My heart hurts. I just read the advice given to the guardian of an 8 week old puppy in order to stop the puppy biting them. It goes a lot like this, {with what I thought in italic brackets}:
If your puppy snaps after being tapped on the nose or told off another way;
1. grab the puppy firmly by the throat {I'm over the advice already}
2. roll the puppy onto his/her back back and hold down
3. don't choke be firm {restrain without strangling or causing death - glad this was clarified}
4. growl "NO!" and keep holding down {puppy is now noting, "when I am 40kg, you're gunna remember this day and regret it"}
5. do this until the pup urinates - a submissive sign {this brings a tear to my eye, I can't be sarcastic, it's just too darn sad}
You must do this before they become strong enough to break your hold or you will never be the alpha dog/bitch in your household. {Or join the wrestling club and perfect your holds}
If your puppy snaps after being tapped on the nose or told off another way;
1. grab the puppy firmly by the throat {I'm over the advice already}
2. roll the puppy onto his/her back back and hold down
3. don't choke be firm {restrain without strangling or causing death - glad this was clarified}
4. growl "NO!" and keep holding down {puppy is now noting, "when I am 40kg, you're gunna remember this day and regret it"}
5. do this until the pup urinates - a submissive sign {this brings a tear to my eye, I can't be sarcastic, it's just too darn sad}
You must do this before they become strong enough to break your hold or you will never be the alpha dog/bitch in your household. {Or join the wrestling club and perfect your holds}
There is so much detrimental and dangerous information in this well meaning advice from a veteran of the dog world. The person giving the advice loves and cares about dogs. It's given with the best of intentions. However, simply loving dogs and having good intentions does not replace research and keeping up-to-date with the most recent discoveries about dog behaviour. As the saying goes, "The road to hell is paved with good intentions." Anecdotal advice about something "working with my dog" or even "working with all 20 dogs I've had" does not make it gospel. Certainly doesn't make it scientific. Definitely doesn't qualify it as being ethical.
For a start, if your puppy bites after being tapped on the nose, STOP TAPPING YOUR PUPPY ON THE NOSE. It's called provocation. What has just happened is, a small amplitude punishment has been given for some misdemeanour. This tap is simply annoying to the puppy and redirects the puppy to the source of annoyance - your hands. It causes the bigger problem behaviour of biting in response to the tap. So now, the amplitude of the punishment needs to be increased to get an effect and stop the biting. A vicious and dangerous cycle is developing. One of the side effects of punishment is that it can easily and almost seamlessly morph into abuse. As the advisor points out, don't try this on a big dog - you simply won't have the physical strength and may risk severe injury to you or the dog.
If the puppy can't get away, urination in appeasement and out of downright fear may occur. Ever heard the term, "you scared the piss out of me"? It comes from what actually happens in real life when one is faced with a fearful situation: If someone points a gun at you, for example, it's not uncommon to urinate as a reaction to the fear. This is essentially caused by an overloaded nervous system. Your body goes into fight or flight mode, and it needs to prepare so many different things at once that it can't handle them all, and the area of your brain that controls urination essentially fails.
This happens in scared dogs as well. It's involuntary, not deliberate. It's a melt down. It's often described as an appeasement signal, meaning the dog is anxious or feeling threatened and urinates as a signal to say "please don't hurt me." This urination generally occurs in dogs who are shy or timid; the opposite of what many would label dominant.
My advice when seeking training advice; if you have even one second of cringing, wondering if something is the right thing to do, or might be over the top or harmful, if your gut says "I don't like this" - follow your gut.
Oh, and don't put your puppy in a full nelson for biting. Fullstop.
For a start, if your puppy bites after being tapped on the nose, STOP TAPPING YOUR PUPPY ON THE NOSE. It's called provocation. What has just happened is, a small amplitude punishment has been given for some misdemeanour. This tap is simply annoying to the puppy and redirects the puppy to the source of annoyance - your hands. It causes the bigger problem behaviour of biting in response to the tap. So now, the amplitude of the punishment needs to be increased to get an effect and stop the biting. A vicious and dangerous cycle is developing. One of the side effects of punishment is that it can easily and almost seamlessly morph into abuse. As the advisor points out, don't try this on a big dog - you simply won't have the physical strength and may risk severe injury to you or the dog.
If the puppy can't get away, urination in appeasement and out of downright fear may occur. Ever heard the term, "you scared the piss out of me"? It comes from what actually happens in real life when one is faced with a fearful situation: If someone points a gun at you, for example, it's not uncommon to urinate as a reaction to the fear. This is essentially caused by an overloaded nervous system. Your body goes into fight or flight mode, and it needs to prepare so many different things at once that it can't handle them all, and the area of your brain that controls urination essentially fails.
This happens in scared dogs as well. It's involuntary, not deliberate. It's a melt down. It's often described as an appeasement signal, meaning the dog is anxious or feeling threatened and urinates as a signal to say "please don't hurt me." This urination generally occurs in dogs who are shy or timid; the opposite of what many would label dominant.
My advice when seeking training advice; if you have even one second of cringing, wondering if something is the right thing to do, or might be over the top or harmful, if your gut says "I don't like this" - follow your gut.
Oh, and don't put your puppy in a full nelson for biting. Fullstop.
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