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Post by KyMama on Jul 11, 2016 12:58:42 GMT
She doesn't get a bite of hotdog if she growls. Only if she lets me touch her while she's eating or backs away from the bowl when I tell her to. If she growls or tenses up - no hotdog. I'm not rewarding the bad behavior only the good.
I've already tried taking her bowl away while she is eating. She would go to her hold position and just wait, while growling. It progressed from there to growling when we walked past her. I also tried hand feeding her. She was perfectly fine with eating out of my hand. I immediately started working with her and trying to find a way to stop this behavior, that's why it's been two weeks. I haven't been letting her get away with it, just trying different approaches.
This morning there was no growling at all, she even ran back to the living room when my husband called for her. It's the first time in at least two weeks that she hasn't growled at all and no hesitation when I wanted her to move away from the bowl. When she backs away from the bowl I step between her and the bowl. I could pick it up at that point, but it's already mine. She has to wait at the kitchen doorway, about 4 feet away, while I'm getting her food ready and that's where she backs up to. She sits and looks at me, not the bowl and waits for her command. My plan was to continue what I'm doing now until I can place a piece of hotdog into her bowl while she's eating with no reaction.
My thought process was to get her in the mindset that it's okay for us to be near her while she's eating by positive reinforcement. Does that make sense?
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Post by shellymay on Jul 11, 2016 17:35:03 GMT
Yes, I see you have tried many things, and yes when you find something that works whoo hoo and stick with it, Truth is there are soooo many different ways to train/teach/correct dogs, I do always find that house dogs seem to get away with more then lets say outdoor dogs, No matter what we all say house dogs are just a little bit spoiled......
Had she of been my dog I would have grabbed her by a collar and pinned her to the floor flat on her side and held her there for a minute or two, then I would of reached down for food bowl after letting her up and if I got the same response of the growling I would of pinned her again, but by the third time I bet she would let me do what ever I wanted to with the bowl Sounds bad but really no harm to dog as pinning them to floor only hurts their feelings and not the dog, but if you think about wolves or lions examples, the pack Alfa eats first and the others wait until the alfa lets them eat......But on the other hand I wouldn't do this with a little dog either, only dogs that may end up with a good size on them, little dogs I would have a leash on and pull them away from the food if they growled
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Post by KyMama on Jul 12, 2016 12:57:06 GMT
I know it sounds bad to pin them to the floor, but we've done it with her a couple of times too. I had to do it to get a chew toy away from her that has treats inside. That toy is still put up until we get the food bowl completely under control. She did really good last night, no growling at all while we were petting her and she didn't even look up for a bite of hotdog. I think the combination of the slow feeder bowl and positive reinforcement is working. At this point I'm just taking baby steps and hoping it works, if not I'll try something else. It's a double edge sword with her because she is highly food motivated so training her basic commands has come easy with treats but then we have to keep her from getting too food focused at the same time. And she is absolutely not spoiled at all.
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Post by shellymay on Jul 12, 2016 15:25:27 GMT
Not even a tiny bit....LOL
Happy to hear she is doing better, she is not a dumb dog that is for sure!
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Post by KyMama on Jul 14, 2016 23:12:06 GMT
My cute little puppy isn't little anymore. We had to run by the vet's office to have her weighed for the flea & tick and heartworm medicine and she weighed in at 43 pounds. She's still cute though.
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Post by aoconnor on Jul 15, 2016 12:50:28 GMT
She is very lovely. I seldom see such pretty coloring on a dog!
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Post by KyMama on Jul 31, 2016 4:03:47 GMT
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Post by KyMama on Aug 13, 2016 22:00:14 GMT
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Post by Mari-in-IN on Aug 14, 2016 0:00:38 GMT
Been following your thread KyMama, Just love seeing the pics... She is ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS!!
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Post by countrymom22 on Aug 24, 2016 1:56:22 GMT
Love the picture on the couch! Her look says "if I make myself really tiny, she won't see me here"! She is a gorgeous girl!
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Post by aoconnor on Aug 24, 2016 2:11:33 GMT
KyMama, Oh my, that is one BIG kitty on that couch!! What a great pic, thanks for sharing, it made my evening:-)
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Post by KyMama on Oct 26, 2016 22:04:06 GMT
Hey y'all I've got a quick question. I'm trying to figure out if my thinking is right or if I'm wrong and need to address a behavior problem. Every once in awhile Luna will growl at us for what seems like no reason. I know she has a reason but I don't have a clue. She's been growling off and on all day today and I noticed that she is chewing a lot - I mean like extreme on her toys. So I gave her some ice to crunch on because I'm thinking maybe he teeth are hurting. She's not quite 9 months old yet, but she could still be teething, right? Anyway, as soon as she heard the ice machine she ran into the kitchen, tail wagging. She crunched a few pieces and then came into the living room and loved on me. Now she is on the back of the couch chillin'. I could be wrong, but I think this is the first time she hasn't had a toy in her mouth today. When she growls it doesn't really sound aggressive. I'm not sure how to describe it, but this isn't her scared or "gonna get you" growl. She does wrinkle her nose a little, but the growl is hard to hear. You really have to listen for it after you see her nose. And she has no problem giving me her toys, as a matter of fact she has brought several to me today which is a little unusual. She usually chews for awhile and then leaves them. The only time she brings her toys is when she wants to play fetch and that is not what she is wanting today. You can tell because she isn't doing her happy, jumping, running backwards moves that we usually get. Is it possible that she is just having a bad teething day or do you think I need to correct a problem? And because I haven't posted any pics lately here's one I took the other night.
