This dog is my chew toy!

[April Nicole]

Sophie is our 7lb little mini schnauzer, and once Logan got comfy in his new home, he decided that Sophie seems like a good chase around toy. She lit into him a few times, but it wasn't enough of a correction to make him stop....
I have been working with him and I have to say, he is doing great. He has learned sit. And I am making him sit before we got outside. And when we come in. I also make him sit to get his food. And letting the girls work with him from time to time so that knows his place. He is also doing really well with house training...
Only issue I am having is him chasing Sophie. So now I'm working on leave it. And enough. I told him enough with Sophie and he would listen for like half a second. I put him in a sit and he would comply, then take off after her again when released. So I grabbed him by the scruff, and in a very firm and assertive voice said ENOUGH! And I held him down. It got his attention!! Now when he goes after her. I stand in front of him and say enough, and he stops. I'm hoping this did the trick...
I know he's young and it will take time. Just wondering if anyone has any suggestions as to what I could do about him being to rough with Sophie.

 

[Smokeycat]

I had a similar problem with Jiggers as a puppy with a cat that wouldn't stand up for herself. Like you, I would physically stop Jiggers either by blocking or grabbing when he didn't listen when told to stop. I also made sure that she always had an escape readily available, a place she could go and he couldn't to keep everyone safe.
I wish I could tell you that I solved the problem but there are still times when he gets rough with the cats, he thinks a swat to the face means let's play. He is much better than as a puppy but unless I completely wear him out (for a walk at least 7 miles) he tries to "play" with the cats because Kryten is too lazy now and they move faster.

 

[Zeela]

Sophie is our 7lb little mini schnauzer, and once Logan got comfy in his new home, he decided that Sophie seems like a good chase around toy. She lit into him a few times, but it wasn't enough of a correction to make him stop....
I have been working with him and I have to say, he is doing great. He has learned sit. And I am making him sit before we got outside. And when we come in. I also make him sit to get his food. And letting the girls work with him from time to time so that knows his place. He is also doing really well with house training...
Only issue I am having is him chasing Sophie. So now I'm working on leave it. And enough. I told him enough with Sophie and he would listen for like half a second. I put him in a sit and he would comply, then take off after her again when released. So I grabbed him by the scruff, and in a very firm and assertive voice said ENOUGH! And I held him down. It got his attention!! Now when he goes after her. I stand in front of him and say enough, and he stops. I'm hoping this did the trick...
I know he's young and it will take time. Just wondering if anyone has any suggestions as to what I could do about him being to rough with Sophie.

I think you got this. He just wants to play.

 

[April Nicole]

Thanks. Your right Zeela he is just playing. Sophie is just not having it. Lol. And he is twice her size. She does run to her crate. And today she is getting all in his face , he is starting to get the point. I hope! I've only had to intervene a couple times today. Maybe I'll try wearing him out a bit more like you do with Kryten.

 

[Smokeycat]

Thanks. Your right Zeela he is just playing. Sophie is just not having it. Lol. And he is twice her size. She does run to her crate. And today she is getting all in his face , he is starting to get the point. I hope! I've only had to intervene a couple times today. Maybe I'll try wearing him out a bit more like you do with Kryten.

Oh Kryten is easy. The 200 lbs monster can be quelled by a side eye from a cat. A hiss has him running for protection. It's the Irish Setter x that is the problem, but then smart, hyper dogs usually are unless that energy is put to better use.

 

[April Nicole]

I meant Jiggers. Lol. Your right Irish Setters are brilliant. We had a lady that had 2 in our group obedience class. They were definitely hyper!! She had a really hard time w them at first, but they caught on quick to the training, and received the best improvement award at the end of training.

 

[Sheila Braund]

Sophie is our 7lb little mini schnauzer, and once Logan got comfy in his new home, he decided that Sophie seems like a good chase around toy. She lit into him a few times, but it wasn't enough of a correction to make him stop....
I have been working with him and I have to say, he is doing great. He has learned sit. And I am making him sit before we got outside. And when we come in. I also make him sit to get his food. And letting the girls work with him from time to time so that knows his place. He is also doing really well with house training...
Only issue I am having is him chasing Sophie. So now I'm working on leave it. And enough. I told him enough with Sophie and he would listen for like half a second. I put him in a sit and he would comply, then take off after her again when released. So I grabbed him by the scruff, and in a very firm and assertive voice said ENOUGH! And I held him down. It got his attention!! Now when he goes after her. I stand in front of him and say enough, and he stops. I'm hoping this did the trick...
I know he's young and it will take time. Just wondering if anyone has any suggestions as to what I could do about him being to rough with Sophie.

I had the same issue with Bella and Sunny.....I did the same thing as you are doing.... I also only would use the physical correction only when Bella would try to play bite or paw Sunny...most of the time I would use re-direction. I found a ball small enough for Bella to pick up....that worked very well to change her play direction. Sounds like you've got it April. Keep up the good work

 

[April Nicole]

I had the same issue with Bella and Sunny.....I did the same thing as you are doing.... I also only would use the physical correction only when Bella would try to play bite or paw Sunny...most of the time I would use re-direction. I found a ball small enough for Bella to pick up....that worked very well to change her play direction. Sounds like you've got it April. Keep up the good work

Thanks Shelia. That's a great idea about the ball. Logan found the volleyball and was chasing it around. I need to get him a ball.

