Now I encourage barking with Okami we have playful barking sessions and howling sessions. Well today we were doing barking at each other and he was having fun. But he got really excited and barked so close and so loud at my face I smacked him upside the head in reaction. I mean it wasn't just kinda close I could feel his whiskers and wet nose on my mouth and nose. And no I didn't hit Okami hard. I'm not happy about it. Was my reaction wrong? Should I have been playing that sort of game with him? Or did we bark too long?

And please don't focus on my having smacked him upside the head. I was scared and surprised myself. And I'm not happy about I did it.

If you play with fire........

It's up to you to teach him boundaries and also your job to take responsibility for your provocations.

As long as you didn't hit him hard enough to injure him AND you are aware of this for future incidences then you're fine, I'm sure, and so is he.

Yeah I'm not gonna hit him again. I was just curious.

I agree with Jeff. You provoked this whole incident.

Until he learns to control himself and his reactions, don't push him past his limit.

Now remember he wasn't being aggressive. He was caught up in the heat of the game and did what a young puppy should do when pushed past his threshold.

We aren't saying you can't play with him or anything like that, just keep the play controlled and don't push him past his limit. We all make mistakes, don't beat yourself up because of it. Just move on and learn from it .

This is the kinda thing that keeps me from teaching my pup that it's OK to jump on my legs when I ask her to. I've taught all my dogs this but Khalees right now is having such a hard time when she meets people or when my girlfriend comes over. She jumps like there's no tomorrow, so much so that I have to leash her just to get her to calm down. I'm scared that she will never fully understand that it's OK to jump in certain situations and absolutely not in others so for now I just ban the jumping all together. Although I'm on the fence about hitting dogs, I think most of us give our dog a whack when they do something really over the top. Just as I'm sure people do with kids. To each his own.

My Okami does this to me when she gets super excited, she will get right up in my face and bark at me. Or when I tell her the command speak sometimes she will reach at me to speak. My "Bad behavior" action has and will always be a loud snap of my finger and a quick sharp "No!" It gets her attention, and she immediately stops in her tracks. So my suggestion would be, try to teach him boundaries, and have a solid attention grabber for when he exhibits behaviors you want him to stop. And always always praise if he gets something situation-ally correct. Using this for example, use your attention grabbing bad behavior correction of what you find that works if he barks at your face. If he barks away from your face praise him. Eventually, he will get the association down and know what you want.
Hope this helps.

southerncali88 wrote:

This is the kinda thing that keeps me from teaching my pup that it's OK to jump on my legs when I ask her to. I've taught all my dogs this but Khalees right now is having such a hard time when she meets people or when my girlfriend comes over. She jumps like there's no tomorrow, so much so that I have to leash her just to get her to calm down. I'm scared that she will never fully understand that it's OK to jump in certain situations and absolutely not in others so for now I just ban the jumping all together. Although I'm on the fence about hitting dogs, I think most of us give our dog a whack when they do something really over the top. Just as I'm sure people do with kids. To each his own.

I've taught my dogs an "up" command, but they wouldn't DREAM of jumping on guests when they walk through the door. You just have to stay suuuper consistent in only allowing her up when you give her the command and stay super consistent in punishing her when she does jump up uninvited. She will learn as long as you stay consistent .

Yeah I know I provoked the incident. I just couldn't help but react right away. I know now.

And I'm going to work more on "bad behavior attention grabbers". As well I need to be more consistent on keeping him from jumping up right away.

I think we've all done things in the heat of the moment that we wouldn't repeat if we thought about it, I know I have. We are primates relating to canids, we can't help it. Sometimes our instincts take over and we just react. Don't blame yourself.

I would say though, your reaction was probably very confusing for him, I'm guilty of this too, so don't beat yourself up. The fact that you are thinking about it says a lot. He thinks you are playing the fun barking game and out of nowhere you smack him and become angry and threatening, or at least your energy does a total flip from happy/playful, to annoyed/angry/fearful/predatory. My suggestion is, if he crosses this line in the future, stand up, totally disengage, and turn or walk away. He needs to learn there is a line, in the same way that you discovered his threshold today and shouldn't push too far. This will also serve another purpose and make you more attractive and dynamic to him. You were at the peak of a game and you walked away. He will want to know why, and what you're up to and where you're going. Try it, I bet you he will heel!

You'll see as he matures that he can handle more, and his threshold will expand. You'll be constantly adjusting the amount and type of stimulation you can give him. Eventually, you'll be able to send a lot his way and instead of getting reactive he will aim his drive at you and look to you for the release when he approaches his threshold. I'm working toward this with Diz and have finally noticed some progress lately. He tends to stalk other dogs as we pass them on the sidewalk. He has the same body language as if he is stalking a squirrel, and then tries to play if I let him approach. It is complete and utter fixation. Lately, he will begin the stalk, I say his name, he ignores me (typical husky), BUT as we pass, he makes eye contact with me instead of trying to get to the other dog to play. It may seem like a tiny improvement, but for us it's a big deal. My point is, as others said, don't push him too far. Learn the signs he's getting overly excited, initiate one more 'game' then walk away.

wpskier222 wrote:

I would say though, your reaction was probably very confusing for him, I'm guilty of this too, so don't beat yourself up. The fact that you are thinking about it says a lot. He thinks you are playing the fun barking game and out of nowhere you smack him and become angry and threatening, or at least your energy does a total flip from happy/playful, to annoyed/angry/fearful/predatory. My  suggestion is, if he crosses this line in the future, stand up, totally disengage, and turn or walk away. He needs to learn there is a line, in the same way that you discovered his threshold today and shouldn't push too far. This will also serve another purpose and make you more attractive and dynamic to him. You were at the peak of a game and you walked away. He will want to know why, and what you're up to and where you're going. Try it, I bet you he will heel!

Ditto, ditto, ditto. This winter, wearing my heavy, insulated work jacket, baggie snow pants, long underwear and heavy fleece (all at once), I would engage Ami in rough play, stamping my feet, clapping my hands, running away from him to make him want to run, jump and play - I did not realize how much nipping he was doing until recently, the weather warmed, I was only wearing a sweatshirt or light fleece. We continued to play...I now have a huge flock of bruises all over both forearms and...my left nipple  

So now, as I teach him to play more gently, I am careful to not get him over stimulated...as I play, as soon as he starts to jump and grab, I stop the play by standing still, arms at side, as soon as he settles down, I scratch his ears, rub his ribs, in general "coo" to him. As he settles, I can then throw the ball, kick the soccer ball or pick up the tuggie again. If he doesn't settle, I walk away (he's on long trolley with tether so I can just walk away. If I'm in shop with him, I sit up on the tractor.) If it's on a walk, I warn him "close-hauled" and use the traffic lead loop on his leash. It seems to be working - no new bruises in about a week (which is good, husband says the bruises look like the hallmark "grabbing the arm" bruises of abused woman. If I keel over dead tomorrow, I don't want him accused of beating me  )

The wonderful thing about this dog, and I assume the rest of the breed, is how quickly they learn. And contact with their human is the motivator!

And please, don't feel terrible about your reaction - once when Ami inadvertently wrapped his tether around my neck, I grabbed his ruff, dragged us both to the ground with me above him and had long staring contest to show who was boss. Not happy about that, but then again, I am still alive.