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Post by PNP Katahdins on Oct 28, 2016 19:55:31 GMT
Beautiful head shot! Could she just be talking to you and not growling? Maybe saying, "My teeth hurt."
With some dogs, the nose wrinkle is like a smile.
Peg
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Post by AD in WNC on Oct 28, 2016 22:08:01 GMT
Luna is lovely! I've enjoyed reading all of the training tips and solutions. Thanks for sharing your journey.
I have two great pyr/Australian Shepard mixes. The inside one definitely "talks". I talk to him a lot, and he will answer with movements (touches my hand with his nose, runs to the closed door, and then back to my hand) and vocalizations. I expect you could interpret some of them as growls, but he is trying to make me understand. He makes strings of sounds that ebb and flow like sentences. He sounds like a big, gruff Siamese cat.
He does make classic growl sounds, but they are warnings to my son to not come close to me when I am resting, which he accompanies with herding style movements to keep him away from me. I have cared for him since he was 5 minutes old, and he is very protective of me. If I am not resting then he loves my son dearly.
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Post by motdaugrnds on Oct 29, 2016 14:47:49 GMT
I totally agree with Shellymay in that Luna's growling relative to her food is not a good thing; and the larger she gets, the worse it will become.
Several things I would suggest: Let her see you prepare her food and then you stand and wait patiently while looking into her eyes. You are waiting for Luna to be very calm and look steadily into your eyes before you present her with the food bowl.
The very next thing you do is, after she has taken a few bites, move to where you are standing over her food bowl. This lets her know you want that food; and as alpha, you will get it. Then do not reach for the bowl. Just stand there over it until Luna moves away from that bowl. Then reach down and take the bowl.
Repeat first and second steps above until Luna is good at responding like she should, then do a third step, i.e. walk up to that bowl while she is eating it and come straight down to your knees...Do not bend over to do this. Put your hand onto the side of that dish. Be very calm, be prepared for a growl and do not move your hand nor body away from that bowl. When she starts eating again pick up the bowl only do not pull the bowl toward you when doing so. Instead, lift the bowl straight up past Luna's head. Wait a few minutes until she gives you good eye contact again and then give the bowl back to her. Repeat this several times.
I learned to do this with my Karakachan who was quite aggressive as a puppy, especially with regard to her food. It works!
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Post by KyMama on Jan 10, 2017 3:35:43 GMT
Y'all remember this picture? She was so cute and small. Well, this is how I "share" the recliner now...
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Post by KyMama on Jan 10, 2017 3:53:42 GMT
I'm just now seeing all the responses to her growling over her food, not sure how I missed them. She still growls occasionally. She sees me fix her bowl and she waits patiently in the doorway until I release her. When she's waiting her eyes are on me, not the food bowl. If I walk next to the bowl she retreats to her "wait" spot but she lets me know that I'm interrupting her the whole time. The growl isn't as aggressive as it used to be, it's more impatience now and there's no pulling back of the lips. There are sometimes when she growls while she's eating when no one is near her. As strange as it sounds it usually means she needs to go out before she finishes her meal. I swear she's growling at herself because she just wants to eat but her body is telling her she's gotta go. lol After a potty break she is fine.
She's still possessive of her chew toys sometimes too. We started taking them away from her when she growls over them and holding onto them until she's lost interest. Once she loses interest we put them back down where she can get them. Most of the time she will come back and get it and gives it to us. If we won't take it from her she puts it down near us until we tell her she can have it. It's an ongoing problem but I think we're headed in the right direction.
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Post by shellymay on Jan 10, 2017 13:30:02 GMT
KyMama , She has grown so much...................Does she snap at you when she wants her toy or food? OR does she just growl? I know you said she is better now, but believe it or not some dogs have a way of communicating with their people, is the growl followed by a snap or movement that says get away from my food/toy? or is she just all verbal noise?
