teaching dog to be gentle

[juliefurry]

I am trying to teach Hannah to be gentle when taking stuff from your hand (treats, toys, etc.). I will offer her a treat and tell her "be nice" and if she goes to grab it badly I will take it away and try agian until she does it how I think she should. It's the same way with her ball. I need to teach her how to be gentle because my sister in law may consider the way she grabs at treats and toys an aggressive act and not let her stay. Plus she will just walk up and grab whatever she wants out of my daughter's hand and often times she will catch my daughter's finger with her teeth (not bite but it still hurts).

 

[filarotten]

Julie, Renee gave me wonderful advice with Brutus when he was still very little. Make Hannah sit, or lie down when she is near a child. It has been wonderful with Brutus. I have also taught him the word "easy" around McKinley. Now, if he sees a child... and I say "easy" he will automatically sit and be gentle. but, with him or Roxie, I have never had the problem of taking something out of a hand in an aggressive way.
But, I did with Maggie, If she jerked it...she didn't get it...I told her no...easy. When she took it politely...she got the treat.
McKinley feeds the dogs cookies, I think the interaction is important. She also tells them to sit before they get a cookie.

 

[juliefurry]

she is usually really gentle around children and will just follow them around contently licking them but if Emily picks up a ball or something that Hannah likes she'll just take it. I've been telling her "be nice" when I give her treats, she never takes balls out of my hand, and if she goes to grab it like she's a wild maniac I will not let her have it and we try it agian and she won't get it until she does it right. I don't let Emily give Hannah treats because of the way she takes them. Big treats she's not bad with but sometimes Emily will try to give him a piece of kibble or something small and that's when things could happen. She's not aggressive just...over excited I would say.

 

[Violet21]

Give the treat with an open palm and say "gentle.." softly.. and when the dog carefully takes it praise praise praise!

do it over and over and over. Don't hold things in a way that encourage jumping and snapping. open palm it using your thumb to hold onto the treat and the dog wont nip i bet!

 

[Violet21]

after they learn the gentle word it can be applied to other things too.. like cats and small kids. If you say gentle they will know to be careful with their mouths and move slowly. At least my golden does!

 

[orbit86]

you tell her to be nice? when did dogs start talking?

 

[~Tucker&Me~]

you tell her to be nice? when did dogs start talking?

She will learn to associate the word 'nice' with being gentle.
My dog does it very well.

~Tucker

 

[moxiegrl]

you tell her to be nice? when did dogs start talking?

Not trying to start anything, its really not my style, but a lot of your posts orbit are semi-rude and offer no advice/opinions/experiences. Most, and I have seen many of your 20, are childish comments. If Im wrong please someone correct me...

Juliefurry- When teaching Katie to be gentle with anything, especially when excited, sometimes I hold on to her collar (not yank on it) so i have control as to how fast she goes for anything. When she takes the treat/toy, she really can't be rough, and then tell her easy, and praise her for doing so. This is especially helpful with fetch. My 2-yr-old niece loves to throw the ball for her, and she is right at Katie's height so Katie tries to get the ball from her, and it scares her. If I hold her collar, and praise her for staying, she has started to be calmer and control the excitement a little bit.

 

[makenzie71]

ohhhhhh Makenzie LOVES snapping stuff out of your fingers. First thing I suggest is to PROTECT YOUR FINGERS! As said, try and offer the treat from a flat, open palm. This works wonders with Makenzie but I'm working on his snapping. It's usually easy to tell when he'll snap and when he wont...if he's going to snap you see almost no warning and pull back asap; if he's going to be genetle he moves in really slow. If he's going to snap I say easy and pull back a little...that's usually enough to get him to be good about it, but if there's other dogs there he still kinda snaps.

I'd suggest not letting the little ones walk around with tasties in their hands and if they're old enough to handle the dogs, be sure and tell them to offer treats from an open palm.