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Of all things.....a water spray bottle?

kbuchanan66

Well-Known Member
Well after using many techniques (with consistency) that I learned on this forum we could never get quite a handle on Barron's bone,sock,sleep possession. I had tried everything from taking the object away, time outs, stern voiced agh's,or combinations of the above. The techniques would work for a bit and than lose their spark with Barron continuing to challenge.

One night this week I happened to walk by Barron and his sock toy while he was in and out of sleeping. He growled and bared his teeth...I must admit I was overly mentally exhausted this night from work and personal life and just didn't have the energy or sanity to sit through the battle of wills so I picked up the nearest water squirt bottle and aimed it right at Barron's fave and shot. Much much to my suprise Barron snapped right out of his growling and just looked at me stunned. I continued to walk towards him and grab his toy to which he relinquished without so much as a second look.


I have no idea if I surprised the crap out of him or he sensed my underlying "I ain't having it" mood. I have used the shirt bottle since when he had given me attitude and it worked once again. I always follow it with the stern agh and than redirection.

Lately his moods have seemed to dissipate in the # of occurrences.

I'm just wiondering If any one else has used a squirt bottle for training purposes?
 

Mario

Well-Known Member
I have with my Shih Tzu for his crazy barking ... But then we lose it ;) it works great as long as you keep it on hand or stash them all over (my kids thought they were for them to play with also).
 

Hector

Well-Known Member
I used a squirt bottle on Hector with his excitement whining and crying in the crate. It worked, but I stopped using it because I didn't want him to fear a squirt bottle or turn aggressive towards anyone that had something in their hand. For dogs that resource guard items, you never want to take it away from them. You would lead them away from the item. Have you tried teaching him the "leave it" and "drop it"?
 

musicdeb

Well-Known Member
I agree with Hector. Squirt bottle could lead to aggression. Resource guarding is their fear that someone will take away what they are guarding. Redirection is necessary instead of fulfilling their fear.

I dealt with resource guarding with Titan and his food when I first got him. It took me 4-5 months to stop the behavior. Now I can put my hand in his food with no problems.
 

ruthcatrin

Well-Known Member
I've USED a squirt bottle, but I don't recommend it, you can accidently teach them to fear it and then what do you do when their topical medication for something comes in a squirt bottle?

And I really don't recommend it for resource guarding issues, cause all you're doing is telling him he's right to guard it cause you're going to punish him and take it away.
 

fizzed

Well-Known Member
I have used a water pistol - and when it is around and handy I still do if bad behaviour is an issue. it gets to the point when you just have to pick it up (not use it ) and the bad behaviour simply stops -
 

LizB

Well-Known Member
I think it is effective but only if they don't realize it came from you. If some sort of all powerful spirit caused water to strike it gets their attention, lol.

I also agree that in the case of guarding it is not going to help if you take the object, but they have to release the object to you or GIVE it to you. That's the only way they understand the point. Otherwise it is just a competition to protect something, and it gives the object an even higher value.

However, I DO UNDERSTAND those moments when you've just had enough and you're not in the mood. I totally do!
 

kbuchanan66

Well-Known Member
I haven't taken items away from him in a while other than the night I was mentally drained. All times previous and after that incident I only redirected after his Tiraid of growling after a while it took longer and longer for him to stop growling and follow through with redirection.

I have no issues with his food or with his toy balls. It's just socks when he is in a sleepy mode and you just walk by him not even paying attention to the sock, sometimes you don't even look at him and he will growl. Any tips?
 

DMikeM

Well-Known Member
Funny thing, squirt bottle is what my mom used on me as a temper tantrum wielding demon child, it worked. Thing is you should do the trade up thing with him. If you are taking something away give him something else. Train him that you are not taking his thing away forever and if he lets you take it for now he gets something in return.
 

motolyn

Well-Known Member
We used it when we were training my Weim not to jump up on people. Now when she sees it in our hands she stops immedaitely what she does and backs up. Brutus is beginning to see the spray in the face as a sign that he's doing something bad. Neither are aggressive towards me or the bottle and we rarely use it now days.
 

kbuchanan66

Well-Known Member
I will retry that method again with a lot of consistency. But how do you not reward him for the growling?

He will start growling And we will tell him agh or no and try and get him to sit before rewarding him. But if he is in the middle of growling and we take out a treat wouldn't that be like rewarding him because he is growling.
 

DennasMom

Well-Known Member
We've used squirt bottles in the past, too...
They were great at 'snapping' puppies at play out of it when they were getting a bit too serious in their domination games. The squirt was administered with the 'ah ah', or just by itself, i.e. from the great "all powerful spirit", LOL. The trainer had one bottle of plain water, and one with some vinegar added for extra 'strength'.

If you do ever get to a point where there's fear of the bottle, or they try to 'take the bottle out'... you can fill it with some broth and get them to WANT you to squirt them... turn it into a fun thing. Denna likes to 'drink' from the squirt bottle even if it's plain water... crazy dog.

I think part of the key when you first used the squirt was that you were in a "no mood for it" mood... and he when he snapped out of his own world and saw your energy, he decided You Win. :) Now, the bottle has that "no mood" energy attached to it...

For when to give treats... you hear the growl, you go get the treat bucket, but he can't have one until you see his energy change. Not just doing as asked, but actually submitting and relaxing and looking to you for what YOU want.

