Help for my daughter and Gizmo

Gizmosmom · #1 07-21-2009, 09:03 PM

My 6 year old daughter, is the whinging girly girl type. can anyone give me some ideas to teach her how to "be the boss" of Gizmo. For example my two year old and Giz play all of the time. If Giz jumps on him he pushes him away. If Giz knocks him down he gets back up. No my daughter Sam, is another story. She will stand in one place and just whine and cry until me or hubby gets Giz from her. I want Giz to know that she is in charge just as much as I am. Any suggestions would be great.

Abby Angel · #2 07-21-2009, 09:42 PM

We have 4 grandchildren ages 9,girl..6,boy..5,boy..4,girl. Our Abby just turned 7 months so the energy level is up there! I have told the kids...you are the boss and if she thinks you are afraind of her then she will keep doing it. Let her know that your though and not afraid of her. Tell her in your MEAN voice NO DOWN,Abby. It seems to be working. Sometimes I have to step in on the 4yr old,she is so tiny. But after being here for a little while Abby plays fine with them and the jumping stops. The boys lay face down on the floor and she licks them all over. It is the initial coming in the door that the jumping starts,she is so happy to see them,but it has to stop! We are working on it but a very hard one to break. Good luck and make your daughter be BOSS!

djheitz · #3 07-22-2009, 06:46 AM

I would review Nothing in Life is Free and see which of those items your daughter is capable of doing. The first thing to pop in my head was to have her control feeding time - she should make your pup sit, put the bowl down and wait until your daughter says it's OK to eat.

TwoDogs · #4 07-22-2009, 07:02 AM

Firstly, start training Gizmo not to jump. I assume he is a puppy now. If you don't work on this consistently and diligently, he will become a jumpy adolescent dog that is capable of doing much more damage with his jumping and will only scare your daughter more. Search this site for posts on Jumping and you will find some great suggestions.

Secondly, I would teach Gizmo a nose touch behavior. The reason being is that if you teach an alternative behavior that is rewarded more highly than the jumping is, Gizmo will learn to do that behavior instead of the jumping. I suggest a nose touch to the hand because it is a really useful behavior to have on cue in that it can be used to direct the dog's body into alot of other positions. Teach the "touch" to a closed fist with your arm extended away from your body. Have a treat in that hand and deliver the treat in that same position (arm extended away from the body). Doing it with an extended arm ensures that the dog's head is away from the person and places the dog in a position that he is less likely to jump from.

Teach your daughter to use the cue to control how Gizmo approaches her and to use it to move him around. You don't have to make her feel as though she has to use a "mean" voice if it's not in her nature. You certainly don't want to be giving children the idea that making a dog afraid of you is the way to train them. Giving her her own way to exert some control over the situation may be all she needs to become more confident and assured around Gizmo.