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Re: Tired of getting my fingers chomped off!

To be honest this is your fault not theirs. They will do what they have been allowed to do. Obviously they do not see you as the head of the pack, and with that many dogs you are in deep trouble.
Try to google , pack leadership, and pack behavior, and how to place yourself in the leader roll. Right now you are NOT there!
I can stick my hand in a litter of 4 week old puppies and not have one puppy place their mouth on me , except to kiss it. Its an established order, and they learn very quickly.
Once you do some research on what is going on in your [pack] , then you can start to do things differently, but first you must understand that you did this, before you can take steps to change it. Having soft mouths has nothing to do with what is going on in your house.

Re: Tired of getting my fingers chomped off!

Labrador Monster Mother
What happened to gentle soft mouths? I have 5 of these gentle mouths. Well supposed to be. If the dogs are sitting together taking a treat a couple of them will chomp on fingers fast to make sure others don't take treat. OK. Others would never take as they are older. Training tips? My son will throw treats in the air as he is at the point of no way hand feeding anymore.


Stop giving treats to the pups when it is the group of them. They are only doing what mother nature wants them to do and out compete their litter mates.

Try teaching them how to take treats individually so they can learn how to take them gently.

Re: Tired of getting my fingers chomped off!

Training dogs to take food is not difficult. It simply requires consistency. So you must first get everyone in your family on the same page regarding the training.

Train each dog separately, and train them each several times a day at the beginning. Move to different parts of the house for the training and involve your whole family.

Use a large treat but one that will fit in the palm of your hand with your fingers closed. Offer your closed hand to the dog (with the treat in the palm of your hand). When the dog sniffs or licks the hand, open your fingers and allow the dog to take the treat from your palm. If the dog uses teeth on your hand, simply close your hand on the treat immediately and take your hand holding the treat away. Do not allow the dog to eat the treat if the dog uses teeth. The dog only needs to flick out his or her tongue to get the treat; they do not need to use teeth.

Do this procedure as many times as necessary so that your dog simply licks or gently picks the treat from your palm reliably. Dogs learn very quickly that teeth cause them to lose the treat, but licking or gently picking the treat from your palm is the only successful way to get the treat.

Everyone in your family should use the same procedure so you will need to train them first.

What you want the dog to learn is simple: grabbing with teeth causes the treat to go away; taking the treat gently earns a treat.

You don't need to be the leader of the pack, you only need to be the one with thumbs and fingers that can close on a treat that is being snatched rudely.

Re: Tired of getting my fingers chomped off!

Kate Fulkerson, PhD
Training dogs to take food is not difficult. It simply requires consistency. So you must first get everyone in your family on the same page regarding the training.

Train each dog separately, and train them each several times a day at the beginning. Move to different parts of the house for the training and involve your whole family.

Use a large treat but one that will fit in the palm of your hand with your fingers closed. Offer your closed hand to the dog (with the treat in the palm of your hand). When the dog sniffs or licks the hand, open your fingers and allow the dog to take the treat from your palm. If the dog uses teeth on your hand, simply close your hand on the treat immediately and take your hand holding the treat away. Do not allow the dog to eat the treat if the dog uses teeth. The dog only needs to flick out his or her tongue to get the treat; they do not need to use teeth.

Do this procedure as many times as necessary so that your dog simply licks or gently picks the treat from your palm reliably. Dogs learn very quickly that teeth cause them to lose the treat, but licking or gently picking the treat from your palm is the only successful way to get the treat.

Everyone in your family should use the same procedure so you will need to train them first.

What you want the dog to learn is simple: grabbing with teeth causes the treat to go away; taking the treat gently earns a treat.

You don't need to be the leader of the pack, you only need to be the one with thumbs and fingers that can close on a treat that is being snatched rudely.


I do this exact same thing, but would add that I do attach a word to it (in our case "easy") so that I can then remind them in the future if it is a situation, such as where other dogs are around, that may have them a bit excited. As they reach for the treat I say "easy" and they know if they aren't, the treat will disappear before it gets to their mouths.

Re: Tired of getting my fingers chomped off!

Been teaching today. My Labradors are a little fatter and I am much happier to have counted ten fingers! Thank you so much!

Another question. One gal. I put her in sit stay when I put my shoes one. When I bend over she always breaks and licks my face. Gets excited because we are going out. Would love for her to just stay and put my shoes on without having my face wash also. Ideas?

Re: Tired of getting my fingers chomped off!

I highly recommend Susan Garrett's Crate Games video
to teach dogs self control. Learning in a crate makes it so much easier for the dog to understand that self control yields rewards. You can buy the video
at www.clickerdog.com.