Dogs with Bad Manners

One thing I really hate is when I visit someone who has a dog with no manners in their home. My sister's dogs jump all over anyone who comes through her door. At Christmas I dropped my son off for her to babysit while my husband and I went to my company Christmas party, and left her house with long (very unattractive) scratches all down my legs where they had jumped all over me.

Some friends of ours had two huskies who would beg for food at the table and would even snatch food off our plates if we weren't watching them every second!

My own puppy has started doing these very same doggy misbehaviors (which is really just natural dog behavior), such as jumping up on our legs while we're at the table eating dinner and jumping up on guests when they come into our house. A couple of times I've overheard my son's friends telling him that our dog is too annoying. ;_; Does anyone have any suggestions on how we can train her not to do these things? Any advice you have would be very much appreciated.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Next time she jumps up, raise your leg and say no firmly. They will stop her from completing the jump. Since she's a small dog, however, I'm not sure if that will work as well, unless she's a big jumper.

As for food, put some hot sauce/chili in the food (don't give it to her directly, but leave it on the floor or whatever), and once she eats it, she won't want to do it again.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Dogs react to voices really well, especially when they're young.

Use a very low-pinched firm tone and tell it NO.

Things like "bad dog!" work even though the dog doesn't speak our language, they eventually get the hint.

How ya doing, buddy?

She's so feisty. BAD DOG and NO worked for a while, but she's completely immune to the firm tone now. The knee thing might work, since she can jump to well above our knees now.

I've always heard that Jack Russell Terriers are hard to train, and now I believe it.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

What i do to my dog is;

- If the dog looks at the food, Point and firmly say no.
- If the basket/bed is in the same room, Point then click at the bed so the dog understands.
- Let the dog in the yard while you eat your food and leave the dog scraps (workds with mine)

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by Spyder 232

- If the basket/bed is in the same room, Point then click at the bed so the dog understands.

Proof that we spend too much time on the internet

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

I think he's talking about clicker training. You actually click this little thingy. I've seen dogs on TV who know that one click means sit, two clicks means stay, etc. It's pretty cool.

Those are good suggestions, by the way. I'm going to try some of these and see if they work for me.

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by Freelance Wolf

As for food, put some hot sauce/chili in the food (don't give it to her directly, but leave it on the floor or whatever), and once she eats it, she won't want to do it again.

I'll vouch for this one. Our yellow lab used to be pretty bad about snatching food off of the counter (pretty easy for him since he's so tall), so we put down some crackers coated in hot sauce halfway off the countertop. After trying to eat one or two of those he's been pretty reluctant to grab anything off of the counter (do the same thing at the table).

Also, if you are, never feed the dog from the table, then they'll expect it.

Finally, if you ever try to get them to do something, don't give up until they do it. If they know they can get away with something by putting up enough of a struggle, they'll do it forever.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by Alice

I think he's talking about clicker training. You actually click this little thingy. I've seen dogs on TV who know that one click means sit, two clicks means stay, etc. It's pretty cool.

Those are good suggestions, by the way. I'm going to try some of these and see if they work for me.

Yes, thats what i mean. Not the thing you do with the mouse...

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Water guns. Just small cheap ones. If you can anticipate the dog's next move (for instance eating off the table etc), just as she goes to do it, spray her with the gun.

How old is your puppy? Sometimes training must be done more vigorously if it is left to a later date.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

We tried doing the water gun with our dog. He'd just open his mouth and chomp down on the stream of water having fun.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

I used to have a similar problem with my dogs Alice: Jumping all over visitors and begging for food at the table.

We still haven't found a solution to the "jumping on people like crazy" thing yet besides firmly stomping the ground with a leg and saying firmly "NO!" or "Shush!" when you see them coming. Another thing that works if your dog has gotten used to his name and a nickname (Or just his/her name) would be to call them by their name firmly and clapping once or twice when doing so. That works wonders with my dog xD

About the begging for food part, just don't feed them human food, they get used to it and want some whenever they smell it. If you start feeding the dog a few pieces of a chocolate bar, for example, soon you'll find that the dog begins to react to the sound of a plastic wrapper opening up and that you won't even be able to eat cereal without the dog scratching your leg asking for some, I'm talking from experience. @_@;;;

The trick is to never feed the dog human food and to feed it always at the same hour or at about the same hour (Preferably not around the times your family tends to eat), then take away it's food after the dog eats, so it gets used to having a "feeding schedule" of some sort and realizes that it should eat as much as it can during that time so it won't be hungry later.

Sure, it's heartbreaking when during the very first days your dog cries and looks at anything you eat like it is the last can of coca cola in the desert, but eventually the dog will get used to it.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

To be fair, we tried everything but I think we were too late for it. Now he's starting to get a little agressive. It's worrying. We were thinking of getting training for him because he has not only been chasing cars, joggers and cyclists but water training doesn't seem to help. As I say, the earlier you train them, the better. Ours is too old to train properly. Train early! From the pictures I've seen of your puppy (so cute ^_^) she's young enough to take in what you are trying to teach her. Just never give in, no matter how cute she gets.

I was speaking idiomatically.