# Tell me about the spray bottle....



## Brady's mom (Dec 20, 2007)

Brady's been on a bit of a rotten streak the past two days, mouthing and generally making a game out of biting and jumping. I read here somewhere that folks use a spray bottle with 50% water/50% vinegar solution. Is the goal to spray it in the puppy's mouth when he bites? I'm worried I might end up spraying him in the face and burning his eyes.


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## lovealways_jami (Apr 17, 2007)

Great question, Im having the same problems!


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## Oaklys Dad (Dec 28, 2005)

I used a spray bottle with just water when Oakly was a pup and was trying to jump on my lap when I was eating. I used it just once and he never tried again.


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## Brady's mom (Dec 20, 2007)

Oakly's Dad--I would love a magic bullet!! Maybe we'll start with water and go from there. Do you spray his face on stream then? Or was it a fine mist?


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## jiggy (Jan 11, 2008)

I tried the water spray but Jack just loved it !!!
He kept jumping up for more haha!!
I have a pet corrector spray that worked for a while  Its not really a spray, more of a blast of air that makes a loud noise.

xx


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## Celeigh (Nov 29, 2007)

I bought a little squirt bottle for just this purpose, but I put it to use with plain water to get him to stop barking and digging at his new bed. Worked like a charm!!! He can't figure out where the water is coming from. He looks to the left, right, at the ceiling... Mom, is it raining in here? Regardless, it breaks his concentration and stops the unwanted behavior. I do want to know about the dilution for biting though (did I read you can dilute bitter apple?). That's next :satan:.

P.S. - the stream worked for me. I can fire on him from across the room. 

P.P.S. - Jiggy, my guy loves the pennies in a can sound. They can't all work for every dog!


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## Oaklys Dad (Dec 28, 2005)

Brady's mom said:


> Oakly's Dad--I would love a magic bullet!! Maybe we'll start with water and go from there. Do you spray his face on stream then? Or was it a fine mist?


I used just the straight stream from one of those plant sprayer bottles. It put out a healthy stream of water.


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## mdoats (Jun 7, 2007)

I use a small water bottle with water and a little bit of bitter apple which Rookie hates. I was having problems with him wanting to play tug of war with the leash on walks. The spray bottle has been great. I sprayed the leash right in front of his face, and he would drop it pretty much immediately. I only had to spray him a couple of times and now I only need to show him the bottle and he drops the leash immediately.

This was a savior for me. Before the spray bottle, I would physically restrain him, either by putting him down on his side, or sitting him and holding him still until he calmed down, but as soon as I let him loose, he'd start jumping around or biting the leash again. I had one walk where I had to restrain him 9 times before he calmed down enough so that we could finish our walk. The spray bottle is much easier on BOTH of us.


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## GoldenJoyx'stwo (Feb 25, 2007)

I never sprayed anything into the mouth of my two. I would just spray "water" in their general direction (we didn't need to do this once Tucker adjusted to living with us) and say the word, "Spray." I don't think my two enjoyed getting wet. All I had to do at one point is say, "Spray". Didn't even need a bottle of anything...

I've read people spray cats with water because it redirects their attention to wiping themselves off.


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## Lucky's mom (Nov 4, 2005)

For Lucky spraying water or even bitter apple while he was nipping and rough play was all a big exciting game. Bitter apple worked well while he was chewing on stuff but not on people.


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## missmarstar (Jul 22, 2007)

bitter apple spray worked for Sam for a while, if he was biting something unwanted, i would just spray it in his mouth, then spray it on the object and say "leave it!" and he wouldnt touch it again. 

it also worked for a while with unwanted barking... he got in the habit of barking AT me when he was restless or wanted my attention.... i would give him a quick shot of bitter apple in the mouth and he would stop. although now he knows he can outrun me, so if he sees the bitter apple spray in my hand he takes off (still barking..) so doesnt look like THATS working so much anymore :doh:


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## Buddy Banana (Aug 11, 2007)

I think the best correction is exclusion as dogs are social animals.
When my doberman bugs the cat too much he immedietly gets put in another room with the door closed - we do not say a word (not even no!) we just simply take him out calmly leave him for about 1 minute and let him back in. If he does it again, same thing - it works very very quickly as the immediatly link the unwanted behaviour with the exclusion.

I also have a Golden retriever and if he does anything like that he gets the same as Dobby.

It really does work and it is much easier for the dog to understand.
I am doing a Canine Psychology course and this is one of the most positive methods as you are not hurting your dog and the dog clearly understands the correction.

Good luck


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## GoldenJoyx'stwo (Feb 25, 2007)

Buddy Banana said:


> I think the best correction is exclusion as dogs are social animals.
> When my doberman bugs the cat too much he immedietly gets put in another room with the door closed - we do not say a word (not even no!) we just simply take him out calmly leave him for about 1 minute and let him back in. If he does it again, same thing - it works very very quickly as the immediatly link the unwanted behaviour with the exclusion.
> 
> I also have a Golden retriever and if he does anything like that he gets the same as Dobby.
> ...


