My dog has just picked up a habit that’s driving me insane. When I take him outside so he can get some exercise, he runs as fast as he can, then leaps up and launches himself into me and runs away. We just came back inside, and I have welts on my hands from getting scratched by his nails. Needless to say, this has to stop. Any insight into why he’s doing this (he play bows after he runs away, so it might just be a new game in his mind), or humane ways to stop him? He has no problem following directions when we’re inside. I know part of this is adolescence. Info about dealing with that couldn’t hurt either. Right now, he gets a couple of hours to run around outside, and we do nilif. He’s about ten months old, and went through obedience class a few months ago.
I also just want to say that a month ago, he was fine for the most part. He still ripped up tissues every once in awhile, but he didn’t act like he’d been temporarily possessed.
Try this: when you see he’s about ready to launch at you, turn your back and walk away. Right now, he thinks you’re still participating in “the game.” (Whatever that may be in his little doggy brain.) If you turn your back and walk away, you’ve totally ruined it for him.
Whenever he puts his paws on you, screech like you’ve just been hurt. Immediately walk away from him after that. (Just like another dog would if he hurt them during play.)
Another thing to try: when you see he’s about to launch, give him a command that he knows. Reward him greatly if he obeys.
You don’t say what kind of dog he is, but it sounds like he is body-slamming you. Which can either be painful or hilarious, depending on the size of the dog and his technique. He’s trying to play with you like he’d play with another dog, and of course some of those actions are unwelcome by humans.
Lissa’s technique will work. It may take some time and patience on your part. Since he’s been to obedience school, you may wish to replace the body-slamming with some other behavior of which you approve. Ignore/walk away from the slam, but right afterwards put him into a sit or a down-stay and reward him for doing that instead. Or, if he’ll fetch, have him fetch a toy and reward him for that. Feed an extra-yummy treat or praise him lavishly (throw a party for him with your voice). The point is to reward him for something you want him to do and ignore things that you don’t want him to do. He’ll figure it out.
Don’t be afraid to continue going to obedience class, especially at that age. As dogs get older they get different ideas and different quirks, just like kids.
The most important thing you learn in obedience class is how to be a good doggy master - the class shouldn’t be so much about the dog learning things as YOU learning things.
I’d think the biggest problem he’s having now is with your reaction to this game (and I don’t even know your reaction). You’re not reacting in the right way (the alpha dog way) that lets him know that this is not a good thing for him to be doing.
We had a weimeriner in our class last session. On recalls he would come right to the owner but then jump up on her and grab at her. She would just sort of swat him away and look scared. The trainer tried and tried to get her to react more CALMLY and more FIERCELY. She never got it right. The dog ended up doing the same thing during daycare to one of the staff, but also biting the staffer. He was banned from daycare until the owner could get her shit together.
Call me brutal, but I would raise my knee and get him in the chest mid-leap. I bet he’ll figure it out after one or two reps.
The dog is a little beagle so it’s not like he’s doing much damage. I could see the humor in it if he hadn’t cut my hand with his claw-like nails.
I’ll definitely start **Lissa’s ** technique when I get home, and take him outside. I have tried turning my back to him, which hasn’t worked out, as he doesn’t really care which side he slams into. When he’s on a lead, I’ve tried leash corrections too, and catching him and making him sit and stay. Samm, believe me, I’ve thought about it. Honestly though, he’s probably too short for it to work effectively, and it is outside my dog training comfort zone (we attended a “focus on the positive and ignore the negative for the most part” class, which did work out very well when he was a puppy). Whatever I do it’ll definitely take awhile to sink in, considering his breed.
Thanks for the advice everyone.
Maybe he needs a nail trim. Or, if the problem is that his nails are trimmed regularly and the ends are left sharp afterwards, you can try using a dremel instead of clippers, or filing the nails just a bit after clipping to round them off. If you take him to a groomer to get his nails clipped, you can ask them to file the nails a bit so they aren’t so sharp as well. Obviously this won’t do anything for the behavior, but it will save your hands/arms/legs from scratches.
Yea, I’ve been considering a dremel since I saw it recommended in the dog nail cutting help thread. I think our problem stems from the fact that most of the time he’s walking and running on soft surfaces, so his nails stay sharp after a trim instead of being grinded down.
Linky to dog nail cutting thread? Our jack/min pin mix hates to have the nails clipped (I can mess with her paws all i want until I ahve clippers in my hand)…
Here it is simster.