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[dancing_ghost]

I mentioned in my previous post that when we met Luna at the shelter, she was very mouthy. She continued to be mouthy when we brought her home, but whenever she would start to gnaw on our arms or legs, we would redirect her to a toy. It only took her about a day and a half to realize that humans are not chew toys, which is great

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[crysania4]

Not knowing where she's come from before and her reaction to the leash touching her shoulders leads me to believe there may be some negative associations with having her shoulders or collar touched. Definitely a good thing to try to make that into a super awesome thing.

My older dog used to shut down when we ran into her (and come on, she's a dog...dogs get run into because they are ALWAYS underfoot). She'd simply lay down and refuse to move. So I started to play games with her where I'd touch her side and reward her. Or I'd touch her sides while we were playing tug. Eventually I worked up to being able to push her around or shove at her sides with my feet. And then one day I ran into her and she jumped up and grabbed the nearest toy. She saw that as a game! So it takes time but it is totally worth it in the end.

If you're not good at having treats on you at all times (I'm not either!) can you use a clicker? Or maybe a word that means "you did it right and your reward is coming" so even if you can't get the reward for 5 or 10 seconds she knows she did well? You can charge the word or click by pairing it with a treat over and over again ("charging" it) and so when she hears the word or the click, she starts to look for the reward right away.