New behaviour that I'm not sure if I'm correcting properly.

[Lyn]

I followed RedyreRottweil ers advice in my 'Stubborn Streak" thread and Bubba is responding much better to commands and his behaviour in the house has much improved. He is still pulling a bit at times on leash but we are still working on it.

I've also been doing NILIF. He is made to sit before he gets anything. And he must sit and wait until I give him the ok to get his meals go in and outside ect.. I've also kept his leash on in house.

The only issue I've seen NO improvement in is his chasing of the cats.. and he's started a new behaviour I'm not sure how to correct.

Ok.. Let me try and explain this.. When he's chasing the cats I say NO, Leave it!!  in a growly voice. If he does not leave them then I walk up to him and walk him away from the cats and tell him good leave it!! Then I give him one of his own toys or a bone and walk away. Sometimes that is the end of it, and sometimes he will go back and chase them after a couple minutes.

Now the NEW behaviour is when he sees me walking up to him to take him away from the cats he starts bouncing and mouthing my hand. When he does this I tell him NO and then put him in a down stay. Sometime he will refuse the down, and just sit. But as soon as I start moving towards him he lays down before I get there. I know he's testing me.. but I'm not sure how to deal with this, or if I'm correcting him properly? Like I said he's doing great in every other aspect.. It's just the these dang cats.

It doesn't help that my cats have NO fear of dogs. My kitten will even run up to him, give him a slap and run away and that starts the chase. Bubba has always been excited by the cats, and I know he is just playing but he plays like a savage and I'm worried he's going to injure them since he likes to stomp on them. I've been trying to stop this behaviour since day one. So what I'm doing is obviously not working and it's escalating into something else.

I thought about giving him a time out instead of the down stay, since he doesn't like to be alone (he's not destructive but he sits and stares until I come back). We don't use a crate but I have a few places I could put him if neccessary for a few mintues.

We will be starting group classes hopfully soon. This class is full, so I have to wait until the next one starts up.

Any suggestions on how I should go about correcting this mouthing behaviour would be great.

Thanks,
Lyn

[Saintly Girl]

Maxwell chase my too cats and has done so his whole life.  I'm in the same boat as you are.  Luckily my cats are wary of him and keep an eye on him at all times.  I've tried it all.  Yelling doesn't seam to work.  If he's really bad I gate him in the hall for time out but that doesn't work either.  The cats are way smarter then he is so he hardly gets to touch them.  I don't worry too much about it anymore.  He doesn't bite them, just puts his mouth on them.  He doesn't clamp down on them when he catches one.  Don't worry, your cats will escape.  If anyone else has more advice, I'd love to hear it.  My dog trainer was a bit wussy.  Ignore bad behavior and reward good behavior.  What a load of bull$%%$!! 

[RedyreRottweilers]

A couple things to try:

For the bouncing and mouthing, take him by his collar and also by a handful of the loose skin under his chin. Hold him REALLY FIRMLY.

If you can pull up enough that you can get his front feet off the ground so much the better.

You now have complete control of your puppy. Look him in the eye, give a slight shake to the hand that's holding him, and with direct in the eye eye contact, say KNOCK IT OFF.

Hold him, and hold the eye contact until you get a submissive gesture from the dog. (looking away, ears back, tongue licking, whining, a paw lifted, etc).

When he has indicated that "You are the boss, applesauce", gently let him down.

I would play a leave it game with him, using a long line. He would spend a lot of time on a longline so I could get to him to correct him if I needed to.

So, you get some REALLY tasty treats, something he does not usually get. Then you expose him to a distraction that you know he'll go for. As soon as he focuses on the distraction, or moves toward it, say LEAVE IT, but not in an ugly tone of voice. Use a cheerful but fairly loud tone, and then immediately call him to you, and help him with the longline or leash to turn towards you. The SECOND he focuses on YOU, feed the treat. Feed 2 or 3 the first several times.

LEAVE IT should come to mean to him TREAT, MOM HAS A TREAT!!

