Has anyone got any tips on how to stop a 5 m.o lab puppy from snatching treats that are offered to him? Every time we give Dylan a treat he snatches and REALLY hurts. I have made sure he is calm and sitting before offering the treat, and he also knows the command 'wait' and takes the treat only when I say so, so its not as if he is bounding around excited, but he still manages to get half my hand when he gets his treat. I make sure I don't pull away from his mouth but don't know what else to do. Is this just because he is a pup or is there something I can do to stop this behaviour. Any advice would be greatly appreciated :)

Hi Leahloo,

I have found with my dogs that if the treat is in the palm of my hand instead of held in my fingers and you give the dog the treat with your palm facing upwards that they seem to have to be gentler as they have to pick the treat out of your palm. They seem to be gentler as well as they are looking down at the treat instead of reaching up if it is in your fingers.

Theresa

Hi Leahloo,
I have a guppy-mouth terrier who likes to do the same thing as you describe. Over the years, I've learned to hold the treat as if it's a cigarette being protected from the wind. If the dog gets grabby, I twist so the nose hits my knuckles instead of the actual treat. Instead of a treat, a soft rap occurs. At the same time, I say "Hey! -- Gently".
Sure enough, Samma will ease off and go for it when I tell her it's "ok" much more softly the next time. I can sometimes see the gears churning in her head --- kind of an "Oops, I messed up" realization :rolleyes:

For her, it's nothing to do with not "respecting" me ... usually it's because she's excited and just not thinking. She's also a small dog, which sometimes, the hand is held slightly too high for her to comfortably reach, so she's pushing up to get higher.
With my old lab/gsd mix, I did the same thing. In fact, that's where I started this 'style'. He learned fairly quickly not to be so grabby.
good luck with your puppy
toodles

I would do something very similar Sara - with a small treat completely in my hand with my fingers closed round it and my thumb on top.
Offer the hand down to the pup so he can smell the treat inside but can't get it. He may bite your hands at first until he gets the idea so grit your teeth. Lift your thumb a bit so he can see the treat and almost get it if he snuffles at your hand. Keep closing your thumb down again on top of the treat if he gets a bit manic about it and make him wait but don't take your hand away. He should calm down and start looking/waiting for the treat when he realises he is not going to get it by biting/digging at your hand. When he does slowly open your thumb and make him work gently with his mouth to get the treat out. Tell him 'gently'. Don't just open your hand and hold it out to him as that defeats the object. He needs to learn that if he snaps and snatches at treats he will not get them under any circumstance. That is very bad manners, painful and I wouldn't tolerate it. When he gets the gist eventually, you can open your thumb more and more until you can hold a treat out to him and he will take it 'gently'.
Any relapses and back to the closed hand.

Hello LeahLoo, I have a 4 month old Lab who was also grabbing my hand when I offered a treat and I agree, it hurts! I was told by a trainer at ringcraft that my pup has a very hard mouth, which upset me, but also made me determined to improve it!

What I did and what seems to be working is very similar to egohania’s approach.

I would get both my puppy and my older lab to sit in front of me and I would offer a treat to my older girl who takes food very gently. (she just sticks out her tongue to take a treat! ) Then I would offer it to the pup holding the treat with finger and thumb and if she grabbed I would twist my hand so she wouldn’t get it and at the same time very firmly saying “NO!”, then… and I know it sounds cruel… I would offer the treat to the other dog instead while pup watched.

After about 3 or 4 attempts at trying to grab a treat with a wide open mouth and seeing it go to the other dog, she started to be a lot gentler and I also praised her to the skies when she was gentle. I did this exercise 3 or 4 times a day, and where she would forget for the first few times at the start of each exercise something has now clicked in her head to be gentle all the time.

Of course it helps to have another dog! But you could withhold the treat and ignore the pup for a few seconds and try again?! Good luck!

(By the way, she isn’t perfect! She still grabs hold of my childrens (10 and 12) clothes while playing… they tell her off, shake her by the scruff of her neck, ignore her… but 9 times out of 10 I have to rescue them and just a “NO!” does the trick, she walks away waggin her tail looking contrite. She won’t do it to me or my husband as we tell her off with big growly voices, I think she sees the children as siblings?? Anyway, it all takes time eh?)

~Sharon, lurker of this board :D

Thank you so much for your replies, there is some really useful, constructive advice in all of the posts. I will be giving the methods a go......just as soon as the lazy, snoring little baby (bless) wakes up :D Will let you know how we get on. thanks again everyone :)