# What do you do to discourage nudging?



## quilter (Sep 12, 2011)

Ignore. Ignore. Ignore. Also ignore anything he does to escalate. It will be hard and might take a couple of weeks. This is how I taught Casper to stop pawing at me. 

Also, consider teaching him something acceptable. I taught Casper to put his head on my knee. Head on knee- pets. The second the head came up, no pets. He learned that really quickly!


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## TheZ's (Jun 13, 2011)

The nudging can get annoying. A couple of my dogs would put their nose under my elbow while I'm seated and give a sharp upward nudge, looking for attention or a treat. I just turn away in a very pointed way, as if to say no attention for that behavior. I'd also suggest lots of simple training exercises, ask for a sit or down and reward with positive interaction - "good boy" and petting. If sits and downs are getting to be old hat you can move on to simple tricks.


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## Charliethree (Jul 18, 2010)

Bless you for rescuing, and giving Rusty his forever home!

Consider what you want him to do instead of nudging you, ie: sit for pets and teach him how to do it and reward him with attention (briefly) for doing it. Though this behavior can be annoying, avoid labelling it 'dominant' and consider it in a more positive light - it is 'attention seeking' behavior. He has been with you for two weeks, he is craving the attention he missed out on in his prior home, and he is likely still anxious/stressed and needing some reassurance from you. You can use a 'gentle' interrupter like 'uhuh' to let him know the behavior is unwanted, and then immediately ask for the sit. You can also try giving him something else rewarding to him to do, a Kong to work on, a bone to chew, when you are busy, or need some time to yourself.


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