Gnawing on Your Last Nerve: Nipping

Do you have teeth marks on your arm from your pup’s nipping?

Chew on this:

When a young puppy nips he is often responding to the movement of your hand waving in front of his face as you try to pat him. This presents a catch-22. Show your pup affection and your hand becomes a moving target! Puppies find any movement stimulating. When you walk by, a pup might nip at your leg in sport. He would wrestle with another pup the same way. Remember, puppies play with each other by biting and nipping. So how do you cope?

People training:

Do not try to reprimand this nipping with a constant chorus of “No!” You can’t teach a five-month-old puppy to be a seven-year-old dog. Some dogs teethe worse than others. Some pups are in pain because large adult teeth are trying to poke through sore gums. Therefore your pooch has a license to be Jaws.

If your pup gets into a nipping-and-biting mood, you need to set a precedent by giving him a pig’s ear or other permissible object to chew instead of your hand. If that doesn’t do the trick, then guide the play by moving the chew toy around. He will get stimulated by the movement of the toy rather than your hand and eventually get tired. As a last resort, you could vigorously exercise him and then gate him with a new pig’s ear, not as a punishment but rather as an alternative.

When you are not free to supervise your human baby, you put him or her in a playpen with toys. The same goes for a young, teething puppy. When new puppy parents do not provide chew toys appropriate for the dog’s age and give their young pups too much freedom, basic functions, such as chewing, become frustrating behaviors!

Is your dog a “Backyard Barkaholic?”

This is probably the most common behavior problem and, to some degree, is quite normal. Not all dogs who bark at other dogs from the backyard become aggressive. But, depending on temperament, training, and the number of dogs you own, it can lead to dog aggression. This innocent barking stems from dogs’ territorialism–protecting their turf–which is innate.

Quick Tips!

• Do not leave your dog in the backyard for lengthy periods. Bring him indoors and break the pattern.
• Cover the fence with canvas so your dog cannot see out, or build a wooden fence.
• Use your instincts about your dog’s temperament and listen to the tone of the bark. Is he protecting the yard against another dog? Or is the barking from the anxiety of wanting to come inside?
• Tire him out and bring him inside. A tired dog is a calm dog.
• If you have a little dog and the bark is a warning alert of another dog approaching, then a simple shake of a penny can while you are out of sight will do the trick.
• If you have a dog that sounds like he is going to kill the dog on the other side of the fence, it could be the beginning of a serious behavioral problem, such as dog aggression.

Paws For A Minute… Q&A!

My new puppy is tormenting my cat. How can I help them get along?

Be patient! This takes time. Your puppy and cat need to acclimate to each other’s smells and movements. When your pup goes through his teething stage, it is best to gate him with a chew bone. This allows your cat time to walk around, and your puppy to get used to your cat’s presence.

Quick Tip: The baby gate is your best tool for helping both pets to get used to each other. This does not mean not keeping your dog gated at all times. It means you can sometimes gate your cat, giving your puppy free time, and vice versa. In time the two will learn to live together and you can keep your sanity!

Also, remember that your cat can choose to jump over the gate and socialize, or keep its privacy behind the gate.

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Paws a minute  and think about this… obedience is the result of positive reinforcement, not discipline.

Happy Thanksgiving ~

Inger

& the Paws For A Minute Productions team.

The Seven Breeds of Dog Owners: Breed #7 The Talker

Do you give your dog a dissertation on your daily activities? Do you wonder if your dog is stupid or just pain stubborn when he doesn’t listen? The Talker breed of owner would probably be genuinely surprised to know that dogs, though quite perceptive, simply don’t understand lengthy human conversation.

Chew on this: Dogs do not reason. If they did, you could have them pick up your dry cleaning or balance your checkbook.

Identifying features: This is the most common breed of dog owner. Dogs quickly learn the pattern of this owner, appearing to be somewhat obedient, then suddenlyy ignoring the owner’s lengthy request to stay by his side. Instead the dog bolts across the street after a cat.

Giving your dog a lecture on what you’d like him to do simply creates a lack of focus for your dog. Dogs are movement-driven and action-oriented. Loosely translated: All talk and no guidance on the leash means your dog will misbehave, mainly because he/she can. This breed of dog owner says too much and means very little.

The Seven Breeds of Dog Owners: Breed #6 The “It’s O.k.” Owner

For this breed of dog owner absolutely anything goes. Your dog poops on the floor every other week for a lifetime, and you will simply clean it up. While resenting this role, the owner generally feels that life has dealt him a bad hand and that there is nothing he can do to correct his dog’s behavior. This breed of owner usually owns a toy breed. You know who you are. While waiting for your dog to signal when he needs to go to the bathroom, he is wondering ,”why in the world don’t you take me outside regularly?”

