Nipping

Not Really Nipping/Biting

Sadie does something thats not really nipping/biting, but it appears to be. She pretends like she's going to bite you, she opens her mouth and reaches for you, but thats pretty much the end of it. About half the time she gets your hand (or someother body part) in her mouth but she doesn't bite down, even in the slightest.

I hate that she does it because it looks like she's going to bite and it makes people nervous, but at the same time I hate to discourage it. She's done this since she was a small puppy, mainly when she's being affectionate but also when she's playing. I do discourage it some times by putting my hand gently around her muzzle and saying "don't bite." She'll stop for a while and then start again, I'm sure because I'm not consistant. But really, how do you discourage affection and playfulness? Some times when I discourage her she gets this really crushed look on her face and I'm afraid it will some how break her spirit if I try and stop this behaviour, she does it when she's very happy.
 
This topic is near and dear to my heart.

My 15 week old baby is driving me nuts with his nipping and herding. He only does it certain times a day, early morning is the worst. After I bring him back inside after his first pee/poop, he is so full of energy he'll go after anything that moves...usually that means my feet as I walk around the house.

I've tried all the conventional stuff: yelps, growls, no-bite, ignoring, distracting with a toy tossed across the room, sit/stay routines. Some of these work some of the time. But not consistently.

I'm not sure if I'm dealing with top dog behaviour or just extra energy in the mornings. I had a Sheltie before, but I don't remember it being this bad.
 
Barkley does the same thing Sadie does. He's very mouthy when he plays, but it's just that. His mouth is open coming at you, and he might put it on you, but he's just playing and would never bite. Both he and Pixie though are major herders and it's not unusual for me to have one nipping at each foot when I'm moving. And like you, Barb, especially in the mornings when they're extra playful! I think it must be a Sheltie herding trait. Most of my Shelties have done it. I asked my obedience trainer about it once and was told that it's inbred in herders and tough to discourage. When I'm outside with one dog at a time I carry a plastic walking stick that I point at them and say "back" firmly. They are starting to understand what that means. Sort of... :rolleyes2:
 
BarbV said:
This topic is near and dear to my heart.

My 15 week old baby is driving me nuts with his nipping and herding. He only does it certain times a day, early morning is the worst. After I bring him back inside after his first pee/poop, he is so full of energy he'll go after anything that moves...usually that means my feet as I walk around the house.

I've tried all the conventional stuff: yelps, growls, no-bite, ignoring, distracting with a toy tossed across the room, sit/stay routines. Some of these work some of the time. But not consistently.

I'm not sure if I'm dealing with top dog behaviour or just extra energy in the mornings. I had a Sheltie before, but I don't remember it being this bad.
Click to expand...

I doubt very much its a dominance issue, with shelties its just instinctive and more so in some dogs.

I don't want to completely discourage this behavior with Sadie because there is the possibility that I'll want to try herding with her in the future. My dog trainer said that discouraging it would be hard to do anyways (because its instunctual) and that the best thing would probably be to put the behavior on a command. When she knows the command and I can make her herd when I want her to, I then need to start trying to make her do it when its inconvenient for her, such as when she's tired after a run. The point of this is that herding all the time won't be so much fun if she's being forced to do it when you want her to.

I haven't tried this with Sadie yet, although I've been discouraging her mock biting behavior. Sadie's herding behavior comes and goes in phases and she just hasn't been doing it lately.

I think I need to be more forceful with discouraging the biting behavior though, I don't think she's quite getting it.

Another way to discourage the herding behavior would be to crate him whenever he's doing it. No scolding or anything, just pick him up and put him in his crate.

Also remember that he's still quite young and it may be a phase that he's going through, especially since he's around the age for teething. He may always herd you once in a while but the behavior may be heightened now because of the stage of life that he's at.
 
I brought Chewbacca (yeah, terrible name - my son named him - I call him Bacca) to the vet today for his next round of shots.

The vet also suggested squirting with a water bottle or shaking a can full of marbles to create an unpleasant environment. While I can see that could work, it's difficult to walk around the hose carrying these things on my hip pocket.

What I'm starting to do instead is to redirect the behaviour to more positive. So when he starts to nip, I try to get him into a Sit, then reward him for this. Stay gets another treat. But its hard to do, because I don't always carry the treats with me...particularly when I'm just crawling out of bed to get a cup of coffee! :lol:
 
I've found the most success with extinction training. Whenever the puppy/dog starts mouthing, stand up, turn your back and walk away. Before too very long, the mouther figures out that the behavior stops the fun cold. This is harder on the owner than on the dog, but it really does work -- and no scolding!!
 
But what do I do when I'm walking across the room with my full morning coffee cup in hand and the little rat is pouncing on me every 2 feet!

I'm having some success with an immediate "sit" which he now does quite nicely - but that often also causes me to spill my coffee :smile2: at the same time.

Ok - I'm just venting a little bit. I know this is part of the puppy-package. I know it will get better.

btw - he's 4 months today - so big time teething is just around the corner. Can't wait! :wink2:
 
Chris said:
I've found the most success with extinction training. Whenever the puppy/dog starts mouthing, stand up, turn your back and walk away. Before too very long, the mouther figures out that the behavior stops the fun cold. This is harder on the owner than on the dog, but it really does work -- and no scolding!!
Click to expand...

Yes, and does this also work with toe biting as well as nipping. We are finding out that our 8 month old is testing us now at almost every turn. Everything is a game. "Stop!" lasts for two seconds. Ignoring her leads to the most pitiful whine you have ever heard, then "What are you into now, CeCe!" The bad behaviors we thought we had corrected are now back. Walking away just adds another place to play the game. WE know she knows what to do, she is just seeing what she can get away with. And it is very hard to have treats everywhere you go. Even the breeder knew at 8 weeks old that CeCe had a mind of her own. Do you think maybe she is bored and just needs more to do?
 
Shelletlover said:
Yes, and does this also work with toe biting as well as nipping. We are finding out that our 8 month old is testing us now at almost every turn. Everything is a game. "Stop!" lasts for two seconds. Ignoring her leads to the most pitiful whine you have ever heard, then "What are you into now, CeCe!" The bad behaviors we thought we had corrected are now back. Walking away just adds another place to play the game. WE know she knows what to do, she is just seeing what she can get away with. And it is very hard to have treats everywhere you go. Even the breeder knew at 8 weeks old that CeCe had a mind of her own. Do you think maybe she is bored and just needs more to do?
Click to expand...

I think its yet another one of those phases that they go through while growing up. My trainer told me that often they'll go back to behaviors that you thought you'd extinguished but not to worry about it too much. Their attitude is that the more you focus on it the more they'll do it so try not to make to big a deal out of it, they should grow out of it
 
After suffering 2 red bumps on my arm last night, I felt I had to revive this thread!

Barb, how's the sit & treat technique working for you? I tried that (and maybe I just have to keep doing it) but so far, he's still doing mini-lunges at me.

Romeo's now 7mths (just last night actually - maybe he was abit peeved that there was no cake and thought to let me know by nipping?!) and he's got so-so bite inhibition (where the bite involves his whole mouth) in that he will chomp down softly and chew gently but as he does he gets more excited (he's easily excitable) and then it becomes harder and he makes these growly noises and starts to pull my arm with his teeth around it or tries to shakes it. When I tell him to Drop It (my arm) he will but only after a few repetitions then he'll launch into this barking fit with intermittent growly noises and then start nipping. Looks to me like he's frustrated that I'm not giving him what he wants (my arm). I try to get him to sit. He does, but then STARTS AGAIN!!! At which point I try to pick him up (he runs away and thinks it's all a game coz I see the playbow now and then) and put him in his cage for a time out.

I find myself being WARY when he's in his moods and comes around towards me because I just KNOW he's going to nip. I really hate that there are actually times I can't relax with him around.

It's reeeeally getting to me and being nipped all over is the last thing I want after a 12 hour work day!! I'm afraid in my frustration on a few occasions I may have pushed him away with my hands or smacked his mouth. I'm not proud of that and always feel extreeemmeeely guilty after. Doesn't stop him anyway, he just keeps coming!

Would the pennies in a can work here too? I want to try that for his barking (the OTHER problem). If I can use this technique for both then I'll wear a can around my neck.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top