on these behaviors when asked during training? Is she unable to perform them when asked? When complying, is she rewarded with a treat/kibble tossed across the room? What happens if the puppy approaches and your children toss a ball the other way or offer her a stuffed Kong? What about tossing a handful of kibble across the room for a fun treasure hunt game? Is the puppy not play or food motivated? Most puppies will chase the ball and play with the Kong or search the kibble. Another additional option would be to incorporate clicker training and use a long rope toy knotted at both ends and click/treat everytime she grabs the rope toy instead of trying to grab a leg. This requires great timing and precision to ensure that she gets the idea that playing with the rope toy is what earns her the treat and that it is far more rewarding then legs. Running from the room unfortunately is one of worst things to do with a puppy who is biting. It will likely reinforce the biting as movement makes things much, much worse and adds chasing into the biting and barking behavior reportoire. It also risks increasing excitement as there's likely lots of commotion going on. The word "no" used on its own doesn't give the pup much information as the puppy needs to know what to do instead. Toys to chew may be fun when the puppy has nothing to do, but when the puppy is in biting mode, it's best to redirect using toys that bounce or deliver treats (stuffed Kong, Kong wobbler) as they become interactive and more valuable than biting moving hands or legs. Something to consider as well is that sometimes a puppy becomes more nippy when getting cranky and in need of a nap. When you notice the puppy starts getting out of control or over-stimulated, then it may be time to calmly put him her in the crate with a chew toy for a nap. If you notice aggression, then by all means, stop your children from interacting and consult with a credentialed professional (make sure he/she is using positive training and behavior modification methods) for an in-person assessment and behavior modification.

Social facilitation is the technical term for behavior that is socially influenced from one dog to another. One dog barks and the other follows. In socially facilitating barking, dogs feed off each others' alertness towards stimuli in the environment. Soon, you have dogs who make of barking at triggers their favorite pastime. Preventing rehearsal of the troublesome behavior is important so to prevent excessive barking to become the norm. Barking at triggers can soon get out of hand because it's reinforcing to the dog/dogs especially when the trigger the dog barks at moves away. This will create persistence in barking as the dogs will bark instistently until a trigger leaves. Reducing this form of barking would entail always monitored time out in the yard and redirection. Yard time should be quality time spent sniffing, exploring and interacting with the owner (playing brain games, playing with a ball, digging in authorized spots, and rewarding desirable behaviors as they unfold) rather than rehearsing problematic behaviors. I would suggest practicing with "look at that" starting first indoors and then moving to practicing this in the yard. You may start training this individually to each dog, starting with the one that is more likely to bark (if you can identify which one). Here is the section on how to train this: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/university/look-at-that/ In this section, at the bottom, you will find some tips on how to prevent rehearsal of territorial behaviors and tips on how to reduce barking at triggers from inside the home such as using window film: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/behavior-training/barking/other-triggers/ If you are able the identify certain souds that occur predictably during the day and set your dogs off, you can also work on "hear that" which is the auditory version of look of that. You can find some info on the "hear that" method here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/fear-noises/ And of course, keeping the dogs occupied during the day with brain games, obedience and walks will help reduce certain forms of barking because dogs are provided with "outlets" for pent up energy and this helps fullfill their need to have a "job," whereas dogs left in a yard with nothing better to do, may easily fall into the pattern of rehearsing undesirable behaviors such as barking, digging and chewing on stuff. Hope this helps! Best regards, Adrienne

