Pawing
Just had a question. Pepsi has a habit of jumping up on me when I get home. I push him down immediately and tell him no. When I do this he will jump up on my back and paw at me... It's really quite painful as he digs his nails in when he does it. He will also do this when he is sitting next to me on the couch to get my attention. Any suggestions? Elissa |
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| Consistency is the key. If you try a few methods, like saying "Off" and turning away from him, as well as making greetings less exciting, and it is important to remember that using your hands to hold the dog back is still touching him and may be thought of as a good thing by the dog. Using the off command and ignoring them works well. With my girls I use the off command, and then give them another command, like sit, and then praise them when their butt is on the floor. Dancer no longer jumps, and she was awful with that. Sky is still working on it. She is getting better, but still forgets herself sometimes. |
| I have also tried the off or down command and not touching him.
This is when he will jump up and paw 
Elissa |
| Have you tried telling him to sit and them praising him or giving him a treat? |
| Yes I have...with lots of praise when he sits and treats.... Almost immediately he jumps back up... |
| Try avoid touching him at all - he is seeking attention and anything you do to acknowledge him is providing him the the attention. Try and make your arrival a no big deal event. And Willowsprite is right - consistency is the key. It's tough - and everyone in the family and any visitors need to do the same thing.
If all else fails - you could use a bottle of water and squirt him - which isn't always the best - but in your case where you need this to stop before the baby comes along - you may want to try it. Good Luck Kristen |
| I've found that your tone of voice makes a BIG difference. Keep the tones as low as possible, even when praising. Cooper responds well to a low tone, but if I praise in a higher pitched voice, he gets excited all over again, then jumps back up. |
| Our trainer suggested using a leash, then stepping on it leaving
enough slack to sit down. Give the sit command at the same time. We found with constant follow through,it has reduced the episodes... She also suggested to practice the sit throughout the day, with rewards. Her theory, you can't jump if your sitting !! Good luck ! |
| Although my parent's Old English Sheepdog does not do the agressive paw digging you described, He does this thing we call "the paw thing" when we are somewhere and he wants attention. He places his paw on us rather gently and looks at us with those sheepy sad eyes to get us to pay attention to him and in a way to express his love too. Since it is not aggressive, it is kind of cute in a way. |
| Hi, I've been a member for awhile but haven't posted yet. My newest oes puppy's name is wild she's 7 month's old. She's just started doing that thing with the paw. It's usually when I'm watching tv on the couch or on the phone. I've gotten some deep scratches on me. I'll tell her no and turn away and she'll jump on my shoulder and start giving me little nibblets on my ear which makes me start laughing. That's what I love about this breed, all my oes always know how to make me laugh. She doesn't jump up on me as much as she used to so hopefully I can get her to stop pawing me. |
| Maybe a command other than "no" might be helpful... I know it is for us. Of course it's hard to remember the correct command for everything, especially when the nails are tearing new 3-weeks-to-heal scars in the thigh, and we don't always remember, but individual 2-syllable commands seem to work better than just "no".
Maybe "pawsoff" or "pawsy" or something other than just "no". We use "Nopaws", I have no idea if it's ok to use the "no" sound in the command, but that's what we use. It may not keep him from pawing, but it makes us think about something other than the pain. So it works -- for us! Welcome to posting! Glad you decided to jump in. Good luck! |
Welcome to the forum Gypsywild  How many oes do you have? Where are you from? |
| Thank You Everyone for your wonderful suggestions.
Hopefully something will work. I know all he wants is some love....Obviously he doesn't understand that it hurts me. I'll update any progress Elissa |
| I also have a problem with Samantha and pawing. Except, it's not just her paw, it's her whole leg. If she feels like she is being ignored, she will walk up behind me (or other unsuspecting person) and wrap her leg around mine, causing me to trip. She does this often and I might add that there are 3 uprights living here, so it is hard to ignore a 70 lbs pup! We are also experiencing very cold weather (could be balmy for most of you guys!), so she is loving it! Can't imagine Sam in the snow, she tries to herd the herons and watches the mullet jump! |
| Ignore and turn around so you give them your back, they really hate that. When you get home, let pepsi run like crazy around the hose but pay no attention to him, go as if he was not there. They cool down in about 5 minutes and then you can pet him, that worked great for Lennon.
For Sofa, we grabbed her paws and made her walk backwards, that really annoyed her and soon she got the message, now she only jumps when she's really exited. What was mentioned about the voice tone is true. If you keep your voice down, they calm down, but fast or high pitched praise will turn their engines on again. Keep up the excercises and you will see progress very soon... Good luck! |
question for "new owner/guest" - what's a mullet? I have visions of really bad haircuts ...  |
Heather, a mullet is a fish  ! They taste great smoked...please don't ask me which end to light (old Florida joke)  ! |
| I just saw this on Animal Planet last week! They were teaching a SAINT BERNARD to stop jumping up on his owners. They had the owners fold their arms across their chest and look up at the sky. They said that dogs hate that! It worked on the ST BERNARD. You could give that a try? - Kathy |
| Wow- that's easy! I'll have to try that next time I go to my parent's!
