bouncing off the knee has never worked for me, partially because I am a small woman with big dogs and partially because it seemed to make them want to jump more.

Crossing my arms and ignoring them has always worked for me, as well as taking the toy and ending the game if they bite at my hands or arms while jumping at me to get the toy.

It wasn't too long ago that Yote jumped up and grabbed my ponytail while we were outside playing. I DID correct for that!!!

How do you correct for hogging the bed? I start out in the middle but she ends up shoving me to the edge, I woke all the way up once and she was actualy pushing out the center of the bed

Whoa, get this, my husband was out of town for the weekend. Dog usually sleeps through to 6 am. He gets home and she wants out at 2am by whining and slamming her butt against the bedroom door. He obliges by letting her out and then she races him back to bed and hops up into his spot. How do you correct for a plan like that?

 Quote: Jennifer Lee

bouncing off the knee has never worked for me, partially because I am a small woman with big dogs and partially because it seemed to make them want to jump more.

I don't think it would work for me either, since her body is so long and I'm too short to get her at chest level.

 Quote: Jennifer Lee

It wasn't too long ago that Yote jumped up and grabbed my ponytail while we were outside playing. I DID correct for that!!!

Haha...

Tasha bit my butt once! I ended a game and turned to walk away, she decided that would be a good way to get my attention. She got a big correction for that one!

 Quote: Dennis Jones

How do you correct for hogging the bed? I start out in the middle but she ends up shoving me to the edge, I woke all the way up once and she was actualy pushing out the center of the bed

Get a bigger bed

This is covered in M.E. playing tug videos. I used to deal with the same thing. Any “game” is played under my terms not the dogs. For some odd reason I thought I had to let it go to have good protection work. She would jump all over me trying to get a toy like a crazy little ape. Yes, lots of torn clothes, bloody hands….I have about three pairs of warm ups and about 5 sweatshirts that are shredded. I was very wrong.


And sweet puppy eyes, how the hell do they know the exact time to use that trick, my 9 month old girl is the absolute pro at that, but said earlier, the devil is right there. When I see sweet puppy eyes come out I prepare for something bad to happen

As. M.E. says you set the rules of the games, that has to be established first (rules of playing tug, can be transferred to anything you want to play). Do you still get bit, yep, but it is usually operator error. But the game stops, you make it clear to the dog that is NOT acceptable, let it process for a second or two and move on (dont be waving around the toy, the toy stops). I personally don’t quite the game, I just move on from it. If “NO” didn’t work I would probably use other measures, depending where our training is at. As he also says you have to be careful with puppies or dogs just starting to learn the game or you might confuse the dog.

As Randy said you take that energy and put it into playing the game, M.E. calls it capping, he has a real good chapter on it.

As far as putting a knee in the chest, I don’t agree at all, if I do that it may put them in higher drive to get ME, If you push my pup away she comes back with much more force (and usually a FULL mouth grip). It can hurt like hell , I don’t push her away from me anymore, she is getting a little too strong, I’ll pick a fight I can win. Some dogs you just don’t push around.

Just make it crystal clear to your girl that is NOT acceptable, your hands and body parts are off limits. I don’t think you need to correct the snot out of the dog, just make sure she understands.

Scott,
I agree a knee in the chest or pushing him only riles my guy up more, it just means I am engaging him and wrestling with him.

Plus balancing on one leg while 60 lbs hurtles at me full force is a recipe for disaster.

Eh, it works for me but, I'm the village idiot. Your mileage may vary.

 Quote: randy allen

For the dog, I use that energy/drive as a training opportunity.
For me, I'd learn how to teach the dog how to target better.

This was the trick for me. My dog was getting my hands once in awhile and it definitely was NOT intentional but it hurt like hell. Even so, biting the hand meant the end of the game, so doggie learned to aim better, and quickly. He's a dog that winds up quickly (like it sounds like Lauren's dog does), and correcting him for this would have accomplished exactly two things:
1. It would have wound him up further (making his aim even worse)
2. It would have made his bite more nervous and chewy than it already was...also bad.

Impulse control is a beautiful thing. The first rules to EVERY game became "nothing fun happens while doggie is hyped up" and "calm always gets rewarded". Before long, all of that crazy energy got channeled into focus, where it could be used for good instead of evil. Just a thought.

I wouldn't correct for this, because I can't see a correction accomplishing anything productive in this circumstance, but lots can be done with that energy/drive. JMHO

Thanks for the replies everybody.

I was almost sure that I was already doing the right thing, but you know how it is . Focus and impulse control are 90% of what I work on with her. I really try to be thoughtful about it in everything we do together. I think with some of the tips on his thread we are on our way!