Nipping

mimiretz

mimiretz

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Oberon is now 10 weeks old. I know it's normal for puppies to try and chew on everything, but it seems our hands and feet are included in that. He has plenty of toys of all kinds of textures. How do we convince him that people are not for teething?

Mimi
 
You have to never reward nipping. Soon as he does it, say "Ouch" like it really hurt and put him down, stop playing or turn away from him. Timing is crucial - you must do it the instant he nips. His bite will start to get gentler and you can keep doing this until you don't feel any pressure from his teeth at all. Also when you give treat don't use a flat hand - feed from your fingers and once again, he doesn't get the treat unless it's a gentle mouth.

Try playing the "it's your choice game" to teach leave it.

http://youtu.be/ipT5k1gaXhc
 
I agree - Baker likes to bite on his big bro Toby, and gets put in his place if he bites too hard. When we are playing with him, and he bites, we do a loud "ouch!" and Baker immediately backs off
 
That is how I'm teaching Flyer, he's getting it. I don't use my hands to play with him, I will tease him with a toy and will play when his teeth are on the toy, not me.
 
Nipping to Chewie

Here's a trick that worked for my cousin's pup Nipper, from his puppy class trainer.

The technique uses butter and a toy as a scent attractor and as a redirect distraction from the people nipping.

Put a tad bit of butter on a toy and hold it in one hand. When the pup nips the empty hand or a foot say, "Ouch, No." Offer the hand with the toy, and say "Chewie.'' The scent of butter will attract the pup to the toy, and the right toy will distract him from chewing on you more often than not.

It took about a 10 days of this, but Nipper's bad habit improved greatly and he learned to love his tiny Kong toy.

Those sharp puppy teeth really hurt. I hope the nipping ends soon. Good luck.
 
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It's working (for the most part)

We've been saying "ouch" in a really exaggerated voice, as if the little nips really hurt, and for the most part Oberon doesn't nibble on us anymore :yes: He will still occasionally "chew" on Lee's beard at night (Lee has a full, Jerry Garcia-type beard), but that could be because Oberon isn't totally convinced the beard is actually a part of Daddy and not another animal.

I think maybe Casanova has also helped with this; when the two of them play, if Oberon bites too hard, Casanova bites him right back!

Now, if only we could get Oberon to stop trying to play tug-of-war with our clothes (the ones that we're wearing). . .
 
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