Pawing Puppy

[Paws4Thought]

Hi everyone.

My 5 month old Ridgeback X has an annoying habit of pawing at me.

For the life of me, I can't remember what I did to stop my 2 year old dog doing the same thing! I'm not completely green when it comes to training and behaviour but I just can't remember how to stop this behaviour!

At the moment, I get him to sit, but at least half the time he will resort to pawing at me. I give him a firm "uh-uh!" and move his paws off me. After he has all four feet on the ground for a few moments, I praise.

Shall I continue with this or does anybody have other suggestions for keeping his little mitts off me?

(This problem might be exacerbated by the fact that he is currently isolated most of the day due to an elbow injury, I'm not sure. I know he's quite energetic but can't burn off his energy and I've noticed his pawing has been worse since he's been isolated so much).

Thanks in advance for any suggestions! :rolleyes:

[Christina]

When I had a big dog that did this I just used to step back,say No & turn my back on her & ignore.

Worked fine & quickly. Others may have other suggestions.

[jeddica]

rocky does this too! my hubbie winds her up and doesnt think it is bad

when she does it to me i have stood up turn around, and ignored her, she hates this she will bark a few times and then settle down. hope that helps. ;)

[Paws4Thought]

Thanks guys! I'll keep at it.

[sas]

You can choose to simply ignore it, don't say anything and pretend the dog is not there, sometimes they can esculate their behaviour to get the attention though or you could stand up and walk away and ignore the dog for 5 minutes.

[Leema]

Our foster is a pawer. It is inappropriate and we are teaching her to stop. We have two methods as there are two opportunities she takes to paw:

1) When we are patting her while we're standing up and she's sitting on the floor.

When she raises her paw we say "UH-UH!" and withdraw our hand so she's no longer getting pats. Slowly/calmly we go back to pat her and, if she does it again, we say "UH-UH!" again and walk off.

2) When we are sitting on the couch and we are cuddling her, or she decides that she deserves to be cuddled.

When she swings her paw, we say "UH-UH!" as she raises it. Then we say "OFF" and elbow her away from us. She then goes away as it's uncomfortable to have an elbow pressing against you.

I don't know why we give her a second chance. There's really no good reason to. I've just realised that's what we've been doing now. :/