How to get your dog to carefully take a treat without biting!

OUCH! That dog almost got a finger! Whether training your pup or just bestowing ''edible love'' on her, dogs and puppies alike can get out of hand, and painfully snap up that treat! Fortunately, teaching your furry friend to be gentle is as easy as 1-2-3!

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• A dog
• Small treats

1. Use a very tasty treat which is either very small, or broken into small pieces. (You will start with largter pieces, and work your way to smaller pieces.)

2. Call your puppy or dog and extend your arm to give the treat, knowing full well that the dog will jump and/or bite/snap. When she goes for the treat roughly (whatever behavior you want to break) sharply pull your hand (and the treat) back towards your shoulder and say fairly sharply and quickly, but not loudly, ''Eh!''

3. The dog is likely to be a bit confused, which is good! Pause, and slowly extend out your hand again, shaying ''Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh'' for the duration while you are reaching out to her. At first, she is likely to snap again!

4. Continue to pull the treat away, saying ''Eh!'' as long as she is snapping or biting for the treat. She will quickly realize that the longer she is calm, the closer the treat gets to her mouth! When she is calm the whole time, she gets the treat! YEA!!

5. Repeat several times, until she is calm every time you say ''Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...''. Your dog has learned a new trick! Eventually your dog will automatically be gentle when given a treat. If she slips, a quick ''Eh!'' and ''Shhhhhhhh'' is all it takes to get her back on track!

Tips & Warnings

• Repeat, repeat, repeat! Repetition is the key. Do it almost every day until you know she has learned the ''trick''!
• Use a treat that your dog LOVES! An ''ok'' treat is likely to get a lukewarm response, so there isn't really a lesson to learn without the correction.
• Use small pieces so you can do it over and over before your pup gets full!
• DO NOT give in if she snaps! If she starts to snap and takes it from you before you stop her, let her have the treat, but let her know that she shouldn't have snapped by saying ''Macie...! No BITING!'' A firm tone is consequence enough to let the dog know she messed up.

[justscott]

on 8/4/2009 Very good tips.