[Teresa Stanczak]

Hi and Welcome!

Kudos to you for rescuing so many dogs! It sounds like you have been making progress with him since you have had him, which is great. Make sure that you are not only working on the obedience portion of this website but working your way up the 11 layer Pyramid as well http://www.selfhelpdogtraining.com/selfhelp/cms/foundationdogtraining.html.

As far as starting the down, if he is having trouble figuring out going to a down position from a sit using a luring technique with the treat, you can try a variation. Sometimes dogs with short legs, like doxies 🙂 , aren’t easily lured into a down because they can just bow their head down to reach the treat without bending their legs at all. If you think he is seems stessed and frustrated with the lure technique and you are following the steps in the video then you can use an alternate technique.
One other technique is a tunnel or bridge technique. Use of this technique will depend on his food aggression issues, because it requires that he crawls underneath your leg or arm to reach a treat. There is NO force used ( no pressing down on his back, or shoulders).

To perform this technique using your leg (which would be my first choice for a dog with his issues)

1.sit on the floor with on legs out in front of you , then bend one knee so that a opening is created between your leg and the floor. The opening must be high enough for your dog to fit through but low enough so that he has to get on his belly to make it through.
2. Hold the treat on the opposite side of your leg from the dog, extend it through the “tunnel” to him and encourage him to come under the “tunnel” by holding the treat to the floor and back through the opening of the “tunnel”. Say”Down” just as he is about to get into the down position for the the treat.
Praise and Deliver the treat as SOON as his belly and elbows hit the ground.
3. If he seems tentative going under your leg you can deliver a treats for putting his head through the opening for a few repetitions, then only give the treat for getting his head and neck through the opening etc. until he is reaching far enough into the “tunnel” to get into the down position.
4.When he is repeatedly going into the down position right away you can try using the lure technique without using your leg as a bridge and say “Down”. This usually transfers over really nicely.

Having him on a leash to do obedience at this point shouldn’t be an issue if he is good on the leash for you normally, since you won’t be using any corrections during Phase 1 anyway.

Let me know how this works out!

Best,
Teresa

[Teresa Stanczak]

It is absolutely horrible, as well as the technique the trainer you mentioned was most likely referring to. It is something that is still unbelievably and very unfortunately done and most definitely abuse. If the dog shows aggression it is hung up by the leash until it passes out and then repeated as necessary.

More trainers and owners need to be educated in the proper way to train dogs. No quick fixes. You won’t find any of those methods here in Foundation style dog training just real training and real solutions, with patience and respect for dogs and guidance for the owners who love them.

[Teresa Stanczak]

Hi Ashlee,

I am glad that Zeus is improving in other areas! Now for the nipping….

Yes he is teething and will be until 8 months. Baby teeth will fall out between 4 and 6 months old and permanent teeth will continue to come in until about 8 months.

It is great that he is doing so well with his obedience. Keep following pack structure rules. You mentioned you pet him too long. ( I agree it can be hard to resist such cuteness). Remember quality not quantity 🙂
Do you think he tolerates a certain amount of petting and then starts nipping? If so try to end petting before he gets to this point. If you want to increase the amount of time that you can pet him ( let’s say he has been exercised, and isn’t allowing hands on for more than 1-3 seconds) . You can ask him to sit , show him a treat and feed the treat while you pet. When treat is finished hands come off. For example he may only be able to lick and nibble at the treat for the first 2 seconds then he can have the treat on the 3 count. Gradually increase the length of time spent petting and waiting for treat. You can even pair a command with this called “easy”. As he gets better at this you can eventually say ” easy” then pet and then give the treat.

If he does have something in his mouth you should teach him to trade. You don’t want him to learn to play keep away to get your attention. If he has already grabbed something in his mouth get a favorite toy or a yummy treat and show it to him ( you may have to hold the treat to his nose). Say in a happy voice “out” (“leave it” would be for something not yet in his possession). As soon as he drops it praise him and give him the treat. As he gets better at it he won’t need to see the treat first before dropping the item.

It would help me to know what you have been doing up until now when he nips you. Any particular techniques you have already tried and his response? But in the meantime until I hear back from you, can he be distracted by obedience
commands at all?

Best,
Teresa

[Teresa Stanczak]

Hi Ashlee,

Thanks for your patience in awaiting a response!

Sounds like what Zeus is doing is completely normal for a puppy. It is one of the most common complaints of new puppy owners, those puppy teeth can be killers! Puppies engage with each other in play and explore their environment with their mouths. Morning time and after naps when the are fully recharged can be some of the worst times ( piranha puppy- yikes!)
Puppies and adult dogs for that matter need to chew…just not on you. Make sure you have lots of appropriate chew things on hand for him to keep busy with like kong toys, nylabones, sterilized marrow bones (the kinds that are not basted in anything and are at least 6 to 8 inches long) and treat balls to keep him busy . These are just some ideas.

Have you worked your way through the triangle? If not make sure you work your way up and pay attention to toy/bone and chew toy rules in Pack Structure http://www.selfhelpdogtraining.com/PackStructure/cms/PackStructure.html
Following Pack Structure rules will also help with him biting inappropriate things in the house.

If you know that he is going to be especially mouthy like first thing in the morning, don’t pick this time to pet him and snuggle. Maybe play a game with him like tug or ball first and then after he has relieved some of that energy and seems a little more relaxed you can get some petting time in. Puppies usually play hard and sleep hard so it shouldn’t take too much to tire him out at his age.

Giving him appropriate items to chew on (like kongs that are stuffed with food to keep them interested) and appropriate outlets for their energy such as tug and walks should decrease the nipping and mouthing alot. It will not go away overnight but you should see a definite decline over time.

How do you normally respond when he is chewing on items such as pillows and coffe tables in the house? Sometimes chewing on things in the house is an attention seeking behavior. For example the puppy has learned that if he snatches the pillow from the couch a fun game of chase ensues.

Congrats on the new puppy!
Teresa

[Teresa Stanczak]

Hi!

Welcome to the Forums and Thanks for your patience in awaiting our response!

While it is true that Neopolitans are protective as a breed, and the qualities that are necessary for a good protection dog may be present in your dog, proper training is a MUST.
Training with a tug alone will not teach a dog the necessary tools to be properly protection trained for a real life situation.
The link below is to a blog that talks about the downfalls of training dogs for sport (ie to a sleeve and not for real life scenarios similar to training with just a tug). http://selfhelpdogtraining.com/wordpress/?p=262
A properly trained protection dog should not only be able to show aggression but most importantly know when and where it is appropriate . Control, boundries and structure are important for any dog with strong protective instincts especially one who is protection trained.

I hope this answers your questions!
Best,
Teresa

[Teresa Stanczak]

I like the technique of moving the car back and forth. What an excellent game of Tug!!!!