Take a treat gently

[Irish]

Murray practically bites my hand off when I try to hand him a treat. I am not used to this because Bear is SO gentle. Murray was rescue dog and was very thin when we got him, so I attributed to him knowing what hunger is. But, we've had him for 4 weeks now and he still does. I do make him sit to get a treat and I keep repeating "nice, nice" but he just snatches it from me so fiercely I'm afraid I'm going to be seriously bitten one day. I know he's not trying to hurt me, he just wants the treat real bad. Any suggestions? He is in danger of not getting treats anymore!

[Dreeza]

ooh oakley does that too...maybe not as bad as Murray though.

I usually hold the treat in such a way that i have to put my fingers in his mouth and release it right inside...cuz he cant snatch it out of my hands that way...

he gets it after a few times that the nicer he is, the faster he gets it (i wont give it to him until he stops acting like hes about to bite me) and if he gets nasty...he doesnt get it at all...

if you dont feel safe doing that, then obviously dont!

i always say 'nicely' too...just kinda takes patience i think, and him understanding that once he gets nasty, he no longer gets the treat (oh, i always eventually give him the treat, i just make him re-do his trick...im scared if he doesnt get it at all, that that will make him even nastier)

[ohmai]

I taught my puppy taking the treat gently by setting him in a sit first. Then I'd tell him 'off' while I brought the treat near his mouth (so he won't lunge at it) and I'd give the O.K. for him to take it.

If your dog doesn't now off, it's really easy to teach. No time at all.

[Saje]

Nanook was like that too. She's gotten a lot better. Particularly since I started clicker training. But with all my dogs I kind of hold the treat in their mouth with my hand there too so they can't take it until I release. They don't want to hurt me. But every dog is different and you know your dog best.

[Athe]

Having 5 dogs, giving treats out "could" be a big deal. What I do when I give treats to 5 excited dogs is hold the treat in the palm of my hand and shove it in the dogs mouth. Works for me. I taught my dogs as well (individually) the off and take it command as well. The worst thing you can do is to keep a treat in the line of vision of the dog and offer it...say easy, then snatch it away..this will teach the dog to be a little bit more quick next time he see the treat. Basically, I'll grab that before its snatched away. If you want to teach this, hold the treat in the palm of your hand, have your dog sit, then offer the treat on the palm of your hand...and push your hand towards the dog instead of pulling back away. HOlding the treat in the palm of your hand makes a less bity surface and the dog learns that the treats are easy to get and the dog doesnt have to be grabby.
I have a feral dog that was half starved when I found him. It took us 3 months with the help of the Vets to get him back in shape...he was malnourished etc. He loves his food, but, with the NIFIL training etc he is a good behaved dog with treats and takes them easiely out of your hand. He had been a little grabby at one point, but, the fact he had to earn the treat and it was offered in the palm of my hand helped him over come this.

[Doberluv]

I like Athe's suggestion. That's how you feed a horse, in the flat of your hand. LOL. (but someone else may give him a treat sometimes and they wouldn't know to hold their hand flat. It's still good to teach him to be gentle any way you give him something) But also, if the dog is too rough, don't let him have the treat. On the one hand, not letting him have it might make him more grabby because he's really getting eager for it. On the other hand, when he grabs and gets it, he's being rewarded for that bitey behavior. So, it's kind of a catch 22. But, I agree if you push the palm of your hand to his mouth before he gets a chance to snap and grab, he won't be doing that behavior and he'll see that it is not necessary. (hopefully) lol. I did teach Lyric, "ge-e-ennnntle." He tends to be a little toothy and grabby. He still needs reminding.

My son's dog was very exuberant that way and you should see how gently that dog takes food from your hand now. He used a very firm, "eh-eh!" And woudn't let the dog have the treat if she was snappy. He'd stand there and do this over and over, pretending like it hurt, "oooouuucccchhhhh! Eh-eh" and each time she'd try and it was too rough....no treat. Finally she figured it out. But she's a bit submissive anyhow. She is sooooooooo careful to only use her lips and tongue. When you say, "gentle" she will get even gentler. You can get this dog from a medium gentleness with her mouth down in increments until she is barely touching your fingers. It's kind of too much...like kind of pathetic. But she IS gentle.

Your dog might get too frusterated and get more snappy because he's just dying to have that treat. I guess what I'd do is withhold it until he's just a little gentler and then reward. Then next time, withhold until he's better still and then reward and so on so you're gradually shaping the behavior. In other words, hold out on the reward in steps until you get what you want.

Another way to teach him to have a "softer" mouth is to play retrieve with him using a rather rough bristle brush. He'll learn to pick things up with his mouth more gently. Some people hammer large headed nails into a piece of wood and the heads of the nails are sticking up just a tad (1/4"?). You let the dog know those are there by handing the board to him once. Then toss it and he goes to get it (if he is good at retrieving) He'll learn to pick it up very gingerly. (and not mangle the duck he just retrieved out of the water. LOL) He may be able to apply that concept to when he puts his mouth on you.

[Summer Magic]

That's true it's safer to feed with the flat of the hand, but they don't learn that it's unacceptable to lunge or snap at your fingers for a treat. I still think the sit, stay and be nice with the treat being put in the mouth with the fingers gives them more of the idea that they have to remain calm and polite to receive the treat

[Renee750il]

Ours were taught to "wait" which even slowed Shiva down to the point that she thinks about what she is doing instead of just pouncing on the food - and for food-centric Shiva that's a real accomplishment! Even Shiva is now so gentle with treats that I can hold something in my lips and she can take it and all I feel (other than a rather cross-eyed visual) is her short front whiskers tickling. If Shiva the chow hound can learn to be gentle, I just know you'll be able to teach Murray, lol!

