Good Questions from a Customer

Sherry received the following blog comment from one of her recent customers. Since the posting was one that included questions she hears quite often, we thought it would be appropriate to restate the question and provide Sherry's response below. Enjoy...

Hi Sherry,

Have both of your books “How to keep from ruining your dog” and “How to walk your dog on a loose lease” and love them both. Excellent information! I have a 10- week old border collie mix which we have had since she was 7 weeks. She is teething badly and when she plays, she is always biting. With all my dogs I have always distracted them with toys that they can chew on (not hands, feet) but she just keeps at it. I am doing the grab her by the back of her neck and unless she yelps, she does not listen., We have good eye contact and she listens really well except when she gets so hyper. Any suggestions?

Thanks

Sherry's Response:
I must first congratulate you on paying attention to your dog’s behavior after you have tried to work with her. You have recognized when she gives wonderful eye contact which is the most important thing in a dog’s relationship to us. You have also recognized when she is unwilling to give that eye contact and the fact that she goes into a temper tantrum when she does not get her own way. Watching your dog and recognizing her behavior is the only way that you will be able to help her to join the human world.

In reading your letter the words that I quickly picked up on were: Teething badly and always biting. It is true that a puppy that is going through teething must be able to chew more than usual. She will need things such a rawhide to help her through the process. Chewing on ice cubes also helps while she is losing her teeth. Although, they are teething this does not give them an excuse to chew on you. The puppy will still have to know that chewing on you is an unacceptable behavior. You attempted the neck hold/shake and chose to let go as soon as the temper tantrum started. This is the most important time.

This is when we teach the puppy that they do not get their own way just by having a tantrum. This is the most important moment in teaching your dog. When she yelps it is not pain that is causing her to yelp. If you would continue the hold until she quit yelping you would find that the same hold does not bring out a yelp. She is yelping because you are controlling her and not because you are hurting her in anyway. Dog’s that fight (scream, holler or struggle) are resisting control. Teach you dog that she does not always get her way and she will never bite or resist when you try to get her to do something in the future. You need to hold on until your dog completely settles. Do not stop if she is whimpering or stiff. Continue the hold until you see total relaxation. Then pick her up kiss and pet her with quiet praise.

My specialty has always been to take a mean (biting dog) and make them nice again. In 30 years I have only had to recommend that 4 dogs be put to sleep. The older dogs come to me because they seriously bit an owner or guest. The owner always tells me that they have never seen any aggression in the dog. As I ask questions I quickly find out that the dog was very resistant to control and the owner always gave the dog their way. Maybe you just tried to encourage the dog into a cage and they did not want to go so you let them walk away. Or you tried to clean their ears and because they did not want it done you made the excuse that it must hurt and therefore I am not going to do it. If you let the dog decide when you can control them which would include but is not limited to moving them from one space to another or picking up a body part, then you have told the dog that resistance or aggression will give them their own way.

You could be dominant over the dog and make them submit to you but you will find that with my method, most of the time you will find that you can get the dog to submit to the behavior and not to you. Therefore, you end up being the good guy. It’s important to teach your dog how to be right, instead of telling the dog that they are wrong.

Any resistance to control is a dominant behavior and you should be using my book that is very detailed to correct this problem. Remember, in most circumstances you will only be the nice guy. The behavior will bring on a negative consequence and you will bring on the positive (lots of praise, hugs and kisses) to reward the wanted behavior.