This reminds me of the day my two were in the backyard and really getting into it. It was within the first week of Tucker living here and they were adapting to co-habitating...The wrestling got to be too much and words were not working, so I stomped my foot, placed my hands on my hips and said, "That's it!" turned away and walked in the house. Well, I'll be darned, they stopped immediately and followed me inside! 

The neighbors must really get a chuckle watching me sometimes. It's okay...a laugh or a smile is a good reaction.


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## fostermom (Sep 6, 2007)

I would never suggest spraying anything directly into their mouths, especially bitter apple or water with vinegar. My personal opinion is that you don't need to bully a dog into learning appropriate behavior. Be consistant and reward good behavior. Teach the "Leave it" command, even my hardheaded Danny learned it very easily and quickly, and I didn't have to spray any nasty stuff into his mouth. I will never understand why anyone would want to do something that causes a dog discomfort, even if it is short lived discomfort.

That said, I have used just plain water in a spray bottle occasionally. Danny loves it and comes over and puts his mouth over the end of the spray bottle so I will spray the water in his mouth. It distracts him from the unwanted behavior without being a negative thing.


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## Lucky's mom (Nov 4, 2005)

I'm glad of all the advice I got while raising Lucky....positive and "corrective" . Personally, all positive wouldn't have worked for Lucky at all. I'd still be struggling with a few behaviors. I think whatever you choose and what ever works has to fit the situation, the dog and the owner.


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## fostermom (Sep 6, 2007)

I think that positive takes more work and that's why people go to corrective. Kind of like spoiled kids, it's easier to let them get away with it and then yell at them than it is to actually follow through from the beginning. 

I personally don't think it is fair to a dog at all to use negative (spraying bitter apple or vinegar into their mouths), especially an animal who is totally devoted to you, just because it is easier and more convenient. To me it is just being bullyish because you are showing that you are bigger and stronger.


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## Lucky's mom (Nov 4, 2005)

fostermom said:


> I think that positive takes more work and that's why people go to corrective. Kind of like spoiled kids, it's easier to let them get away with it and then yell at them than it is to actually follow through from the beginning.
> 
> I personally don't think it is fair to a dog at all to use negative (spraying bitter apple or vinegar into their mouths), especially an animal who is totally devoted to you, just because it is easier and more convenient. To me it is just being bullyish because you are showing that you are bigger and stronger.


Actually to me its more logical to use both corrective and postive methods... Its more work if you use exclusively one method and exclude the other entirely. They shouldn't replace the other as they serve a different purpose. One to stop the behavior that's being done before it gets more ingrained and the other to train a positive behavior to replace the inappropriate behavior.

I have found that many things I struggled with were fixed or drasitically improved by pure positive means...like jumping on people, walking and food aggression.

But for others, it was more important for the behavior to stop and stop quick or it would be counterproductive. Especially when positive means weren't stopping it. A perfect example would be Lucky's obsession with my carpet. Treats, distraction, and toy replacement did not worked. He was so obsessed that spraying bitter apple on the carpet didn't work. But a spray that landed on his tongue as he chewed stopped his obsession..... Even that took three or four times before he totally quit. He came to the conclusion that chewing the carpet was not enjoyable. He didn't even realize I was spraying it. He wasn't in pain. It didn't hurt. It tasted bad.

Thats my opinon, but really what we want are happy dogs that function as valuable members of the family. Thats the goal and I don't think we should get too caught up in how we get there.


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## Charlie06 (Feb 10, 2007)

I've never used a spray bottle. Our magic tool is a plain old drinking straw. He absolutely hates it. So when he's bad, I tell him "I'll get the straw" and he immediately stops.


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## fostermom (Sep 6, 2007)

> Thats my opinon, but really what we want are happy dogs that function as valuable members of the family. Thats the goal and I don't think we should get too caught up in how we get there.


I agree with this, but I think that using negative means will lead to a dog who does not trust an owner completely because they never really know what is going to bring on a bad thing. I have use negative training methods (corrective) in the past and I can say that not only were my dogs obeying me more out of fear of the consequence, but I didn't have the type of relationship that I have with my dogs now. My current dogs are so much happier than any other dogs that I have ever had in my life.

I have also fostered so many dogs who have had negative training methods used and it takes a lot to overcome their timidness. These have all been goldens except one, and that is where I learned that positive training is so much better, especially when I have to heal a damaged dog or puppy. If you could see my sister's dog (or even my Jasper) you could see in real life what negative training methods can do to a dog. I have never raised my voice, much less my hand at Jasper, but during his most impressive months of his puppyhood, he was trained harshly. He is still very timid, even around me, though I am his person 100%. He is wary of humans because of what he has been through.


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## Regwizard (Dec 17, 2007)

*The spray bottle*

My 6 year old granddaughter lives with me. My beautiful Maggie was using her as a human chew toy. I tried everything to stop this behavior but with no success at all. Someone on this forum suggested the vinegar/water spray bottle, so I thought I would give it a try. I used it on "stream" so as not to get the solution in Maggie's eyes. I used it twice and that was it. Now it's "no bite" and pick up the bottle and Maggie finds something else to do. I don't use the bottle for anything else but biting my granddaughter. She still nips at me when we're playing but then it's "no bite" and substituting a chew toy. Hope this helps.


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