[Dreeza]

Ours were taught to "wait" which even slowed Shiva down to the point that she thinks about what she is doing instead of just pouncing on the food - and for food-centric Shiva that's a real accomplishment! Even Shiva is now so gentle with treats that I can hold something in my lips and she can take it and all I feel (other than a rather cross-eyed visual) is her short front whiskers tickling. If Shiva the chow hound can learn to be gentle, I just know you'll be able to teach Murray, lol!


how exactly did you go about doing that? That would be awesome if you could give some details :)


I can put treats on oakley's paws when he is laying down, and tell him to wait...but once he has the okay...he still 'attacks' the treats. same with if i put them on the floor or anything ... he is pretty good about waiting, but once given the ok, its back to pouncing on them.

[Manchesters]

You hold the treat inside your closed hand (made like a fist) as the dog sniffs your hand tell his EASY!!!!!!!!!! If he chomps your hand, give him the riot act. Then gradually left him push his nose into your hand and then give the treat. Works like a charm. I have never had a dog snap at my hand. They will snap at each other, but hey, I am about the only person on this earth that has a bunch of Manchesters that won't try to kill each other when food is around (no exaggeration there, either!) And of course, this is the technique used to teach dogs being shown in conformation. Judges don't like to see handlers with bleeding hands when baiting the dogs with liver, lol.

[Renee750il]

That's great info to have, Manchesters.

Teaching Shiva to 'Wait' was essentially telling her to sit ("Where are your manners?" or even just "Manners?" thanks to Bimmer's tutelage) around here, then 'Wait.' If she lunged for the cookie, I'd palm it and ask her where her manners were then show her the cookie again and tell her "wait" again. It took her about three tries. Kharma learned from watching her.

Dreeza's method for teaching Oakley to wait with the treat on his paw is probably a good one too.

[Irish]

Wow. Lots of great suggestions. Thanks everybody! I'm going to start experimenting tomorrow and see what will work with Mr. Murray. I like all of your ideas.

[bridey_01]

Well, I taught this excercise to alot of shelter dogs in my time there, and if they got bitey with a treat I would yelp and give them the most shocked and affroneted look I could manage, whilst simultaneously closing my fist on the treat and backing away. Labs and goldens and their crosses would learn this in one second flat, I swear it. Other dogs take longer, maybe three or four tries.

[Irish]

Well, I tried giving Murray a treat this morning, in the palm of my hand, as first suggested by Athe and Doberluv and . . . it worked like a charm! I made him sit and then brought it up to him underhanded and he gently took it from my palm. What Doberluv said made a lot of sense, that I was kind of encouraging him to snap because I would start to hand it to him and back away (for fear of being bit) but it only made Murray more frustrated to get his snack! Today I was able to praise him highly for being "nice", so I think it got through what "nice" actually means. I think I will continue this for a while then I can graduate to giving it to him in the closed fist, since he will know what "nice" actually means and we can work up from there.

Thanks so much everyone! I knew you guys would solve this problem for me!

[Doberluv]

Oh good Irish! He'll get onto it. That's how I would give a treat to my Arabian mares. They LOVE goodies and I'd just shove my palm to their mouths before they had a chance to grab...(couldn't get any momentum) After some time of getting treats this way, they would KNOW they were going to get a treat and didn't feel the need to hurry and snatch it. After a while, I could give them a treat without using the palm flat way, but could use my fingers and they would gingerly take it just using their lips. Of course, horses use their lips much more when getting food than dogs do...they need to feel around on the ground to know what it is they're about to get. LOL.

But I figured that if the dog KNOWS he will get a treat using the flat of your hand and gets it firm in his mind that there is no problem, he WILL get it, doesn't need to hurry, you teach a command when he is gentle and eventually, you can use your fingers and the command and he'll be more careful. My Dobe forgets sometimes when he's in his super excited mood....if I'm praising him and leaping around for joy at his getting some skill right, he'll get grabby and all I need to do now is remind him, "eh-eh- gennnntle." LOL. Then he backs off a little with those big pearly whites.

[Irish]

LOL Doberluve, it certainly would be important for a dobe to be gentle! Thanks again for the great advice. Now I'm giving Murray treats like crazy! :D

[Doberluv]

Now I'm giving Murray treats like crazy!
LOL!!! :p

Good! That way of thinking from him, once it gets fixed in his brain, as a habit...that he doesn't have to hurry, that he will get the treat kind of seems to transfer over to he doens't have to grab no matter how you hold your hand.

The reason I don't want to give him the riot act for snapping at the treat, is that what if he just did something wonderful and you're wanting to reward him for it....now you give him hell for snapping and he may think you're giving him hell for the skill he just accomplished, plus I don't want to punish my dog when he comes to me or make him worry about something that I may do to him.

"Oh the shark bites
with his teeth dear,
And he shows them,
pearly whites,

just a jackknife has old Macheath babe,
and he keeps it,
out of sight...

LOL. My Doberman makes me think of this song. LOL. I've been practicing this Mac the Knife for karaoke. LOL. When I sing, my dogs don't pay much attention, but when I sing this song, Jose (boy Chi mix) howls and barks, sticks him bottom up and wags furiously. Something about this song.

Good heavens! There sure are a lot of LOL's in this post. LOL. (tee hee hee) :D

[Irish]

LOL again! :D