[Diesel-and-Kira]

So we pretty much have a different Diesel for every person in the house.

With my daughter: He'll bring her a toy, and keep putting it in her face until she gives in and starts either tugging or playing fetch with him. He has never jumped on her (on purpose) and has never bitten / mouthed her hands or anything.

With me: Same as above, except  he just loves my fingers in his mouth. he doesn't chew on them or anything, but he will walk next to me, and open his mouth just to have my hand in there.

With my husband: he's a demon. He'll jump, bite (not hard) and scratch just to initiate play time. My husband hates it, (he's taken quite a few punches to the face!) but when I tell him how to get Diesel to stop..guess what. he just starts to wrestle with him. Which reinforces the behavior. So my husband is a lost cause, but at least he's the only one Diesel does that to.


So here are my questions.
What's with the fascination with my hands. and why do they always have to be in his mouth!?
and why does Diesel act differently with all of us?

 

[samsonsmom]

Angel does that as well, just not quite to that extreme....I have taught all mine tho, that rough play with Momma is not done, that could be why...Buck & Tia played rough with the ex and then would run over and give me kisses, so I never really had any issues with that...I also think some Boxers are just more "oral" Angel certainly is, she is always mouthing us in play...

Definitely sounds like Diesel expects the play from your husband, but he hasn't tried to work with him on how to stop, until he does, it's going to continue...Diesel is sensing the differences in the pecking order with each of you..He respects your daughter and is careful with her, which is great(Angel by the way also always lays toys in my lap and bugs me), he sees you as the leader, hence the good behavior except for the mouthing, your husband he sees as a playmate, not an authority figure, which you probably already knew...It's up to your hubby to get that changed, he needs to discipline Diesel, not you..As far as Diesel mouthing you, I would just start with a firm "no" when he does that and be consistent..Even at 2 1/2 when Angel gets playful she will do that to me as well, I lift my hand up out of her way, repeat "no" a few times and keep going...

Hope this made some sense and it's helpful..I am by no means an expert, just things i have learned over the years...How old is Diesel now by the way?

 

[Diesel-and-Kira]

He'll be a year old on feb 8. It's crazy how fast time flies isn't it? lol
Since day one my daughter and I worked with Diesel together. I knew I wanted her to be above him in the 'pack'. Which is why she is in charge of feeding time, and she helps in training  as well. After every new trick I taught him, she got to do it as well, so he listens to her very well. My husband works nights and didn't really do much training with him. He did more of the playing and wrestling. When he has time I have him go through some of the basic commands with the dogs and things like that. But Karin and I did 99% of the work, so it's not like Diesel thinking of my hubby more of a brother than a parent surprises me. lol

 

[samsonsmom]

Wow, time does fly!! Hard to believe that he's a year now...Ok, it's obvious that the reason Diesel does better with you and your daughter is due to the time you both spend with him, which is awesome...Getting kids involved in the training and such is a great experience and teaches both as well..I remember when I was taking Buck to class, I would come home and go over every lesson with the ex, so he would know what we learned and we could both be on the same page...Despite the fact that I was and still am the one that spends the majority of time with the dogs, I really have never had any issues tho with them not behaving or minding anyone else....I guess you can just keep doing what you are doing, subtly remind your hubby that id he wants Diesel to behave better with him, he needs to use a bit more discipline..It may be best to keep play time with him down to a minimum til Diesel figures it out as well....