VERY nippy, high energy, easily excitable puppy
Hi all,
I have an 11 week old pup who is very nippy and has started to put more pressure in her bites. Sometimes she's okay and will lightly put her teeth with her mouth open on something (hands, toes) with no pressure, other times she'll move right up to full on biting with breaking the skin. She tends to do this more when she gets excited and/or playful. Her bites are VERY fast, though, so it's really hard for me to react at the right time (not to mention, she doesn't respond to NO, AH-AH, or yelps). Usually she's pretty good about taking treats, but today she was scraping my hand with her teeth, ouch!
She has a very high play/prey drive and loves to chase things, as well, and tends to get quite possessive of the toy at the end of the flirt pole and will bite at treats instead of nicely dropping the toy when trading. I'm kind of feeling like she shouldn't be playing with the flirt pole until she can reliably do a drop/leave, but then I have no idea how to exercise her otherwise, since she would go back to being a bit of a terror with her nipping.
She also loves to bite/chew on feet, slippers, carpet, etc. and refuses to trade for toy, or will trade for a treat and then go right back to chewing/stealing whatever.
Halp!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Bev Levy on
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Use a very dramatic (think "you are killing me") screech everytime the teeth touch skin, if the puppy continues a time out in a safe place for a few minutes and then try again. This requires consistent action. I would think a flirt pole would be just winding her up more so would only use it for very short periods. A walk is a much better way to exercise and the puppy learns a lot more along the way. 11 weeks is pretty young so frequency would be better than length. For my high energy puppy, I walked him just about everytime he seemed to become a little monster. Just short 15/20 minutes. Walking is such a bonding experiance for both of you that I think it is the best exercise.training simple commands also is a form of exercise such as working on sit or shake. Try giving the treat with your hand in a fist and open it when she stops and waits, then open your hand flat. Also, be sure to give the treat down low, I find people rarely realize how short they are. If they have to jump it is very easy to get fingers nipped.
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Permalink Reply by Nina & Nellie on
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Thanks Bev. I have tried screeching, it doesn't deter her OR by that time she would have stopped of her own accord (she wouldn't be chewing, just nipping, so short and fast). She is quite a hard puppy and doesn't respond to discipline at all, so I think leaving as soon as she gets nippy would be more effective for her. She does become more despondent/"pouty" when I leave, so I think it would work.
As for walking, she has only had her 2nd shots so I am very paranoid about parvo. Her vet says concrete is okay, but I have irresponsible neighbors who let their dogs poop on the sidewalk and don't pick up, so still very unsafe in my mind though she really needs the exercise. I am thinking maybe the parking lot is okay, since less dog traffic there.
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Permalink Reply by Jane Christensen on
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What kind of discipline? What Bev says about the screeching has worked for all my pups. I yell "owe" 1 time and turn around with my back facing the pup...fold my arms and give NO attention and they may nip more than once. You can laugh to yourself but stand like a statue. After the pup has stopped for a several seconds then you can pet her. It does take a very consistent person doing this EVERY time.
Soon after the next set of shots the walking is a great idea. She is quiet young but the nipping can be worked on starting TODAY.
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Permalink Reply by Beth on
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Jack got much more excited when I would give the "ow". What I did was play with him in the kitchen with baby gates at the door. If he nipped me, I would step over the gate and walk away, then come back and try again. You only need to be gone for a minute or two with pups; they have a short attention span.
We also played a lot of tug with a rope toy. Unlike the flirt pole, the puppy sees the toy as having something to do with the person holding it. I would not recommend a flirt pole for a pup who hasn't learned manners, though I do use one with my adults.
With the tug, don't let pup keep the toy. Bring it out for games. Once the puppy is fully engaged, wave a treat in front of her nose. She'll drop the toy and as she does, say "leave it" in a firm but pleasant voice. What you are doing is using the treat to lure the behavior, then naming it as she does it. Lather, rinse, repeat. After a couple days, still use the treat but say leave it as you produce the treat. You can then move to having the treats on you and saying leave it first, then reward after the pup complies. As soon as she has eaten the treat, go back to the game. If her teeth hit you, the game is over until later. Use a longer tug so she's not likely to get you by accident.
The other thing you can do is encourage the puppy to chase you by running, and whenever she nips stop, stare at the ceiling and IGNORE her. She will wander off and when she does, resume the game.
In the meantime, you need to protect yourself and your things. Don't wear shoes with laces. I would not put on my work clothes til right before I headed out the door and would only wear old clothes I didn't care about. Shorts are even better because there is nothing to grab.
Be patient. It may take a few weeks but you should start to see some improvement within a few days.
You may also want to work on bite inhibition if she is breaking skin. This is different than teaching not to nip. Basically what I had to do with Jack is give him my hands to mouth. It was a little painful but tolerable. I would get an idea of his "normal" bite and if he bit a little harder I would say "ah-ah". If he got more gentle, great. If not, I would walk away over the gate. Over the course of a couple weeks, I would "ah-ah" at increasingly softer bites until he got to the point that if his teeth were on me, it was very gentle. When you do this, it's important that the puppy ONLY mouth your hands (no other body parts) and that YOU initiate the session, not the pup. This teaches dogs not to use teeth on people, but also that if teeth are near people they need to be gentle. This is important because other dogs have fur and heavier skin, and if they nip us with the same force as they nip other dogs, we get hurt.
