At some point in your dogs’ early life, it was most likely that is mom corrected him for something like chewing on her, or taking her food.
You’d think mom dogs would share all their food with their puppies. That may be true most of the time, just as most mom dogs won’t get thoroughly upset when their babies chew on her too much.
But, at some point mom needs to protect herself from her puppies, and furthermore, nature dictates appropriate rules of behavior that she is compelled to enforce.
Mom dogs will bat at them sideways with their mouth, while making a guttural sound much like the word out. Kind of like an umpire might be heard to say. This, if you’re pup had ever been corrected by his mom, will have a profound effect on him, much like Pavlov’s bell.
In many instances this sound will stop a dog in is tracks.
If you fail to praise immediately after creating this sound, you will not have the benefits of it.
Posts Tagged ‘labrador training’
Labradors trained by their moms
Thursday, December 17th, 2009Unacceptable dog behavior
Friday, October 9th, 2009How about every time your dog steps on your feet?
Don’t you think your dog knows where each of his feet are, and where they belong?
Or, how about his tail? Does he accidentally smack you as he goes by?
Maybe he clears your coffee table as he moves past?
Certainly, you can’t expect your dog to understand that this long, unwieldy appendage can rearrange your knick-knacks or whatever.
“Maybe it’s best to keep him out of those areas. Besides, he’s like a bull in a china shop.
” We don’t need to put up with these sorts of “unavoidable” impositions on our lives or property.
“But, surely there’s no way to correct such innocent impositions”. *
If you believe that, then you’ve wasted your time reading this manual.
Either start over again, or reexamine your thinking.
Let’s look at how you might remedy these situations.
Remember, your dog is going to model your behavior and act in kind. You set the standard for good behaviors by demonstration.
Every puppy goes through a mouthing stage.
It’s usually out grown by the end of teething.
That means he needs to chew something to cut new teeth. Provide appropriate items to be chewed.
Everything else is not to be touched.
Establish appropriate mouth behavior right from first contact.
There’s no excuse for being abused by your dogs teeth until he’s finished teething.
There’s no such thing as being too young to learn any behavior, within the physical limits of his body. His brain is ready to be programmed to learn everything he will ever need to know by the age of 18 days old.
Training your dog is not much different than creating a filing system.
Just as you address each page that appears on your screen, each behavior your dog performs should be dealt with before moving on to something else.
Of course, if you are not prepared to cope with a behavior because of, perhaps time restrictions, make note of that behavior and set and appointed time to re create the situation and address it totally.
The first instance your dog puts his mouth on you is to be regarded as an issue. Each time you permit any inappropriate behavior to continue without being address, you are setting the precedent for more of the same behavior. *
Dog training and dominance
Wednesday, August 12th, 2009Unacceptable Demonstrations of Dominance
Your dog needs to totally control, or be totally controlled.
In the big scheme of things, barring any unusual tendencies, outward appearances should look and feel like you are expressing proper control.
Even in the best of situations, most of us try to get as much as we think we can get, or at least as much as we feel we deserve. For the most part, your dog doesn’t want to get your job, your possessions, or any thing else, except you.
All things being equal, you are the ultimate challenge. You might be considered kind of like a doggy version of Mt. Everest.
When climbing a mountain, one rule of thumb is to obtain a good purchase, before aiming for another handhold or foothold.
Just about every interaction with your dog might be considered a purchase on your summit.
We don’t want him to fall, but there’s no room at the top. You might look at the intricacies of the relationship with your dog kind of like a chess game.
Every interaction is a strategic assault that has to be analyzed, assessed, and at some point countered.
Most canine interactions center on control issues.
These power plays go on all the time, and usually take place without our even being aware, that we are the pawn in a power play. Although most of these ploys are harmless and laughable, they do add up and scores are kept.
You don’t have to play well, but like it or not, your in the game.
Being consistent means you get extra points.
Let’s look at an example of how we innocently participate, and the ramifications that occur as a result.
Your dog jumps up on your couch. You look over and tell him to get off.
Being a good dog he jumps right off, and resumes his appropriate spot.
Being a dog, he’s going to try again.
So he does.
And, doing your best, you remind him that you had just asked him not to do that.
But, he ignores you, and you insist.
So he goes.
But, he tries again, and being human, you’ve got other things to do.
Besides, he’s just been groomed, and your getting another couch soon, and you’ve decided to put this couch in a good spot so can have it, and your tired, and it really doesn’t matter.
So ignore him.
This One Instance Of Inconsistency Just Fractured His Entire Concept Of The Infrastructure Of Your Home And His Role In It.
If you cannot make up your mind as to what is important, then he needs to make decisions so as to insure stability in his den.