biting & jumping

Question
I am a pet sitter for a 4 month old, female Golden Retriever. Of course she is intent on biting and jumping on me and everything in site. When she bites me I growl "no bite" and tap her muzzle with my index and middle finger. I then stick a nylabone, kong or whatever is handy into her mouth and say in a praise voice, "good bite". When she jumps I raise my knee and gently push while growling "no jump". I am concerned about my techniques upsetting the owners but these have worked well for me in training my dogs. Is there a better way?

Answer
Hey, Britlyn,

Thanks for the question.

There is a better way than what you're doing. Both behaviors actually come from a positive social feeling. The nipping (she's not really biting unless she's trying to hurt you) is an attempt to engage you in play, the way she would with another dog. I consider it an honor to be nipped in such a way by a puppy, and would never consider being punitive about it, at least not in such a direct fashion. Punishment doesn't teach the dog HOW to use her teeth, it just teaches her that happily nipping you in play causes you to treat her roughly. That's not a good training equation. On the other hand, the impulse can't just be allowed to express itself unchecked. It should be redirected into a toy so that the dog is not in the habit of nipping everyone she loves (like the neighbor's kids).

She's a little young for tug-of-war, but a little taste of tug, where you let her win and praise her for winning, will go a long way toward satisfying her oral impulses in a safe, and highly social way. (You have to have permission from her owners, of course.)

As for jumping up, that also comes from a positive social impulse, and shouldn't be punished either. She's trying to connect to you in as complete a way as possible. The best way to deal with it is that as soon as her front paws leave the ground, you simply turn sideways and step away, preventing her from making contact. Then you praise her. Teaching her to sit, instead of jump up, is also a good technique.

I hope this helps!

LCK

Britlyn responded:

"Thank you, but when is the last time you dealt with a puppy? They're on you so fast there's no time to turn to the side..."

LCK: I deal with puppies all the time. You have to be smarter and quicker than they are, that's all. If you run into one that's really that quick, here's another way of teaching them not to jump up: http://www.tiny.cc/jumpingup

"I was always told that letting a dog win tug-of-war gives them confused signals about who is Alpha."

LCK: Since the latest research on the pack behavior of wild wolves shows that there's no pack leader, and no hierarchy, it would be very unlikely for dogs to have inherited a pack mentality from wolves that doesn't actually exist in nature. You might find the following article helpful: http://tinyurl.com/2q2esp

As for tug-of-war, why would a dog want to keep playing if he never gets to win? The purpose of tug is to give the dog a safe outlet for all his aggressive energy. Tug, when played the way I describe, is a great tension reducer. And by the way, since the techniques I use and recommend come from training police dogs, etc. (see below), who are the best trained and most obedient dogs on the planet, and they're all trained by letting the dog win at tug, I don't think you'll find a problem with any of THEM thinking they're alpha.

"I'll look for a more realistic pack mentality approach."

The kind of pack mentality you believe in is nonexistent, it's a myth, started in Nazi Germany in the 19030s.

"This new age, bliss ninny, politically correct way of training a dog does nothing for me."

I think you have me confused with a "positive" trainer. What I do is actually far more positive than what they prescribe, but my training is not new-agey at all. It's based on using the dog's predatory instincts, which is the way police dogs, search-and-rescue dogs, and drug detection dogs are trained.

"Dogs are dogs...one of God's best creations. But treat them like people and they go insane."

Yes, but only human beings (and some apes) have the cognitive architecture necessary to form social hierarchies. So if you're relying on an outdated belief system like the alpha theory as your basis for treating dogs like dogs, you're actually treating them more like people than I am! Dogs and wolves don't from hierarchies. They don't have leaders. The pack instinct only exists to enable wolves (and sometimes coyotes and other species) to hunt large prey, by working together as a cooperative social unit. Wolves who settle near a garbage dump, for instance, don't form packs. Coyotes DO form packs, but only when they need to hunt large prey. So clearly, the evolutionary genesis of the pack instinct is related specifically to predation, not to who's most dominant. (That's only relevant to breeding, and maybe not even then!)

Thanks for your reply. Best of luck with your client's puppy,

LCK