The symptom this dog owner’s behavior creates is that the dog has an “occasional accident “- for a lifetime. Albeit a small mistake and perhaps easier to clean than a Great Dane urinating in your house, it’s still a mistake.We all have been to that house where there are too many potted plants in the living room, covering up all the stains from the dog. This behavior is due to a multitude of reasons but mainly the owner has never formalized the housebreaking process. So even an older dog who could hold the urge to go to the bathroom in the house doesn’t. This could be corrected by crating and training the dog in different areas in the house, proper correction and time feeding your dog, but not by this passive parent. Get it, it’s not the dog. Human behaviors can create automatic misbehaviors in your dog!

The Seven Breeds of Dog Owners: Breed #5 The Whiner

Now remember I am not intentionally making fun of people in a mean spirited way. I am simply brining to light a way for dog owners to see themselves.  That said, I know nobody wants to admit any of these wonderful qualities but our dogs often mirror the confusion that other relatives and friends would probably  like to verbalize. Still not sure what I’m talking about? Keep reading..

Do you sound the same whether you are happy or sad? Do you think your dog is brilliant because he constantly cocks his head? The Whiner says “No” and “Good Dog” all in the same tone of voice. The problem with this breed of dog owner is that the dog must become a linguist in order to understand whether the owner is pleased or not.

Chew on this.. “No!” should differ from other words it’s tonality; it should be spoken using a low, quick, and firm inflection.

As a trainer, I encounter this breed of dog owner often. One symptom of this breed of dog owner is that his or her voice inflection never varies. If the word “No” is said in a sweet whiny voice, it will never set up a boundary for the pup. Most new dog parents are members of this breed, especially when they first brings their puppy home. Although he or she may grow into a completely different breed of dog owner later, the Whiner says positive and negative things all in the same tone. This gives the dog a mixed signal. Many people are insistent that their puppy “gets it” or ‘Einstein” smart. Actually,  they are only  trying to figure out what’s wrong with their owners.

The Seven Breeds of Dog Owners: Breed #4 The ol’ Evil Eye

Do you have special eye signals or gestures that you think your dog understands when you disapprove of something? Do you find your dog speaks more than you do? Are you training your dog through osmosis or ESP?

This particular owner tries to communicate through facial expressions and grunts, rather than clear commands and positive voice inflection. The Ol’ Evil Eye righteously feels his dog knows what he has done wrong when he gives his pup the Ol’ Evil Eye glare.

Your dog may be thinking many things, but your dog is not thinking of ways to correct his own behavior. Dogs are very sensitive to voice inflection, body language and eye contact. So you may get a reaction from this human behavior. However, it is going to be a misunderstanding.

The Seven Breeds of Dog Owners: Breed #3 The Smacker

O.k., I know many owners don’t perceive themselves as abusive or violent people . For some, somewhere along the road, they heard that when a dog has done something wrong , a light bop on the nose will teach him to not to misbehave. Wrong. Under no circumstance should you ever hit your dog. Ever.

Hitting a dog does not serve any purpose. We pat our dogs with our hand and we use hand signals for advanced obedience. If you use your hand to hit your dog (even a rolled-up newspaper), you are sending a mixed signal. Trust, guidance and communication need to be your motivation. Teaching your dog to be obedient should be achieved through positive reinforcement, not punishment and discipline. Aggression can only lead to aggression over time.

Identifying features: The Smacker’s philosophy allows a dog’s misbehaviors to happen in the first place because this owner is incorrectly disciplining a behavior that has already happened. For example, a four month- old puppy does not know not to chew on a piece of furniture:it’s teething. All of his teeth need to come loose so new ones will grow in. Many people try to reprimand this natural function incorrectly. Instead of providing boundaries, providing chew bones and puppy proofing. Yes there is a proper reprimand for chewing an expensive chair but bopping on the nose is not part of the answer. That kind of correction can trigger other issues such as spot peeing out of fear, mistrust over time and many other things. Many Smackers feel and justify that it was not hard or did not hurt the dog. However, in doing so, bopping your dog on the nose,  your not accomplishing an understanding or proactively understanding your dogs needs, which in that case is to chew!

The Seven Breeds of Dog Owners:Breed #2 The Control Freak

This disciplinarian believes “Hey!” is a generic command to handle all situations. This breed of dog owner usually owns the wild child of the puppy world and “winging it.” The following behaviors are possible consequences of the Control Freak’s misguided form of reprimand: chewing furniture, grabbing food of the table, jumping on the couch and the list goes on.. However, a clear understanding is never reached between this owner and his dog.

This breed of dog owner has at least two or three meanings for ‘Hey!”  He leaves it up to the dog to decipher what he means every time he chants the word. Instead the dog learns to tune him out and continue the behavior.

Identifying features: Common phrases used on a daily basis. “No, get down!” (actually a seventies disco term, not an obedience command) “Off” ( is actually a bug spray)  ”Hey!” ( is for horses)

If your laughing to yourself or at yourself,  you may be or know a family member who at least a mix or a pure breed Control Freak. Many people feel that heir dog behaves badly on purpose. The reality is that many young dogs lack a daily structure of exercise and positive structured training on a leash as reinforcement. That same wild child would actually become the over achieving student. All that energy would flow in a positive direction. A pleasant command is worth a thousand reprimands.