I do stupid so well

skinnydipper

skinnydipper

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Because I do stupid so well .............

My new girl came with several undesirable habits, one of which was pawing for attention. She has large nails on huge paws and this hurt, a lot.

So, I taught her to "chin rest" instead. In retrospect not the best choice for an alternative behaviour. On the cue "chin" she will rest her chin on a proffered hand or spontaneously (no cue) on my thigh if I am sitting on a chair. I guess I will just have to get used to walking around with a noticeably sodden thigh (you haven't got to mind a bit of drool with a mastiff) or if I am sitting on the floor and offer my hand I have drool running down my arm inside my sleeve - its delightful.

Having had success in the past with teaching my previous dog "speak" and "quiet" I thought I would give it a go with the new girl and taught her to "speak" tonight. Big mistake (don't ask me why I thought it would be a good idea). I can see already this is going badly wrong and I am concentrating my efforts now on "quiet" but think I have just inadvertently taught a behaviour chain where she is calling the shots.

Can anybody match me for stupidity or do I get the prize?
 
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I can't bear pawing! One of our vets was asking one of the Rotters to 'give a paw'. I must admit that I rather sharply said "We don't teach them to flap their feet about!" As you say, OP, big feet and sharp nails are not something you want pawing at you for attention. I have to admit that I have never been sure about teaching them to bark!
 
Apercrumbie said:
Yeah I have to say I always questioned people teaching their dog to speak...
Although isn't it supposed to help with teaching them to stop "speaking" as well?
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We taught our first malamute to speak purely because she sounded like chewbacca from star wars so it was funny, she learned shush very quickly too though and wasn't a noisy dog to begin with so it was never a problem.
 
Pearlsasinger said:
I can't bear pawing! One of our vets was asking one of the Rotters to 'give a paw'. I must admit that I rather sharply said "We don't teach them to flap their feet about!" As you say, OP, big feet and sharp nails are not something you want pawing at you for attention. I have to admit that I have never been sure about teaching them to bark!
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Ffee paws for attention, it's very annoying. Especially as my mum, who dogsits, has very thin skin which tears easily. She is slowly improving but my OH will let her put her front paws on his lap, so she paws as a precursor to that.
 
Speak is pretty handy for getting rid of people hanging around outside the house :p
You'd all be horrified at my younger dog, he barks at me for attention, uses his paws to grab my arm or high five me (in the face) and has to have part of him touching me at all times. He is nicknamed The Cat, as he does sink his claws in..
 
Never taught mine to give paws and Bear ran away from a friend who tried to make him do it last week! Funny boy! He does like to occasionally scrape a hand for attention.
 
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