OMD, your dogs are so silly, Gotta love them! :):D:D

The issue you are facing is not an uncommon one, indeed, it is actually one of the most common problems encountered when teaching a dog to fetch any item. Your dog breed is awesome for playing fetch due to thieir energy, determination and prey drive which are required to chase a ball over and over. Yet, while border collies have a good genetic makeup for chasing (as they were used to chase sheep and herd them for hours on end) their genes may not be that great for returning things as in certain predisposed retrieving breeds (golden retrievers, labs etc) which were selectively bred for retrieving downed birds and bringing them back to the hunter. However, even among retrieving breed specimens, not all of them come with a factory pre-installed fetching gene. That said, while a well-bred working retriever may retrieve by instinct, a border collie can also retrieve if we add enough incentive, which in this case would be some form of reward under the form of treats or simply tossing the ball again if a dog loves, loves, loves chasing it. There are several things we can try to help a dog who will chase but is reluctant to bring the ball back. Here is a little troubleshooting guide: -Avoid encouraging "keep away games." Often us dog owners inadvertently teach a dog to run away with an item rather than dropping it, by chasing our dogs around to get back an item rather than teaching the dog to drop. If your dog tends to pick up the ball when you move towards it or retrieves the ball you toss him and then runs away with it, perhaps giving you a play bow and waiting for you to chase him, then he's likely trying to play "keep away." It's best to avoid "playing" this game with dogs as it puts a dent in the future training of fetch. -Watch for possessive behaviors. Is your dog not returning the item because he hasn't been trained to do so or is he a tad bit possessive? Some dogs will chase a ball you toss them, but then, they take off with it playing with it at a distance from you or possibly lying down to chew on it. Being possessive over toys can put a dent in training a dog to fetch as dogs displaying this behavior may not want to bring the ball back. Dogs who resource guard will likely move away with the ball if you show any interest in the ball such as looking at it or moving towards the dog. If you have chased your dog in the past to retrieve an item he wasn't supposed to have, this could have instilled in him a fear of losing his possession and a need to protect certain items from you. If your dog ever shows signs of possessiveness over toys or other resources, play it safe and consult with a behavior professional. While some dogs who take off with balls may be possessive of toys, a large number of dogs simply do so because they weren't likely given an opportunity to learn the rules of playing fetch. These dogs therefore are just confused as they have no clue of what you're asking them to do. -This brings us to the next tip: Don't chase your dog when he has the ball or any other item he's not supposed to have. Avoid this type of conflict. Instead, teach your dog from the get-go that giving you the ball is very worthy. Train your dog to drop an item in exchange for a tasty treat. You can find how to train drop it here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/drop-it/ -Avoid using high-value toys for fetch in the initial stages such as toys recently purchased or toys your dog hasn't seen for a while. The more value a toy has, the more likely your dog will want to chew it or take off with it. Many dog trainers like to keep a toy exclusively for fetching so that the dog associates it with the game and it's not destined for chewing. -Fetching is much more than just ball chasing. At a closer insight, fetch is a game composed of several behaviors chained together. In order to fetch, a dog must first watch the owner toss the ball, pick it up wherever it falls, carry it for several steps, and then bring it to the owner dropping it into the owner's hands or at the owner's feet. It may therefore take several training sessions to train all these behaviors and then chain them together so that the dog performs the whole sequence. -Some dogs will chase a ball you toss, pick it up, take a few steps towards you and then drop the ball early, perhaps when they're halfway towards you, why is that? There may be various reasons for this. One of them is distractions. If your dog is walking towards you and you excitedly talk to him to encourage him to come towards you, your dog may perceive this as praise and if you have always praised him before giving him a treat, he may be dropping the ball so his mouth is empty and he can now run towards you ready for a treat. In other cases, it could be that the dog simply fails to realize that he can carry something as he comes to you. Sometimes early drops happen also when dogs start getting tired or bored so keep an eye on your dog for signs of fatigue or apathy. -This may help with dogs who are a bit possessive: You can also try trading the ball with another ball in what is known as the "two-ball method."Simply toss the ball, when your dog gets it, show him you have another ball, but don't throw it until he drops the ball that's already his mouth. Even better, fill up a bucket with balls and keep trading. Repetition after repetition, your dog may understand that in order to chase another ball, he must first bring back the one he already has. He'll eventually learn that there's no need to take off and hold on to the one ball when there are more and more coming. -If you use the two-ball method, avoid falling into the temptation of pretending to toss the ball to get your dog to drop so you can snatch the ball from him. This leads to suspicion in the dog and a future reluctance to drop. -If your dog doesn't bring the ball back, don't chase your dog or go retrieve the item for him. You want your dog to retrieve, not the other way around. Instead, simply sit and encourage your dog to bring the ball back to you the rest of the way, When he finally brings the ball all the way, lavishly praise and reward. You want to make it clear that only by bringing the ball back to you he will get rewarded. -An option for dogs who seem not to be able to "multitask" by carrying the ball and walking towards you, is distracting them with movement. Instead of getting your dog to come near you, try turning and running away as your dog walks towards you. Working on the opposition reflex often distracts enough to do the trick. -You can also try calling your dog's name as your dog takes a few steps towards you. Hopefully, this will get him to walk towards you with the ball in his mouth, but sometimes dogs will drop the ball upon hearing their name. -If your dog keeps dropping the ball early, take a step back in your training and try asking him shorter and easier retrieves. Split the exercise in smaller steps by rewarding him for gradually bringing the ball a little bit closer each time. -If your dog still doesn't bring the ball back to you and he appears tired or bored, end the session asking your dog to perform an easy task and reward. Take a little break and resume a bit later or on another day. Dogs do better with short, upbeat sessions rather than long, tedious ones. -Some dogs can be particular about retrieving certain objects as they may not like the feel of certain items in their mouths. Find out what your dog likes to fetch the most and stick to it until your dog learns the basics of the game. -Give backchaining a try. This is my preferred method for training a dog to fetch as it emphasizes dropping the ball in the owner's hand. In back chaining, you would train the last behavior of the chain first, then the behavior before that, moving in a backward fashion. So back to training a dog to play fetch, one would therefore start by training the dog to take, hold and drop the ball in a person's hand (or in front of the person). This is repeated several times so the action of dropping the ball in the hands or in front of the owner has a very strong history of reinforcement and the dog performs the behavior reliably. Then, the dog is trained to bring the ball and drop it, then to pick it up from a a distance, bring it and drop it and so forth until the whole sequence is completed. You can read more about backchaining a retrieve by taking a look at the troubleshooting section of the tidy up game which is basically a from of retrieve (for a good reason it's at the Einstein level as for some dogs retrieving can be quite challending to teach: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/einstein/the-tidy-up-game/ -Last but not least, for very obstinate cases where brining the ball back feels more like a chore to certain dogs, there are now fetching machines that can do all the work. A favorite one is the Go Dog Go fetching machine. There are also several fun sports that involve balls and not specifically bringing the ball back to the owner such as Treibball and flyball. Good luck! Adrienne

