[YorkieMother]

WHAT YOU CAN DO ...

* Watch dogs who are interacting so you can analyze any "belly up" behavior you might see. Confirm for yourself that it's usually either offered by the more subordinate dog or performed as part of mutually agreeable play, and if one dog forces another to the ground it's likely accompanied by strong conflict and tension.

* Ask your dog to practice deference behaviors as part of your daily routine together.

* Share this article with friends, acquaintances, and animal care professionals who suggest to you that the alpha roll is an appropriate behavior modification tool for your--or any--dog.

Oops, You Lose!

Just as a "click!" marks the behavior that earned a reward, a marker such as "Oops!" can tell your dog which behavior lost him the opportunity for a reward. Often called a "no reward marker" (NRM), "Oops!" means "Too bad! That behavior didn't earn a reward; try something else!"

In fact, it might be more appropriately (and sometimes is) called a "punishment marker." When we say, "Oops!" and remove the treat from view, we're using negative punishment, one of the four principles of operant conditioning. Negative punishment is a relatively benign form of punishment--no physical force or harsh corrections--in which the dog's behavior makes the good stuff go away.

Because dogs want good stuff to happen, they tend to avoid doing behaviors that consistently make good stuff go away. Many, if not most, positive trainers use negative punishment as a gentle way to let dogs known when a behavior causes a negative consequence -when the dog has made a "wrong" behavior choice.

When using "Oops," remember that it's simply a cue, intended to give the dog information, not intimidate him into stopping the behavior. I use "Oops!" because it's a difficult word to say in an angry tone--it always comes out cheerful and a little silly. Here's an example of how I might use it:

I'm teaching a dog to "Wait!" until I give him permission to eat his dinner (a good deference behavior!). The dog is on my left side, food bowl is in my right hand. I lower the bowl a few inches, and if he doesn't get up, I click!, raise the bowl back up, and feed a treat. I just communicated to him that he will be rewarded if he remains in the sit position as his bowl moves closer to the floor.

I lower the bowl again, a few inches more than last time. If he remains sitting, I click!, raise the bowl, and give him a treat. If he gets up, I say "Oops!" the instant his doggie rear leaves the ground, and lift up the bowl. I just communicated to him that getting up from the sit position makes the good stuff go away.

I continue this until I can set the bowl on the floor without him moving. After he's done that several times, I will tell him he can eat, and encourage him to get up and get the good stuff. As the benevolent high-ranking member, I control the good stuff, and out of the goodness of my heart I'll be happy to share it with appropriately deferent members of my social group.

Last three posts are an article in its whole wrote by Pat miller and is found on line free from Whole dog journal. All of the methods she suggested will help a dog that bites either in play or just cause no one taught it not to and it uses it teeth to talk and play like any normal dog.It also works on just genral training as well.

JL