# Snatching treats?



## Tracey&Wayne (Jul 11, 2012)

Hi, Our GSD bitch Suzie is 17 months old now but when we give her a treat she tends to snatch it and raise her lips more like she wants to bite our hand  although she has come close she has not hurt any one and we have stopped the grand children giving her any thing.
How do we stop this and train her to take things softer? I have tried to hold my hand flat and say " Nicely " but she is not learning we have tried this way for a while now 2 or 3 weeks but she is still the same.
I also thought she may be hungry so we have tried feeding her some thing nice and then trying after an hour or so but no difference, we have always left her food down and we fill her bowl when empty, is this wrong? 
When we got her last July she had been neglected and was pain fully thin could this be the problem and we need to do things different although I was always told that a dog does not dwell on the past?
We need to know what to do for her, we also started asking for her paw before treating her she learnt that quick enough so no flies on her so to speak. Any help offered will be tried, many thanks for reading.

Tracey & Wayne.


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## Rangers_mom (May 16, 2013)

I taught ranger by putting the treat in my hand with my fist closed and just a very small bit of the treat peaking out. Then he had to gently kind of dig into my fist to get at the treat. I would say "gentle, gentle" while he did this and soon enough he understood what "gentle" meant.

But I am not the best dog trainer and others may have other advice.


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## Tracey&Wayne (Jul 11, 2012)

Many thanks for your advice which I will start trying today


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## Whiteshepherds (Aug 21, 2010)

Rangers_mom said:


> I taught ranger by putting the treat in my hand with my fist closed and just a very small bit of the treat peaking out. Then he had to gently kind of dig into my fist to get at the treat. I would say "gentle, gentle" while he did this and soon enough he understood what "gentle" meant.
> 
> But I am not the best dog trainer and others may have other advice.


I do it the same way. If the dog/puppy lunges I pull my hand away. (no nibbles for lunging )


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## FlyAway (Jul 17, 2012)

I do it the same way, but I say, "Don't bite me!" LOL! I think "gentle" is better. 

But now all I have to do is say "Don't bite me!" and he is good.


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## Lilie (Feb 3, 2010)

Does Suzie snatch and run? Does she snatch and gulp? When she's taking a treat, is she very excited? If she was laying on the floor next to you and you reached over and gave her a little piece of popcorn, how would she take it then? If you were cooking and dropped a piece of food on the floor, how would she take that?


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## Tracey&Wayne (Jul 11, 2012)

Lilie said:


> Does Suzie snatch and run? Does she snatch and gulp? When she's taking a treat, is she very excited? If she was laying on the floor next to you and you reached over and gave her a little piece of popcorn, how would she take it then? If you were cooking and dropped a piece of food on the floor, how would she take that?


Hi,
When we give Suzie any treats she always gets her sit command first then we reward her and she just sits and eats she does get excited though, then its paw and another reward, if I drop it onto the floor for her she picks it up but not fast, we never feed her in the kitchen and if some thing was to drop on the floor we would tell her to leave it just in case its hot or she is not able to have it.
I do remember until about 3 months ago she did used to snatch then go to her bed to eat the treat even if it was the smallest piece and even now if its her favourite treats she does do a dance after we have given her them she drops it and bounces on her front paws for a few seconds even once or twice throwing it into the air like she does with her toys.
She has also started to ignore us when she is called until we rattle her treat tub, maybe this could be having an effect and she is just being very clever 

I do appreciate the help you are all offering.

Wayne & Tracey


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## Fade2Black (Apr 30, 2012)

Like others I did the same thing. I used to say nice, be nice. If Kaos looked like he was gonna lunge at it (he craved cheese) I would start to move away. Trying to do it the same way (or will) with my puppy. But he really doesn't get treats now. Just Orijen kibble bits....

In fact my puppy loves wants food so bad. I gotta make him sit (he does well) and stay (not so well so I hold him). Then I put the food bowl down. Make him wait. Then he can get it. He's like a food vacuum. Any particle on the floor he eats up.....


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## Rangers_mom (May 16, 2013)

I just want to add that once Ranger understood what "gentle" meant I found that I could use it in different situations. For instance we have Ranger (just turned 1) and Buzz (11.5 years old). When they are out in the backyard sometimes Ranger is too rough with Buzz. Ranger will run from across the yard and jump on Buzz. I have found that when I see Ranger running toward Buzz I can say "Ranger be gentle with Buzz." and he will not jump on Buzz.


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## Swifty (May 11, 2013)

Shadow did something similar where she would lunge at my hand and use her (sharp!) teeth scraping along my palm to get the treat. I would give the correction noise and pull the treat away like I would if she was not doing the command correctly. Now she will only successfully get the treat by staying in the command position until the treat is at her nose, and that has seemed to calm her treat snatching down.


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

This game is great for teaching impulse control around food:


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## Tracey&Wayne (Jul 11, 2012)

The above video is brilliant and I have started doing this with her and its working after just a few minutes she has learned not to move towards my hand. Its amazing how quick they learn when we as owners know how to train them properly, many thanks for all the advice

Tracey & Wayne.


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