I've noticed something recently about my pup.

If she gets told "no" or is stopped from doing something I don't want, she'll go an "pout", and grab a pillow or blanket and flop onto it, grabbing it with her mouth and shakes it, or chews on it. ( while still laying on it.)

Something I should worry about, or just a pup/teen phase?

She's almost 8 months.

My Chi does the same thing. Ever since he was tiny (he's 7 now), if he gets yelled at, he goes to get his stuffed gingerbread man (Juan) and shakes the heck out of it. It just seems like a kind of projection or displacement out of frustration. I notice he will also bite my oldest GSD if he happens to be in his path if he's been scolded. I just always chalked it up to being bratty (yeah, I know-human term) and irritated that he's been busted. He never got in very much trouble and he was always kind of a Momma's boy, so I think he just gets pissy when I show disapproval. I won't say it's gotten any better, but it never really led to anything worse, either. However, my dog is only 6lbs...FWIW.

So do you allow the "chewing on stuff after scolding" behavior to continue?

I am not wondering if she is redirecting herself to something that you accept as proper behavior after getting into "trouble".

When I correct my dogs, in training, I redirect them to something that is what I want. I make sure they know for a fact what I want and what I will not accept and once I know that they know the command or behavior, that is when the correction comes in without redirection.



What is she doing to get into trouble?

No, I don't let her do it. She won't do it until I walk away, so she has a few second head start before I notice.

She usually only does it when I stop her from begging for food, which I do not tolerate from her at all. I've gotten her to stop jumping on people for attention, so all she does now is sit really close.. and lean a little closer..

She's also done it after I scolded her for going into the trash.

Once I catch her chewing on the thing she decided to use, I'll go over and move her head up from it while telling her no. Once she stops, I'll pet her a little and she'll be fine and dandy, and not do it again.

 Quote: Amanda Stone

She usually only does it when I stop her from begging for food, which I do not tolerate from her at all. I've gotten her to stop jumping on people for attention, so all she does now is sit really close.. and lean a little closer.

How do you correct her for begging and how did she get that habit?

Begging is not tolerated in my home at all, when I start to set the table, whomever is in the house goes and finds a spot or their crate and stays there throughout our meal.

I agree with Carol. I don't like leaving my dog with a correction in his mind. So after correcting him, I have him do something for which I can praise or treat him, so the impression he's left with is a positive one.

I noticed, since my dog is very sensitive to me, that he feels a little "displaced", as Jenni mentioned, if I just correct him and leave it there. Leaving a dog with a correction as the last thing you said to him for a few minutes gives him no chance to please you or make it better, so they can tend to get befuddled, not knowing what to do next.

Dogs seem to always want to make it better, to apologize, so to speak. So after the correction, end on a happy note to avoid the pouting and lost/limbo feeling for the dog.

Edited to add: Dogs love it when we're happy with them, so we don't want them to "carry" the feeling that we're upset or displeased with them.

 Quote: sandy moore

I don't like leaving my dog with a correction in his mind. So after correcting him, I have him do something for which I can praise or treat him, so the impression he's left with is a positive one.

I couldn't agree more.

To take it a step further, in training sessions, I always start and end with a command I *know* the dog will do and can be praised for.

I want training to be something the dog looks forward to. And I never want to fall into an unconscious trap myself of "carrying a grudge" for misbehavior. As we all know, if the correction isn't instant, it's worse than useless. So I try to take care to make the correction and then move on.

With the begging, now I only just push her head away from whoever she'd begging from, and I'll stand in her way between them. ( We eat in the living room most of the time at my parent's house. )

She won't beg from me, but she does to my parents.

Which states a problem there.. but I'm trying to make them understand.

If she won't stop ( keeps bringing her head back to look at the plate ) Then I'll move her away, and give her a toy or something to play with while she lays at my feet. If she goes back, she goes into the crate, or outside.

I do tell her that she's good, pet her, give her a treat if I have one on hand once she minds, but it happens after that ( if I walk away ) that she goes and does the whole "pout" thing.

Maybe I'm not praising enough?

She needs to be placed in a down-stay, attached to your waist by a lead or go in a crate during meals, BEFORE meals even start actually.

I would not recommend crating her for begging as she may associate that with punishment and a crate should never be used for that.

It is easier tp train the dog not to beg than it is to train people not to mess with your dog. Trust me, my parents are the same way. In fact, my dogs go in their crates or outside in their kennels before my parents come over because I know what will happen.

I do not think you are being clear enough with what you want from the dog.
Where is she at in her training right now? At 8 months it is difficult to give advice via email without knowing where the dog is at in her training.

I started by crating my dogs before meals until I knew they understood their down command (in my house sit means sit and down means down until I say other wise, I do not use a stay command but it is okay if you have a stay command)......

Once they understood the down or sit or whatever, I would use that in a certain spot for each dog, and if they broke and got up, they got taken back to the same spot and placed in the same position and got a treat.

It did not take long for them to figure out that if they stayed where I put them, they would get something good or something fun to do (bully sticks are great) while they were in thier "spot".

She's gonna be a pet pooch.

I'm attending puppy classes with her ( more for the paperwork that comes from it, and a little help )

Her first session was just a puppy class for 8 weeks, now we're in an advanced puppy. I've taken advice from this site since before I had her, so I had her crate trained from the start, and take tips and bits from what I read here.

So her training is a combined effect.. with how I am, with what i get from here, and what we both get from the classes.

She's hesitant with downing, she does sit very well. Staying/waiting is still being worked on, and come works more often than not now. If she doesn't follow a command ( which she's started to do.. ) I put her into that position myself.

She's normally outside when we eat, but I came over when my parents were eating, and I had already had lunch. So she was with me, and I wasn't paying attention, and she slipped away from my side.

My bad.

I'll start trying the spot placement thing.. that sounds like it's a good idea anyways.