Tyson is biting when being hand fed

im having problems everytime i hand feed Tyson....ie try to give him a treat. He always lunges at my hand and grabs the food often catching my fingers at the same time. i try to tell him to sit first (which is always a mission)and then slowly bring my hand to his mouth but he stills jumps at me.

He is only 4 months old so im not sure if its cz he is still young and maybe will grow out of it, or this is the time he shld be learning not to bite me.

How do i teach him to take the food gently.

Do you hold the treat in your fingers or on the palm of your hand
My skye (now 19 months )used to snatch treats out ofmy fingers but in the palm she has found if she tries to snatch i close my hand and the treat goes away
Buster is 6 months and still tries to snatch again work in progress
Does your pup wait for dinner as this helps them with self control

Really good advice, always keep your palm flat, then there is nothing to grab. Get him to sit and lower the treat, if he goes to jump a loud 'ah ah' followed by being put back into a sit position. Repeat this and he will soon catch on that staying sat = treat.

oh wow that makes so much sense. i used to hold the treat with my fingers. will definitely try that. thank you.

as for dinner, thats another work in progress. when im cooking he literally sits at the foot of the kitchen looking all sad even tho he has just eaten.

i guess going forward i need to teach him self control.

any advice on that??? please.......

Any dog will learn if your consistant with the training. Start with the basics, sit and stay, then move onto things like down and leave. Master one with repetitive training and and then start another. Being 4 months he should learn.

Your going to have to firmer

Gazagem wrote:Do you hold the treat in your fingers or on the palm of your hand
My skye (now 19 months )used to snatch treats out ofmy fingers but in the palm she has found if she tries to snatch i close my hand and the treat goes away
Buster is 6 months and still tries to snatch again work in progress
Does your pup wait for dinner as this helps them with self control

Good advice s janey said.

You've gotten great advice. A little "it's your choice" can help, too!

You can see the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipT5k1gaXhc

I usually hold the treat well inside my fingers so that the pup can't actually grab it & tell him to sit. Then when he tries to snatch at it (and my fingers) I say "Ah, ah!" and take my hand away. Then he gets offered it again. Very soon, he'll be more cautious - as he'll be expecting the treat to be taken away - and he'll sniff at your fingers to see if the treat's still there. Then you can work the treat to the tips of your fingers & he can take it.

I'm a great believer in a dog not getting something for nothing - in other words a treat should normally be earned. So if you're using treats for training, he'll learn to be more gentle when he takes them because he'll be concentrating on something you've told him to do.

Rue007 wrote:oh wow that makes so much sense. i used to hold the treat with my fingers. will definitely try that. thank you.

as for dinner, thats another work in progress. when im cooking he literally sits at the foot of the kitchen looking all sad even tho he has just eaten.

i guess going forward i need to teach him self control.

any advice on that??? please.......

Really just takes consistant training and everyone in the house enforcing the same rules all of the time.

A great time to start the "leave" command.

Repetition, plain and simple, or at least it sounds simple lol

Reward when he leaves with a treat from your other hand, then move onto leaving a treat on the floor, followed by dropping one on the floor "the last one is really testing lol"

You'll both get there!!