Combine this with the mild aversive of hauling him in on the longline or leash if necessary.

If this is a huge puppy, I might use a prong collar to start with, but it depends on the pup.

Practice practice practice, and escalate your distractions until he bounces to you cheerfully and briskly each time.

You can combine this with playing the Recall Game, I posted that for Smohr under "Another fun game for you and your puppy" thread.

I would give him zero chances to screw up and ignore you, and I would haul his butt up off his front feet and give him down the country the next time he bounces around and decides not to respect you.

[Lyn]

Red I did something similar this morning to what you just suggested. I grabbed the loose skin under Bubba's chin and made him look at me, he tried to fight for a couple seconds and then immediately submitted and looked away from me. I didn't lift him up though, I'm not even sure if I could. He weighs 100 pounds now. But he hasen't mouthed me since, and I only did it the one time. He still chases the cats though go figure. I'll have to pick up a long line, I've been using his leash but it's not long enough.

I did read the Recall Game and I will try that this weekend since Hubby isn't working so he can get in on some training for a change. Bubba does know the leave it command, but not as well as he should it goes in one ear and out the other at times. So some more weekend homework will be "leave it" concerning the cats.

A friend of ours is also bringing his dog over this weekend, since Bubba is getting a little standoffish with other dogs thanks to those loose dogs attacking him. He cowers and runs when he sees another dog approaching him. I need to nip that behaviour in the butt before training class starts. Or Bubba will not be allowed in group class.

[Lyn]

Well our little home training session went well. The recall game went excellent. Bubba didn't want to quit but we ran out of bologna. LOL

We also practiced sit, down, heel and stay. Which he did everything I asked with NO corrections. Now I know Bubba has a soft spot for bologna. So when we start training class I'm going to bring lots with me.

Since we did the recall game when he's chasing the cats and I call him he comes immediately. To the point where he's stopping so fast he's sliding on the carpet. LOL I just make sure I have bologna in arms reach. I was so excited that he did so well that he sat there and looked at me like I lost my marbles. LOL We tried saying "leave it" but I think since I've repeated it so many times he feels he can ignore that command. So we used AH AH and then when he looked my direction I called him to me.

Thank you so much Red. Your suggestions have made such a difference. It's like night and day. We were both shocked at how quickly he changed.. expecially regarding the cats. It's amazing what a strong recall (and lots of bologna.. LOL) can accomplish.

[RedyreRottweilers]

Way to go, Lyn!!!

I just make the tools available, you did all the work.

You are going to have MUCH more fun in training class, and I predict you end up the star of the class because YOUR puppy will know how to pay attention to you.

You can work on this between now and class time.

Here is how it works:

Show the pup that you have some food, and then wait. Say nothing. Do nothing. Just stand still and watch your dog. Eventually he will make eye contact with you. As SOOON as he does, SMILE REALLY BIG, say YESSS!!! Bubba! and praise praise praise as you give him a reward.

Then wait for another look. It will come a lot faster than the last one.

Same release and reward. Now that you have this behavior, you can start shaping it. Ask for longer times before you treat. Only treat when you have ASKED the dog to look. Ask him to look as you move slightly away from him. You can shape it in all sorts of directions, just with how you reward the dog.

If you will start now, you will probably be TEACHING the class.

[Lyn]

I would love to teach.. hmm maybe a new career.

Just a little update.. Bubba is back to some of his old ways. But I'm being consistant, he's not getting away with anything He tried mouthing me again this morning, and I corrected him immediately. I know he's not feeling to well though. He has a very itchy hot spot and seems a tad moody. Although I'd be crabby too if I had an itch that I couldn't scratch. lol. He's still responding very well to the recall though. So that's helped since I don't have to go get him everytime he's misbehaving. He comes running to me instead for some bologna. 

[BabsT]

I do the grab the skin under the chin and I give a big high sigh sound and a dont you even think about it...zero will now lay down and give the sad eyes...