Oh I guess I should also suggest you teach the DROP command. Loki gets snippy like that if he has something he shouldn't or if he has the last bit of bully stick and I go to take it away before he swallows it. I taught him "Drop" and I trade him for a treat. I used to carry treats, but now that he knows and follows the command I will give it and he will reluctantly spit out whatever into my hand and I will walk over to the treat jar and give him a cookie. If it's a stick, I will usually go get him a new stick (which of course, is not at good as the icky slimy chewed stick, but whatever). Anyway I also taught him "leave it" which is helpful for when he goes over to sniff his sister's food bowl. Loki is quirky in that it's not a resource guarding or control thing because he totally lets his little sister walk all over him. It's just that he loves food A LOT and he's also scared of his own shadow so he's very "sensitive". He prefers to be given commands like "move" and "off" rather than physically moved off the couch.
Sam on the other hand struggled just to learn "sit" Again we started later with her, and I don't think it's an intelligence issue for her because she is very smart. She just has better things to do than learn tricks and commands, like catch flies and hunt birds and bunnies. She is my independent one. |