From: liza@pangea.Stanford.EDU (Liza Miller)
Subject: Re: troublesome puppy
Organization: Stanford Univ. Earth Sciences
Date: Wed, 7 Oct 1992 21:12:29 GMT

In article <1992Oct7.191749.20696@linus.mitre.org> pdsmith.mitre.org (Pat Smith) writes:
>There is a good book called Dog Watching.  There is also a book written by
>some Monks who train German Shepards.  I forgot the name.
	The Monks of New Skete have written two books:  How To Be Your
Dog's Best Friend and The Art of Raising a Puppy.  They are both excellent
resources.

>Mainly you need to train the dog that you, not he, is the boss.  Saying NO
>is not enough.  You need to punish him.  I suggest you get a crate and use it
>for punishment.  When the dog is bad, tell him no and put him in the crate and
>ignore him for 2 or more hours.  10 minutes is not enough.  Never tolerate
	No, no, no, and no!  Crates are NOT, I repeat NOT, meant for
punishment.  Your dog's crate is his den.  Crates are where dogs sleep,
relax, and feel safe.  They are *not* where dogs are sent to be ignored for
two hours.  How rude!
	Telling the dog "no" is not punishment unless the dog knows what
"no" means.  It is your job to teach him.  If the infraction is minor or
the dog is "soft" (responds *well* to correction), saying, "no," in an
angry voice can be all the punishment the dog needs.  However, with some
dogs you need to be firmer.  This can range from a shake-down, or a pop under
the chin to an alpha-roll or a more physical version of a shake-down.
Please, please read the above to books for descriptions of how to use these
corrective tools!  
	The *only* way that a crate should be used in conjuction with
punishment is to give you and the dog time to cool off.  With my first
puppy, I used to get sooooo upset if he did something wrong (his laughing
attitude didn't help at all!) and after he was punished, I would crate him
for about 10-20 minutes to allow both of us time to cool down.  Being ANGRY
at your dog is *not* a good idea.  Always deliver corrections in a calm,
thoughtful manner.
	
	Crating your dog for 2 hours as a means of punishment is a MOST
ineffective way to handle your dog.  

>biting.   You will have a real problem when this playful puppy is and adult 
>who bites.  Curb the behavior now. You must be consistent and firm.  Give 
>him proper punishment when bad and praise when he is good.  They learn quick
>and want to please you. Good luck.
	I agree with that as well.  Dogs should not bite unless you are
training them for shutzhund work in which case you should know what you are
doing!  If your puppy bites, these two steps will really help control the
problem.  1.  YELP loudly as you pull your hand away and scold the puppy.
"Ow, that hurt.  Why would you do that to me.  Bad!"  2.  Offer the pup an
appropriate chew toy and praise her when she plays with it.  "Good pupster,
that's a good chewie, huh?"  Do this for several days and you should see an
improvement.
	If this technique doesn't stop the inappropriate biting, it at
least teaches the pup that biting people is not good and biting chewies is
good.  At this point, you can assume that the pup knows it shouldn't bite
you and is choosing to anyway.  My next step is to push my hand, finger,
foot, whatever is being bitten further down the pup's mouth while saying,
"No bite, bad puppy."  If this doesn't deter it, then I would grap the
little darling's face and give it a good shake while staring in it's eyes
and saying in an angry, growly voice, "No bite."  If this still doesn't
work, you have a tough, little hombre there and a good smack under the chin
would not be inappropriate.  If you do these steps well, slowly, and
methodically and follow each correction up with a reminder of the
appropriate behavior, your dog should stop biting you.  If it is still
biting after this program, then perhaps you have a piranha and not a puppy.
:)


--
Liza Lee Miller         My dogs are labradorable!     liza@pangea.stanford.edu
Cibola Labradors            Field * Show * Fun                    415/326-5309
Cibola's Misty Mountain Hop--Hopper                   Mistypoint Kashmir--Kash
	            Campbellcroft Cibola Rosette -- Rosie
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