Training Assistance Requested, Please ...

We have now had Bandit for about 3 months, and well we truly love him. But I am having some difficulty now, that if possible I want to nip it in the bud before it becomes a big issue. He is such a lover, and he likes to play... quite a bit. I take him out for a 30-45 minute walk every morning before breakfast. I then take him for a 45-60 minute walk every evening when I get home before dinner. After dinner, we usually play for 30 minutes to an hour. This involves him running after the ball, and me play chasing him. To give you some background, we rescued him in January. We think he may have been abused, but not sure. The few times he has chewed something he shouldn't, I say no in a very stern voice, and pick up a toy and trade it for the item he should not be chewing. When we do this, he hunkers down like we are going to hit him (which we have NEVER done) and then rolls on his back with his legs in the air. Anyway, he is definitely becoming very comfortable in his home. Recently, in the evening rather than cuddling up to us while we are relaxing or sometimes working on our computers, he started getting down on the floor in front of us and barking like he wants something. At first I thought he might need to go out, so I take him for a walk. Sometimes he goes, and sometimes not. But when we come back inside, after a few minutes he does it again. If you don't acknowledge him he nips at your toes. He doesn't really bite, but he does have some sharp teeth. I don't want him to think that nipping at people to get him to do what he wants is acceptable. We tell him no, but he stops and looks at you, and then does it again. He seems to be getting more aggressive about this. In fact, this morning, when thinking about getting up out of bed, he started it again. usually he likes to cuddle with me in the morning before we get up. Today, he just started barking at me and biting at my hand. (my feet were under the covers so he could not get to them).

Are we doing something wrong? Are we doing something to aggravate him? I want to help him and make him happy but it is not acceptable to nip at anyone, including me.

Any suggestions or assistance would be greatly appreciated.

thank you

Banditsmom

Banditsmom:

Take a look at the thread that ocnside posted about training needs. I'll post the link. Much of what she is working on and struggling with is similar to what you're struggling with. Karen (Pugasaurus) posted a long training plan which you should read and use those parts that are relevant:

http://www.pugauthority.com/t11489-trainer-diagnosis

My own input is that barking has worked for him in the past so he has no reason to abandon it as a strategy and when the barking doesn't work, he ups the ante to include nipping. I posted a separate thread on training links that are useful in these situations, but Karen has a nicely laid out plan for dealing with both the barking and the biting.

Here's the training links thread:

http://www.pugauthority.com/t11492-some-training-links-for-julian-s-mom

And unless you know bandits background, he may have been hit or rolled by the previous owners so you may be seeing a behaviour he's developed from previous experience. And some dogs are hand and head shy without having had any negative experiences.

northernwitch wrote:And unless you know bandits background, he may have been hit or rolled by the previous owners so you may be seeing a behaviour he's developed from previous experience. And some dogs are hand and head shy without having had any negative experiences.

I think this is true. My Ichiro will roll over submissively when I am "mad" at him, and I don't roll him. I have had him since he was 8 weeks old.

Thank you all so much for the feedback. I will definitely check out the links you recommend. All your knowledge and assistance is greatly appreciated. Bandit is really a good boy, I think I need to learn how we should behave to help him. We have a bit of training yet to do for all of us.

Thanks again
Banditsmom

Banditsmom wrote:Thank you all so much for the feedback. I will definitely check out the links you recommend. All your knowledge and assistance is greatly appreciated. Bandit is really a good boy, I think I need to learn how we should behave to help him. We have a bit of training yet to do for all of us.

Thanks again
Banditsmom

The reality is that most, if not all, dog training is really human training. We operate as primates and it's so different from canid behaviour. it's one of the reasons that all the "do what the mother dog would do" advice is moronic. We can't really mimic mother dog behaviour and dogs KNOW we aren't dogs.

Banditsmom wrote:I think I need to learn how we should behave to help him. We have a bit of training yet to do for all of us.

Quoted for truth! So many people don't realize that us humans are a huge part of the training equation.

Blanche beat me to the punch, Bandit's issues do sound similar to Julian's and I would try the same thing.

The key is to make the unwanted behavior no longer pay for the dog. And it also sounds like there's some demand barking going on too. Bark bark, it's time to play, bark bark, pet me. it sounds like a little Nothing In Life Is Free action is needed here too. If he's telling you when it's time to play and so forth, he needs to learn to do stuff for you. Make him sit before petting, down for throwing the ball and I would also be the one that initiates games the majority of the time, not because of dominance, but because dogs are such creatures.

For example, I put Lacey on the chair beside me once when I was making jewelry. The next day I did it again and the following day, Lacey was at "her" chair, waiting for me to pick her up the day after that. It doesn't take much for a behavior to become a habit with a dog.

Here's a brief explanation of Nothing in Life is Free: http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/dogs/tips/training_nothing_in_life_is_free.html