Puppy Nipping

[tanza]

@Ninabeana26:

The "butt in the air & jumps back" is exactly what Dallas does. He thinks everything is a game! Haha. I am trying a technique a trainer told me (I talked to her yesterday) where if the pup nips you make a yelping sound (to indiciate he hurt you) then hold your hand out & wait for them to lick it. Say "kisses" & "goodboy" & give them a treat. She says he will learn that nipping hurts me, thus why I am making that sound, & he has to kiss the pain away that he caused. We'll see how it goes…

That is typical training, maybe not with the "kiss" part… but the "screaming" is... that is what his/her littermates would do when the play got to rough.. and Mom and other adults if present. Yell and yell loud... but be warning.. mouthing is normal... teaching "soft" mouth is the key... remember that all dogs talk with their mouths and nose.....

[fountainhead]

i'm wondering…when does the extreme chewing end...or does it ever?

my little pup won't stop...he'll stop if we put a muzzle on him for a minute, but then he's upset and gives us the cold shoulder.........we've done all the other techniques they mentioned on here and they would work for a while and then he wouldn't care and start up again (he even doesn't mind the squirt gun anymore...he'll bite at the water squirting out)

he's 4 months now and finally getting his secondarys in, but it's still a pain....

[Ninabeana26]

@fountainhead:

i'm wondering…when does the extreme chewing end...or does it ever?

my little pup won't stop...he'll stop if we put a muzzle on him for a minute, but then he's upset and gives us the cold shoulder.........we've done all the other techniques they mentioned on here and they would work for a while and then he wouldn't care and start up again (he even doesn't mind the squirt gun anymore...he'll bite at the water squirting out)

he's 4 months now and finally getting his secondarys in, but it's still a pain....

Well I think the chewing subsides a bit after they are done with teething. Dallas is 4 months now so he is chewing every he can find since he is losing his baby teeth & his adult teeth are coming in. However, I would imagine that the chewing won't stop if the dog is not getting enough activity. A tired dog is a good dog so if you don't exercise them enough they will get destructive & continue to chew.

[tanza]

@fountainhead:

i'm wondering…when does the extreme chewing end...or does it ever?

my little pup won't stop...he'll stop if we put a muzzle on him for a minute, but then he's upset and gives us the cold shoulder.........we've done all the other techniques they mentioned on here and they would work for a while and then he wouldn't care and start up again (he even doesn't mind the squirt gun anymore...he'll bite at the water squirting out)

he's 4 months now and finally getting his secondarys in, but it's still a pain....

During teething (that can last till they are 6 months) chewing should be expected. I am guessing he is chewing things that are not appropriate?… Does he have enough different things to chew? Do you make sure that when you catch him with something that he should not chew, you correct the behavior and give him something that is his? I have never found that a muzzle would work and I would not use one... You need to be consistent in making sure you are correcting him and of course watching him... do not expect that he will remember... cause he will not....

[fountainhead]

well he's 4 mo. so i'm sure most of it's just teething….he has lots of toys, goes on long walks, and has my aunts dog to play with......when he chews on something he's not suppoesed to i hold the back of his neck lightly and tell him drop it, then tell him good boy and leave it and he does real good with that...
i guess what i meant was chewing on our hands or jumping up and nipping during play. or when he's really excited and i try to pick him up he'll nip me all over and then run off. it's all playing, not serious biting, but he's very rough...and it's seems like if i let him chew lightly, well, give him an inch and he'll take a mile, you know.....

[Janneke]

@fountainhead:

i guess what i meant was chewing on our hands or jumping up and nipping during play. or when he's really excited and i try to pick him up he'll nip me all over and then run off. it's all playing, not serious biting, but he's very rough…and it's seems like if i let him chew lightly, well, give him an inch and he'll take a mile, you know.....

Same problem here.. We just stop the playing and say: 'kisses'. Then he licks and we praise him. Then we continue the playing. If he bites again, we stop.
To prevent the biting we play and just before the biting, we say: 'sit'. He sits, gets a treat and we play on.. etc. (not always working.. because you have to see it coming..)

