Maggie walks all over us

Ok I am reading some books to help me learn how to train Maggie... but until then I REALLY need to teach her some very very basic manners. It's really driving me and Justin crazy.

The worst problem we're having is that she walks all over us. Literally. She thinks she's a lap dog. She'll jump up on the couch where we're sitting and WHATEVER we're doing, if we don't pet her right away, she'll nose right into our face and walk on our legs, ouch. I've been lucky so far that she hasn't walked on my laptop.

I feel like this should be easy. But she's only recently started to be that affectionate with Justin and I'd just hate for him to push her away. I tried telling him to just push her gently and pet her at the same time but even then, as soon as he stops petting her, she comes right back and steps on him again! How can I get her to stop doing this without hurting her feelings?

She also burps in my face and barfs on my bed but I suppose that just comes with having a dog?

For you from now on I would stand up as soon as she goes to step on your lap. Pushing her can sometimes make them think they are getting attention and no matter the type of attention it's good enough for them. Walk out of the room and see what she does. There are two likely things she'll do, 1 is she'll steal your spot on the couch and 2 is she'll jump off. If she jumps off good that's what you want, go back and sit down. If she jumps up and lays NEXT to you pay attention to her. If she goes on you repeat. Now you don't want to hurt the relationship she is forming with Justin so he (and if it works well you also) can try body language that clearly says "you are not welcome on my lap". People tend to lean back when a dog goes to sit in their lap. They may throw out their hands to stop the dog but dogs don't talk with their paws, they use the rest of their body. So if he's sitting and Maggie comes to join him on the couch he should lean forward guarding his lap with his body and turning his head up and away from her until she settles down NEXT to him. Then he can get back in a normal position. She may then try to worm her way onto him but he should guard his lap again. She may prod at him but he should keep his head turned up and away from her until she stops. Then he can pet her for a bit.

as for the barfing and burping...*points finger and laughs*

Oooh thanks Erin!! I'll try that..

Lol welcome to dogownerhood.

Sometimes it seems like the bigger the dog the harder they try to be a lapdog. It's a plus that she's enjoying and looking for attention but annoying that she's being so in your face about it.

I'd try and teach her to sit on command if she doesn't know how. Then, when she jumps on the couch, gently push her down and ask her to sit, then play with her for a few minutes. If she keeps jumping up, ignore her. Totally ignore her, don't talk to her or look at her or anything. She'll probably sit to try and get your attention. When she does sit and calmly ask for attention, give it to her.

She'll probably try and get your attention at inappropriate times (ie, when you're watching a movie, doing work, etc.) in that case, try and give her a kong or something to amuse herself with.


As far as the burping/barfing...what are you feeding her?

Why, exactly, do you allow your dog to perform these bratty behaviors?

If you don't stop it NOW, meaningfully, it won't get better.

If I had a dog doing these things, it would have a line on a collar when in the house, and it would learn very quickly about staying on a mat, 4-on-the-floor, etc.

I would unceremoniously remove the dog from the sofa and place it on the mat each time it moved off of it. Dogs learn this target training very fast if you are consistent. I will have most dogs staying in one session.

Make rules. Stick to them, and enforce them. You AND your dog will be much better off for it.

Well I am working on learning to train her. I have a lot more to learn than she does. Why do you think I asked for advice? I'm not a dog trainer, I'm a run of the mill dog owner that doesn't know sh*t. But at least I'm trying.

Thanks MM. She did come preprogrammed with "sit" so I'll definitely have to try that.

Also, she's eating Canidae. She doesn't burp that often, just once in a while after she gets done eating. And she barfs her food up sometimes, I dunno. Usually when I don't wait long enough to exercise her after she eats, then she'll wait until she's inside and in an inconvenient location before she ralphs. Or when we feed her an hour or 2 late and she scarfs it down too fast.

Step up to the plate and take charge!!

Obviously if you don't, your pup will, because she is.

Keep in mind that dogs do what WORKS for them. So, think things over and make the things you WANT her to do work for her very well, and make the things you do NOT want her to do be nonproductive for her.

Keep a collar and a short line on her when she is interacting with you so that you can control her. Be kind, consistent, and smile, but be POSITIVELY demanding with what you want her to do.

Use food and praise to teach her what you want her to do. Use ignoring, turning away from her, and removing food and praise to teach her what NOT to do.

The puppy training phase can be exasperating to say the least, but the more work you put in over the next few months, the more enjoyment you and your dog will get out of it for the rest of her life.

So, I will give you the advice I give my students all the time. USE THAT PRIMATE BRAIN. Don't get stuck in a little corner. Interact with your dog, control the situation, and make the thing you want the dog to do the easiest thing for the dog to do.

I don't really see the burping as a problem - we burp sometimes after eating, too! I had a dog who would vomit if we fed her too late, too, it's really annoying. You can try feeding her in a food dispenser, or even hand-feed her if you think she will eat too fast otherwise.

For what it's worth, I think you're doing a great job with Maggie so far. Of course there's always a lot to learn, none of us has all the answers, but it's encouraging to me that you are seeking advice and reading as much as you can. Keep it up!

Thanks everyone. She's already stopped walking on us. She learns so fast. As soon as I try to teach her something, she seems to learn it the very same day. My dog is awesome.

I have to learn to teach her tricks. Then I can do the NILIF thing. That's the only thing keeping me from that, I have no clue how to teach tricks. Although I did see on It's Me Or The Dog how to teach lie down, maybe I'll try that today.

Red, i just wanted to mention....


Maggie is a very, very, very timid dog. It took her a while to get comfortable around Beth and she was, for a pretty long time, afraid of Justin as well. That's why they don't want to reprimand her too loudly or anything yet.

You have to teach tricks to do NILIF? NILIF means Nothing In Life is Free, it means that your dog has to work for anything you give her. It doesn't necessarily mean that she has to do a behavior that you've taught, it could be that she keeps four feet on the floor instead of jumping, or she's quiet instead of barking. You said she's good at sit - you can use that, just wait until she sits before giving her what she wants.

Check out this website:

http://k9deb.com/nilif.htm

If you need help on teaching a bunch of different commands/tricks you can PM me or maybe make a thread with a list of tricks you'd like to know how to teach and I'm sure we can all help you out. Also the book "The Power of Positive Dog Training" by Pat Miller goes over how to train a bunch of tricks (it's using clicker training but you can alter it to be without the clicker, I swear though that that book really makes you want to clicker train).

Oh I see. Well I sort of do that already for a lot of things then. She has to sit before she goes outside (now getting her to sit calmly is another story ) Going outside is her favorite thing in the whole world. I've been making her sit before I give her attention on the couch now and she's stopped walking on us.

I do want to teach her tricks though. She's so smart and if I could teach her tricks, and then have her do tricks for Justin... it might strengthen their bond maybe.

I did teach her "down" today I think... well actually it seemed like she already knew it. Someone must have taught her that already. I wonder if there's anything else she knows? Hmmm.

This is good information to know, however, what she is now describing does not sound like a timid puppy.

I did not intend for my post to intend any indication to REPRIMAND a puppy during any training.

I DID intend it to mean that one must expect certain behaviors from puppies, and REWARD them for presenting these behaviors.

Other behaviors that are not desireable should be prevented, or interrupted, and then the puppy distracted to do something else.

Like stay on a mat.



Sorry if my post was confusing, I do not as a rule use force or reprimand as training methods. I do, however, often present a forceful yet POSITIVE leader figure to a puppy, and I do (positively) demand certain things.