You're very welcome! Sounds like you are doing very well in managing your canine crew. I always end up laughing out loud when I read your posts, particularly "Momo mode" and your hubby sounds a lot like mine;) Best, Adrienne

Good to hear Gertie is doing better! They sure heal fast, but it may feel like a very long time when activities must be restricted. I agree with you that it's better to interrupt play before it gets rough rather than afterward when dogs are too focused on each other and aroused. There are several ways one can go about this. I will list three methods: 1) Train your dogs to respond to an interrupter cue that tells them to rush towards you for a treat. I like to personally use a whistle (but other options are verbal cues such as "enough" or "'that'll do!'') which teaches the dogs to happily break apart and come to you for a treat. After some time, you can also insert a few calm behaviors--sit, down to help them calm down before giving the treat. After some time, a pleasant surprise is that some dogs may learn to self monitor and when things start escalating they automatically break apart to come get their treat! 2) An alternative option if you are looking for longer-lasting time-out is to use a verbal cue such as "chill!" where you redirect the dogs to lie down on their mats where they get a stuffed Kong or some other longer lasting goodie to work on. 3) Clicker training can also help and you can work on capturing calm play. Simply, capture breaks (click/reward them as they happen spontaneously) and shape less intense forms of play. Clickwhen play is at a low level of arousal and use valuable treats. Soon, you may notice that your dogs will start checking in with you every now and then during play.

There are several things you can do to stop or reduce puppy barking in the crate early morning. Adhering to these general guidelines is important to ensure success. -Make sure your puppy doesn't have unmet needs. Make sure he has eaten well, has had an opportunity to drink before bed time (some owners restrict water 3 hours prior to bed time), has peed and pooped before going to bed, and if young, has been offered one or more opportunities to go potty in the night. Also, make sure your puppy is not too hot or cold. -Act boring during outings. When you take your puppy out at night or early morning to potty, act boring. Simply put collar and leash on and make it a business trip, in and out with no talking and no petting. If you make it a "happy hour" there's a risk that your puppy may learn to ask out early morning or night just for the attention. -No attention for barking. If you are sure all needs are met, stick to not giving your puppy any form of attention for barking in the crate early morning. Be aware of extinction bursts and don't give in. -Make an about-turn. If your puppy starts barking the moment you are walking in his direction to open the crate, make a swift about turn and leave the room. Quietly wait for him to be quiet again and repeat as necessary until you can open the crate while your puppy is quiet. Make it crystal clear that quiet makes you open the crate, barking makes you leave. -Trick his circadian rythm. Many puppies awaken due to bright lights. Room darkening may help with some early risers. Make sure you pull the curtains and close the blinds so that the morning bright sun doesn't awaken your puppy. If the room is bright and no way to make it dark, you may find it helpful to move the crate to another room or cover the crate with a blanket. -Provide companionship. For lonely puppies, keeping the crate in the bedroom beside the bed may help reduce barking from feeling lonely. Pups who waken up will often go back to sleep once they realize they are not alone. For many pups just hearing the owner's breathing (or even let's say snoring!) is reassuring enough to make them go back to sleep. This can be a temporary measure, and the pup's crate can be moved slowly out of the room bit by bit over several days. -Prevent complaints. For puppy owners living in tight-knit neighborhoods where there are risks for complaints, it may help to set the alarm earlier and get up before the pup starts barking and take him out or provide him with some form of entertainment in the crate that will keep him occupied and make him tired (stuffed Kong). Setting the alarm clock earlier, before the pup is awake prevents reinforcing any barking behaviors. -Keep some white noise on. White noise (TV or radio on) can help so the puppy doesn't feel lonely or wakes up to external noises. The white noise sounds may keep the pup from hearing birds, the heating coming on or neighbors driving which may act as a wake-up call. -Give a little snack. A bedtime snack may help quench early morning hunger pangs. -Postpone puppy breakfast. Try feeding morning breakfast a bit later if possible. Puppies may learn to wake up because they associate getting up with eating. Delaying breakfast for a bit may break this association and trigger the puppy to sleep in more rather than barking. -Evening games. Make sure your puppy is exercised enough and mentally stimulated (brain games!) during the day. Prevent your puppy from sleeping too much during the day, especially in the evening. Spend time with your pup in the evening, ensuring the is really tired. -Watch for inconsistencies. If you get up normally on weekdays at 5.30 am, then for clarity sake you may need to wake up at the same time on weekends as well. Puppies do not understand weekends or day light savings time. -Train to respond to the alarm. This is a bit exhausting but may be worth a try. If you plan on waking up around 6:30 am and your puppy is barking at 5:30am, you can try for one week to set your alarm at 5:20. When the alarm rings, immediately get up and let the puppy out (if he is not barking of course, unless you want to use your puppy as a back-up alarm!). Then, each week move the alarm forward five more minutes, until you reach 6:30. This may teach your puppy to wake up when the alarm goes off. -Patience pays. Dog behavior is governed by learned behaviors and instincts. It's important to be patient and understand that the longer a behavior has been rehearsed, the longer it will take to extinguish. With guidance and consistency though, patience ultomately pays. -Crates are great! All these tips are based on the notion that your puppy has been proplerly introduced to a crate and has formed positive associations with it. If you haven't done so, stop by the video series on: teaching a dog to love the crate. Hope this helps! Keep us posted on your pup's progress, Best regards, Adrienne

