How to stop puppy nipping?!?

Our puppy nips us ALL THE TIME. Whenever you try to pet her, she nips you. If you sit next to her, sometimes, she nips you. She's broken my skin at least 3 times already, and I have A LOT of scratches from her teeth.


We pin her down on her back whenever she bites us to show dominance (what our vet told us to do), say no bite, but it just doesn't seem to work. She has like 18 toys she loves to chew on, but it seems like she prefers us instead. I want my dog to be my best friend, not my biggest fear.


How do we get her to stop nipping us for good!

How to stop puppy nipping?!?
Step OneBegin your training early - when your puppy is 6 weeks old, if possible.


2Step TwoTeach your puppy that biting hurts you. When he bites, give a sharp "no!" or "ouch!" - or even a yelp like a dog would make. This is the same reaction that your puppy would get from another puppy if he bit too hard during play. It teaches him that he's been too rough, and the odds are that he'll be more gentle next time.


3Step ThreeRemove your hand slowly - don't jerk it away - and give your puppy a toy that he can chew on without damage.


4Step FourIf your puppy ignores your reaction and bites again, repeat your "no!," "ouch!" or yelp, and leave the room for a few minutes. Let your puppy know that when he bites, he will lose his playmate. This, too, mirrors the reaction he would get from another puppy if he played too roughly.


5Step FiveBe persistent in your training. As your puppy's behavior improves and his bites are softer, continue to yelp or give a sharp "no!" or "ouch!" whenever he puts his teeth on you. Make it clear that all bites are painful and unacceptable to humans.


6Step SixReinforce your puppy's good behavior. Whenever he licks you without using his teeth and whenever he plays nicely and appropriately, give him plenty of praise.


7Step SevenBegin teaching the "off" command after your puppy has stopped biting with any pressure. Hold a handful of the puppy's dry food, close your hand and say "off." After a few seconds, if the puppy has not touched your hand, say "take it" and give him a piece of food. You are teaching him that "off" means not to touch.


8Step EightContinue to give a sharp yelp, "no!" or "ouch!" any time your puppy bites you unexpectedly. If you see the bite coming, give the "off" command.


9Step NineEnroll your puppy in an obedience class where he can socialize with other dogs when he is about 6 months old. Their interaction will help to reinforce what you teach him, since rough play with other dogs will likely cause them to yelp and cut off play. At the same time, your puppy will learn the difference between people's limits and other dogs' limits - dogs will allow rougher play than people will.


Tips %26amp; Warnings


Make sure your puppy always has plenty of chew toys to exercise his mouthing and chewing instincts.


Make sure your puppy is getting plenty of exercise and play time every day. Going for walks, playing fetch and learning tricks are great distractions that may reduce biting.


Try to create a consistent schedule for play time - perhaps 15 to 30 minutes, twice a day. Your puppy will learn to look forward to that time and will be less likely to seek attention at other times.


Remind all family members, including children, to be consistent about the "no biting" rule.


If your training doesn't seem to be working or if your puppy becomes aggressive instead of backing off when you indicate that he's hurt you, see a veterinarian or professional trainer for help.


Rough games like tug-of-war and wrestling may encourage aggressive behavior, including biting.


If you have young children, don't leave your puppy alone with them until he has learned not to bite.
Reply:pinning her down is probably making it worse. I would try a strong NO, then ignore her. Walk away do not give her attention when biting. Good Luck!
Reply:use a water bottle and spray her in the face everytime she does it she will stop in about a week or so
Reply:My lab/akita/shepherd mix nipped when she was a puppy too.





Whether playing, sitting, or petting, I would get in a dominant position, sternly say no bite, wait for her to break eye contact, then praise her for leaving me alone. I did this every time, never let them get away with it.





