Pushy Hound

[Acadianarose]

Just wondering how you handle a “pushy” hound? Payton will often push Toby (the old Lab) out of the way if someone is petting Toby, or he will push Toby from by the door when we get home. Things like that. We did have a fight a couple of months ago at the door, so generally Toby will wait a little bit back from the door.

 

Toby does not seem to be upset by Payton’s behavior and he is not scared of Payton. We are working on general training with Payton and he is getting better, but he has much to learn. Should I ignore the behavior and let them work things out, or if there is something we should be doing specifically to address his pushiness?

 

Thanks!

 

Edited to add: I do tell Payton to wait if I am petting Toby and he will back off.

Edited December 3, 2013 by Acadianarose

[Guest Giselle]

You're doing the right thing. Just continue stipulating that Payton must back off and wait. Every time he starts to push, stand tall and straight, say "Back" (or whatever your command is), and don't allow him near for petting until you decide it's okay (at which point you'd release him with a verbal "Okay/Come!"). If he starts getting pushy, immediately stand up and leave. Remove his rewards (your attention) for being pushy and only reward him when he's waiting patiently. Eventually, he'll understand your rules, and he'll understand that pushing won't work. This will decrease the risk that Toby will get irritated and decrease the chance of a fight, so I think it's the better long-term.

[Guest grey_dreams]

Zhivaya was so pushy when he first came home! He would try to push Zariel out of the way, and when we were walking, he would just barrel over Zariel without any care. He's come so far since January, and now he will even wait and pause and go a bit out of his way to be polite. Really happy about that. Something that worked for us especially in the beginning, was that I simply gave him my back if he tried to push Zariel out of the way. If he started to try to come around my back, I blocked with my knee and turned more back to him. No commands, no form of interaction whatsoever, nothing, just like he wasn't even there. He quickly learned that if he wanted to be acknowledged, he had to wait his turn and be polite.