Hello, and welcome to the forums, The problem you are facing is not unusual and it sure can be annoying to be awakened that early in the morning! You are right that by opening the crate and letting him out, you will be rewarding his barking. It may feel like a catch 22 at times because we want to stop the barking, but what we do to try to stop the barking may actually reward it and make things worse. So let's take a closer look at some dyanamics taking place. When a puppy starts barking in the crate early morning, most likely two dynamics take place which keep this behavior very alive and well: positive reinforcement (for the puppy) and negative reinforcement (for the owner/owners). Reinforcement takes place when behaviors have pleasant consequences to the extent of causing such behaviors to strenghten and repeat. In positive reinforcement, something perceived as pleasant to the subject is added following a behavior and this causes the behavior to become stronger and repeat. In negative reinforcement, something unpleasant to the subject is removed and this causes the behavior to become stronger and repeat. Let's take a closer look into the exact dynamics taking place in the case of a puppy barking in the crate early morning. In this case, a puppy's behavior of barking is likely positively reinforced because it triggers the owner/owners to get up, possibly to let the puppy out or give the puppy some form of attention (pleasant consequence). To a puppy who has been spending time in the crate all night sleeping, possibly any form of attention is perceived as reinforcing (even attention of the negative type). So if barking gets the owner up (even if to scold the puppy), this may be perceived as rewarding because the puppy got to see and hear his owner. This causes the behavior of puppy barking in the crate early morning to strenghten and repeat. At the same time, the owner's behavior of getting up to let the puppy out, is negatively reinforcing (to the owner) because the barking behavior likely stops, even if temporarily (pleasant consequence). Most likely, the behavior of taking the puppy out, (shaking a can with coins or scolding the puppy) will strenghten and repeat because it made the unpleasant barking go away. It's therefore easy to see how these dynamics lead up to an insinuous problem: the puppy will continue to bark for the pleasant consequence of obtaining attention, while the dog owner will continue to scold or let the puppy out for the pleasant consequence of stopping the unpleasant barking. Beware of Extinction Bursts! What happens that day though when the owner is tired of getting up to stop the puppy barking in the crate early morning? The barking likely worsens, and worsens quite a lot! How can this be though? Why would it worsen if the barking behavior is no longer being fueled by attention? Say hello to an interesting phenomenon known as an "extinction burst." What exactly is an extinction burst? For sake of comparison, what happens if mom always purchases candy when the child asks for it at a store and then, one day, suddenly mom decides out of the blue not to buy the candy anymore? Most likely, one will witness the worst temper tantrum on earth. The child turns into a monster and emits crying spells that can be heard from up to mile. What happens though if mom holds strong and stops buying candy depite the great commotion? Most likely, the child understands that the crying, screaming and stomping of feet won't get him what he wants as mom holds her ground and won't give in to buy that candy. What happens instead if mom ends up buying the candy just to stop the child from making such an embarassing scene in public (negative reinforcement)? The child's persistence is rewarded (postively reinforced), and the child will learn to use these temper tantrums in the future for similar situations. Now, let's compare the process of extinguishing unwanted behavior with the process of extinguishing a fire. When applied to a dog barking in the crate early morning, every time you wake up and give your dog ANY form of attention by taking the puppy out or scolding the puppy when he's actively barking, you will be adding fuel to the fire. The barking behavior will persist and become more difficult to eventually extinguish. If the fuel is not added, the fire may likely get a big bigger initially but eventually, it will get gradually smaller and smaller and easier to extinguish. Moral of the story: if you decide to toughen up and stop getting up to tend to the puppy barking in the crate early morning, expect a worsening of the barking behavior (or even the addition of some new behavior such as scratching at the door). This is fortunately, in most cases, just temporarily. The behavior just gets worse before getting better. The puppy will eventually bark himself tired at some point. Day after day, the pup should learn that barking no longer works. Avoid Intermittent Reinforcement As seen, it's very important to not give in to a puppy barking in the crate early morning. The worst thing an owner can do giving in some days and resisting others. This inconsistency puts the behavior of the puppy barking on a variable schedule. A variable schedule is when behaviors are rewarded sometimes yes and sometimes no, and this causes behavior to remain alive and well and resistant to extinction. Let 's take a closer look as to why. A variable schedule is quite an addicting and powerful schedule. Indeed, there's a whole psychology behind it and it's why people become so addicted to certain habits. People addicting to playing the slots at Vegas are addicted because they are sometimes rewarded by winning. That day the person wins, will have a big impact and will reward all the days the person has not won. This rewards persistence and keeps the person playing in the future. Slot machines are based on this principle. Even abusive relationships can be based on this type of variability. The emotional abuser will mistreat a person but reward every now and then with some nice acts such as buying flowers or making flattering comments. The person abused looks forward to these pleasant times and emotionally depends on them, hence why many mistreated people have such a hard time leaving their abusers. In dog training, once a dog learns to perform a behavior well, the behavior is no longer reinforced with a treat every single time it is performed (continuos reinforcement) but only every now and then. This keeps the dog on his toes as he never knows when the reward will be coming so he will stay motivated and will feel compelled to keep on trying. Variable schedules do a great job in maintaining behaviors. Giving in to a puppy barking in the crate some days will therefore keep the behavior alive. The puppy will want to keep on trying, barking in hopes that this day will be the one that the crate will be opened. Things to Consider: When dealing with a puppy barking in the crate early morning, it's firstly important to rule out unmet needs. If the puppy is young and in the process of being potty trained, it's important to know whether the puppy may need to go outside to potty. If that's the case, barking as a way to asking to go out is important because you don't want to wake up to the terrible mess of a puppy having soiled in the crate. Waking up several times in the night and early morning to get the puppy out is normal and expected in the process of potty training. In a puppy who is perfectly housebroken and as proven that he or she can hold it in the crate, owners must also sometimes give the benefit of doubt and consider the possibility of the onset of some health problem. Urinary tract infections may cause puppies the need to go potty more often and in small quantities and dietary indiscretions may trigger an urge to potty due to diarrhea. Another thing to consider is a puppy's circadian rythm. This is not the puppy's fault. All animals, including dogs, have a circadian rythm which acts sort of like an internal biological clock. It is courtesy of circadian rythms that we often wonder whether dogs know how to tell time. It's as if dogs know when owners are about to come home, when meal-time is getting near and when it's time to go on a walk. Circadian rythms are governed by many things such as light and dark, and the many physical, mental and behavioural cues that follow a 24 hour cycle. A puppy awakening early in the morning may therefore be anticipating the onset of light, his stomach may be preparing for breakfast and hormones may be preparing for all the pleasant activities that follow. This internal, biological mechanism controls the pup's regular activities and may cause him to wake up early. Next, some tips on tackling puppies barking early in the morning.