I personally think it's a puppy thing, but keep consistent with it, and puppy classes will provide you and her with pack guidelines, so that she knows you are not to be undermined, or nipped at like a peer.
Reply:When my lab was in his nipping stage I would yelp really loud like a dog would, so that he knew it hurt and he stopped nipping me. He would still nip other people though. so everyone that is around him needs to do it and it should work. thats how we got our puppy to stop nipping
Reply:a very simple method used by trainers. when the dog nips, keep your hand in his/her mouth, and put your finger in the back of your dog's mouth. the dog will stop immediately because it isn't comfortable for him. If, everytime the puppy nips, you'll do this, you'll notice the nipping behavior will stop very quickly.
Reply:This is an article I include in every puppy packet. I hope this helps you too!


"No bite!"


Angel days and devil days: teaching bite inhibition to puppies





Q: My Dalmatian puppy is almost nine weeks old. I got him when he was five weeks. He's playful and fun but I can't get him to stop biting me. That seems to be the only way he likes to play anymore — rough! I've been telling him No!, holding his mouth shut while saying “No bite!” and even shoving my hand back in his mouth like a trainer told me to do. Nothing seems to work. In fact, he thinks I'm playing a game with him and gets more excited the more I try to stop him. Sometimes he walks right up and attacks me! What can I do? Is he vicious?


A: No, he's not vicious, he's just being a normal, rambunctious, and sometimes obnoxious puppy. To get control of your pup's biting, it helps to understand why puppies bite in the first place.


Biting and mouthing are normal behaviors for puppies. Dogs don't have hands so they investigate objects and their environment with their mouths. To a curious puppy, everything about this big world is brand new and exciting. He learns as he goes along. You can almost hear his thought processes as he discovers something he's never seen before: "Hmmm...what's this? [chomping on it] Something to eat? No? [tossing it around] Can I play with it? Maybe. Can I make it squeak?"


Playing is also a normal learning behavior for puppies, especially play-fighting. Play-fighting with littermates and other animals develops reflexes, coordination and physical skill. It also helps them develop social skills and teaches them how to interact positively within their canine society, their "pack." And it's great fun for them. Sometimes their fighting and "attacks" on us appear frighteningly fierce but to them, it's just a game. Much like a group of kids playing make-believe games and pretending to be grown-ups, puppies have their own games and pretend to be "grown-ups," too!


A dog's ability to control the force of his biting is called "bite inhibition." It's a critically important skill that every puppy needs to learn, the earlier the better. At first, they don't know their own strength nor how sharp their little teeth really are. Puppies learn to control the force of their biting from the reactions of their mothers and littermates during play and especially play-fighting.


We can teach puppies about bite inhibition, too, but some of the methods most often recommended aren't effective. Mother dogs' methods, however, are very effective, often more so than ours. I believe this is because they're speaking to their pups in the language they understand best -- dog language! A baby puppy is much too busy learning how to be a dog to take time to understand our human words and ways. That takes time and maturity. Puppies respond to dog language in a very powerful, instinctive way. We can take advantage of that by copying a mother dog's actions and using them for ourselves.


The idea of using mother dog's natural training techniques isn't new. Respected trainers like Carol Lea Benjamin have been using them for years. To understand these methods, let's take a look at a typical mother dog disciplining her brood. We'll use my Heather (Chow) and her four rowdy puppies as an example.


When a playful puppy bites Heather hard enough to hurt, she squeals in shocked indignation. The puppy, surprised at her reaction, usually hesitates a moment, unsure of himself, then tries to bite again. Heather yelps even louder this time and whirls on the puppy, growling, showing her teeth and scowling at him fiercely. Then she turns her back on him and storms away, completely ignoring him and any further attempts to get her to play. A smart puppy picks up her clear message quickly: "if you can't play nice, I won't play with you at all!"


If the puppy persists or doesn't take the hint, Heather doesn't fool around. With a menacing growl and using her teeth, she grabs him by the scruff of his neck and gives him a shake. If he sasses back, she gives him another little shake, tougher this time. She doesn't let go of the pup till he's acknowledged her authority (in dog language) by relaxing his body, laying his ears back and keeping still for a moment. Heather disciplines especially obnoxious puppies by knocking them over with her paw and pinning them to the ground, growling angrily and pinching them with her teeth. The puppies shriek but they're not really hurt. She doesn't let them up again untill they relax and lie still. After the correction, the puppy shakes his fur back into place and goes off in search of a playmate with a better sense of humor.


