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Puppy Temper Tantrums...
Our 4 month old lab mix throws tantrums on walks. She will take the leash in
her mouth, and when we stop, remove the leash "while saying drop it," she proceeds to growling, biting, barking, jumping, etc. She will not continue walking during this fit. She carries on like we're doing something horrible to her, although we just take the leash from her mouth. She is enrolled in puppy obedience classes with postitive reinforcement as the training method, and has responded well to the rest of her training. Do you have any suggestions? |
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"Singdrumplay" wrote in message ... Our 4 month old lab mix throws tantrums on walks. She will take the leash in her mouth, and when we stop, remove the leash "while saying drop it," she proceeds to growling, biting, barking, jumping, etc. She will not continue walking during this fit. She carries on like we're doing something horrible to her, although we just take the leash from her mouth. She is enrolled in puppy obedience classes with postitive reinforcement as the training method, and has responded well to the rest of her training. Do you have any suggestions? What do you do to try to contain her and encourage her to *not* react like this? Secondly, what other mental exercise is she receiving? Does she receive off-lead playtime? It's important that you make sure she gets lots of off-lead playtime. Playing fetch with her in the yard, running around, etc. Secondly, instead of gently removing the leash from her mouth, try giving her as little leash as you can (don't strangle her or give her *NO* room to run around--but just give her half an inch to think about) and freeze when she does this. Don't react to her, don't make her do anything. Get her nice and bored. You're not doing anything interesting, she's not doing anything interesting. Thirdly, work on not letting her have these temper tantrums. I am a big fan of letting my dogs know that I'm always carrying around treats. They just never know when they're going to do something that warrants me handing them out (so they're on their best behavior!) I start out with taking a few steps, and calling them back to me (I teach them to touch a hand) and get a treat. Take a few more steps. Instead of being bored, they're constantly trying to figure out what you're going to ask for next. Eventually they forget they even GET bored on walks, they are happy in your company. Puppies go through "stages" and yours is no different Labs are fun, but you have to make sure they get enough mental stimulation. -- Emily Carroll http://www.fluttervale.com/kennel - Fluttervale Labradors http://www.fluttervale.com/biography - Canine Biography |
#3
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"Singdrumplay" wrote in message ... Our 4 month old lab mix throws tantrums on walks. She will take the leash in her mouth, and when we stop, remove the leash "while saying drop it," she proceeds to growling, biting, barking, jumping, etc. She will not continue walking during this fit. She carries on like we're doing something horrible to her, although we just take the leash from her mouth. She is enrolled in puppy obedience classes with postitive reinforcement as the training method, and has responded well to the rest of her training. Do you have any suggestions? it sounds more to me like she's trying to play with you, not having a tantrum. :-) i'll second Emily's suggestion of freezing, and basically ignoring the behavior. i'll bet you're reacting somehow, because she's continuing her behavior for some reason. maybe she thinks you're playing with her when you take the leash away. one of my dogs taps on the door to go outside. sometimes he does this over and over, not even leaving the deck, but turning around to come right back inside. it's totally annoying. so sometimes when he taps on the door, i'll give him a good chewy treat, like a bone or a pressed rawhide, in order to get him to leave me alone for 20 minutes or so. lately i've noticed that he taps on the door, over and over, very quickly in succession (telling him "no" doesn't help for long). then he just sits and looks at me expectantly. that's because i inadvertently taught him that tapping on the door will get him a really good treat. :-) everything dogs do, they do for a reason. it's up to us to find that reason, and remove it if necessary, in order to shape their behavior. make sense? -kelly |
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(Singdrumplay)
wrote: Our 4 month old lab mix throws tantrums on walks. She will take the leash in her mouth, and when we stop, remove the leash "while saying drop it," she proceeds to growling, biting, barking, jumping, etc. She will not continue walking during this fit. She carries on like we're doing something horrible to her, although we just take the leash from her mouth. She is enrolled in puppy obedience classes with postitive reinforcement as the training method, and has responded well to the rest of her training. Do you have any suggestions? Have you actually taught her the command "drop it?" Sounds to me like she thinks it's a fun game. A lot of pups - in particular the mouthy ones like labs - play tug with their leashes. The easiest thing to do would be to spray bitter apple, bitter end, or one of the other yucky-tasting products on the leash so that she no longer wants to put it in her mouth. You may have to experiment to find one she doesn't mind, though. And you could try bringing a toy with you on your walks that she could carry in her mouth, instead of the leash. To teach drop it: 1. Let her put something in her mouth (like a toy). 