You bet! Many dogs will bark at strangers when in the car. She likely has bonded to you and feels secure when you are around and more vulnerable when on her own when left alone, although just briefly. Sometimes using a dog crate in the car may reduce this type of barking. Many dogs automatically settle once in the crate. It may be worth covering the crate on one side with a blanket or towel if seeing strangers causes her to bark from inside the crate. Best wishes, Adrienne

Zoya is in very good hands! It is wonderful and very rewarding to see behavior changes after all the hard work. Desensitization works best along with counterconditioning. Behavior modification, in order to work, must be gradual, setting the dog up for success and then increasing criteria a little at a time. I would therefore start desensitization and counterconditioning first with less "intense" versions of dogs, that is, first watching dogs behind a window, then outside watching dogs just walking around on leash at a distance. Then, once you start seeing a conditioned positive emotional response to those dogs (dog's eyes brighten at the sight of dogs, maybe a little tail wag, and turning towards you for treats upon spotting a dog), you can start raising criteria and move on to dogs who are moving more (like dogs runnng along with joggers) then, perhaps a couple of dogs playing at the park on a quiet day from a distance, then a bit closer, then with more dogs etc. You will always have to watch for signs of her being over threshold. Any time there are setbacks, you must take a mental note and gauge future sessions based on what may triggered the set back and adjust accordingly. Did a dog's barking at a certain pitch set her over threshold? Was it a dog who was panting heavily? Do small fluffy dogs excite her more? Forewarned is forearmed goes the saying, which means know your triggers so that you can work on them with more diligency in future sessions. However, although she would appear fine at some point watching dogs at the park, there is a big difference between watching them play and putting her inside there and allowing her to interact. Things get far more interactive at that point and that may be the equivalant of flooding rather than desensitization which is the opposite of what we would be trying to accomplish. Learning to interact properly with dogs to the point of playing at a dog park in a dog with a history of being reactive is something with many risks at stake. In dogs with a history of being reactive, all the progress made in behavior modification can be lost in a split second. It's important to protect the work done. Certain things dogs do may be perceived as a challenge and cause reactions. For some dogs, it's like if they have to learn a totally new language. Meta-communication is misinterpreted. For others, the "fun police" instinct kicks in (my dog was one, had to work on that) k and they will get in the middle of dogs playing rowdy in an attempt to stop them causing trouble. I know many trainers who refuse to take their dogs to dog parks personally even with their non-reactive dogs because exposure to rude and rowdy dogs may cause hard-to-fix changes and even risk ruining their dogs. One of the biggest mistakes in behavior modification is getting excited about the results (I have been a victim of that personally several times in the past) and then progressing too fast. As the saying goes, slow and steady wins the race. Should a day come where you feel like Zoya may be "ready" to meet and greet or play with a dog, I would lower the risks and protect the work by finding a dog trainer/ behavior consultant who can asess your dog's behavior and owns a mellow dog (stimulus dog) who is expert in dog-to-dog interactions. Such dogs are expert mediators and give out lots of calming signals and can help up the chances for a positive experience. On a side note, dog parks can be excellent for proofing. Not inside them, but around the perimeter. Once, you have obtained a good emotional response to dogs in various settings (walking by a window or property fence, walking on leash, running/playing), asking the dog to perform various behaviors despite all the hustle and bustle of a dog park is a wonderful opportunity for distraction training. I personally have taken potential service dogs and trained them right in front of the dog park. Disclaimer: Behavior modification comes with risks. The above behavior modification methods should be implemented under the guidance of a professional for correct implementation and for safety.

