I don't know if this is the smartest way to do this but I posted my email address so questions can be asked and (hopefully) answered. Subscribers feel free to pose questions. I will refrain from using real, names, email addresses, identities, etc. of subscribers I don't know personally as I am anticipating the same questions to be asked by varied sources. If you are family or a friend, I'm sorry but all bets are off and I'll be posting all sorts of embarrassing stories, situations and anecdotes about you and your dogs! Please try to keep a sense of humor and don't take me off the Christmas card list!
Good training to you all!
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As you know Charlie, my 4 mo. old Yorkie, arrived three days ago. He is most likely afraid of my three cats and growls at them. They just stare at him but will hiss when he charges them. How do I correct this behavior?
ReplyDeleteCharlie, and all dogs for that matter, need to be LED. Keeping a puppy on a lead as much as possible drastically reduces his ability to make independent behavioral choices. If you keep him close enough you can interrupt unwanted behaviors. There is more to it, though, than just saying no, No, NO! When a pup or dog exhibits unwanted behavior you need to
ReplyDelete1. INTERRUPT BEHAVIOR: use a light collar check or tap on the floor near the pup and say NO calmly. The physical action of collar correct or the vibration on the floor will serve to interrupt the behavior and define the word NO. Don't overdo it on the collar correction; you just want to distract him from the stimulus and redirect his attention toward you. In other words, don't scare him skinny!
2. REQUEST A WANTED BEHAVIOR: command the pup to sit using a food bait. Place a good and smelly treat right up to his precious little nose and slowly and gently "pull" his nose up and back toward the ceiling. Imagine you have and invisible string attached to his nose. As the nose goes up, the butt should go down. Practice this before your puppy does something unwanted. In early training, it is best and easiest for novice handlers to default to a good solid sit command.
3. PRAISE: you need to "mark" all good behaviors with praise. In a pup's case this is food reward and gentle petting. Keep all praise calm, no matter how excited you are that the dog actually sat. When you get too excited, so will your pup.
Release him him from the command AFTER the praise by saying OK. If he returns to the behavior, redirect his attention back to you. Lather, rinse, repeat? Certainly. Your attitude should be, I've got all day long to do this, how 'bout you, pup?
A word aside, there is a school of training that advocates that when your dog is doing something correct/desired that you should ignore the behavior and emulate the canine Alpha pack leader in a natural or semi-natural dog pack. While that can be appropriate and successful in some cases, it is not in this particular situation. A pup needs clear guidance and needs to be taught through gentle methods and demonstration what is expected of him in a human household. Help the pup to domesticate because we humans will never be dog enough to train him as a canine Alpha leader will. Soon enough he will figure out that you don't pee on trees or lick your you-know-whats-it clean and it will cause him to question all your leadership.
The above method is called behavior replacement. It can be used for barking, jumping and any other annoying, obnoxious behavior your pup can think up! It is the first step toward having a well-led dog.