Hey guys I have a couple of things I would like to work on with Dexter I'm not entirely sure where to start, il begin with the most important one: Snatching.... So Dexter is very patient and we work on his 'wait' a lot he can wait for food, we put treats in front of him and he waits for the 'okay' and we did the 'no mugging' from the puppy handbook but he still snatches- you would think we never feed him the way he goes for the treats. Generally this isn't an issue however when we are on a walk I chop up high value treats quite small (frankfurter slices into quarters) because just incase we meet another dog he goes through a million treats at the moment to keep his attention on me, but if I reward from my hand he almost takes a few fingers with him it's so painful. Iv tried throwing the treat on the ground but he loses it and and I have to pick it up again and feed it to him anyway! My second problem is lip licking, Dexter has never kicked his lips, he drinks his water, lifts his head and turns round like a shampoo model spraying the entire kitchen with a mist of doggy water and the rest dribbles from his mouth as he trots around the house haha if it was so frustrating constantly having wet socks I would laugh about it! Any ideas to push him in the right directions of better table manners? Lol!
My friend's Lab, Zaba, is just the same. He is the friendliest dog ever - but we really have to watch our fingers when giving him a treat. He also 'shares' his water with the floor and anyone in proximity - he holds on to a mouthful and deposits it on your lap! They must be brothers! When he's staying with us I treat my two normally and throw his - they are all used to it I did try training him 'gentle' like I did mine - it simply doesn't work, but it would be good to know any other methods. The way I tried was keeping the treat in my hand and only showing a bit of it, only giving when they are super gentle. My two just use their lips now, no teeth at all. Zaba? well, you simply get a totally slobbery hand that way!
My spaniel is a bit snatchy so I hold the treat in the inside of my fingers(flat together) with my thumb so he has to take it with his lips. I do end up with a slobbery hand though. As for drinking if I could train him to hold a mop he could clean the kitchen floor with the amount he sloshes everywhere! And if he comes anywhere near you straight after drinking, well, you just have live with damp trousers
My two can both be a bit snatchy and so, if I'm delivering the treat to the dog, I try to do it with an open palm. Sometimes this means cupping my fingers a little to hold the treat in place or, if it's big enough, holding it with my thumb. With most stuff, I treat on the ground, though; it's only heel walking that comes to mind as a time I absolutely have to deliver to mouth. No advice whatsoever on the water, sorry! My sister's cocker does the same and she's forever wiping her floors. Take out shares in a kitchen roll company
Nothing to offer but sympathy. Coco is the same - dribbly water everywhere, and he snatches at treats - but only when delivered while training heel (or anything in motion). If he's sitting or standing he'll take nicely - but I haven't tried to address this yet. Belle snatches unless I specifically say "nicely".
You need to do a version of "take treats nicely" when on a walk - you just have to build it up like anything else. Dogs tend to snatch the more excited they are, and so it's just proofing take treats nicely when it's a more exciting environment. Charlie can soak the entire kitchen floor with one drink....
Amazingly, they don't! I met a tiny little working line lab the other day and she lapped her water like a cat! Charlie sticks his whole head in the bowl, his nose is underwater, so the water is sploshing out like mad then he sucks up a pint of water in his mouth, sprays it round the kitchen then dumps the rest in a lap of the first human he can find.
Wow, a lab that drinks nicely? Surely not?? Ella does the usual sloshing her head in the bowl and you could hear her having a drink from the next suburb followed by the friendly sharing of the left over water in her mouth ☺ She's generally pretty good with treats though but that wasn't due to our training, she's always been good.
We got Tess a non spill travel water bowl when she was a puppy and kept tipping her water up. I've never considered that it might be stopping her from drinking her water messily! It's this - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Prestige-Ro...=1446148097&sr=8-2&keywords=travel+water+bowl Tess is exactly the same with the treats when we're out walking. She takes them nicely at home (we've done all the same things as you) and when walking without distractions but if I'm treat streaming to get past a distraction I don't stand a chance!
Mine is also a very sloppy drinker. There is always water all around the bowl and also dribblings wherever he goes after drinking. Luckily he is in an area of tile floors. If he goes onto hardwood floors, I have to go behind him and mop it up!! That is one of the many reasons he is kept in the family room! But you can't always have him where you want him to be!!! As to taking treats....I hold mine in an open palm.....if I offer my fingers....they are gone!
I've got 2 nice tidy drinkers and a slobbery mossy chopped water fountain on legs, interestingly he's the one who snatches treats too. You could loose an arm and I won't let anyone else give him treats who doesn't understand his snatching. As he's got to be old his vision is not so good so i've had to tell everyone to place the treats on the floor now as hand feeding him has become a really extreme sport. He's totally deaf too. He's the one who has neurological problems too so I just wonder with him if he can't really coordinate as well as my others. He's a lovely obedient kind dog with a taste for flesh(not really). He does not seem to be aware when he has biten me badly, but then again i have neurological problems which affect my hands so I wonder if i'm just clumsy. I love him so he's the most wonderful dog, he just never got the thing where the treat ends and the flesh starts. It was a bugger training him my fingers were a mess but we got by and he got as good as we could get him about not snatching. all of my guys have been taught not to grab but it just did not take with him He's the best dog i've every had just a bit quirky, we both are
How funny it seems the worst dribblers are the snatchers too, I really concentrated today on how I offered his treat to him on the wall, got a few snaps but overall a bit better I guess I have to concentrate as much as he does! I'm so greatful we don't have carpets otherwise we would be squelching everywhere I'm sure he does it on purpose too, he drinks then turns right and after Iv mopped up (defo need shares in kitchen roll) he drinks and turns left leaving a mirror image slosh of water haha those aren't even the worst, the worst is when I don't realise he has had a drink and that feeling when your freshly put on sock (I'm going through at least 3 pairs a day) hits an unnoticed puddle
Yes! Zaba is coming to stay this evening for a few days - I will have a go at 'gentle' again, but even when he's reasonably gentle he slobbers all over your hand!
Charlie is the world's messiest drinker, but he takes treats really, really gently. He is VERY slobbery though!
I think the gentleness will be due to your good and patient training. My friend has never had a dog before and, much as she loves him, still won't put her hands near Zaba's mouth. He's a gorgeous, friendly entire male - all muscle and full of life.
