April 21, 2011
When I pinch my puppy’s toes she jumps on me and bites my hands. What can I do?
Full Question:
I have a question for you. When I am working with Tasha I have to correct her, because she will try and bite my hands, or even try to jump on me. When she gets her fingers pinched she gets madder and really bites at my hands. This especially happens if I have to correct her after inappropriate behavior towards other dogs. I know this is training oriented, but I have never encountered this before, this is a recent behavior, and I am not sure how to approach dealing with it. I need your advice. I know I am missing something and am tired of getting my hands nipped at.Your advice is appreciated.
Ed's Answer:
Read the article I have written titled How To Raise a Hard Puppy.
Get a pinch collar on the dog and use it when it does these things, use it really hard so that it fears this correction. The dog bites your hands because you have been doing what I call, half-assed corrections. If you had been pinching hard enough she would not still be jumping up. I can stop any dog from jumping in one or two days (max) but I really pinch hard - followed by a lot of praise right after the pinch and then when I call them and they come to me and don't jump I praise a lot. They learn that they get praise and attention when they don't jump.
I also think there is someplace in my writing or video where I say, "pinch between the toes." This is wrong - the pinch needs to be on the bones in the feet. On an older pup - wear gloves so you do not feel the bite. Biting the hands is the secondary problem caused by poor corrections. Fix the first problem and the second goes away.
The same goes for encountering other dogs. You need a prong collar and give a stiff correction. If the dog turns and jumps on you the correction needs to be twice as hard. When you do this, it may cause the dog to act hectic for a second and come harder. This means additional hard Pop-corrections. This is also followed by praise for being quiet and praise for when you see another dog and say "NO" and the dog listens to you.
When you stop and think about it, your corrections have not been hard enough if the dog continues to act aggressive when it sees other dogs. If they had been she would not still be doing it because when it's done properly the dog will respect the command and fear the results of not minding more than the desire to go after the other dogs.
Get a pinch collar on the dog and use it when it does these things, use it really hard so that it fears this correction. The dog bites your hands because you have been doing what I call, half-assed corrections. If you had been pinching hard enough she would not still be jumping up. I can stop any dog from jumping in one or two days (max) but I really pinch hard - followed by a lot of praise right after the pinch and then when I call them and they come to me and don't jump I praise a lot. They learn that they get praise and attention when they don't jump.
I also think there is someplace in my writing or video where I say, "pinch between the toes." This is wrong - the pinch needs to be on the bones in the feet. On an older pup - wear gloves so you do not feel the bite. Biting the hands is the secondary problem caused by poor corrections. Fix the first problem and the second goes away.
The same goes for encountering other dogs. You need a prong collar and give a stiff correction. If the dog turns and jumps on you the correction needs to be twice as hard. When you do this, it may cause the dog to act hectic for a second and come harder. This means additional hard Pop-corrections. This is also followed by praise for being quiet and praise for when you see another dog and say "NO" and the dog listens to you.
When you stop and think about it, your corrections have not been hard enough if the dog continues to act aggressive when it sees other dogs. If they had been she would not still be doing it because when it's done properly the dog will respect the command and fear the results of not minding more than the desire to go after the other dogs.
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