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Take it gently
- Thread starter milos_mommy
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First of all, I never hand a dog a treat with the treat between my thumb and first finger. That's just asking to be bitten, scraped, scratched, pinched, etc.
Instead, I put the treat in my palm and hold it with my thumb, and hand the treat that way.... as if giving a treat to a horse.
Very few dogs will bite your hand if you give the treat this way.
If you still have a greedy dog, what I do is hold the treat in my fist so they can't get to it, and hand it to them. If they bite at my hand, it stays closed. When they back away or lick my hand, I open it and give them the treat. It is very painful the first few times you do this, and you have to be extremely consistent and do it EVERY TIME, but eventually the dog will learn to be a little more patient and show some self control.
Instead, I put the treat in my palm and hold it with my thumb, and hand the treat that way.... as if giving a treat to a horse.
Very few dogs will bite your hand if you give the treat this way.If you still have a greedy dog, what I do is hold the treat in my fist so they can't get to it, and hand it to them. If they bite at my hand, it stays closed. When they back away or lick my hand, I open it and give them the treat. It is very painful the first few times you do this, and you have to be extremely consistent and do it EVERY TIME, but eventually the dog will learn to be a little more patient and show some self control.
I usually just throw it to Mu. If she's too excited she will bite my hand and she will bite hard. With Murphy though....his eye mouth coordination is not anywhere near as good as Mu's so I either throw it in his direction or reach toward him and if he snaps I pull back and then he's usually much gentler. I was actually thinking about asking this question for Murph!! Lol.
Abbey tends to snap occasionally, although I usually remind her with the word, 'Nicely!' before handing her the treat. I guess I inadvertently taught her "nicely" when she snapped at my fingers the first time - I yelped and yanked my hand away, with the treat, and she didn't get the treat until she took it 'nicely' from my hand. She's a smart little dog, very food driven, and picked up on the word quickly.
I suppose I should clarify - I say it because she snaps occasionally - she is very food driven and sometimes gets a little anxious when I'm handing out the good stuff to the group, ie, I've recalled the dogs during our off-leash walks so I can put them all back on leash to walk home. Everyone gets a high-value treat and even though the boys have never tried to steal her treat, she'll make a grab for it. I don't have to say 'nicely' for a low value treat...
That, and the fact that anyone else giving your dog a treat would need to know which word you use (I know a lot of people use "gentle"). But hey I guess a dog that only takes it gently when given a command is better than a dog that never takes it gently!
I have this problem with Juno. I've never had to teach a dog to take things gently and even rescues I know who lack any sort of training at least know to take food gently. But Juno's a shark. Part of it is because no one else in my family is patient enough to wait for her to be gentle... and so there's no consistency... but urrrghhh it's just annoying that she needs to be taught it lol. I'm not used to that. What I do is just wait for her to lick at the treat instead of lunging for my hand, and I do this regardless of what she's getting the treat for. If I'm rewarding her for sitting, she doesn't get that reward until she can be nice about it...
I have this problem with Juno. I've never had to teach a dog to take things gently and even rescues I know who lack any sort of training at least know to take food gently. But Juno's a shark. Part of it is because no one else in my family is patient enough to wait for her to be gentle... and so there's no consistency... but urrrghhh it's just annoying that she needs to be taught it lol. I'm not used to that. What I do is just wait for her to lick at the treat instead of lunging for my hand, and I do this regardless of what she's getting the treat for. If I'm rewarding her for sitting, she doesn't get that reward until she can be nice about it...
My dogs always have taken the treat "nicely" from me. I don't know if I have inadvertently taught them that or what. I do know that when I have my friend's dogs with me and go to give them a treat, they are very grabby. So I just am patient until they stop trying to grab at it or take my hand with it. Once they politely and delicately reach for the treat, then they get it. While I am doing it, they pick it up very quickly. But since I suspect my friend doesn't reinforce it, it seems to take them a bit to remember to take it "nicely" from me. Now I don't see them more than every so often. I suspect if I saw them a few times a week, they would do better at remembering.
