[Zvonimir]

That’s right. ‘No’ should stop the dog from harming his life, endangering your life, the property, other dogs and people, etc. The dog doesn’t necessarily know all of that, that some actions lead to injury or even death, but you know, and you want to prevent them. ‘No’ is the hardest boundary of all, which keeps everyone safe.

What to do before dog reaches that boundary, how to allow dog to learn at a relaxed pace? For example, I use ‘Don’t’, in normal voice. Then praise, in smooth, cheerful voice. ‘Don’t’ teaches the dog where to slow down in order not to hear ‘No’. If he passes ‘Don’t’ boundary, then ‘No’ should follow. ‘Don’t’ is a soft boundary.

An example: puppy is nipping and biting repeatedly. Sudden loud ‘No’ and pulling the collar at the same time (quickly but softly) tells the puppy that is not acceptable at all (for many reasons, which puppy doesn’t know yet). The puppy stops, because it doesn’t like the loud voice, and doesn’t like sudden jerking of a collar. In dog’s own terms, the correction for unacceptable behaviour would come from a dog pack leader anyway.

Then, I offer a hand to the puppy immediately, while telling him ‘Don’t .. don’t …’ in normal voice, and touch puppy’s muzzle with hand, several times. That ‘Don’t’, and offering puppy ability to avoid biting and avoid being corrected, is what the dog pack can’t do. It is the soft boundary, which the humans can construct around the natural correction, and use it to train dogs to do things that dogs naturally would never do.

At that moment, we are teaching the puppy (A) not to cross the hard border (that is correction which dogs do anyway) and also (B) to look at us for a direction, when the dog reaches the soft border (which humans introduce in order to teach dogs all the amazing things dogs can’t learn in their packs). We want that eye contact moment allowed by soft boundary – it is the basis of all exercises.

So if the puppy bites again, ‘No’ follows with a collar pull. But if the puppy doesn’t bite, if it turns head away from hand or blocks your hand with its paw, there we act within the expanded boundary — cheer him up with patting and abundant verbal praise in soft, cheering/whining voice. That is a form of play — and an instant reward.

Now the dog knows the process, which is an extension of their natural learning process. 1) The hard border, 2) The soft border where dog is hesitant, looks for direction from you, and 3) Praise / play. We can apply this to any teaching exercise.

The process is based on a combination of pack discipline, and human input which extends hard borders of the dog’s world into soft borders of human training world.

So the process eliminates the need for food rewards. ‘Food rewards’ are purely human concept of bribing and coercion, which is not associated with the natural behaviour of the dog pack or any other animal. In real life, dogs even don’t get a pat from their dog pack leader; they must bow-play to ‘rub off’ some ‘gratitude’.

PS. Sorry for a wordy reply!

[Zvonimir]

That is difficult to answer.

‘No’ must remain ‘No’ forever, because it marks unwanted behaviour and unwanted dog’s decisions, which you don’t want anytime, anyplace. But dog’s attention span and understanding changes over time, and your training will change too; you teach a 5 months old puppy differently than the 2 years old dog. Therefore ‘Reinforcement’ part in ‘NR’ will change too. How much, and how?

This is the big problem, actually, where (I’d say), 80+% of dog training fails and never delivers truly good, smart and loyal dogs. It produces confused dogs, stuck at a level of puppy training techniques because any formulaic reinforcement ( A –> B –> C) forces them to find that routine acceptable. But the routine is not the same thing as the goal you want; you want a certain goal.

Eventually, dog has a desire to never hear the word ‘No’; dog really wants to please and show himself faithful part of your pack. It is best if you observe your dog, look what he does and how it does it, and then work how you will increase his trust and loyalty to you with a minimum of ‘Nos’.

Look at the bigger picture, not at a particular discipline where dog fails for some reason. Always try to find another way of doing something.

I apologise for not giving an easily formulated answer.

[Zvonimir]

In the dog pack, senior dog always approaches young puppy; that is how the social etiquette of the pack works. If a puppy is intruding into the space of a senior, then the problems begin, and fierce corrections come into place by senior dogs. Especially if the pups are 16-weeks and over; studies have shown that older dogs ‘kicked out’ over 16-weeks olds from their company because they see them intimidating – the beginning of grown-up age in view of the pack (when pups get their permanent teeth) and a challenge to their authority.

But you have created quite a situation; 6 yrs old Yorkie can’t correct big Pyrenean because it’s bigger and heavier, and you have allowed young Pyrenean certain privileges in the pack despite his puppy age, which the Yorkie finds intimidating. You have promoted Pyrenean to the status of the old Goldie. Yorkie is naturally protective of own position, which has now been shifted away, and the big young boy is annoying Yorkie without anyone’s correction.

As much as you have felt loss after Goldie was gone, now Yorkie feels confused and derailed. Pyrenean will further impose himself and you can expect more trouble.

In all honesty, it would be best if you continued owning only the Yorkie; the Yorkie certainly deserved extra attention after the Goldie was gone, which Yorkie would return in extra attachment to you. In situations like this, people sometimes decide to give away the new (young) dog, to their friend, relative, etc. which is best for the young dog, and best for the older dog. Or if you wish to keep them both, then they ought to be separated for a longer while, in different kennels, different parts of the house, with different feeding time, training time, walks, etc.

[Zvonimir]

Biting is connected with the growing of teeth (baby teeth, and then afterwards, permanent teeth), but because it happens early in puppy’s life, from 4 to 18 weeks, it may become a habit. It must be addressed as soon as possible, but weeks 12-18 are critical.

In my experience with the GSDs, soft but sudden pulling of the collar, with louder and longer ‘No’, usually works best. But the exercise must be consistent. Martingale and pinch collar are NOT necessary at this stage, just regular soft collar. It is more that the sound of the voice distracts the puppy, with a clang of the lead on the collar, not the pull itself.

With this lesson learned, it can be applied later, with modifications for other behavioural issues; for some corrections only slight dangle of the lead with the metal ring on the collar is enough; that is a poor man’s version of the e-collar 🙂