Edited to add.....Nice to see you posting again, its been a while
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Post by KyMama on Jan 10, 2017 16:26:50 GMT
shellymay, she just keeps getting bigger and bigger. There for awhile everyone kept telling me that she was fat because she was kind of round, but she finally had an upward growth spurt so she's not quite as round anymore. She has a huge chest so she's always gonna look a little round but she's solid so I try to ignore everyone. She hasn't snapped at us yet. When it comes to her food I'm not even worried about her snapping at us anymore - that used to be my fear. Now when she walks away it's almost like she's complaining under her breath. There's a rise and fall to it like she's talking. This is a big difference to how it used to be, when it was a real growl and she bared her teeth. And when it comes to her toys I make her back away from it, not reach down there and give her the chance. My DH just takes whatever he wants and she always looks at him like "What just happened?!" I'm not comfortable with that so I step close and say "Back" and that usually works on the first try. If not I crowd her some more and repeat the command and that works. Once she's backed up I reach down and get it and make it mine for a little while. She hasn't snapped at either of us even though we have different approaches. I hadn't realized how long it had been since I posted. We got so busy over the holidays with my son graduating from boot camp in November and then we had to go back down to Georgia to get him and a friend for Christmas and then Christmas. I'm just now recovering from all the travel and holiday dinners. lol
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Post by Mari-in-IN on Jan 10, 2017 21:03:00 GMT
I've been following your thread KyMama , Any chance of a front or side view pic of Luna sometime? Really have enjoyed seeing how she has changed whilst growing up... Take care...
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Post by KyMama on Jan 10, 2017 22:32:38 GMT
She wasn't really cooperating with the picture taking today, but I tried to get a couple of different angles for you. I promise those rolls are skin on her back and not fat. I'm kinda afraid that she's going to grow into them. lol With her having the mastiff breeds in her I don't know when she's going to stop growing. She's not really tall so I'm hoping she grows up a little bit more. As of right now I can touch the top of her head without bending over and I'm about 5'9" if that helps put her in proportion at all. Last month my DH weighed her and she was about 62 pounds so she has come a long way from the 13 pounds when we adopted her. And, yes those teeth stay out all the time. It's hard to take her serious sometimes with that underbite because it's just so darn cute.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 10, 2017 23:25:03 GMT
Oh, she is so beautiful. I love her colors. As a dog lover I have enjoyed reading your story of her.
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Post by ohiodreamer on Jan 17, 2017 23:53:36 GMT
I'm loving this thread! We are getting our puppy in 2 days, she will be 7 weeks old. I will be reading and re-reading this one over and over for all the tip and hints!!Luna has grown into a beautiful dog!! Hard to believe ours will be "that grown" in a years time.
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Post by motdaugrnds on Jan 18, 2017 8:36:07 GMT
Real nice to get an update on how Luna is doing. Glad she kept that coloring as she is still quite beautiful.
What I'm hearing you say now about her growling sounds alot like my Karakachan at times. Valentina will let me know she is not happy with a decision I've made; yet she complies just the same. (I have 2 large dogs. Valentina and Cujo. Never has there been a "fight" between them about food, though there has been growls.) Growls aren't always a symptom of aggression! They are part of what a dog uses to communicate. And it sounds like your Luna has retained her feelings of being potent while respecting your commands/expectations of her. That is a very good thing!!
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Post by KyMama on Jan 20, 2017 21:41:26 GMT
OMG, Luna is shedding! I have never seen so much fur in my life. lol We brush her everyday but I don't think it's helping. Today I brushed, bathed and brushed again and if you touch her fur still flies off of her. When she walks across the floor she leaves a trail of hair flying in the wind behind her...I think you get the idea. I need suggestions on brushes. We originally bought her pin/bristle combo brush and that does nothing, just moves the fur around. We switched to one of those furminator things and it came away with a little fur. The last brush we got was a slicker and it definitely gets the hair, but goodness I feel like I'm brushing her bald because of the amount it gets. I guess it's a good thing but she seems to hate that brush in particular. Is there another option that y'all think I should try? Maybe a rake or shedding blade? I'm sure a lot is trial and error, but I'm tired of buying new brushes so I thought I check in with the experts before I spend more money. TIA
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Post by Deleted on Feb 4, 2017 0:41:06 GMT
I think a good thick metal comb does the best. After having German Shepherds for a lot of years that is what we used and always outside. My last GSD loved to be vacuumed and I had an attachment that was like a comb. He just loved it, God Bless his sweet soul. Our Sammie now is scared to death of the vacuum cleaner but she loves to be combed outside with the metal comb.
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Post by snoozy on Feb 4, 2017 16:59:33 GMT
Interesting coat! Looks like a chocolate lab mated with a Siamese cat...
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Post by mjslady on Feb 4, 2017 17:47:54 GMT
What a sweet face!
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Post by Deleted on Feb 4, 2017 18:26:23 GMT
Interesting coat! Looks like a chocolate lab mated with a Siamese cat... Or a Chow with a long haired GSD.
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Post by aoconnor on Feb 19, 2017 12:59:26 GMT
She is getting to be so big! Still absolutely lovely, her coloring is so different!! Thanks for the update, I have been following this thread for a while, love each update.
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