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Eating out of the palm of your hand
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Ollie looks attentively at his mistress because of hand-feeding training
Welcome to SCOTTSDALE'S DOG HOUSE...
Now that Obama has been sworn into office, it won’t be long before a new First Dog will be making his grand entrance into the White House. In the unlikely instance Obama will call me for any training advice, I have decided to tell you what I think his children can do to train their new pal (I suspect Obama might not have the time to help on this particular matter.)
Hand-Feeding
World renown dog trainer, Ian Dunbar, was responsible for disseminating the school of thought that hand-feeding your puppy, with the right instruction, will teach him how to soft mouth, i.e. not bite you too hard. Ukrainian dog trainer, Dima Yeremenko, expanded on this hand-feeding technique to include dogs of ANY age, ANY breed and ANY background to encourage a dog’s attention, dependency, concentration, loyalty and trust, thereby setting important ground work for a dog’s future trainability. In simpler terms, it’s a great method for creating a trustful and happy working relationship between dog and owner. And it is a training technique that even young children like Obama’s Malia Ann and Sasha can easily handle themselves and enjoy.
Simply put, the process is as easy as feeding one’s dog his meals by hand (for the time being, just stow his food bowl.) This has the effect of him associating you as his source of food, giving you the upper hand, so to speak. The technique is uncomplicated and less messy with dry dog food.
Feed your dog morsel by small morsel right from the palm of your hand. If in the beginning your dog is distrustful of you (which may be the case if he is a rescued dog with an unknown background), be patient with him. It might take awhile to establish win his trust. Persevere as it will be highly rewarding, and by no means EVER force your dog to eat. He must come to you and trust you to feed him kindly.
As your dog becomes accustom to eating from your hand (and this could be as quick as a couple of days, or even one day), you can then begin some simple training. Start with small steps and have fun! Hold a piece of kibble in your hand and just wave it back in forth in front of his eyes (as if you were conductor!) to get him to move his head, then tell him ‘Good Boy!’ when he does it, and feed him. The idea is to have him become fixed on your hand and the kibble. Think of the possibilities: you can have him twirl in slow circles, do crazy eights around your legs while your standing, jump over your lap while your sitting on the floor and watching TV… it's simple training you can do any time and lays a great foundation for all training, such as clicker training, you wish to do in the future. And best of all, your dog will think it’s incredibly fun!
You will literally and figuratively have him eating out of the palm of your hand! Give it a go and let me know how you do.
Happy Training!
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