Puppies bite and paw each other when they play. This is when Lily learns how much jaw pressure is necessary to create pain. When puppies bite a litter-mate, they yelp and play stops, because even litter-mates don’t want to play with a puppy that bites hard. In other words, the litter-mate said, “When you bite that hard, it hurts. I don’t want to play with you”.
Teach Lily when to not bite or bark, or not.
Surely, no one would think of putting a shock-collar on a canary, squirting lemon juice into a baby’s mouth for crying, or beating a husband with a rolled up newspaper for “singing” in the shower. However, people think nothing of doing all of these things and more to barking dogs. If they didn’t want barking, they should not have got a puppy. Of course Lily’s bark! Barking is a perfectly normal behavior. It would be unfair and crazy to try to stop dogs from barking altogether. Instead owners should prevent barking from becoming a problem; prevent Lily from barking excessively or barking for the wrong reason.
Teach Lily when to not bite or bark, or not.
Barking poses particular problems because owners are consistently inconsistent. Sometimes Lily is allowed to bark. Sometimes Lily is encouraged to bark. Yet other times she is severely punished for barking. It is all so confusing and stressful for the poor dog. So it is not surprising when Lily barks as soon as the owner leaves her. It is easier and less confusing for both the owner and dog to start with a single rule, “Barking is OK, but Lily needs to know when it is enough. So after say 15 seconds create a command that says “enough”. Make it a very firm command and tone of voice. But let it go when Lily gives a little low rumble. She is just saying “OK, but I don’t want to”. Soon she will have forgotten why she was were barking in the first place.
Teach Lily when to not bite or bark, or not.
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