macy

Hello,

We have a puppy aged 8 months and he is still nipping, we have completed puppy school and now attend dog obedience but this constant nipping is driving us mad, we can't even stroke him without him turning around to give us a nip. The dog obedience class doesn't give us much help regarding the problem so I was wondering if anyone can anyone give me any advice on how to stop it or when it does stop ?

He has lots of toys to bite, he picks on nobody in particular he just likes to give us all a nip which is starting to really drive me mad...... and could be more serious problem the older he gets....

Bernieboy

Remove his teeth

RenShen

What type of dog is it? Some breeds are more nippy than others. I know this sounds a bit old school and I might get hanged for saying it, but a slap each time would probably do the trick.

Sally Simpson

We had a problem with our dog, who came to us as an old boy, thoroughly spoilt & naughty as.
When he snaps, we tell him no & gently tap his nose. It is not meant to hurt, just be unpleasant. You have to be consistent though & do it every time.
There are plenty of websites that offer good advice too, just google dog behaviour & you should get plenty.
http://www.ozdoggy.com.au/dog_behaviour_advice.html

Good luck!

Bernieboy

I had a greyhound when i was a kid,man he was nippy,as soon as the trap was open he was gone like a mmm greyhound.

galba

We were told by our breeder to hold her by the scruff of the neck and growl at her. Once she relaxed/submitted we let her walk away. This is what the mother would have done with the pup. We only had to do it for a couple of weeks and she soon got the idea.

TiddlyPom

I wouldn't growl at a dog. And you don't need to smack it. If you do, you'll make it 'hand shy' and that can be an issue.

http://www.dogtrainingbasics.com/Nipping.htm

You need to go with the high pitched squeal technique. It's non invasive and non punishing, but your dog will not like it one bit. You need to startle him and then turn your back on him, walk away from him and ignore him. It's kind of the same as having a child... you put them in 'time out'. Dogs don't like being ignored. No eye contact, turn your back, ignore (everyone else should in the house/room too) and then try again. Should take him about 5 mins to get it. Less if he's clever.

chris1386

one method is to scrag it by the scruff of the neck(great term , that) and gently rag it, or shake it , as mother would have done, BUT the one i have used for all manner of doggie delinquencies is a water pistol, squirt the dog each time he does it, evrytime if poss, it'll soon stop, its non invasive, non cruel doesnt cause side effects and works everytime, or has for me.Good luck. My dog was a relentless barker for years when in the park, for no reason, an old police dog trainer suggested i try it. Took 5 days to stop, and shes never done it since, really i'd put up with the noise for bloody years!!!

tartankoala

Have you had the pup since he was born? I'm no Dr Harry but maybe if you adopted him something happened to him early on that causes him to react like this.

Speaking of Dr Harry, I found this - scroll down to the nippy Jack Russell video - on google, may give you some ideas?

TiddlyPom

Dogs do not scruff shake each other to communicate dominance. It is not a dog behaviour. It's a predatory 'prey' behaviour and you should NOT do it with your dog.

http://www.k9concept.com/articles/leadership.html

pproehann

I'd agree with Chris the water pistol or old fairy liquid bottle squirt is very effective. I've used it like him for barking as well. Downside is sometimes makes the dog anti bath as I found out when he needed a medical wash over. If he keeps it up he'll just feel more dominant and become worse.

shears

This is a great site ...

http://www.gooddogzone.com/content/aggression-0

RedT

When our dog nipped we gave him a short gentle smack on the nose and just said 'NO!' and that sorted it. Didn't give him any hand complexes, he wasn't afraid of us, no ill effects at all, just no more holes in my sleeves!

salopian

Bite him back.

SDDep

he's still a puppy? Drop kick him out of the house...I'm guessing he'll learn that lesson...

I'd concur with a little nip back actually, It can be effective...