Teaching Push is a great skill for your dog to learn.
It builds on the Touch cue.
Teaching Push and practicing the cue alongside Pull can be sued in a variety of settings.
You can teach your dog to shut drawers or doors.
This little cue gives your dog a job to do utilizing his desire of problem solving and being empowered along the way.
An emotionally, physically and psychologically fulfilled dog is more relaxed, content and satisfied in his life.
When you meet your dog’s needs, they are secure and confident dogs.
During a mid-week check in with another Growl to Grow client, I added some homework since the client and her dog seemed to reach a learning plateau. Giving them some added activities, which are both fun and challenging, can be an added mental boost.
Adding some enrichment along the way can prevent your dog from becoming frustrated when homework steps are mastered.
Putting together a client video demonstrating Push.
Do you experience sharp puppy teeth on your hands, ankles, pant legs or anything else he can get his mouth on?
How annoyed and frustrated are you by the constant puppy shark teeth coming after you?
Do you experience your puppy chewing on things he shouldn’t be and you’re tired of saying “NO”!
I hear you! Puppies are no joke.
They are adorable and spirited youngsters. They don’t know the bounds of their energy nor do they know how much their teeth hurt!
This is where you come in and teach your puppy what you do want.
Let’s look first at giving a verbal reprimand like the ever popular “No
Saying “no” is directionless. I mean, if you are going to yell at your dog for doing something, what are you teaching your dog to replace the inappropriate behavior? Without something else, your dog won’t know what to do instead!
Also saying “No” is only for you. I know you are looking for control and some reprieve from the biting, jumping or whatever else you’re puppy is doing and you’ve had enough. Your dog is its own being. Way back when, when the first dogs became “man’s best friend”, they actually self-domesticated themselves. Humans did not make them submit or no did they dominate them to become our friends, it was the “survival of the friendliest”.
Saying ”no” is ineffective in eliminating the behavior. Because let’s face it, the behavior continues even after you said it the first time. Am I right? That means, it didn’t do what you thought it would do. End the biting. In actuality, it reinforced it because you gave your attention, your voice, your eye contact, all the things your dog loves. Saying “no” was actually saying “YES”!
Or, on the flip side, saying “No” could scare your puppy and interfere with your relationship with him. If your dog cowers or bends his ears back when you say “NO”, your dog is not showing guilt or remorse. He is showing he’s afraid of you!
Let’s keep your relationship in tact and give him the direction he needs from you! This will go a long way in building a secure and trusting relationship with you.
Now, let’s look at what you can do instead.
The thing about puppy biting, is that it’s normal. Just like small children who explore the tactile world with their hands and mouths, so do your your puppies.
The same type of approach of baby proofing your home when you’re child becomes mobile, the same is necessary for your puppy, but with different management needs.
Your will want to create a safe zone for your puppy. Using baby gates or an exercise pen will allow for your puppy to have his area that is like a playground. It should have all wonderful things he can chew on and play with while he’s in this space.
Along with puppies using their mouth explore their world, its also normal for them to chew. Its a way for them to relax. Chewing is a full body exercise and giving your dog appropriate chew items is necessary.
Biting may be because your puppy may be hungry too!
Having frozen Kong toys filled with delicious meals and snacks can satiate hunger as well as be an aid for teething. Puppies can lose their puppy teeth and their gums can become sore.
Being prepared with a rope toy will help teach your puppy to put teeth on the toy rather than your legs or hands. When your puppy’s energy spikes, the mouthing can increase and this toy can help redirect him on to the timing most appropriate for him.
Getting your puppy problem solving with enrichment activities, to taking him out on a walk can also be a great way of relaxing your puppy’s mind and body.
Lastly,, your puppy may be biting because he wants you to stay way from whatever he’s got. Start working in Trading Up with him. Have something that is HIGHER in value than what he already has and present it to him. Once he let’s go of whatever you don’t want him to have, then praise and reward with the higher value in your hand. Then you are starting him on his learning of “Drop It”.
Understanding your puppy’s needs and motivations will set you up on a life long journey of learning and having fun!
We are celebrating by doing a photo shoot with Zeus at our last session together. Bittersweet!
When I first met Zeus, he was a bit of a frustrated and alert barker. He made sure his family knew there were others outside on the walking path as well as when all the neighborhood dogs were out and about in their own yards. The barking drove his family nuts, but they didn’t know what to do!
Zeus’s family was unsure and even somewhat nervous about starting up with training.
They were looking for alternatives to what is seen as the popular choices in the states-shock collars, prong collars and choke chains as ways of correcting and controlling behavior. They knew this couldn’t be their only option. They were also not sure how a solution and reward based approach was effective.
Zeus’ family made the smart choice driven by their values of teaching in a supportive and loving home. They chose training methods which focused strengthening the bond with him. They wanted hm to learn to relax and settle and not feel he always has to be “on”.
During our time together, the family saw the benefits of teaching Zeus which choices are the right ones without correcting him when what they family perceived him as making a mistake.
You see, we all make mistakes. Sometimes mistakes happen out of a misunderstanding or confusion of what is being asked of us to do or just simply not knowing the rules. What we look for is compassion from one another and see these moments as steps in learning.
Instead of seeing something going wrong (through your eyes), change your outlook and find ways of better communicating what you DO want.
The same goes for your dogs. Through your eyes, you dog may be making similar mistakes by barking ALL OF THE TIME while out on walks or in you home when other dogs or children pass by. In actuality, your dog is not barking all of the time (he still needs to take a breath). Your dog is also responding to you in your environment and any mistakes made are born out of the miscommunication about what you want. Make the smart choice and show compassion and find a different way of getting what you want across to your dog.
Now, back to Zeus and his family. Over the last 6 weeks, Zeus’s family were able to consistently capture the behaviors the family wanted him to do and this is where the learning happened. Zeus grew in understanding of what the right choices were and these choices became reliable.
He learned giving attention back to his family when things in his surroundings were seen as threatening. He learned giving eye contact back to his family got him what he wanted which was praise, love and attention.
Not only is Zeus calmer, I even saw the family show some relaxed smiles as we progressed though the program. Zeus’ family was able to settle into train and see me as a source of support for them by showing them the way of teaching without pain, force or fear.
Four Paws & You Dog Training 