Hi everyone, so my dog has this bad habit that I guess she got from her old owners. We can't figure out how to break her of it, as we cannot find anyone else who has had the same problem. If anyone here has any ideas that would be great. If not, oh well. So, she was raised around a cat, and now what she does is she will sit in front of you and bat at you with her front paws. It almost looks like she is giving you her paw, which a lot of people teach their dogs to do. But what Ruby does is scratch at you like crazy. She has caught both Jer and myself in the eye a couple of times. She looks like a cat batting in the air at something. We push her paws down and say "no", or "bad paws" but that doesn't seem to be working. She doesn't jump up on people at all when they are standing, she waits until you are either at her level or sitting on the couch. It is like she goes straight for the face to get your attention. We push her paws down but that doesn't work either. And everyone who meets her thinks she wants to shake paws, but we don't want her to use her paws like this anymore. Also, just yesterday and today she started digging small little holes in the yard. All over. Just like 2 digs, then she would sniff and run away. She has never dug a hole before and she isn't trying to go anywhere because they are in the most random places. It almost looks like she forgot where she left her bone, but she doesn't have a bone. She got a worm today and ate it from one of the holes. Gross. But she is a dog. I just don't want her to get into the habit of digging. I'm usually out in the yard with her, so when she starts I say "no" and she stops, but I can't figure out why she all of a sudden started this. The only thing I figure is last week there were two turtles in the back yard and now she is looking for them maybe? They burried themselves last week and she kept digging them up, so we put them back in the woods so she couldn't hurt them.
The one method I know that works is treat training. I read this book called 'The Dog Whisperer' (not the same guys as on t.v.) and he says whenever your dog does something bad you should, every time say 'no' or like what you say, "bad paws" and then reward him with a treat for doing a good thing, for listening. He'll start to understand what 'bad paws' means and listen when you say it to him, especially if he knows he's gonna get a treat. Repitition is key to his learning success. This book is all about positive reinforcement over negative (such as hitting or screaming or any kind of violence). It's a great book and I'd recommend it to anyone having issues with training their dog to be a good family member. There are so many great, easy tips.
Thanks, I will have to pick up that book at the library. It is just hard to reward her when she is not putting her paws up, you know what I mean. She might not understand that she is doing anything. But I'll keep looking for info.
I promise you if you got that book it would really, really have a great impact on both your lives. Don't know if you can rent it at the library or not. I got it from a pet store.
Ok, well the book isn't at the library, lucky for us I just got a job, so I should be able to buy it soon. Ruby stopped the digging, I have no clue what in the world was up with that, but I still think it had to do with the turtles she found. Now she has forgotten all about them and no longer digs. Weird dog. As far as the paws, she still has no idea what the hell we are talking about. For her using her paws is a form of communication. She has been using her head to nudge me a little more now that I have been pushing her paws to the floor, but she will still bat at us when she wants us to pet her or pay attention to her. And trust me, she gets tons of attention, so it isn't as if she has to do that. Normally if she just comes to sit by me I pet her and rub her belly, but she still tries to grab me with her front paws. We might be going to obedience school pretty soon though (now that I can afford it). She isn't listening very well (like coming when we call her for one). I'm really glad we rescued her, but I still wish we had gotten her when she was younger so we wouldn't have to correct all of her bad habits now. Oh well, she is just over a year so it shouldn't be too hard to train her properly. I just can't believe that those people never taught her to come when called. That is just ridiculous to me.