You might have to start trading up with lower value items (non-socks), so he gets the idea... then when you come at him with a treat and he has the sock, he'll be more than happy to drop it and see what goodie you have in your hand, instead.
 

Hector

Well-Known Member
I will retry that method again with a lot of consistency. But how do you not reward him for the growling?

He will start growling And we will tell him agh or no and try and get him to sit before rewarding him. But if he is in the middle of growling and we take out a treat wouldn't that be like rewarding him because he is growling.

Does he like to play with socks? It sounds like he was more startled when he is sleeping. Does he react the same way when he is sleeping and you walk by when there are no socks around? Is it with dirty socks or all socks? You don't really want him to stop growling. When he growls, you need to find out why he is growling and work to find a solution so it doesn't cause him to growl. If he is guarding socks, which is a really weird thing by the way, then you need to go back to basics and work on leave it or drop it. A great time to work on those commands once he knows them is when you are playing tug or when he has a toy in his mouth. You can start with leave it with food and then incorporate that into items. This is what we did with the leave it with items in a basic obedience class. There were various toy items and tupperware with food on the ground. The dogs would walk around and some dogs would be attracted to toys while others would be attracted to food. Don't let the dog get close enough where he can grab it. When the dog shows interest towards an item, say "leave it" and if the dog responds either by eye contact or walking away or stopping, you reward. Here's how to start with food and then I would suggest working up towards the sock.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQdg0qOVik0

Here's another video on a lab who guards toys

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJ2qFglIfAE

Is your dog food motivated? Does he play with the sock? Next I would train the drop it. I believe these two exercises helps a dog learn impulse control and minimize resource guarding tendencies. Hector guarded his food when I first got him. I'm not going to lie, we took shit away and yelled at him in the beginning when he would growl at us over high value chews. This only made him more nervous and we couldn't tell if he was really surrendering the item because he wanted to or if he was scared. After changing our mindset and teaching him the the leave it and drop it and by not taking food away from him, he is now comfortable enough to spit out a rawhide chew or a raw bone after he started eating it on command. I didn't really do any trade ups, but I did jackpot him with very high value treats every time he would follow through with the command and then leave him to his food. You don't want to over do these exercises. I always stop after one successful "proofing" exercise as I don't want my dog to feel frustrated or nervous.

For now I wouldn't let any socks lay around to eliminate that trigger. Practice leave it and drop it exercises every day and when you feel that he is pretty reliable and "gets it", try the sock.
 

kbuchanan66

Well-Known Member
That's another thing. He knows leave it & drop it since he was 6 months. He will do it with anything even socks ( when playing ). It is only when he is not playing and relaxing. It's like he wants to be left alone with his sock. I have even used an excited lets play and have fun using another sock and he won't snap out of it.
 

Hector

Well-Known Member
You guys use the sock as a play thing right? You're saying he doesn't guard it when he's awake. Have you tried maybe having a sock laying by him and every time you walk by, drop a couple of kibble or treats? When you are done, remove the sock. I'd say remove all socks when you are done playing. He's coming out of a slumber, so I don't think redirecting him will snap him out of it. You can try ignoring his growls and call his name where you are away from the sock zone and give him a morsel for coming to you. For example, sock by dog in living room. Human walks by and dog growls. Human ignores and goes to kitchen. Calls dog and dog comes with enthusiasm. You can treat or give affection or praise. That way you're turning it into a recall/obedience thing.
 

whit72

Well-Known Member
Im about ready to attempt the spray bottle. I have a 4 month old Corso, great pup however she gets a little rough when playing with my daughter, mouths her hands and likes to grab here sleeves or maybe a bow on her shirt when she is running by

I have tried redirection, timeout you name it. She doesnt have a mean bone in her body but she has gotten my daughter a few times and I want her to know this is unacceptible, she is teething I have been finding them around the house. I think this is more over excitement.

This dog is fantastic she has most of her commands down and we are working on recall, she has never acted in aggressive manner, we can play with her food, take toys away from her without issue, but the jumping and nipping has to stop. This is all puppy behavior but when the puppy is almost sixty pounds it can be a little scary for my daughter
 
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musicdeb

Well-Known Member
@whit72, keep pup on leash while daughter in the room. Do not allow daughter and pup on the floor together. He sees her as a playmate.

Allow her to hand feed him and train him so he will see her as an authority figure and not a playmate.

Show the pup what you want her to do.
 

kbuchanan66

Well-Known Member
Im about ready to attempt the spray bottle. I have a 4 month old Corso, great pup however she gets a little rough when playing with my daughter, mouths her hands and likes to grab here sleeves or maybe a bow on her shirt when she is running by

I have tried redirection, timeout you name it. She doesnt have a mean bone in her body but she has gotten my daughter a few times and I want her to know this is unacceptible, she is teething I have been finding them around the house. I think this is more over excitement.

This dog is fantastic she has most of her commands down and we are working on recall, she has never acted in aggressive manner, we can play with her food, take toys away from her without issue, but the jumping and nipping has to stop. This is all puppy behavior but when the puppy is almost sixty pounds it can be a little scary for my daughter
with pups it's all about consistency. It took a while and patience for myself to train Barron out of nipping and jumping but it happened eventually.