by: Rita Rail

Your pom is very possessive of you as you are his mother figure which he does not want to share. Tapping him on the nose will correct the problem because he does not really understand how you can love him on one hand and then hurt him in the most sensitive place on his body. He is trying to teach you that you are harming him, therefore confusing him. The love a dog has for you is lifetime and it should be the same for him, no hitting. I say to many people, “you have a child on your hands”. He is young, unable to talk but has his own way to let you know that you cannot hit him on the nose to make him behave, you are breeding aggression. Pick him up, show him to your friends, include him a few minutes put him outside and tell him he cannot bite or be bad over and over the same routine. He will finally get it. When you bring him back into the house, do not dwell on what he has done but pet him and love him for your re-assurance that you love him. My dogs, when needing discipline were sent upstairs with a gate separating me and informing them to stay there until company left or when it would be time to come down. They had the habit of wanting to jump on everyone and that is why the gate came up. My son always tells them to “get upstairs” and off they go and do not come down until he is ready to leave, no gate is needed. How much more intelligent can two dogs get? They sense when he is preparing to leave as they are unable to see him putting on his jacket. Talk, more talk will, as I have found out develop more intelligent dogs as they are supposed to understand 250 words according to statistics. Please keep in mind, discipline will eventually be understood and you will both have an understanding, Violence never works but backfires on you and patience does pay off and violence never works as per my experience with all the animals I ever owned. Take care, RR.