Hi, I wonder if I can pick the brains of you experienced lot?

My pup is only 9 wks old and has been with us since the weekend. He's doing fantastically with toilet training and 'go to bed' - I've been using a small piece of his kibble food as his reward as well as lots of praise.

The problem I have is that his little teeth are getting sharper, and he has a tendancy to snatch the reward - often catching me with his teeth in the process. We have been doing the bite inhibition stuff with him when he plays etc and he's getting the idea slowly, but I don't think he even knows that he's snatching - he just wants the food and is excited. I can't see a way to ignore the bad/reward the good, as he's got the treat by the time his teeth have caught me, so I can't ignore it, but how can I get him to take it nicely  - to then reward!

All the adult dogs I know understand if you tell them to 'take it nicely', so how can I teach him this? All ideas experiences gratefully received!

Sarah

Hard to explain- Im not good with words

I hold the treat in my thumb which is resting against my palm
tell the dog *nice*
Its hard to snatch in this positition as they wont get the treat just the finger
say *nice* everytime the treat is given so that they associate the two
if the dog does try to snatch then move the hand back out of reach- so they associate snatching with no treat

I was still struggling with how to say the same things :D Well described, Lel :) I did exactly the same thing with mine :)

Daisy

i agree with lel.  I have to do this with indie even now sometimes and shes 18 months now.  I just hold the treat in my hand like lel describes and she doesnt get it until shes being really gentle, and i tell her 'gently'.  She doesnt get the treat if she tries to snatch

Hi Blondie, dogs learn by cause and effect, this is easily taught in one session but needs to be maintained and generalised.

Hold a tibit like a crane and when the dog goes to mug you, say nothing, but slowly and gently pull your hand out of reach.

As soon as the dog reacts to your hand by moving back and/or sitting, reward the dog by turning over your hand and let her take the titbit from the flat of your hand.

This training achieves two things, self control AND being reliable around pointy fingers of everyone including children as that is what people do, stretch out their fingers to say "is he all right", this way your dog becomes hand safe.

Very very useful for all dogs, pointy fingers mean move back and/or sit, flat of hand means take treat.  You do not even need to have any words for this, also useful bearing in mind if you want a "stranger" safe dog, they will use differing words etc.

HTH

Thanks for all your help everyone - he's getting better already!
It's blatantly obvious now you tell me how - the second he stops from a snatch, he gets his treat. One thing though Tohme, what do you mean by hold the treat 'like a crane'?

I think the sleep deprivation of this week (first week home) is getting to me! Although I have been making him take it properly now even at 3am in the garden in the rain! I'm just astounded at how quickly he can learn - first puppy, is it obvious?! Thanks again for your jelp, and so quick too!

Holding the treat between the thumb and index finger, which is how most people hold their treats.

I thought that's what you meant!
Thanks again for all your help - he's doing it good as gold now.

I tried this after getting advice from this site as Sam was really bad at taking treats, he'd almost have your hand off. Now he is the most gentlest dog you could wish for when taking treats, so it really does work if you persevere.