This is something I have been lax about. I want to start using hand touch in our training classes on Saturday to get Harley a little excited about the obedience stuff. And I know it sounds obvious but for a novice it is unbelievable the things you will forget about. My issue is that I haven't worked at Harley touching with a closed mouth. She doesn't bite at my hand but she touches with her mouth open and I do think that if she is overstimulated or over excited she may catch a tooth on my hand. My question is, how do I get her to touch with a closed mouth?
@Oberon gave a great tip of putting your hand above the dog's muzzle when you ask for touch. They will touch with the nose first just because of where it is. Luna always touches with an open mouth because she's always smiling. It doesn't bother me, so I let it be
@Jojo83 posted on a thread a while back the link for Nando Brown's video on utube, which I followed. He says "you get the touch you reward," which we all know of course. I did struggle a bit with Cass getting a little frustrated and sort of lunging at my hand, but I made myself be clear in my head what I wanted and kept my hand positioned quietly until she tried and tried again and then she became consistent with her mouth closed when that was what I rewarded. Hope this is not too garbled!
Also, try to change the look of your hand signal when rehabilitating a behaviour. So, whichever hand you’ve been using, switch to the other hand. Also consider making your hand look different, like using a closed fist.
Thank you for all the replies and I am going to have to work on this consistently with Harls. Last night we had foul weather and Harls is a bit anxious with thunder so DH always takes her out and plays with her to try and normalise the situation. When she came in and was settled I tried some hand touch but she was overstimulated and when I got the closest to a nose and not mouth I left it there.
