hello - help
i have a four month old pupp..... gave him his first tripe stick today and went to take it back.... bit growling session and then he bite.. broke the skin. I shouted and then ignored him.
Please can you give me some tips... i don't think its time for a behaviourist... or is it???

thanks for any help.

Your puppy is just a baby. I dont think you can give him a treat then take it back & shouting might make him nervous. Sorry about your hand I dont think puppy would mean to harm you.

Jean

Yes, i agree. But also- wouldnt it have beenbest to start this at a younger age so your pup knows that wehen you take something off him, it is not unusual? Try with his food bowl first. Thats what i do. IT is much easier to take a food bowl away than a tripe stick,. this will get time used to you being in controll. Do you have a toy that just you use when it suits you? have one where when it comes out, the pup knows it is yours, and he is privalaged to play with you with it.

ps- i am no expert, but thats what everybody tells me to do...

We have to be careful here, this is a four month old puppy that you should be building trust and respect with.  Yes, perhaps it should have started earlier, but it didn't.  Taking his food bowl away from him will not build a trust with the owner.

I agree 100% that you should be able to take anything away from a dog, but lets go slowly and teach him it is the correct thing to do.

Firstly I would teach him the command of 'leave' or 'give' whatever you prefer.  Use a toy that is not one of his favourites.  You need to teach this on a one to one, in a small space with no distractions.  Give him the toy and keep hold of one part of it, a ragger toy is good for this. Ask him to 'give' and assuming he doesn't, take it from him, calmly and gently.  When he gives it up, praise him gently, give him a little food treat and start again.  He will soon get the message, he needs to be taught what you want, most will willingly comply when they understand.

You can then progress to different toys and when he is doing it nicely, try the tripe stick.  You can do this by swapping treats, but personally I think this confuses the pup and prolongs the excercise.

Remember.......Just say the command once, stay calm, don't forget the praise and practice for a few minutes every day, even when he is older.

Good Luck, he is only a baby
Sandra

Iagree that taking something away without actually training for that is not a good idea :)

I agree too that dogs need to accept that we may need to take things away that they would rather we didn't, but that it doesn't happen often and that we are trustworthy and don't just do this for the sake of it. Too many people have had difficult relationships with their dogs due to the idea of "seeing if the dog will let me take his bowl/bone" etc. I have no idea where this originated from, but it is not at all uncommon even now.

If you train a dog (ie set up training situations where you are not in a hurry) you will probably find that the problem ceases. Always make it rewarding for the dog to give items to you. However, some dogs need expert guidance if they get a bit OTT and in that case then yes, you would need a helping hand i feel to stop it before it got worse. I suspect that if you follow Sandras method your pup will learn to happily "give", but if not do get help :)

Lindsay

I have serious problems with this attitude from some people that items you have GIVEN your dog still belong to you......

In the dogs mind, anything in HIS mouth is HIS......and quite frankly, id agree......

Thats not to say you dont have the right to ASK for something back, and dogs do need to be taught that when you do ask, they have to give back.

The thing is, most people try to train this with food that THEY have given the dog, when generally the only time you are going to really NEED to take food off the dog is when its found something dangerous, ie bones on a walk, nasty stinky dead things.

Since dogs are SO context specific in their learning ability, any attempts to teach the dog to leave things or give them up by simply snatching food YOU have given them away, are bound to fail...usually with the dog displaying its intense displeasure.

If you want to train your dogs to leave or give up items they have found, then you have to be a bit more crafty than simply taking its dinner bowl away occasionally.
Set up situations with your dog on a long lead, and make sure the item you have 'planted' for the dog to find is less appealing than the treat you will give to reward a 'leave'. Prevent the dog from taking the found item, and reward with the treat. Repeat in LOTS of locations.

Aggression over food that already exists is a different matter, and needs to be treated very carefully. You do NOT want to punish teh dog for warning people off its food, taht will just take away the warning, and NOT the need to do so. Instead reward the dog when people are near its food, set up situations where this is safe, and make sure that from the dogs point of view, he can see that he is being rewarded, do NOT take the bowl away to put more food in, Dogs cannot tell the difference between one cup of food and two.....!

Em

Mmmmm, tricky one this.  I would be very quick to stamp on a 4mth old pup that displayed ANY form of aggression towards me.  I will not tolerate my dogs guarding anything from me, I expect to be able to take anything when I want to, this goes for anything outside too.  I teach the "leave" command to my dogs, it applies to everything they either have or want to get, it also applies to things they think they want to chase!

We all have different opinions of how our dogs should behave, if mine are eating a bone, they will guard it from each other, I have no problem with this and neither do they, I never have fights and can feel safe in knowing that they will sort things out for themselves if the situation arises.

When we talk about possession towards us, this "can" lead to problems later on.  Food, toy possession is a BIG problem in some pet homes, just because its allowed in the first place.  I don't know what breed of dog the poster has, but in my opinion they should seek the help of a knowledgeable dog "person" to help them rectify the problem, before it escalates.  Our opinions on here will vary vastly, so will methods of correction.
Dawn.