[Quercus]

I usually do something simmilar to Janneke. When the puppy bites too hard, I say 'ahh', and gently pull my hand away. I try again, and if he bites too hard, I repeat 'ahhhh'; pull hand away and walk away…no more playing. He quickly learns to be very gentle, and starts to lick. I don't mind if a puppy puts his mouth on me very gently. When the pressure is too much, the game ends.

[Janneke]

@Quercus:

He quickly learns to be very gentle

Mirtillo still doesn't get that part..

[Mucky]

I got my Colbey a few days ago, and he has a nipping problem as well. What I did was flip him into a submissive position and held him till he calmed down (to teach him that I was the alpha). And now when he nips at me to play I tell him no and make him stop, and then I give him a toy as the distraction. If he gets too hyped up during play and starts nipping again, I hold and pet him until he calms down. It's only been a few days, but this method has seemed to produce drastic improvements. In my experience with other breeds, the 2 key things is to NEVER let the puppy see any part of your body as a play toy, and, that you need to be the alpha.

[tanza]

All good idea's with the exception of "flipping"… (In my opinion)... this is really not an accepted method by most trainers anymore, as it can and many times does lead to more aggression....

Your other methods are all pretty tried and true.... also ending the play session and walking away, ignore the puppy is a good useful method

[ComicDom1]

@fountainhead:

well he's 4 mo. so i'm sure most of it's just teething….he has lots of toys, goes on long walks, and has my aunts dog to play with......when he chews on something he's not suppoesed to i hold the back of his neck lightly and tell him drop it, then tell him good boy and leave it and he does real good with that...
i guess what i meant was chewing on our hands or jumping up and nipping during play. or when he's really excited and i try to pick him up he'll nip me all over and then run off. it's all playing, not serious biting, but he's very rough...and it's seems like if i let him chew lightly, well, give him an inch and he'll take a mile, you know.....

I think you might find, that if your dog starts jumping and nipping during play, give a verbal command or either No or No Biting, stop all activity, sit very still, completely avoid eye contact, completely ignore him/her, and allow several minutes to pass where both you and the dog can calm down, you will find this very effective. I usually wait until the dog sits down next to me before I acknowledge him again at all. If the same behavior repeats itself, then I repeat what I have mentioned above.

I agree with Tanza, and I would never use a muzzle esp at this age or purpose.

As I have stated in another post, I have usually found when my puppy gets nippy during play, he is usually hungry or needs to go out. Roo is will be 14 weeks old on Tuesday so we are in the 3 to 4 month window. We are continuing to walk 2.5 miles in the morning as well as 2.5 miles in the evening.

After each walk, we change from the short leash to the flexi leash and work on Obedience for 15 to 20 mins Max. He loves this because he gets to run at full speed, and receives treats when he performs a command correctly. We use a Martingale collar.

It appears we have the opposite problem that many others have in regard to crating or kenneling. Our puppy loves both his house crate and his car crate. Its gotten even worse since we bought him a bed that fits in his house kennel. All he wants to do is lay in the bed with his crate buddy, and we actually have to drag him out to play with him.

Yesterday he went swimming again for 15 mins in his new Outward Hound Life Jacket. He does not seem to hate it, so we plan on continuing to condition him to the water. I put him inside my sailboat yesterday just to let him walk around and explore. Hopefully if I do this enough along with the swimming, he we get comfortable and secure enough to sail with us on the weekends in the summer. Since we constantly heel the boat when we sail, I think the wobble board we bought for him will be very helpful in his training.

Jason

[Robin_n_Jack]

@JazzysMom:

With Keoki we have to firmly say, "NO" and if he doesn't stop, we hold him under the neck – not tightly, just enough so he can't grab -- and make him sit. Then we look him in the eye and say, "NO! Enough!".

That usually does it for him, and he's getting better and better at either not biting and/or listening the first time.

He usually does stop the first time w/me, and in fact seldom does bite at me in play, but not as well with Dh and the kids . One of my dd's says it's because he's afraid of me, but that is not the case. He never cringes, he just listens to the Mama! I think he sees the other dogs and the kids listening to me, and the fact that I don't ask or beg him to stop doing things. I TELL him. I am working to get the family to see the difference, and to stop bouncing around while saying, NO. LOL

Same for me- that is exactly what I do! When he was younger we tried the yelp, and we tried ignoring him….neither seemed to work very well for us. This seems to work very well, at least in our case.