The one where we learned the power of the simple word, "No."
All my ladies, listen up
If that dog ain't giving up
Lick your lips and swing your hips
Girl, all you gotta say is...
I was feeling pretty down last week when I wrote Devil Inside. Things were bad enough that D00d asked if we needed to consider rehoming Pike. That wasn't an option for me, but I didn't know what the solution was. Little did I know that it would arrive in the form of a single word, taught to us by a tiny redhead just a few hours later.
Our trainer is amazing and she has been worth every single penny we're paying her. I took Beezy to obedience classes with a mix of other dogs and, while I'm glad we did it, I don't think we got the same level of attention as we do with this one-on-one format in our own home. Plus, we get to ask questions and have her provide real-time solutions.
Which is what I did when we were done with our lesson for the day. I asked what we could do about our number one issue: biting. And, I kid you not, the remedy she gave us was so effective that within 24 hours we no longer had an issue. Now, he's still a puppy and he's teething so he's a little mouthy, but he's a completely different dog. It's amazing.
All it took was three super simple steps:
First: a firm push.
When the dog comes at you with its mouth open, you give it a firm push on its chest. You push it away from you. Not a shove, just a gentle but firm push.
Second: say no.
As you're pushing the dog away say, "no," in a firm voice. You don't have to yell or shout. Just say it firmly and quickly at the same time you're pushing the dog away.
Third: ignore.
Pay no attention to the dog until he or she gets the idea. If he or she comes at you with an open mouth again, repeat steps one and two until the dog understands.
That's it. I kid you not, we did that the rest of that evening and by the next morning, Pike seemed to get it and didn't try to bite us. We might have to use this approach once a day when he's feeling his oats, but most of the time he doesn't even try to bite anymore. If you're outside and your dog jumps and bites at you, you basically use the same approach: push + no + ignore.
If leash biting is your issue, bring a toy outside with you and when you see the dog start to jump and bite the leash, bust out the toy and see if you can distract from the action. If that doesn't work for you, keep the toy in your pocket, do the push + no + ignore routine and then when the dog stops, you can casually drop the toy on the ground. Not as a reward, but as a "look what just fell on the ground!" kind of thing. It's important to never reward the dog for its negative behavior. And that doesn't just mean with treats. A puppy is like a tiny toddler, and the one thing a toddler wants is attention. Even if you're yelling or screaming, that's attention. That's all the dog understands. Whatever it's doing at that moment, it's getting a reaction from you. So your job is to deprive it of attention directed at negative behavior and to reward the good behavior you want. I know it sounds too simple to work, but I promise you that it's not. It's easy, it's effective, and you can achieve quick results with minimal effort. Be consistent, be firm, and reward the good. Who knew? Next time, I'll talk about the containment issue we were having and the quick and easy solution to that problem. In the meantime, peace out and take care!
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