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One of the first things I did to start training with Sugar was to teach her submission. I did this by holding her to the floor on her side and not allowing her to get up. She put up a brief struggle, but quickly got the idea. Her personality is pretty passive so it was no big deal. She actually likes it now since she gets her belly rubbed.
I tried the same technique with another dog who is Sugar's playmate and about 7 months old. She is a rat terrier and basically out of control. I allow Sugar to play with the terrier since Sugar has weak socialization skills around other dogs while the terrier is the complete opposite. The hope is that Sugar would learn from the terrier. The problem is that Sugar is also learning bad habits from the terrier. So I decided to start training the terrier as well.
When I rolled the terrier on her side and held her, she fought as expected and eventually gave in. But the entire time she shook and quivered like she was about to be tortured. She never did calm down even though she gave up the struggle. I held her for 10 minutes hoping she would just relax and realize she wasn't being hurt. No dice. It looks like I have a nasty trust problem with her since she seems to be threatened by the handling. The dog has no history of abuse and is actually a bit on the spoiled side. Any suggestions?
I tried the same technique with another dog who is Sugar's playmate and about 7 months old. She is a rat terrier and basically out of control. I allow Sugar to play with the terrier since Sugar has weak socialization skills around other dogs while the terrier is the complete opposite. The hope is that Sugar would learn from the terrier. The problem is that Sugar is also learning bad habits from the terrier. So I decided to start training the terrier as well.
When I rolled the terrier on her side and held her, she fought as expected and eventually gave in. But the entire time she shook and quivered like she was about to be tortured. She never did calm down even though she gave up the struggle. I held her for 10 minutes hoping she would just relax and realize she wasn't being hurt. No dice. It looks like I have a nasty trust problem with her since she seems to be threatened by the handling. The dog has no history of abuse and is actually a bit on the spoiled side. Any suggestions?