nipping pup

[saum2]

I have a 10 week old female. The problem is that just about everytime you try to pet her, she gets excited and tries to nip. She is not doing it aggressively, she just likes to play. Her little tail wags and she'll jump and bark when I quit trying to pet her. I give her a rag chew toy to chew and she will chew on this and let you pet her for a few minutes then she will put it down and start nipping again. She loves to play fetch with her toy, also, but she often drops it in front of me and tries to nip my hands again. I can tell her "NO" sharply and she will quit nipping for a few seconds then starts back. I then give her time-out to calm down, but it's business as usual soon after time-out. I love her to death and I can tell she loves me. I can talk to her and she will look and listen, and she always comes with tail wagging when I call for her. What's the deal with her nipping, and how can I break her from that?

Confused Calvin!

[Michael C.]

When you say "No" and she stops, make sure you give lots of praise. Whenever ours nips or tries to play rough, I get up and walk away. Soon they will learn if they nip, they won't get any attention.

[Paxx]

I am moving this to Training.

[Ethár]

I HAVE COPIED AN ARTICLE FROM MY WEBPAGE. FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT PUPPY-BEHAVIOUR PLEASE GO THERE AND READ: http://w1.421.telia.com/~u42121894/totte/english.htm

* The puppy is biting - all the time - in our hands and feet - and it is impossible to pet the little geogeous creature.
* Teeth

This is a normal behaviour. When you receive the puppy, by eight weeks age, it is EXPLORING the world... it is exploring its world in the single way it can - by mouth and nose. The puppy does NOT understand that it has needle-sharp teeth that really can hurt when using them.

The teeth is dropped by approximately four months of age, and before that the puppy has really big trouble with its teeth. It itch very much in the puppys mouth and the puppy doesn't understand why this is so. The puppy gets a little frustrated by this.

It IS a hard time - both for the pup and you. BESIDES THAT your pup does not understand what its new herds language means... A lot of "NO" and "Ouch" is said.... put yourself in the pups position and try to understand how confusing and frightening it must be...

When you now has got the above information it is NOT meant that you should bear with the puppys behaviour. It is NOW that you shall LEARN your puppy what the words "NO" means - But do not count on that it will understand what it really means until a couple of months have passed. Do not give up!! Do not punish the puppy physically. The BEST WAY is - diversion - and patience!!!!

ALWAYS, always have bone, chewing-toys, terry-towel or other things that the pup is allowed to chew on. EACH TIME (And I promise it will be thousands of times) that the pup does bite or chew on something you don't want it to, you say "NO" with a firm, low voice - IMMEDIATELY after that you give the pup someone of HIS things and PRAISE A LOT as soon as he just sniffs at it.

Finally, in time the pup WILL understand that certain things are HIS and it is okey to chew on those. A good thing is for you to sit down with the puppy a couple of minutes per day while you are holding some of his things. When he is chewing and you at the same time pet him you create strong bonds between him and you. It is IMPORTANT to build such psychological and emotional bond between you.

Good Luck - be patient - be consistent - LOVE your little pup!!!!!

[saum2]

:) Ethar, thank you so much for the information. Your website helped me to better understand my pup, and I also picked up many good ideas that will help me be a good master to my pup. You described so many behaviers that my pup does and explained them. I am very relieved to find that my pup is "normal" after all. I recommend your site to any new owner. You had much information that I haven't found in any of the books I have bought. My pup is very loving, and I want to make her as happy as she does me. Thanks again! Calvin
:)

[luvarott]

Sure she is just trying to play with you cus when a litter of puppies get together they play by biting on each other. But YOU are not a puppy, you are a human, and she has to realize that the rules of the game are WAY different when you play with humans.
Run a search at http://www.google.com and title it "Puppy Biting". A number of links will come up that mention Dr. Ian Dunbar and his bite inhibition program for puppies. Follow the advice given at these links!!

Puppies learn to inhibit their bite ie.not bite so hard, with their littermates based on the feedback (the YIPES and end of play)that the other puppies give them. What they CAN learn is that humans cannot tolerate any level of bite.....you are gradually teaching them to think of human skin as being very fragile/made of glass......This is not a one step procedure, but to my mind it is the BEST method.....and best started young..