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(Replying to this on phone so not sure why Jane's reply isn't showing up.) My vet showed me a way to get her to chew on me and how to get her to stop, but she learned quickly that if I make her chew on me she gets a loud PUP! so she doesn't do it if I stick my finger in there. She doesn't get more snappy with the more noise I make, but not any less either, and the only thing that she seems to understand is that leaving = bad.
As for bite inhibition, she is normally pretty good. It's just when she gets excited and wound up or has something she really wants to keep in her mouth that she will snap at treats instead of taking nicely. That's why I'm thinking the flirt pole is not a good idea though it exercises her well. I found an article online (dealing with a similarly bossy and mouthy Aussie shepherd) who suggests making them lick and eat peanut butter/treats from a finger/closed hand respectively, and the moment any teeth touch skin to give a loud ouch and leave for 5 secs if necessary. I'm guessing this would both teach her the word ouch as well as not to graze her teeth on people?
Ah-ahs and Nos have no effect on her, especially when she's interested in something like slippers or plants. In those cases I say the word as I physically remove her and she has gotten a bit better at not going for those objects anymore, though I'm not sure if it's because of my actions or because she has gotten bored of them. Of course, sometimes she also bites hard when I am removing her from things and can get very upset/screamy. That and the ignoring is the only "discipline" I use, not sure how else to do it?
I will try the leave it game and start the bite inhibition exercises. If anything I must keep my hand intact!
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One thing I also wanted to add, the breeder said she was absolutely fine with handling, but now she's getting frisky with me and hates having her front paws touched or being picked up and sometimes even mouths me when I'm just petting her and not touching any weird places. I know of touch exercises, but does anyone have an idea why she would suddenly change and be more irritated/bratty with touch with me?
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She's pretty young BUT she should be starting to teeth soon and her gums may be sore...thus in pain? Maybe just sit and let her sit on you without really touching/petting? That can also be a reason for wanting to chew even more...when she does start teething.
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That's a good idea. Sometimes she just likes to lie down next to me and go to sleep. Perhaps I should try and just let her be and see how that goes. All bets are off if she's out of the pen, though!
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Permalink Reply by Cathie on
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I have a similar experience to share. Since we got Sky at 8 weeks (he is now 18 wks), I've always handled him a lot--feet, ears, mouth, all over touching. He loves belly rubs. He's become more mouthy and frisky as he's gotten older, but I think it's more that he's being stimulated, he just wants to respond to the your touch as an invitation to play, and puppies play with their mouths.
When he gets excited, he has very limited "impulse control." I have to interrupt, divert attention, calm him down...help manage his energy because he hasn't learned how yet. Withdrawing my attention for a short time works well with him...stepping over the baby gate, as Beth described above. Also I've noticed he will get overstimulated and tired, but can't turn himself off (like a phase many human babies go through). In that case I will put him in his crate with a Kong/treat and he will usually nod off.
We are retired and Sky is our only pet. We have a tendency to give him a lot of attention, and at times I think it's too much for him, overstimulation perhaps. Maybe he needs more down time? Just some thoughts, may or may not apply to you.
I agree with Jane about the walks, they've really helped.
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Hi Cathie,
I got Nellie at 10 weeks (nearly 12 now, so yes, teething season is on the way) so it's possible that the handling she was okay with at the breeder's is "too much" for her now that she's older and more frisky.
She likes belly rubs as far as I know (if she initiates them, she REALLY doesn't respond well to being turned over) but she does get friskier the longer I rub. I think she may still be sore from the shots too, as she hates being brushed on her bum but will tolerate it anywhere else as long as she gets a special chewie or peanut butter. I should have asked how long she would be irritable from the shot as she does seem far more uncooperative now than she did the week before. She also haaaaaaaaates cuddling. If she's not getting food in the bargain, she's not staying around for movie time, haha.
I'm not sure if I've seen her get overstimulated and tired... she was able to play for an hour with a half-Viszla, half-Ridgeback adult and STILL try to initiate play with another adult (a grumpy old Beagle, lol). She does however start to nip if I pet her for too long, so maybe that's something?
She whines a little if I leave her with a Kong in her crate and then walk off, but then settles down within a minute. I know she prefers to sleep on the hardwood, but when she does it's harder for me to feel confident about her not having accidents. However it does wonders in calming her down.
Good to know walks will help, though since she's still far away (an entire month) from being able to go out, I don't know how to expend her energy in the meantime on a daily basis, which is why I was experimenting with the toy-on-a-string. I am Nellie's only owner so I have to withdraw attention sometimes, and I'm not the most energetic person so some days that's a lot of downtime for a puppy to handle, I think.
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