Canis lupus hominis

Posted in dog behavior, good dog advice | Tagged Leash training, Turid Rugaas | 7 Comments

7 Responses

1. on March 15, 2010 at 12:49 pm Mongoose

   I take stuff out of my dog’s mouth all the time. I don’t see a problem with it. It would be nice if she had the command “release” like guard dogs do, but she doesn’t pick things up on demand, it would be a pain to train her to release.

   
   
2. on March 15, 2010 at 8:07 pm Jess

   My dogs do ‘off.’ Most of the time. Exceptions are highly desirable items, like dead animals, and objects small enough they can hide them entirely in the mouth. I can remove anything from my dog’s mouths, including food. It’s one of the few things I am a stickler on.

   
   
3. on March 15, 2010 at 10:01 pm JackieFitz

   I went to one of Turid’s seminars last month. She was awesome.

   She talked about forcing objects out of dogs mouth, and the reason she gave not to was because dogs will instinctively hold on more tightly if you try and force an object away.

   She didn’t say not to ever take an object away from your dog, just not to force away an object.

   
   
   • on March 15, 2010 at 10:09 pm retrieverman

     I see.

     
     
   • on March 15, 2010 at 11:09 pm Jess

     Dogs do a lot of things instinctively that are not compatible with living with humans. That does not mean that you can’t, or shouldn’t, teach them to defy their instincts in certain situations. If you teach your pup that 1) it does not hurt to have something removed from their mouths, and 2) just because you have removed something doesn’t mean you won’t give it, or something better, back, then you will be able to remove dangerous items from your dog’s mouth when necessary, without the dog fighting or freaking out.

     Her position makes no sense to me.

     
     
     • on March 15, 2010 at 11:10 pm retrieverman

       The way this is initially taught to retrievers is you entice them with another toy, and then give them the toy when they release the one in their mouth.

       
       
       • on March 15, 2010 at 11:34 pm Jess

         Nicole Wilde, in Wolfdogs A to Z, talks about ‘trading’ with a dog that has something that could be potentially dangerous. You make the new object enticing by playing with it than trade the dog the new one for the old one. You might like the book, it’s very positive oriented and actually useful for anyone with a dog that tends towards being independent and hard to motivate.

         
         

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