hey guys iwas wondering if anyone could help me out.i have a 5 mounth old pup who is doing great .but lately i feel like he is challaging me.cause he will staind in front of me and bark his head off and push me with his nose alot.latly he is starting to nip at me hard.he used to do this when younger but not as hard.i was wondering how to correct this behavoir.i try to get his toys when he does this to get them to play with them but when he gets like this he dont care about his toys.i also tried shaking him at the neck.but it dont phase him at all and i do it hard he just thinks im playing rough with him.so i was just wondering how to correct this behavior.should i leave a choke and lead on him and correct with the choke when he gets like that any suggestions would be great thanks guys

When he is nipping you, is he behind you? And are you moving? ( rule out herding behavior....)

no im not moveing for example ill be sitting down
not moving at all hell be in front of me

Hmmmm, yes dogs do have the tendancy to challange at this age, he is just checking to see if he can advance in the pack and get you to do what HE wants. I went through this, I didn't use the prong collar or shake him by the nape of his neck, what I did do was pick him straight up off the ground by his skull with a ear in each hand and place him against a wall resting his rump on my knee (so I didn't hurt his neck any) gave him a up close and personal "Phooie" whilst twisting the ears enough to make him scream. Did I let him down when he yelped? Nope.. kept him there staring at him until he went silent, then he we let go. Only had to do that one time. Never has challenged the pack order after that.

Just keep in mind, never pick a fight you can't win. Not suggested for adult dogs!

I'm sure there is a easier way, less confrontational, more humane bla bla bla, but I prefer a one or two time solution with potentioal serious problems such as rank issue with me in a pup.

Originally posted by Will Rambeau:
When he is nipping you, is he behind you? And are you moving? ( rule out herding behavior....) Sorry if it gets off topic, but now that you mentioned it, my 4+ month-old GSD has started doing exactly that, and I didn't realize what it was. Plus, he circles around me and the friend I walk with each morning right after we meet at the track! Is this anything to worry about? (A friend of mine recently had his dog kicked out of day care for herding behavior....)

The only advice I can give you is this, be sure you deal with any challenge to your leadership as soon as it appears, or the problem will only get worse. I know from experience, when my dog was 4 months he started to growl at people of his choosing and this escillated as he got older to challenging me, now I have a much bigger problem then if I would have dealt with it correctly when it first appeared. However, the people in my SchH club have helped in training me in the proper handling of my dog and the problem is already getting better. Once you establish yourself as the leader you then must keep it. Just my two cents. Ed has some great articles on dealing with dominate dogs and what behaviors to watch out for, well worth a check, I'd say.

Lela

In my haste I forgot to add a couple of real important parts of the correction I mentioned above.. after it is all said and done.. you must praise and play, to let the dog know your not mad or anything, your just the boss... same as any obd correction.

You may want to adjust the level of the correction in accordance to your dogs hardness level, my pup was and is a hard dog, he can take an amazing amount of punishment and he comes right back like a boomarang, tail waging and ready to play or recieve praise. SO you have to know your dog fairly well, and adjust what you feel he/she can handle at the very most without losing fairness.. you don't want your dog to think your not a just and fair leader and lose respect for you...but you do want him/her to get the point that you are not to be challenged/tested at any time, because he/she will lose.

I hope that makes sense.

Now if you want to go another route, say your not strong enough or don't want to be hard on your dog like this, you can go the obd and crate route.

i.e. Dog challenges you, you instantly issue some obd commands.. sit, down, "whatever" when the dog complies, ( If a leash and collar are required for correction for obd commands use them) praise for a job well done, then issue the "kennel up" command and crate the dog for a while.. 20 min 30 min... then let him/her out and do a few more obd commands. This let's the dog know that you are the boss in a nice way without getting physical. This way might take longer, but has the same effect I think. Your still in control, and he is not.

So there are a couple ways.. I'm sure there is more.. Sch3FH2 should have some dandy ideas on this matter.. Lou Castle, Richard and the rest of the upper level trainers can add in.