September 21, 2008
It's a Private thing
Dog Training: How to Train Your Dog to Stop Licking “Private Places”
A nose thrust may be acceptable among dogs, but it's not so pleasant for the two-legged visitors in their lives. Every dog can learn to greet people in more acceptable ways. The secret is to teach them an alternative to that ancient, secret handshake they know so well.
Start with a Shake
The standard greeting among people is the handshake, and dogs can learn it too. Have your dog sit, then stick out your hand, putting it slightly below her nose. Most dogs will instinctively raise a paw to meet it. If your dog doesn't get it and won't raise a paw, pick up her paw for her and give it a shake. Then say, "Good shake!" and give her something to eat. Keep practicing, and have other people do it too. As long as there's the potential for food, dogs will remember this trick and try it every chance they get.
Take her Everywhere
Dogs spend most of their time at home, and when they do get out they're so excited and hungry for information that they can hardly keep their noses to themselves. Take them out in public more often so they meet a lot of new people. Eventually, they'll start getting used to everyone and everything, in part because they'll have collected so much information in the past that they won't feel the burning need to collect more. This will make it easier for them to remember to sit and shake rather than lunge and sniff.
Quick Tip
Dogs despise the smell of minty breath spray, and you can take advantage of this to discourage them from sniffing people. When you're going to be in a situation in which your dog will be meeting new people, arm yourself beforehand with a canister of breath spray. When she moves in for the inevitable sniff, quickly spritz some of the spray toward her mouth. Aim downward so that the irritating spray doesn't hit her eyes. The unpleasant smell and taste, combined with the psst sound, is a very strong discouragement.
This type of "aversion therapy" works because dogs link the unpleasant experience with the behavior that caused it, and the memory will stay with them. For the most part, however, dogs learn fastest when they're praised for doing things right, rather than scolded for doing them wrong. So reward your dog well when she sits and shakes. You should even reward her when she does nothing at all. As long as she's not sniffing, she's being a good dog and deserves a special treat.
Filed under Blog by Emily
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