- The Gentle 2 Second Squeeze
In 2007, our then 8-year-old Doberman Jaz was a loving and gentle step-mom, but she didn’t tolerate nipping or biting and she didn’t hesitate to immediately put the gentle squeeze on our newest addition Gizmo, a 15 week old Rat Terrier/ Chihuahua mix. Jaz only had to put the squeeze on him 2 - 3 times before he stopped biting her.
We dog owners and dog trainers have a lot to learn from our canine friends. Since 2004 I have lived with up to 7 dogs. This has given me plenty of opportunity to observe the interactions of dogs within a pack.
One thing I learned is that dogs, when living together within a home – not kenneled outdoors - have a unique and personality sensitive method of ‘laying down the law’, so to speak, regarding acceptable and unacceptable behaviors. One easy to duplicate correction especially effective for puppy nipping and biting is the 2-second gentle mouth squeeze. This involves gently holding the pups mouth closed for 2 seconds adding EH-EH if you like. The correction should be immediate and the EH-EH sharp.
Have a question about dog’s behavior? Who better to ask than a couple of dogs? Or Total Control Dog Owner Assistance.
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Hey Judy: It’s great to see this wonderful post….such a terrific topic. I see your blog has had a little attention lately; you’ve been sprucing it up a bit–looks good! Drop me a note sometime. I miss you!
Hi Judy, I have been observing dogs for over forty years, and while I agree with you that mother dogs know how to teach their pups bite inhibition, when it comes to human dog owners we must remember that we are not dogs. We don’t look like them and we don’t teach like them. I teach my clients to teach their pups bite inhibition using the leave it method. Simply put, you place a high value food reward in your closed fist, present it to the pup, and no matter how much he tries to get it, you don’t let him have it..this may mean you will get bitten a little, but soon your dog will look away, here you say leave it and give him the reward. Repeat 5-6 times per training session. Your pup will soon learn to leave it in anticipation of the reward.
Hi Harley, I only use the Gentle Squeeze on very young puppies approximately 6 to 12 weeks of age when they first join their new families. Although we don’t look like dogs, this method works because young pups know and understand the meaning of our message having just learned it from their mother. GENTLENESS is the key here; not squeezing for pain or discomfort, and I emphasize that with my clients. I too, am a big fan of the Leave It command and use it for dogs to learn what is “off limits” such as shoe chewing, food theft and the like. I place ‘Leave It’ in the Top 3 must know commands along with ‘Come’ and ‘Stay’.
A friend of mine is a dog trainer and showed me the “leave it command” and it worked very well,yet I like the gentle squeeze because my pups tend to understand this easier. So they are both good for people to learn as long as taught with gentleness in mind. Nice article.