Reply to this thread can be found here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/forum/showthread.php?66-Just-adopted-a-5-year-old-German-Shepard

Hello and welcome to the forum, Congrats on your new acquisition! Zoya sounds like a marvelous dog with great potential in the right hands. It's unfortunate that she has had such a sad history. The good thing though is that now she is in a home where she can feels safe and start gaining trust. She is lucky to have you to help her out and bloom to her full potential. Although you claim she has fear aggression, the fact that she went after the little dog going after her ball, that may have been an instance of resource guarding. However, we can't never know really 100 percent for sure what may trigger dogs to behave certain ways. It may be a mix of various emotions ranging from fear, possessiveness, protectiveness to simple intolerance of other dogs. What we know for sure though is that the other dogs seem to trigger the behavior regardless of size/breed/color. So let's aim on working on this issue rather than trying to give it label. I wouldn't aim too high though as far as expecting her to go to the dog park/river and mingle with potentially unruly dogs, at least as of yet. This could spell disaster. You own a serious dog that likely isn't ready to accept certain behaviors from other dogs and this may lead to problems. Some dogs will never be the social butterflies we would hope them to be and although this may be hard to accept, we must respect their essence. Now, of course, there are exceptions, but I woud suggest not to start experimenting (for safety sake) at least until she has proven to be better under control upon seeing other dogs on walks and seeing a positive emotional response that has been solid for some time. I am sorry you have lost your former shepherd mix to Cushing's. It's important to realize though you have a different dog now. When we lose a pet we often hope that our next pet will be similar to fill the gap. It's often a coping mechanism that seems to make the loss less painful. Unfortunately, though these projections may only lead to heartaches and frustration once we realize that we are dealing with a very different dog. The primary first goal should be to teach her to better tolerate seeing other dogs while she is on leash. Off leash adventures should be out of the question at this time for both preventing rehearsal of the problem behavior (the more your dog attacks other dogs, the more she'll want to do that because it's highly reinforcing) and for obvious liability reasons. I am going to suggest some reads to get you started on how to work on changing emotions which will then reduce the outward manifestations of her internal turmoil (barking, lunging etc). 1) Learn about your dog's threshold levels and work your best on keeping her below them: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/threshold-levels/ 2) Familiarize yourself with the process of desensitization: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/desensitization/ 3) Familiarize yourself with with process of counterconditioning: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/counterconditioning/ 4) Here are other helpful behavior modification terms/methods to get accustomed to: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/overview-behavior-modification/ 5) Practice "look at that" first by looking at dogs passing by a window, and then progress to walks: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/university/look-at-that/ 6) Practice attention heeling first at home, then yard, then on walks, then at a distance from other dogs: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/heeling-attention-heeling/ 7) Train an emergency u-turn in those cases where another dog is coming your way. You can use this strategy as a management option temporary until you have progressed towars attaining a good level of attention heeling in spite of distractions (other dogs). https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/emergency-u-turn/ 8) And of course, invest in brain games and stop by the obedience 101 section to help increase your bond with her, instill more confidence and create a foundation of behaviors that will turn helpful in many situations. Keep in mind the golden rule that when you have setbacks in behavior modification, that's often because you have progressed too fast or your dog was acidentally exposed to a level of intensity of the trigger that she wasn't ready for yet. Thos often entails taking a step back, increasing distance and resume working from there. Disclaimer: Behavior modification comes with risks. The above behavior modification methods should be implemented under the guidance of a professional for correct implementation and for safety. Hope this helps! Bless your heart for rescuing this girl. Adrienne

OK, I am back. The behavior of dashing away when you ask her to drop sounds like a game of keepaway! Puppies will find many things as valuable and their istinct is to run away with them and their reluctance to give them up often turns into a game of "keepaway." This is something that we need to work on, because it may lead to possessive behaviors in the long-term. Instead, we want to establish trust. I am not sure if you stopped by the obedience section and worked on training drop it using the methods described. Here is the section on how to train drop it: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/drop-it/ However, your puppy is very young, and I wouldn't expect 100 percent fluency on this yet because pups just like toddlers have little impulse control and go through some possessive stages just like toddlers do (mine!, mine, mine!). On top of that, they may see your approach as an opportunity to play. It is best to minimize the opportunities for the pup to grab things that she can take off with (also because they may turn harmful if ingested) until we have trained a better response of drop it using low-value items and high-value treats. Working on distance gradually, if key for the issue you are facing. I am not sure which thread you are referring to. For sake of clarity, can you please post it here? I can't recall it and don't know the details of that particular situation. Do you know what other breed your puppy is mixed with? Do you know whether there are infective diseases prevalent in your area? Is the area you plan on walking inhabited by lots of dogs? Any stray dogs? It might be worthy checking with your vet when your pup gets her second booster just to play it safe.

