Help need advice

[philip4420]

Hi

 

My BC pup is 5months old and coming in well in a lot of ways but he's just too rough sometimes. If I give him a treat to

 

reward him for something he grabs it and hurts my fingers. Also he has spells of jumping and biting at the lead. This

 

happens when he doesn't get his own way, for instance if I've just put him back on lead to keep him away from a road or a

 

strange dog and sometimes when I don't let him off in a place he thinks he should get to run around in. My last pup only

 

once nipped me so I'm a bit worried about this. He's not really aggressive but he's getting older....

 

I'm also having a battle to get through a door ahead of him. I've been working on this from day one. He eats after us ,

 

doesn't get on furniture or into our bedroom etc. I just feel we haven't quite bonded somehow. He's very independant for a

 

BC He likes to play on his own and doesn't follow us around much though he's friendly to everyone we meet good with

 

children and he loves other dogs. He's very bright we're going to a club for obedience training and people have

 

complimented me on having such a calm polite pup. He just has these spells which worry me . Was I just lucky with my last

 

BC pup or should I be worried?

[bexie]

Molly thought the leash was for playing in the beginning. We put a short length of chain on the end of her lead to attach to her collar. Within a day, she no longer considered the leash a toy. Chewing on chain probably isn't so nice for her mouth. Nothing hurts her.. it just makes chewing no fun. Now we can use a leash without the chain and still no problems.

[ahoops]

My dog Gypsy was a terror with chewing the lead the best advice I got was to use 2 leads . Attatch them both to collar and start walking holding onto both leads ,as soon as your pup grabs one lead drop it instantly and hold onto second one .pick up the other and each time he bites a lead drop it .It worked pretty quickly because it wasnt fun any more and she soon learnt I was in control not her.Give it a shot

[mado]

Hi , for grabbing a treat (and your fingers unwillingly) I make Tamyr sit , think for a couple of seconds and settle , then I present her with the treat really hidden in my fist , so she has to open my hand gently with her nose and of course she does it carefully , as her idea never really was to bite my fingers off in the first place ...she's just greedy !

She still has a little difficulty when the cats are around waiting for their share , but now she knows she'll have to be gentle if she wants to find the hidden bit of cheese .

Of course if someone shows up with food in their hand thinking she'll take it like a lady , well ... I just give them a big warning .

[abbies_mumma]

You shouldn't be worried. He's just being a typical bossy border.

When he nips you, yelp or scream really really high pitched and loud. It will make your dog think twice before nipping again. When he jumps up and chews the lead just stand still and ignore him. When he stops calmly say good dog or treat and then keep walking. If he does it again just repeat the procces and he will learn over time.

As for the going in the door first...Does you dog know stay? Or wait? If you teach these first then you can get him to wait and you walk in the door then you invite him in. If you do this all the time he will stop running in first and wait for you.

Remember to always reward him for calm behaviour.

Good luck. I'm sure he'll be a perfect student in no time!

[Pat W.]

At an agility training seminar last year I learned an interesting trick for teaching self control:

 

1) take a tasty treat and sit on the floor or a chair with it in your closed fist. Let your pup paw, knaw, lick, nudge. Anything he wants to but dont open your fist or pull it away. No verbal corrections nothing just sit there with the treat in your fist. This first step may take a while so be patient

 

2) Eventually pup will do one of two things back off or sit/lie down in puzzlement. Once this happens open your fist, this is where you have to be quick. Once the pup sees the treat he's going to naturally go for it. When he attempts to snatch the treat quickly close your fist. DONT jerk your hand away or give any verbal correction when the pup once again sits/lies down open your fist again. Odds are the pup will attempt to snatch the treat again repeat what you just did

 

3) Believe it or not it wont take long for your pup to learn the self control to sit or wait patiently give it a count of 5 and offer the treat from your hand, if a snatch attempt is made the fist closes again. It took about an hour for my now 6mo old to get the message that politeness gets him far more treats than a snatch and run.

 

I use this for my very bossy aussie before we step onto an agility course as kind of a zen calming thing for him, and have used it on my bc puppy

[Anda]

After loosing two expensive retractable leashes to the jaws of my puppy, we did buy a metal chain to atach from his collar to the leash. I think we only used it a couple of times, and he got the idea. He would chew on the leash when he would decide he wants to be left off leash, especially when we were playing ball. I would also get him to sit the second I'd see he starts chewing at the leash and reward him for stopping. Hasn't done it in quite a long time.

[philip4420]

Hi

 

My BC pup is 5months old and coming in well in a lot of ways but he's just too rough sometimes. If I give him a treat to

 

reward him for something he grabs it and hurts my fingers. Also he has spells of jumping and biting at the lead. This

 

happens when he doesn't get his own way, for instance if I've just put him back on lead to keep him away from a road or a

 

strange dog and sometimes when I don't let him off in a place he thinks he should get to run around in. My last pup only

 

once nipped me so I'm a bit worried about this. He's not really aggressive but he's getting older....

 

I'm also having a battle to get through a door ahead of him. I've been working on this from day one. He eats after us ,

 

doesn't get on furniture or into our bedroom etc. I just feel we haven't quite bonded somehow. He's very independant for a

 

BC He likes to play on his own and doesn't follow us around much though he's friendly to everyone we meet good with

 

children and he loves other dogs. He's very bright we're going to a club for obedience training and people have

 

complimented me on having such a calm polite pup. He just has these spells which worry me . Was I just lucky with my last

 

BC pup or should I be worried?

[philip4420]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I'll certainly give them a try, once he wakes up. We spent the afternoon out with friends and their dogs, so I reckon I'll have a few quiet hours! You do forget how much pups have to learn when you haven't had one around for a few years.

[marm]

We too had a leash chewer! She went through 2 of them before she quit. We actually used Tabasco sauce on it. That backfired though as it turned out she liked it! Eventually she just quit w/the leash chewing. I think eventually they outgrow those behaviours if you can wait long enough.

 

As to the snatch and run, I NEVER allow any of our animals to do that. If you want a treat, you MUST eat nicely. I don't tolerate that on dogs that aren't mine either. The phrase we use is "be nice". If a dog tries to bite/nip, we immediately pull away the treat and reiterate "be nice". It does not take very long at all for a dog to figure out if they want a treat, sitting and waiting nicely will be more rewarding. We can have any animal eating out of our hands without fear of losing fingers. This has actually come in very handy during our obedience classes, as ANY of the other dog parents there are able to feed her a treat without worrying about her being rotten. Not to mention, it earns her more treats!

 

Patience!

 

Good luck!

 

Oh, about the running in the door? Who is the boss at your house? If it is your BC, then you have lost that control. Take it back. Make him sit and wait for you to open the door, then YOU go through first. Remember, dogs are pack animals first and foremost.