Karen |
| your parents get jumpy when you visit them, Iriskmj???
sorry... I couldn't resist. |
| Yes- it's that empty nest syndrome you know- "off Mom, off!"
No- my parent's male cavalier spaniel likes to jump on people when they come in. and even though he only comes up to my shin- it gets old. I never pet or reward him for acting that way, I always ignore him until he gets down. Never seems to stop him though! I'm hoping maybe looking at the ceiling will help. Karen |
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| I find that if Blue Star is over excited and jumping and pawing she needs a nice long walk to wear her out a little. I make sure she has at least 2 long walks a day. (she is 4 months old now) I find if she is walked well she is better behaved. If she is bothering us in her puppy-ish ways such as nipping and jumping and she has had her walks, I either take time out to play with her for a while or put her in for a "nap" in her kennel. This is sometimes necessary to calm her. She is good in her kennel and is used to it; we've made it quite comfy with soft flannel sheeting and chew toys. I don't feel as if it's punishment for her.
Hope this is helpful--May |
| Wow, I didn't realize that "the paw thing" was so common.
Abby does the same thing when she wants to "tell" me something. We usually tell her "Not the Paw thing" and you can tell that she really wants to use it. She won't put it on us but she picks it up off of the floor. It's amazing how alike OES are....for the good and bad! |
| After we taught Lennon and Sofa to give Paw, they started lifting theirs and scratching your leg or the bed when they want something, and suprisingly, they became more skilled at using their paws to grab on to things... I hope they don't figure out how to work the door knobs! |
Willowsprite wrote: Welcome to the forum Gypsywild Hi, thank you for the welcome, I have 2 oes, one's 12, her name is gypsy and she has severe hip dysplacia. The other one is only 7 months, her names wild. I had one that just had to be put to sleep a couple months ago He may have had a stroke, anyway he couldn't get up again I can't talk too much about him or else I'll cry. I also have 2 oes/sheltie mixes that are almost 12 years old. They look like oes but have more of a sheltie personality. I'm from the California High Desert. How many oes dogs do you have? |
| Farley is doing the pawing thing too (5 months old now) but I seperate that from the traditional crazy sheepie welcome. There have been several threads about that. There seems to be a good bit of consistency in sheepies going wild for a few minutes as soon as we get home and then (most) settle down.
I know if my house - I don't return the greeting when I first get in the door. I simply say in very calm words and tone, "wait for it ... wait for it" and they (the dogs) impatiently pace around like crazy. Then once I get my coat off and my bags put on local chair etc - I will sit on a nearby hassock and spend about 5 minutes patting and welcoming. I do this consistently. The dogs have learned that this is the routine and it seems to work. However my partner doesn't do it. And she bears the brunt of the crazies and yells "down" and "off" but not consistenty. To each his or her own ...
With regards to the pawing. I'm really hoping it's a phase for Farley. Though 55 pounds now - he's still a baby and craves attention. In the final analysis we only have about 5 hours each day together and I try to get my chores done while also paying attention to him. It isn't easy. Washing the floors for instance - is - shall we say a challenge! "Farley, sit over here for mommy. Farley, sit over here now. Good boy, such a good boy. Yes - thank you - nice kisses. Now please sit down and still for a moment while I finish this one thing ..." Ugh. I love my furchild. |
| Try facing him, hold your hands out like you are going to bounce a basketball. Only pet him when he is calm. You can try telling him to sit first but only pet him when he calms down. At first you have to reward/pet him if he sort of does what you ask, make him give you more and more of what you want a little at a time. All of a sudden he will be perfectly behaved (three months later). |
| id just like to add that walter lived up to his nickname 'big paw' last night... i was playing keep away with his favorite toy and he started pawing at it, which ended with him pawing my face and leaving a big cut on my eye and a nice little shiner.... serves me right for teasing him! |
| Owchies!!! |
| Consistency is the key. I did get Henry to stop jumping on me and the BF but he still jumps on everyone else. I did the very calm greeting, turn my back, refuse eye contact, and it worked -- it just took a while. Good luck and keep trying, being pawed is PAINFUL, don't we all know. |
| Norman has always pawed. He'll sit next to you quietly and if he wants attention he'll place his paw on your leg. If you still ignore him he pushes a little bit. If you continue to ignore him he spreads his paw and digs his claws like a cat. That will get your attention in a hurry.
Carl, on the other hand, thinks that offering to shake will get him anything. If he's poking around for a treat he'll hold his paw up. Tell him to lay down for his treat, he holds his paw up. If he's confused, holds his paw up. It's his drop back and punt trick. |
| Zoe digs in her claws like a cat too!
I thought she was abnormal. Glad she is not the only one. She wakes us up in the middle of the night to go pee by pawing us. (failing to wake us up she stands over you in the bed until you do) |
| Always frightening to wake up nose to nose with a sheepdog! |
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