Sounds like a plan! Some dogs require more training and behavior modification than others, especially those that have been re-homed, but watching them slowly bloom and come out of their shell can be extra rewarding. Keep us posted on your progress. Best of luck, Adrienne

Getting a puppy used to wearing a collar can take some time. Yes, positive associations with treats can help with pups accepting us putting it on, but after the treat is given, the sensation of that collar encircling the neck remains, so the pup is often back to scratching at it or rubbing his body on things to attempt to remove it. This may create persistence of negative associations. It's important to never remove a collar when the pup is actively trying to remove it. Otherwise we have rewarded such removal-attempt behaviors and those behaviors will persist. I would practice on this exercise: Practicing putting the collar on and removing it several times in a row. Buckle the collar, and as you do this, make a big deal of it, tell her how good she looks in it and give several treats in a row. Then, remove the collar and stop giving treats and no more praise. Rinse and repeat several times. You are looking for a change in her emotional response. If you encounter problems with this exercise, let me know. We can break it down further in smaller steps. Next, we need to keep that collar for longer times snd create further positive associations based on duration. Something I often have recommended doing is trying to shift the pup's focus off the collar and taking baby steps. If we can do this for a long enough time, the pup will start accepting the sensation of the collar as norm. So it's a good idea to put that collar on when it coincides with rewarding activities that keep the pup's brain focused. So for example, we may put the collar on right prior to feeding the pup her meals, or right prior to playing with a new toy, or right prior playing some brain games or training or right prior exploring in the yard, or right prior having some fun guests over. Then, right before these enjoyment activities end, we can remove the collar, before the pup returns to focusing on it. The word before is emphasized here because we don't want to be late and have to wait for the pup to stop trying to take it off on his own to remove it. The collar must be removed always when the pup is calm (hint if the pup is trying to remove the collar this is often an indication that a postive associations hasn't yet formed so we must go back a few steps in conditioning a positive emotional response) Tip:Try to put the collar on before mealtime and keep it on during the meal. Remove it once your pup is done eating. With time, the collar will become a cue that food is coming! Just like a bib! I will address the other issues you are facing shortly.

