How do you deal with a puppy who nips?

[benburch]

Sometimes our new puppy nips at our legs and feet to get attention.

What is the best way to deal with this?

[AirmensMom]

1. Clap your hands and say NO in a stern voice.

Well, that works with my cat chewing on my arm. :shrug:

[IndyOp]

2. Good info in this thread --

<http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=243x10879>

My first thought: DO deal with it now. Stop it now. A puppy that is mouthy is expected, still dogs must learn that human flesh does not belong in a dog's mouth ever, ever, ever.

My other thoughts:

Be sure that your puppy has a ton of chewy toys with a variety of different textures - stuffed toys, rope toys, soft squeaky toys, firm squeaky toys, kongs, branches and so forth. Remember that chewing *is* every dog's hobby - indulge him!

Puppies and dogs also need tons of exercise to reduce indoor energy level and tons of socialization -- hugging, petting, brushing.

Finally - dogs do get jealous of people loving each other without including them. Give him appropriate attention and set boundaries -- which involves basic obedience training. Training them to sit, stay, down, and 'leave it' is all part of learning to communicate with puppy, so he can understand what you want him to do.

Have fun, be really, really consistent and make other people be consistent with your puppy, too.

:bounce:

[roguevalley]

3. It makes their teeth hurt and they LOVE you so, they want to teeth

on your body parts. Give them chewies (nothing flat rawhide that can twist their guts up -- ones that granulate are fine) and wuv dem.

[radfringe]

4. had a puppy that did that

yeah - tried the handclap and yelling "no" -- all I got out of it was a puzzeled look and a tailwag

what finally worked was putting my hand crossways in her mouth followed by "no" - not hard - just enough to make it uncomfortable, a couple of days of doing this when she nipped put a stop to it

the nipping is a way to get you to play - it may be cute when a puppy does it, but not so cute when puppy turns into adult

if you haven't run into it yet - you probably will - that being inappropriate chewing of things like shoes. Removing shoes from chewing range helps, but there are other things the pup will find to chew on, and most likely while you are not around - so yelling at the pup after the fact doesn't help - the pup doesn't know why you are yelling.

Our airedale chewed up shoes and linoleum flooring while we were at work or otherwise out of the house. Yeah, she had toys, chewbones etc - but she wanted shoes and linoleum flooring. We put a stop to that by making her wear the shoes/flooring around her neck for a couple of hours with frequent shaking of the item while saying "no".
This extended to the the kitchen trash lid and a few other items over a couple of weeks -- no problem since then

[EmmaP]

5. Don't wait

Take care of this problem now. We adopted a dog when she was a little over a year old. She was a mouther/nipper and her previous "home" didn't correct the behavior. Once they get older, it's harder to correct.

The minute our Sophie starts to get mouthy/bitey when we're playing, we immediately say "no bite," and stop playing. She's come a long way. She will still get a little nippy when she's excited, but she's much better than when we first adopted her.

My mom always held the puppy's lower jaw when they would starting biting, coupled with a stern "no." Didn't hurt them, but they didn't like it. None of our dogs ever grew up to be biters/nippers.

[Caoimhe]

6. Try Bitter Orange

It worked on our puppy. When he was real young he started trying to chew our hands and toes. We would spray bitter orange (it's a spray you can find at a pet supply store that tastes horribly sour to pets) on our hands and let him try to nibble. His behavior changed real quick. I agree that it is also best to develop a strong WORD like NO that you say in a low voice, almost a growl. Our dog knows and responds to NO and MOVE. If he is in the way all we have to do is say MOVE and he crosses the room or even leaves. It works for begging too. MOVE and off her goes to sulk, but it's better than begging! Puppies need boundaries, you are their God. You get the respect you expect from them.