We don't have to growl at our puppies or shake them with our teeth, but we can modify Heather's technique for ourselves. The next time your puppy bites you, scream "OW!" in a high-pitched voice. Exaggerate a little. Then refuse to play with him or pay attention to him for a few minutes. If he doesn't get the message, give him a little scruff shake and scold him in a low-toned, threatening voice. You can exaggerate a little on that, too! Sound meaner than you really are. For puppies that just won't quit or seem to get wilder with every correction, flip them over on their backs, scold them in that same low, scary voice (growling) and gently but firmly, hold them in that position until they stop struggling.


We sometimes give puppies the wrong message about biting by some of the games we play with them. Wrestling and tug of war can encourage a puppy to bite and make it hard for him to distinguish when it's okay to use his teeth and when it's not. To make it easier for your puppy to learn good manners, it's a good idea to avoid these games.


Puppies seem to learn a great deal about bite inhibition and authority between five and eight weeks of age through play with their mothers and littermates. This is an especially good reason not to buy very young puppies. Puppies that were acquired earlier need to be taught these important things by their owners. They might require a little more intense use of Heather's methods than puppies that stayed with their litters longer. Puppies that receive little or no training in bite inhibition, either from their mothers or their people, may grow up to develop behavior problems.


I noticed that Heather picked out certain puppies for a little "extra" correction two or three times a day. She'd roll them over, pin them down for no apparent reason, growling at them if they didn't lie quietly. I noticed, too, that the puppies she chose were the most outgoing and dominant in the litter. She gave them regular reminders of her authority and the behavior she expected from them. I've found that using her technique myself works very well on puppies that've become too big for their britches!


Even with their mothers, puppies act a lot like kids -- they're always testing and pushing their limits. They have angel days and devil days. With patience, persistence and a few hints from your puppy's mother, you'll be able to tip the balance toward the angel's side!


More on kids and dogs is available in the article: Kids And Dogs: Safety first and Vicki DeGruy's award-winning column: Kids and Dogs: A common sense approach.


Vicki DeGruy
Reply:OK. Please STOP pinning your dog down, this instant. This is the most inhumane thing you could do to her - short of punching her. Dogs cannot and do not understand this method of punishment. You are teaching her to be aggressive by pinning her. Do not ask your vet for any more training advice.


All puppies nip. They are nipping machines for a while. Instead of alpha rolling her (did I mention yet that you must not ever do this to your dog ever again?) when she nips, YIPE! as loudly as you can and end the game. Leave the room, silently, and give her a time out.


For this to work, all members of your family must do this. When you come back to her, if she decides to nip again, YIPE and leave.


Repeat.


Dogs learn by repetition. If you and everyone who interacts with the puppy do this YIPE and leave consistently, the nipping will stop. Your puppy will learn that when her teeth land on human skin, the game and the fun is over.





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Reply:Our bullmastiff was into this when he was around 4 months. We tried every trick in the book. The one that worked for us was to yell ouch when pup bit and the put him in his crate for a couple of minutes. as soon as he was calm, we let him out. If he done it again, straight back in the crate. We had to crate him 5 times in total and the biting stoped. Good luck
Reply:You may need professional assistance if this persists.





When she nips, scream or writhe or make any other indication of pain to show nipping hurts. (She should have already learned this from her littermates; it may just need to be reinforced.) If this fails, tap her on the nose firmly when she nips and growl, "No!"
Reply:put something really nasty on your skin...i did it and it worked (on my brother)








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Reply:Well a good way is to get a squirt bottle and whenever she nips at you, you can squirt her (it isnt mean it will teach her to stop!) Or you can get a muzzle on her.



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