My dog paws at me for attention. Its hard to ignore because it hurts when his nails dig in and I don't really want to get up and walk away every time because I'd never get to sit down! Any advice?

Take his paw in your hand and firmly say NO! And put his paw down. You may have to do that several times. Or assert your authority and just say NO very firmly. You are the leader of the pack sajjw, he has to learn to obey you.

Take his paw in your hand and firmly say NO! and put his paw down. You may have to do that several times. Or assert your authority and just say NO very firmly. You are the leader of the pack sajjw, he has to learn to obey you.

I have done what you have suggested it must be thousands of times and it doesn't work. I've even tried holding the fur between his toes until he pulls his foot away.

He obeys me in nearly every other way -he does his agility courses in his weekly class perfectly, is in the advanced class at his training (he can do a five minute down stay while I walk out of the hall in a roomful of strange dogs -although I wish he would ignore dogs on a walk!), his heelwork is fantastic not just in class, even during his roadwork, he will always do a hand touch, a sit, a leave etc. Im really proud of his obedience. My other dogs can be a bit pawey (? ) but are nothing like as bad as him. I think the trouble might be that visitors reward him for it by stroking him but I never do! Its driving me nuts every time I sit down he is at it. He has always been a terrible attention seeker. Do you have any ideas anyone?

It has been my experience in the past with misdemeaour behaviours like this, which is what I would consider more mischievous and irritating to the owner, that he is getting a reaction out of you, when he does it, he likes the reaction.

One of my favourite breakers of small behaviour irritations to owners, and if this were my dog, I would keep a small spritzer bottle of water close at hand, every time the paw comes up the spritzer sprays.

He should change his mind and react to it not being so pleasant to paw you, and this should be done until he stops. Generally does not take long to break the habit.

Good luck!

Canady

Canady's idea is good with using a spray bottle.
I know it's a pain not being able to sit down but one idea that I know works is to just stand up and ignore the dog. Don't even acknowledge it, the dog is doing it for attention and even by saying no or pushing him away it is giving him what he wants. Once you have stood up and the dog stops, sit back down, keep repeating that until he gets the message, don't forget to give lots of praise in the times when he is not doing it and just sitting next to you being good :-)

It has been my experience in the past with misdemeaour behaviours like this, which is what I would consider more mischevious and irritating to the owner, that he is getting a reaction out of you, when he does it, he likes the reaction.

One of my favourite breakers of small behaviour irritations to owners, and if this were my dog, I would keep a small spritzer bottle of water close at hand, every time the paw comes up the spritzer sprays.

He should change his mind and react to it not being so pleasant to paw you, and this should be done until he stops. Generally does not take long to break the habit.

Good luck!

Canady

When my walker hound was young, the trainer suggested the spray bottle too, but Taffy thought it was a game and still does. She is now 11. Her bad habits were very very few and the spray bottle was to keep her in the laundry room (behind a half door) when I needed her out of the way (she had feet like dinner plates!). She just jumped the half door, therefore the spray bottle, but then it was jumping over the door because she liked the spray bottle !

When my walker hound was young, the trainer suggested the spray bottle too, but Taffy thought it was a game and still does. She is now 11. Her bad habits were very very few and the spray bottle was to keep her in the laundry room (behind a half door) when I needed her out of the way (she had feet like dinner plates!). She just jumped the half door, therefore the spray bottle, but then it was jumping over the door because she liked the spray bottle !

Yeah when my goldie was a pup, I tried squirting him for making a racket at night and he just caught the water in his mouth! I persisted with the squirting for bad behaviour though and strangely he has learnt to hate it -I only have to say "I'll squirt you" and he does as he's told bless him. I think they're all different. A canister that makes a hissing noise stopped my youngest from jumping up but it didn't work at all on her sister. Rattle bottles can be good, but it's a case of having one/ a squirter to hand at the right time. I will put both by my chair. Wish me luck!

Sajjw, a clicker is also a wonderful tool, can be used in tandem with the spray bottle. After a while your dog will associate the clicker with the water bottle and you won't have to use it anymore.

Good luck.

Sajjw, a clicker is also a wonderful tool, can be used in tandem with the spray bottle. After a while your dog will associate the clicker with the water bottle and you won't have to use it anymore.

Good luck.


All my dogs are clicker trained and know that the sound of the click means "you have done right and will be rewarded". It also pinpoints the exact behaviour that is being rewarded. They have learnt to work for the click. I would never click to inform them they have done wrong and will be punished as this would be teaching them to work to avoid the click when I have spend years teaching them to work to istigate the click. It would confuse them and be detrimental to their training. Thank you anyway, I realise your intention was to be helpful.

I clicker train and this is well bad advice Altenweg. It is not how a clicker should be used.

I agree completely

Hey, sajjw, you are very conversant with dog behavior. We need you here!

Tick

About the clicker, I do think the distinction that was pointed out is important. I also clicker train, and so our clicker can only be used for praise. If someone has no intention of using the clicker in a way that means "yes," then, technically, they could use the clicker for "no" commands. The only catch is that the clicker should not be used for both "yes" and "no" to avoid confusing the dog. Something I've heard recommended for "no" situations like the one described is to use a taped up can (or a Tums bottle) with some pennies in it (I've heard 20 pennies works well). sajjw, this sounds like the "rattle bottle" you talked about. Since it's such a cheap tool, you could have a number of them around, putting them in spots closest to the places in the house where your dog normally paws at you.

For potentially annoying behaviors like excessive pawing, jumping up on people, or even for puppy nipping, I've heard the "ignore" technique suggested by several good dog trainers. The second the dog does the undesirable action, you shut down, sort of like a machine that has been turned off. It's how you "ignore" him. This could mean that you turn away, you stop playing together (stopping for just a couple of minutes is just fine), or you can even shut your eyes. The reason this works is that your dog is seeking attention by his actions; if you're giving him negative attention, he's still getting attention, and many dogs will prefer negative attention to being ignored. For this technique to work, you're going to have to practice it religiously and give it time, but it won't harm your dog, and although it seems simple, it can work wonders.

All my dogs are clicker trained and know that the sound of the click means "you have done right and will be rewarded". It also pinpoints the exact behaviour that is being rewarded. They have learnt to work for the click. I would never click to inform them they have done wrong and will be punished as this would be teaching them to work to avoid the click when I have spend years teaching them to work to istigate the click. It would confuse them and be detrimental to their training. Thank you anyway, I realise your intention was to be helpful.

Clickers can be used in different ways, but never mixed. I use mine to deter bad behavior, not to praise. I agree, it would be detrimetal to their training if you were to use it for praise and to deter bad behaviour. Sadly I can only base my advice on the information provided.

It does work for both, it's all a matter of choice.

Good luck training your dog.

We have a pawing beagle mix also. She drives my husband nuts, but seldom bothers me. The difference? I always ignore her, but Pat gets frustrated and eventually either pets her or pushes her away. I keep telling him he has become Lacey's personal slot machine and she keeps waiting for the payoff that will eventually come! (and yet he continues to ask me why she doesn't do the same thing to me.) I am a dud as a gambling apparatus.
Since your dog is well obedience-trained, wait out the pawing, and when he is quiet for a few seconds give him a down-stay command. He knows how to do this, and it is something you can reinforce him for.
Just remember that once you have committed to never reinforcing the pawing, it will probably get worse before it gets better; its called an "extinction burst" and is actually a good sign that the dog is about to give up on this as an attention getting method. Patience!
:)