|Barked: Sun May 2, '10 5:36pm PST |
|I'm back as I promised....
Sonny is a Beagle/Golden mix (he's with Labs4rescue so we say Lab X), so he has some Beagle impulse. Lucky he has a Golden mouth, soft.
We started playing a game with Sonny to teach him how to use his mouth in an exceptable way and improve his impulse control.
Prep - Puppy should be exercised but not excited. Food driven but not real hungry.
Needed - A bunch of kibble or other low value food. Someone the dog respects enough and is not chicken about the dogs mouth/teeth.
Object of the game - To teach the dog that licking gets him food, pets and praise. While using teeth or hurting people gets you ignored.
How to play - Put a single kibble in each fist and hold them at dog level so he can smell, but not get the kibble.
If the puppy uses teeth, nips, claws or jumps on you - Say "EEP!" in a high pitched voice, stand up, put your hands under your armpits and ignore him until he calms down. If after 3 tries the pup is too rough, either he is too hungry, too excited (more walking), or needs to learn the "PB lick" first (will describe later).
If the puppy licks your hand, say "kisses!" and open immediately and give the food, pet him and tell him he's a good puppy. Repeat with other hand. If puppy licks the empty hand reward anyway!
"The PB Lick"
Some pups just don't understand licking, they always try to chew through your hand. So you put a bit of Peanut Butter on the palm of one hand and stick it behind your back. Pet the puppy with the other hand . Bring the other hand out so puppy smells the Peanut Butter. Hold the hand out so pup can have a lick, say "kisses". Take the PB hand away and repeat.
This is a game that has to get more difficult as puppy masters each step. Take cues from your pup as to whether it's time to make it harder.
Step it up:
After you have put a kibble in each hand, use one or both hands to pet the puppy. Same rules as before, just harder for the puppy to control his excitement when the food is moving.
PLay a little rough, use a ball in one hand, wrestle with the pup, just remember to make it one step more exciting not jump up 3 or 4 steps all at once and expect pup to hold it together. Stop often to give pup a chance to either goof or win!
Continue to make it more difficult once pup is good all the time.
***INCLUDE OTHER PEOPLE. Once puppies primary handler is getting good response, have pup play with everyone. While he plays the older version, you start teaching step 2. Once pup has step 2 have others do that while you teach 3. so on....
Be creative and make this work for the pup you have. I adapted this from the way my parents taught our dogs not to bite when we were kids.
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