 

[Steven C]

I think you got this. He just wants to play.

Yes but the play can severely damage the smaller dog. I still go through this with the 2 toy poodles, they get ran over, jumped over, pushed out of the way. The 2 small dogs have learned to take cover when needed. The big dog needs to learn quickly that this is not his littermate and no playing with the small dogs. I believe even @marke mentioned his smaller dog even had bones broken from being ran over in an earlier posting.

Keep it at no and be firm, eventually he will stay away but a ton of work.

 

[April Nicole]

I'm going to keep intervening and correcting him w it. I noticed when he is just hanging out he's good with her. But when he is outside running around he gets too overbearing for her. So I'm starting to be able to anticipate when it's going to be a problem.

 

[Steven C]

I'm going to keep intervening and correcting him w it. I noticed when he is just hanging out he's good with her. But when he is outside running around he gets too overbearing for her. So I'm starting to be able to anticipate when it's going to be a problem.

Ive been through it twice and it is going to get worse, never easier when it comes to them playing. When all the dogs are relaxing of coarse they will be great but I think these big dogs don't realize they can cripple these little dogs. At one point we felt it was Ok to let her play with one of the poodles, but lemon the white poodle got poked in the eye and the other one Picilo got crushed against a wall that was it for me. No more play with them. Smell them and say hello yes, but play no.

 

[Steven C]

I'm going to keep intervening and correcting him w it. I noticed when he is just hanging out he's good with her. But when he is outside running around he gets too overbearing for her. So I'm starting to be able to anticipate when it's going to be a problem.

Also by the way when zoomies happen, we grab the small dogs right away, like a military drill. Now though they do know to run for cover under something safe usually. They have definitely been traumatized from the few times they were injured.

 

[April Nicole]

Also by the way when zoomies happen, we grab the small dogs right away, like a military drill. Now though they do know to run for cover under something safe usually. They have definitely been traumatized from the few times they were injured.

Yeah I think she is starting to notice a pattern w him too. She tries to steer clear of him when he gets the zoomies.

 

[Nik]

We have a couple commands to halt or adjust play and rough housing in our home. We use "enough" like you do. That one means cut it out now. But, we also use "gentle" and gentle means you can keep playing but no rough play at all (usually when they are wrestling or if they aren't paying attention and run into one of us.). Gentle is a great one though and Diesel is very sensitive to it now.

 

[Sheila Braund]

We have a couple commands to halt or adjust play and rough housing in our home. We use "enough" like you do. That one means cut it out now. But, we also use "gentle" and gentle means you can keep playing but no rough play at all (usually when they are wrestling or if they aren't paying attention and run into one of us.). Gentle is a great one though and Diesel is very sensitive to it now.

I use that same command when Percy my husband uses it Bella seems to think its permission to jump on him if he's on the couch.... One day he will learn...
My Little grandkids can say the command "enough" and Bella and Sunny freeze just like I said it

 

[April Nicole]

We have a couple commands to halt or adjust play and rough housing in our home. We use "enough" like you do. That one means cut it out now. But, we also use "gentle" and gentle means you can keep playing but no rough play at all (usually when they are wrestling or if they aren't paying attention and run into one of us.). Gentle is a great one though and Diesel is very sensitive to it now.

I like that Nik. Thanks. I have been saying easy when he takes a piece of kibble from my fingers. I think I will switch to gentle.

 

[Boxergirl]

We use enough and gentle too.

 

[Jarena]

We use “omg stop jumping on the bed.. get off of me, don’t hit the wall.. ok fine... outside!!!!!” Hmm, maybe “enough” would work better. Speaking of zoomies.... Lettie was zooming around getting crazy so I went into the bathroom and shut the door so I didn’t get ran into..... then she opened the door! Smart little weirdo

 

[April Nicole]

We use “omg stop jumping on the bed.. get off of me, don’t hit the wall.. ok fine... outside!!!!!” Hmm, maybe “enough” would work better. Speaking of zoomies.... Lettie was zooming around getting crazy so I went into the bathroom and shut the door so I didn’t get ran into..... then she opened the door! Smart little weirdo

That's hilarious!!!!
Lettie always make me smile

 

[Smokeycat]

I use Easy, Gentle and Enough. Easy is used on walks as a reminder not to pull. Gentle is used for interacting with other living being, typically humans, cats and dogs. Enough means stop now and usually only gets used when they have chosen to ignore the regular commands.
One thing I've learnt through agility training is that the best command word for a certain command is the one that feels natural to you (and that your dog responds to). As an example there were 3 different owners in the agility group on Sunday, each of us had a different command word for the A-Frame (Up, Climb & Frame).