Hello Mike, So sorry to hear you had a rough day. There may be various reasons why you may not be seeing desired results. One main thing to keep in mind is to be patient and persistent. Your pup is very young and on a learning curve. Setbacks are normal when you are training bite inhibition. You may notice that when your puppy is over aroused and over threshold, she may bite harder. Puppy nipping is not a behavior that will go quickly away. It's been rehearsed for a while in the litter with littermates (who have stronger skin than us!) and it's strongly istinctive. If we watch puppies interact, we will see how they are constantly nipping each other in play. Puppies find legs, floppy ears and tails irrestitible to play with because they move and provide interactive fun. Play in many animals encompasses rehearsing behaviors that will later on turn handy in life. During puppy play, we may witness several play behaviors that mimic hunting. We can see the stalking, the chasing, the pouncing, the grabbing. Movement triggers predatory drive and therefore a puppy moving away and running will be readily chased. A moving tail will be nipped. The forward moving legs will be quite an attraction too with funny episodes of a pup trying to walk while the other pup is latched on to a leg with a crocodile hold. Deprived from a littermate to focus on, it is natural for puppies to want to play with their humans in the same way they play among each other. Fingers, arms and legs soon become their favorite tug-toys to interact with. And the more they move, the better! The purpose of yelping to stop puppy biting is adopted from what puppies do in the litter. When the puppies in the litter start playing, they do not have perfect control of their bites. Should a puppy bite another puppy too hard, the puppy reacts by emitting a high-pitched yelp and withdrawing temporarily from play. The scenario may repeat several times and with different pups. Yelp after yelp, the rough biting pup (hopefully!) learns a valuable lesson: rough play makes his favorite playmates withdraw from play and the yelp is a vocal marker that predictably announces such withdrawal. Humans are often advised to adopt the same yelping as it happens in the litter. As mentioned though, yelping doesn't always stop puppy biting. There are several potential reasons why yelping doesn't always stop puppy nipping. A little troubleshooting can help reveal some dynamics going on and some possible flaws. 1)First, Is it just an extinction burst? If your puppy was used to you playing with her despite his rough biting and now you suddenly decide to yelp and stop playing, this inconsistency may pave the path to a phenomenon we talked about before that's known as an extinction burst. Here's a closer insight into what happens. When puppies play with our hands, and they bite hard and we keep playing, their biting is reinforced because they associate it with continued attention and play. What happen the day though when we suddenly stop playing and ignore the behavior? The puppy may feel compelled to bite stronger and with more intensity just to get us to play with them again (extinction burst). The phenomenon is similar to what happens when you always buy candy to a toddler when he cries for candy and then one day you decide to become strict and refuse to buy it. Next, watch the toddler cry even more and possibly even progress to the worst temper tantrum you have ever witnessed on earth. Now, what happens next is very critical: if you give up and buy the candy, you will have just rewarded persistence. The toddler has learned that crying longer and louder will gain the candy. But what happens if you don't give in? Chances are high that if you stick to your plan, you may witness perhaps a couple more extinction bursts, but then the behavior will extinguish just like a fire without oxygen to fuel it. Therefore, if you are dealing with an extinction burst, it's important that you stick to your plan when training your puppy to stop nipping. If your puppy has played with you rough in the past and now you wish him to stop (as his teeth are starting to inflict pain), it's important that, should you decide to go the yelping and withdrawal from play route, that you stick to it. 2) Is the yelping causing the puppy to become more aroused? Yes, yelping followed by withdrawal from play may work with many puppies (perhaps the most mellow ones), but not all. Indeed, some puppies seem to become even more excited or aroused when they hear the yelping. I am not sure if this is an issue you are facing, as I would have to see the behavior in person. I have dealt though with a few cases like this where yelping didn't work. See my story in training a persistent German shepherd pup here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/bite-inhibition-games/ This is the beauty of working with dogs; not all dogs are created equally and therefore you can never take an approach that will work 100 percent for all when it comes to changing behavior. Now why do some puppies get more hyper and excited after hearing people "yelp?" Most likely for the same reason they love squeaky toys: yelps and squeaks trigger a dog's predatory drive. How fun is it to play with a live tug toy (you) which, on top of moving, emits squeaking and squawking noises too? Of course, that small puppy has no intent to maul you, but there are chances that those yelping sounds just might make you sound more like a hurt animal than anything. With puppies as such, it may therefore help to skip the yelping and just walk away, maybe count up to 20 and then return and rinse and repeat until the pup gets it or use an alternative method described below. 3) What if the withdrawal part is not working? This sounds like the issue you are dealing with when trying to give a timeout. The act of leaving the room for very movement-oriented pups like yours can turn problematic. The mere turning and walking to leave the room appears to encourage further engagement with the pup latching on and chasing. Now, the pup may get the the idea that he has lost his favorite playmate once you are eventually gone, but he might have had fun in the meanwhile, and therefore there is no guarantee whether the association between nipping and leaving was made (which must take place immediately). So what to do in such a case? It's great news that your smart puppy is highly motivated by treats. So when the puppy bites: 1) Turn into a lamppost. This helps to make the rough nipping at your feet, arms, legs extra boring. When you are walking and you see your puppy approach, stop in your tracks and become boring like a tree. Movement as we have seen triggers more biting and the more we resist by moving, the more a puppy will latch on and treat us as tug toys. 2) Since your dog is doing good with training and loves treats, great! Let's use this as an opportunity to ask for a replacement behavior (that you have trained prior to the point of a certain level of fluency). As discussed, you have several options as to what replacement behaviors to use (target, sit, heel). They all offer the puppy an opportunity to perform a behavior that is incompatible with biting. Teaching these replacement behaviors requires you to carry a treat bag on you during the day so that you are a ready to redirect at a moment's notice when you walk around. Kibble rather than treats can be used for pups who love their food a lot and for those owners concerned about extra calories or digestive upset. 3) When the training session is done, to prevent the nipping behavior you can get creative and try several options. a) finish up with an interactive toy/game to keep her focus off of you. Ask for a last behavior, praise and reward by giving choice of a stuffed Kong, muffin tin game or a fun treasure hunt (toss handful of kibble in several directions) as you walk away b) let your pup chase a flirt pole as you walk out the yard and let her get some steam off in the yard (most dogs will sniff in the yard rather than focus on us, c) ask a last behavior and end the session by tossing a ball the opposite direction as you walk away d) ask your pup a last behavior and have a helper call your pup away and place a toy in the crate and let the pup chill out a bit in the crate e) have a toy handy in your pocket and end the training session by redirecting your pup to play with the toy (before the nipping begins). Hope this helps! Good luck with your pup! Adrienne

Hello Mike, Your puppy is very young, and what you are seeing is pretty much normal behavior. Our hands and feet become the best tug toys. You are at the prime stage for training bite inhibition. Yelping must always be accompanied by a temporary withdrawal of play. Yelp and stop any form of interaction. Some pups may bite more to just get more interaction and if they get it, their biting with more intensity is rewarded. It's important to not reward with any interaction, leaving the room also if necessary. If the biting is getting stronger in intensity, there may be chances you may be dealing with an extinction burst, see definition here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Glossary.pdf At this point therefore, stopping any interaction and possibly leaving the room are good follow ups to make the point, athough its understandable how unfeasible this may feel if the pup is latching on and biting at the point of breaking skin. Yelping may work for some pups, but not all. Some pups may get more aroused. Here are two threads with some alternate suggestions on how to tackle nipping along with some replacement behaviors. Visit the links for some puppy bite inhibition games. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/forum/showthread.php?57-Biting-dog https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/forum/showthread.php?17-Puppy-biting-feet-for-attention