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Canine Behavior/bad behavior

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Expert: Lee Charles Kelley - 1/8/2008


Question
i have a 4 month old mixed puppy. His mom is Rotwiller and Lap any his dad is
German Shepherd. He is good at times but a lot of the times he attacks and my
question is how to get him to stop, he likes to go for the face

Answer
Hi, Brittany,

He's not really attacking, he thinks he's just playing.

There are two basic ways to deal with it. The first is to redirect his playful energy into a toy. If he gets enough satisfaction from biting the toy, he'll have less of a desire to try to nip your nose. At times, though, puppies get so wound up that they can't be redirected. When he gets like that he needs a time out.

Also, it's very important not to scold or punish him. Dogs don't understand punishment, especially puppies. They think it just means you're either playing a game, in which they'll try even harder to do what you don't want them to, or that you're being aggressive toward them, in which case nervous tension will build up inside. And guess what the most natural outlet for nervous tension is in puppies? Biting something! So try to see things from his point of view, and try not to punish or scold him. Redirect him instead.

If you have any further questions, please let me know.

I hope this helps,

LCK

Canine Behavior

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Lee Charles Kelley

Expertise

I've been training dogs in New York City for nearly 20 years. My training approach and philosophy are based on the way police dogs, search-and-rescue dogs, and detection dogs are trained--through the prey drive, inherited from the wolf. It's true that there's been a shift away from using the "wolf model" in dog training recently, and to some extent, there's a good reason. That's because trainers have been using the wrong model, the one that says you have to be the "alpha" or the pack leader in order to control your dog's behavior. This simply isn't true. In wild wolves there is no dominance hierarchy, no "alpha" wolf, and no pack leader (not in the traditional sense). The pack instinct only exists to enable wolves to hunt large prey by working in harmony. (Wolves who live near garbage dumps, for example, and who don't hunt together, don't form packs.) So if wolves don't have an instinct to "follow the pack leader" or "obey the alpha wolf," how could dogs have inherited it from them?

Years ago, before I became a dog trainer, I noticed that the happiest, most obedient, and best-behaved dogs I met weren't the ones who'd been to a dog trainer or behaviorist; they were the dogs whose owners always had Frisbees and tennis balls on hand. And while it might seem that my approach would only be relevant to high-drive dogs who love fetch and tug-of-war, it isn't. Even something as seemingly unrelated as a housebreaking issue or greeting behavior are often the direct result of a dog's predatory energy not having an acceptable outlet.

All behavior is an expression of energy. So when a dog's energy isn't utilized in a way that feels satisfying to his or her instincts and emotions, that's when behavioral problems develop. Giving the dog an acceptable outlet for its energy will almost always bring the dog's behavior back into alignment with its instincts

Feel free to ask me questions about any training/behavioral issue.

LCK

Experience

20 years as a dog trainer. I'm also a bestselling author, writing a series of dog-related mystery novels for Avon.

Organizations
Dog Writers Association of America

Education/Credentials
Just a natural gift I have for understanding and training dogs

Past/Present Clients
Too numerous to mention.

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