Puppy Biting

One client, Zach*, had a 9 week old puppy that constantly bit and he wanted to make sure it wasn’t viscous. Zach’s friends were telling him that he wasn’t being tough enough with this little ball of fur and he needed to roll him on his back when he bit, or slap him, or pinch him, or use a more firm tone and yell at the puppy.

At the same time Zach was very concerned about bonding with this rescued puppy. Why wasn’t this puppy coming to him? When would he view Zach as the source of “all that is?”

There were other basic puppy issues, but these questions kept coming up over and over as the puppy obviously was biting and nipping as a 9 week old often does, and was pulling away from Zach the full length of his leash and not coming when Zach said, “Tabor! Come! Tabor!”

I showed Zach how easy it was to get Tabor to stop biting. “First of all, your puppy is not viscous. Secondly, you are his teacher and every time you are with him is time to shape his behavior. Instead of chasing away the things we don’t want, let’s focus on the things we do want.” I find this approach much more rewarding for the dog and the human.

Humans who spend all their time and energy, whether with dogs or otherwise, chasing bad behavior are searching out bad behavior, are frustrated because of the way the bad behavior makes them feel and frustrated with how discipline makes them feel. Instead, the flip side is chasing good behavior.

 

“Look,” I said pointing at the puppy, “Tabor kept his paws on the ground and didn’t bite for 3 whole seconds,” so I gave him a little morsel of hot dog. This excited Tabor and he then chewed on my finger. “Eh-eh!” I said.

I explained that “Eh-eh” isn’t a magic word, I use it because it replaces, “No,” and it also replaces, “No! Stop, Tabor, sit, stop biting, quit. Get over here…” The word, “No!” by the time I get to my clients has quite a negative charge to it that dogs shut down to. They fight or flight or avoid when they hear it. Or on the flip side and more the usual, I hear a monologue of what they don’t want their dog to do and then what they want their dog to do and they use their dog’s name while angry. How confusing!

 

By simply saying, “Eh-eh,” the person has a neutral feeling about the word, so the dog and human can start over with proper communication. Just the basics: Yes I want this: “Good.” No I don’t want you to do that: “Eh-eh.” It’s THAT easy---on the training side.

Zach watched as Tabor learned within 10 minutes what, “Eh-eh” and “Good” meant. Tabor also learned, “Sit.” When he bit my fingers he didn’t get a treat. He didn’t get hit or rolled or even an angry human. He quickly learned that it was much better for him to not bite because he got more attention when he didn’t bite. It wasn’t all about hotdogs. I also gave Tabor praise and pets and attention.

 

I asked Zach to give it a go and he was very commanding. “Tabor, come!” He pulled at the leash and instantly Tabor started looking away from Zach and pulling.

“I don’t think it’s your lack of toughness with your puppy that’s the problem, I think it might be your lack of playfulness. If you can’t access that naturally, you raise your voice and speed it up a bit. Try it.” At this point Tabor had yet to come to Zach, look at him or interact when it wasn’t forced upon him.

Zach did as instructed, raising his voice and I’m guessing he felt a little silly. However, Tabor instantly turned around, looked at Zach and as fast as a lil 9 week old puppy can run, ran over to his shocked owner. Zach was thrilled.

“I’m just so happy! It just didn’t feel right to hit my puppy or roll him over or yell at him. This feels so much better. I just can’t believe that it’s this easy!”

*Client's name has been changed for his privacy

Dog Walking Tips

Holt Harness

If your dog is reactive on walks, lunges at bikes, dogs, barks at squirrels and generally makes you want to hang up the leash and never walk your pooch again--here are tips I give my clients to help them instantly improve their walks:

• Change your gear: The only domesticated animal we don't lead around by the head is the dog.
• Keep the leash VERY short, arm down, loose, relaxed at your side. Your dog is now beside you constantly. No yo-yo on the leash and he's not out in front of you.
• Project the energy you want your dog to mirror: calm, cool, happy, confident, positive. Fonzie--Ayyyy!
• Don’t “hunt” for people with their dogs or whatever it is that triggers your dog to escalate. Your dog is copying your behavior.
• Signs of your dog escalating: tension in body, maybe a slight crouch, ears forward and up, eyes locked, neck locked, nose pointed at “target”*
• Say "hello" in happy, upbeat voice to your dog's trigger when they're walking towards you.
• If you have to pop the leash, tug and pull and say, “Eh eh,” over and over—you’ve already lost the battle. Aggression begets aggression.
• When your dog pulls or refuses to go—hold onto the tension. Wait him out until he comes or returns to you. Train him to be near you—don’t let him train you to go where he wants.
• Catch your dog before he barks and lunges and loses his marbles. When he first tenses and starts escalating, or eyeballs his target, THAT is your teachable moment to correct, "Eh-eh!" 
• When your dog encounters his target and doesn't react negatively, he doesn't escalate in excitement PRAISE him!
• Your dog flips out and is barking and lunging--but hasn't hurt anyone. People ARE LOOKING. Use humor to defuse the situation: “Wow, whose dog is that? Oh--It's mine!" or "Is that a dog bird I hear? Such a beautiful tune.” You are no longer joining your dog in freaking out.
• If someone approaches and you know it's unwise for them to pet your dog, put your hand out and merely state, “My dog is in training right now. Just standing where you are and saying hello is helping.” If you say, “My dog bites,” or “My dog is aggressive,” then you're continually projecting that onto your dog and in your mind. Make sure everyone is safe, however, your dog IS learning and changing.
• Lead your dog through situations where he might be frightened. On the walk, navigate your dog confidently through the scary event without saying, “It’s okay, it’s okay!”

If you have a dog that bites, has attacked before or that you're afraid to walk--seek professional help. It is amazing how pairing the right tools (information) with the right energy can change the walk. 


*Target in this instance is whatever causes your dog to escalate in excitement, whether that be a person, other dogs, prey (rabbits, squirrels, birds), bikes, skateboarders, or children. The closer dogs are to their target the stronger their reaction. 

It's all Mirrors and Magnets these days!

Oftentimes our dogs get most of our attention when they are misbehaving. The dog is jumping up and nipping at our clothing when we walk in the door, "Holy tater tots! Stop that! Fru Fru get off of me! NO! Fru Fru, NO! No nipping, Fru Fru, bad dog!" 

He is getting stimulated by your enthusiastic energy, touch and attention when he jumps (or barks, or whimpers, or nips…). Your dog is thriving off of your negative attention. He's hyper and you join in and mirror his energy. 

Instead, walk in calmly, when he jumps up, don't join his energy. 

This new, level way of being around your dog will be contagious. Along with this new viral calmness, you'll be on a quest to seek out your dog when he is being calm, relaxed, and behaving the way you want him to. Instead of ignoring him during these moments, you will be drawn to him like a magnet and these are times when you will give him attention. 

"Fru Fru, you are being so calm. What a good boy. Who's a good boy? Yer a good boy. Goo goo goo."

This is done consistently by everyone in the household and everyone should understand what behaviors are acceptable and unacceptable for this to work. There’s not 5 minutes of magnet training per day, this is just a new way of being. You can't diet for 50% of the day and then eat cupcakes the rest of the day, "I don't understand why I'm not losing weight! This diet isn't working!"

When you're out on a walk, or someone comes into your home and your dog misbehaves and someone wants to pet your dog who is misbehaving, you can kindly explain:

"I love that you want to pet my dog, but he's in training right now so I prefer that you don't. He obviously likes you. Hey, I love that sweatshirt, is it handmade?"