discipline????

[Diesel4]

I am a new rott owner and member to this board. My question is this. Diesel is 9 weeks old and is so far showing me that he is going to be a great dog. But as far as training him goes, what are your thoughts on smacking his nose when he does wrong and telling him no? I have owned other dogs in the past and the was never a problem, but they were not rotts? If not that, what should I be doing to make sure he knows what is wrong?

Thanks

[Tywaknya'sBABY]

Hitting him on the nose will make him hand shy. Your hands near his face will become a bad thing and you don't want that.

Obedience classes can help you figure out how to react to bad behavior but I would rely more on positive reninforcement to train.

Theres alot about this in Puppy Development and Behavior

[spidey]

You really need to get into a class and do some reading on modern training methods, there is a lot of information here about puppy training if you use the search feature. ALL puppy interaction should be positive, there should be no "discipline" as you describe it, ESPECIALLY not of the "smacking" variety and you should definitely never hit a dog on the face.

[brunie's mom]

I agree...no smacking, no hitting. There is no place raising a dog that you need to hit a dog.
Get signed up for a Puppy Kindergarten class and keep taking classes for the next couple of years. You will learn how to train without any physical force or severe corrections.

Even if you have trained your other dogs before....please get your pup into obedience classes...there are so many easier, happier methods to learn. They learn much quicker without the "yank and crank"...that we were taught years ago.

Not only will hitting a puppy make it hand shy...it may one day decide to take a chunk out of you when he is 100 lbs.

Gina

[propertylady57]

You have received some good advice here. Training is the key. AND exercise. If I don't walk my dog I take her to the dog park. When she is walking we are working. She is not allowed to stop and sniff or do her business. Because of the risk of Parvo, I would wait for the pup to age a bit before taking it to a dog park. I don't know about anyone elses dog but mine is strong headed so I am never slacking in the training. She is 17 months old now and she is well behaved. I don't yell at her. She will obey much faster when I am calm. Set boundries and you would have a happy dog.

My goal for my pup was receiving her CGC (Canine Good Citizen designation) We reached that goal. We had a good time.

Good luck and make sure you have fun in the training classes.

[karenjean]

Our Rottie is "secondhand" and we think she was hit (ducks at times when we reach out to pet her or grab her collar). What did it do? Nothing. She is still ornery at times (puppy code of growing up says she has to be I think) but has calmed down dramatically since training and being spayed. We do not hit her EVER.


Why hit? Why not train them so all you have to do is give a hand signal or voice command? That being said, Harley does have time outs at times where if she is too rowdy she goes to her crate or outside or gets tied to the leash and made to be attached to me. But usually the cause is more my fault and she is not been exercised enough that day.

[hesmyboy]

I was told ny my trainer that hitting them on the nose makes them head shy......I have a 9 week old too and I look at it in his eyes would I like to get hit for everything I do...

My baby does make mistakes he alllowed to...but for discipline I like the cage...or I just have to give him the look......

I am so proud of my dog he is going to be one fantastic dog just as he is one fantastic friend...but plz do not hit him......

Good luck to you and I agree with the other go into training it really does work...

R

[AlphaLeader]

Have never seen hitting accomplish anything with any dog other than instilling fear... they don't think in terms of discipline, they think more of..what's in it for me... so lots of reward. And too, unless you catch in in the act, he won't have a clue what's going on except that you're smacking him... that will lead to distrust. A lot of good advice about training here... and a lot of wisdom... welcome...