How to Train Your Dog to Not Bark When Playing

Hello. Here is information on puppy nipping/biting. Nipping: Puppies may nip for a number of reasons. Nipping can be a means of energy release, getting attention, interacting and exploring their environment or it could be a habit that helps with teething. Whatever the cause, nipping can still be painful for the receiver, and it’s an action that pet parents want to curb. Some ways to stop biting before it becomes a real problem include: Using teething toys. Distracting with and redirecting your dog’s biting to safe and durable chew toys is one way to keep them from focusing their mouthy energies to an approved location and teach them what biting habits are acceptable. Making sure your dog is getting the proper amount of exercise. Exercise is huge. Different dogs have different exercise needs based on their breed and size, so check with your veterinarian to make sure that yours is getting the exercise they need. Dogs—and especially puppies—use their playtime to get out extra energy. With too much pent-up energy, your pup may resort to play biting. Having them expel their energy in positive ways - including both physical and mental exercise - will help mitigate extra nips. Being consistent. Training your dog takes patience, practice and consistency. With the right training techniques and commitment, your dog will learn what is preferred behavior. While sometimes it may be easier to let a little nipping activity go, be sure to remain consistent in your cues and redirection. That way, boundaries are clear to your dog. Using positive reinforcement. To establish preferred behaviors, use positive reinforcement when your dog exhibits the correct behavior. For instance, praise and treat your puppy when they listen to your cue to stop unwanted biting as well as when they choose an appropriate teething toy on their own. Saying “Ouch!” The next time your puppy becomes too exuberant and nips you, say “OUCH!” in a very shocked tone and immediately stop playing with them. Your puppy should learn - just as they did with their littermates - that their form of play has become unwanted. When they stop, ensure that you follow up with positive reinforcement by offering praise, treat and/or resuming play. Letting every interaction with your puppy be a learning opportunity. While there are moments of dedicated training time, every interaction with your dog can be used as a potential teaching moment.

Hello, Meg is at the perfect age to start obedience training. This will help to socialize her with other dogs and people, provide her with exercise, and tire her out somewhat so that she is calmer. You will also learn the skills you need to handle her on walks. Start the obedience training at home before starting classes: https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-dog-basic-obedience. As well, Meg will benefit from being taught to heel while on walks. She'll be focussed on you and not pull or bark. This guide has excellent methods to try: https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-poodle-to-heel. Start with training a few minutes each walk, working up to always heeling when on walks unless it's sniff and pee or poop time. Good luck and enjoy the training - she's a clever breed and will learn quickly!

Hello Alexis, The growling with toys and when you get up are a form of aggression - but thankfully its early so you can begin addressing it now. Growling at people is likely due to fear, I highly recommend socializing pup as much as possible - since her breed can be more suspicious and sensitive about new people in general. Work on teaching Out, Off, and Drop It - rewarding pup for obedience with protest with a treat, and using a drag leash on pup to calmly enforce the command and move pup away while you are home to supervise, and make sure the leash doesn't get caught. Out - which means leave the area: https://www.petful.com/behaviors/how-to-teach-a-dog-the-out-command/ Off- section on The Off command: https://www.petful.com/behaviors/how-train-dog-stay-off-couch/ Drop It section - practice Drop It often - trading pup a treat or another toy for obedience to build pup's trust with you, so they feel less defensive when you take things in real life. When you need to take something for real, give pup one of their toys instead. Don't mess with pup's food or them while they are eating unless you are rewarding pup with better treats for tolerance - that can cause resource guarding when done wrong. https://www.petful.com/behaviors/how-to-teach-a-dog-to-fetch/ Free PDF e-book, AFTER You Get Your Puppy, with great socialization information, that can be downloaded at the link below: www.lifedogtraining.com/freedownloads The nipping is probably normal puppy mouthing. A puppy class is something I would recommend for the socialization and biting - look for one that has time for off-leash play with other puppies to help with socialization and learning to control her mouth through play. https://www.petful.com/behaviors/puppy-classes-when-to-start/ Leave It and Bite Inhibition methods for the biting: https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-shih-tzu-puppy-to-not-bite Check out the article linked below for some general ways to build respect gently over the next year. Practicing training and commands with rewards is also a great way to build trust and respect, and stimulate pup physically and mentally - which are all super important for sensitive, driven, intelligent breeds like Malinois. https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-doberman-to-listen-to-you If you haven't done so already, I would spend a lot of time researching training specific to malinois and connecting with other malinois owners, such as facebook groups, dog forums, training clubs ect... Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Hello, Frost is a vocal breed who loves to show excitement with his voice. He's young and will most likely grow out of the habit. In the meantime, you can teach him the quiet command. Practice it every day, not just when barking in excitement is an issue. Take a look here: https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-shih-tzu-puppy-to-not-bark. Use the Quiet Method, and once Frost knows it, you can use it in many situations. It will soon be second nature for Frost to quiet down when he hears the command. Then, you can apply it to playtime and you should not even have to raise your voice. In fact, keeping it at a normal tone will prevent Frost from getting rowdier. As for dropping the toy, try having Frost deliver the toy to your hand. Get him used to that way of playing and you may be able to revert him to dropping it without picking it up: https://wagwalking.com/training/deliver-to-your-hand. Good luck and happy training!

Hello Eliza, I recommend teaching "Jazz Up Settle Down"...It's a bit like red light green light for dogs. First, away from the ball, start playing with pup until they are just a little excited, then suddenly freeze and give a command like Sit. Wait until pup calms down and obeys, even if that takes pup several minutes. After it's been five minutes, if pup hasn't obeyed, give the command again in case they forgot by then. Only use a command pup knows well. Once pup finally obeys, offer a treat that was hidden in your pocket, then tell pup after they eat "Let's Play!" or something similar to re-initiate the game again. Practice this after several days regularly until pup can immediately obey in the middle of play. When pup can obey at that excitement level, then gradually increase the excitement level pup gets to before you give the command overtime. Only increase the excitement level again when pup has gotten to the point where they can immediately obey at the current excitement level. Once pup can handle being really excited and still being able to calm back down, then start introducing the ball into your training, starting with the ball not bouncing, and gradually adding the movement of the ball more and more as pup gets better at this game. Once pup can obey your command quickly, use other commands like Out, Leave It, Down, and Place to direct pup while you play, and reward pup for obeying those commands and holding them - like staying on Place, for gradually longer and longer periods of time during your ball game. Place: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O75dyWITP1s Out - which means leave the area: https://www.petful.com/behaviors/how-to-teach-a-dog-the-out-command/ Leave It method: https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-shih-tzu-puppy-to-not-bite Quiet method: https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-shih-tzu-puppy-to-not-bark Place command: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O75dyWITP1s Down-Stay: https://www.thelabradorsite.com/train-your-labrador-to-lie-down-and-stay/ Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden