uhm, new behavior NIPPING??

T

Toffee's Mom

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Ok, not Toffee, but his best friend, the Poodle Scotty I take pretty much daily for walks and dog park visits.

SO, for some reason Scotty gets so gosh darn hyper when he sees me, he has started to develop the MOST annoying habit of nipping at my clothes while running or playing... Especially when he is all revved up, he is sooooo hyper and happy, but he keep nipping at me, usually my clothes only, but this day he missed and got a piece of skin on my leg with it.. oh man was I ever mad! He was right sorry... after I yelped and cursed like a trucker (it's bad in the Maritimes with the cursing.. I need help with that too, lol... )
Seriously I have never really seen seen this type of behaviour... I know my Shepherd had this love bite thing going on now and then... but it was more of an embrace and not like this annoying as hell real fast nipping... that dog is FAST...

Thus far I have ignored him, not got him more hyper nor reacted to the behaviour, and only petted him if he sits down and is not so anxious...
ANY IDEAS??


Uhm and here they are this morning Toffee and Scotty zooming in my messy house, lol
http://s9.photobucket.com/albums/a72/LadyWolff/?action=view&current=MOV01093.flv
 
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Deska has always been a very nippy dog - anytime someone tries to walk fast or run, or just when he is really excited. In summer its reallly painful because he will still go for my ankles when I have shorts and sandles on. No amount of trainers and behaviourists have managed to get it out of him, its just too strong an instinct.

But, what I find most effective is to have something on hand to put in his mouth. So a squeaky or other toy, a stick (thats his fave) and if all else fails his lead. He will now often search the ground for a stick to pick up when he gets the urge to nip. It seems he just needs to have his mouth occupied when he is excited. I did try teaching him to use a tug rope but isnt interested, and the stick does fine. Interestingly, I know people with herding dogs and golden retrievers who find the same thing - the dogs need something in their mouths when they are excited.

So can you take a tug toy or a stick and give it to him everytime he tries to nip?
 
I can definitely try this, the funny thing is, that it's the Poodle and not the herding dog is doing it!? lol
The other weird thing is that he doesn't do it to his owners at all, it is just because he gets SOOO EXCITED to see me, because that means WALK and FUN and playing with Toffee, I think...
I like the idea of putting something in his mouth instead!
 
They are very strange dogs those poodles (and they are ranked as the no. 1 most intelligent dog by Stanley Coren!) Maybe its something to do with their retrieving things in the water. At the oval the general feeling is thats why Goldies like to have something in their mouth - its their fetching instinct. Personally I just think the Goldies want in their mouth whatever is any other dogs mouth!

Or maybe you're darn so exciting he really doesn't want you to get away!
 
I have had the pleasure to raise a standard poodle, she was such a fun dog! They are not called clowns for nothing :biggrin2: Being a breed that was bred for waterfowl retrieval they can be quite oral especially when they get excited. Having a toy can help the behaviour somewhat. Personally I had more sucess scruffing my poodle. Not nothing really harsh, just a deep growly NO and lift the dogs front feet off the ground by the scruff. Other than that a very reliable sit or down will help.
 
Toffee's Mom said:
He was right sorry... after I yelped and cursed like a trucker (it's bad in the Maritimes with the cursing.. I need help with that too, lol... )
Seriously I have never really seen seen this type of behaviour... I know my Shepherd had this love bite thing going on now and then... but it was more of an embrace and not like this annoying as hell real fast nipping... that dog is FAST... QUOTE]


I second the notion of cursing is bad in the maritimes... and its nice read this, I miss how maritimers talk... having just recently moved to toronto, pepople tease me about always saying like... oh it was "right" good food... for example... hahah


As for nipping, I agree with Caro's advice !!!

Best of luck !
Click to expand...
 
Just sounds like over excitement to me. When he gets so reved up that he starts nipping at you I'd give him a time out until he calms down.

What Jessica said sounds good, but I'd also put him in a sit until his excitement lessens. When he calms down praise him and let him go play. That way he will learn that being calm is good. Do this each time you think his excitement level is too high or he starts nipping at you.
 
Do you know what he is fed on? Food that is highly coloured or even just high in protein can make dogs over-excited or hyper.

But I agree with Caro about putting something in his mouth, if he will take it. If not I would keep an eye on his behaviour, when he gets too revved up I would have him 'come' and calm down beside you for a short while, and then let him off again. Like a child, sometimes dogs need to be stopped from getting too excited.

If he looks like he is coming to nip at you I would shout 'Oi!' or 'No!' just before he actually does. You could also squirt him from a water bottle. Its all about breaking that habit of getting too worked up.

Learn his triggers and avoid letting him get to such a pitch when trouble occurs. Easier said than done, but having an excitable lab has taught me a few things! I now can tell when Cadbury is too hyper and needs time to chill.
 
Stop cursing???? That would like taking the maritimer out of you altogether! Heaven forbid!

It's tough, because Scotty isn't your dog, so you can't really intervene with standard methods of teaching to not nip. So I agree with the advice, redirect with a toy if you can.

You can do the standard "stop and turn your back on the pup" until he settles though. I always had trouble with this one when Bacca was a pup because it would take me 1/2 hour to get down the hallway, since as soon as I started to move again, he nipped again! :rolleyes2:
 
Permission to curse at will ;)

Barb, you're right he's not my dog, and I think it is just a hyper thing.

He doesn't nip at anybody else but me... which leads me to believe it probably IS my fault... Poodles are too smart for me, I think!! I love that little fellow, he's just so lovable and easy going, and if it wasn't for me he'd never been off a leash yet!!! He must feel when I pick him up how much I enjoy the thought at seeing him be free and run through fields at full speed, not caring how far he gets... Toffee never runs that far ahead of me, but Scotty runs the length of a football field at top speed when I let him :)

He has a great recall for me, just not with his owners, LOL. So I take this tradeoff, with the nipping and rather have him on an awesome recall, when I think about it!
 
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