2. Say drop it. 3. Initially, put a treat right up to her nose. Shove it in her nostril if you have to. Wait patiently until she decides to voluntarily drop the toy to take the treat. I've yet to see a dog who wouldn't eventually give in to the smell of the food. :} 4. Praise her, and whip the toy behind your back for a second (to get it out of her sight, so she doesn't change her mind). Give her the treat. 5. Immediately give her the toy back and leave her alone with it. After the first few times, you shouldn't have to put the treat to her nose any more. As quickly as you can (as soon as she understands the command), don't let her see or smell the treat when you ask her to drop an object. Other than that, rinse and repeat on the above exercise as many times a day as you can manage. I love this method, because you're not only teaching the dog the "drop it" command, but you're also teaching her that she doesn't have to guard her treasures from you. A mouthy dog is used to getting stuff taken away from her and not getting it back. After this training, that dead squirrel she finds outside will more likely be offered to you, instead of buried in the couch. :} Whenever she has something in her mouth that you can't give back, like a shoe, trade it for a toy. --- Canine Action Dog Trainer http://www.canineaction.com It's A Dog's Life http://hometown.aol.com/dfrntdrums/m...age/index.html Get Healthy, Build Your Immune System, Lose Weight http://www.re-vita.net/dfrntdrums |
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Maybe she is just being a puppy. I would use positive reinforcement to
guide her in her growth, but I would allow her to be a puppy. She is awfully young. Singdrumplay wrote: Our 4 month old lab mix throws tantrums on walks. She will take the leash in her mouth, and when we stop, remove the leash "while saying drop it," she proceeds to growling, biting, barking, jumping, etc. She will not continue walking during this fit. She carries on like we're doing something horrible to her, although we just take the leash from her mouth. She is enrolled in puppy obedience classes with postitive reinforcement as the training method, and has responded well to the rest of her training. Do you have any suggestions? ----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Uncensored-Secure Usenet News==---- http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 100,000 Newsgroups ---= East/West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =--- |
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Paula said in rec.pets.dogs.behavior:
I have been working on "drop it" with Punk since the pen habit came up. To put a dollar value on it: A "drop it" command would have saved an acquaintance a $1000 surgery bill on her lab. Said lab (not a puppy) wouldn't give up a squeaky and, when presented with a treat in exchange, made the decision to swallow the toy and then grab and swallow the treat bag. -- --Matt. Rocky's a Dog. |
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"Rocky" wrote in message ... Paula said in rec.pets.dogs.behavior: I have been working on "drop it" with Punk since the pen habit came up. To put a dollar value on it: A "drop it" command would have saved an acquaintance a $1000 surgery bill on her lab. Said lab (not a puppy) wouldn't give up a squeaky and, when presented with a treat in exchange, made the decision to swallow the toy and then grab and swallow the treat bag. -- --Matt. Rocky's a Dog. Forgive me for laughing at the picture of that. That is SUCH a Lab thing to do. -- Emily Carroll http://www.fluttervale.com/kennel - Fluttervale Labradors http://www.fluttervale.com/biography - Canine Biography |
#9
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In article ,
Rocky wrote: To put a dollar value on it: A "drop it" command would have saved an acquaintance a $1000 surgery bill on her lab. Said lab (not a puppy) wouldn't give up a squeaky and, when presented with a treat in exchange, made the decision to swallow the toy and then grab and swallow the treat bag. I'm very sorry for what must have been a terrible scare for your friend as well the risk to the dog, but it's hard not to admire a dog with advanced problem-solving skills. -- Melinda Shore - Software longa, hardware brevis - "War is heck" -- American Family Association |
#10
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Melinda Shore said in rec.pets.dogs.behavior:
To put a dollar value on it: A "drop it" command would have saved an acquaintance a $1000 surgery bill on her lab. Said lab (not a puppy) wouldn't give up a squeaky and, when presented with a treat in exchange, made the decision to swallow the toy and then grab and swallow the treat bag. I'm very sorry for what must have been a terrible scare for your friend as well the risk to the dog, but it's hard not to admire a dog with advanced problem-solving skills. It was a scare for me, too. How's this for problem-solving: The dog went for the hand that was holding the bag of treats, not the treat in the proffered hand. In doing so, she scraped up my hand fairly well (I was attempting the trade after my acquaintance stood still after saying "drop it drop it drop it" and after her attempted wrestling away didn't work). BTW, this was the second time this dog had had bowel surgery and the Nth time she wouldn't give up a toy to the owner. I told her to get her dog to the vet ASAP, but she waited until the next day. -- --Matt. Rocky's a Dog. |
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