@YourDogTraining
Latest posts by Kriss Schaefer (see all)
- 5 Easy Ways to Stop Dog Nipping for Good - March 17, 2013
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Dog nipping is a common problem faced by countless pet owners. Learn how to prevent this behavior from ever happening again by reading this guide.
Surely, dog nipping is a behavior that pet owners like you are all too familiar with – this behavior that is exhibited through the playful biting, licking and mouthing of your hands by your pet dog is a common behavior that is considered adorable by countless pet owners.
However, when the playful nipping turns into a destructive one as your pet continues to exhibit the same behavior to house guests, children and other animals, your once affectionate approach becomes a concerned one.
When he starts nipping on you hardly that he successfully draws blood and when he starts nipping on random strangers so much that these strangers actually get hurt in the nipping process, it’s time for you to go ahead and figure out what to do with your pet dog in order to stop this nipping behavioral problem for good.
Of course, for us to successfully solve the problem, we should first be aware of the reason as to why dogs nip. Why do dogs nip so much?
The answer to this agonizing question is this: Hands are to humans such as mouths are to dogs.
Simply speaking, your pet dog uses his mouth in order to explore his surroundings and get a sense of how they feel like. Nipping, as perceived by your dogs, is a form of communication and exploration. Nipping is only but natural to them!
If it is natural, then, why does my dog start to hurt me while he nips, you ask?
My friend, your pet doesn’t really want to hurt you on purpose. The real truth here is that he doesn’t really know that he’s already hurting you. He thinks he’s still playing with you so he continues to nip you even though you don’t want him to.
How do you easily stop destructive nipping for good, then? Here are five ways to help you:
#1. Teach him bite inhibition
Usually, bite inhibition is learned by your puppy when he plays with other puppies. Both puppies playfully bite each other and if one puppy bites too hard, the other puppy expresses hurt by yelping and letting out a high-pitched scream.
The offending puppy will then realize that he’s bitten too hard so to prevent his playmate from being hurt again, he starts controlling the force of his bites.
You can also apply this in your owner-dog relationship by:
- Let your pet nip your hands while playing. When he starts biting hard, immediately give out a high-pitched scream and withdraw your hand to make him surprised.
- When he stops nipping momentarily, praise him for stopping.
- Resume playing with your dog. Once he bites too hard again, repeat the process. Practice doing this cycle three times a day within 5 minutes per session.
#2. Implement bite inhibition via time-out sessions
Sometimes, older dogs won’t really care for high-pitched whining. This is where time-outs are introduced in order to leave a stronger impression. Start doing this by:
- Again, let your dog nip your hand playfully. When he starts hurting you, yelp loudly, withdraw your hand and ignore him for about 2 minutes. Don’t pay any attention to him.
- If needed, you can also leave the room so that your message will be understood better. For other times, what you can also do is to leave your dog all alone in his crate as he tries to comprehend the situation.
- After the time-out of 2 minutes, encourage him to play with you again. If he starts biting you painfully, repeat the cycle to give him the message that nice nips continue while bad biting stops. When he realizes this message, he will then make an effort to control his bites to be gentler with you.
#3. Never encourage games that involve contact
More often than not, pet owners engage in interactive play with their pet dogs. Usually, these games are tug-of-war and wrestling.
Most pet owners are under the impression that participating in these contact games promotes bonding. However, what really happens is that these games give the impression that your pet is supposed to fight for you for dominance.
Instead of these games, try games that implement obedience instead, such as fetch, training sessions and jogging around your neighborhood’s park.
#4. For severe nipping problems, you can use taste deterrents in order to prevent your pet from continuing his nipping behavior
This tip is suggested to moderate to severe cases of dog nipping. Sometimes, when your pet dog has a difficulty understanding your instructions, he will still continue doing his behavior until he encounters an unpleasant experience.
You can do this method by:
- Put on a pair of gloves. Make sure that your dog does not have any latex allergies, by the way, so that nothing too extreme will come out of this tip.
- Apply some foul-tasting substances such as vinegar into your gloved hand. Let your pet bite you while you’re wearing your gloves.
- Observe if he continues nipping you or if he decides to stop. If he continues, look for other foul-tasting substances that you can apply on your gloves. Bitter apple works well, too. The most important point of this tip is that it promotes an unpleasant experience for your dog’s nipping behavior, so in order to prevent encountering this experience again, your pet is most likely to stop the behavior that made him encounter the unpleasant experience in the first place.
#5. Consult expert assistance by having your veterinarian check him up for you
As we have mentioned earlier in this guide, nipping is also a form of communication for your dog. If you have already done these tips to no avail, maybe it’s time for your dog to visit his vet now.
He might be experiencing a medical problem so he bites you in order to get your attention.
Also, he might be having a medical condition that causes him to act restless – you can only find out the real deal behind your dog’s behavior if you let an expert assess his status appropriately.
Are you having some problems with your dog’s consistent nipping? How did you deal with it? Let us know by leaving a comment below!
Twitter: SawickaSawicka
I think this is among the most important info for me. And i am glad reading your article. But should remark on some general things, The web site style is perfect,
1. When your dog does nip be sure to stop playing with him immediately. Let him know that it hurt by saying “ouch”. Then you can tell him, “bad dog, no bite”. It is important to be consistent when you discipline him, so make sure you tell him the same thing each time.
2. Be sure and teach your dog that you are not the toy. Always replace your hand with a toy and let him know that he is suppose to play with it rather than you!
3. Another tip is to tell him to sit immediately after he has nipped you. Take your finger and tap on his nose and say “no bite” in a stern voice. The tap is not meant to hurt him….its just to let him know this is not proper behavior. Your tone of voice is just as important as the tap on the nose. If you were his real mom… it would kinda be like a verbal growl! After a while all you will have to do is raise your finger and he will know to stop.
4. Dog nipping, unfortunately, is encouraged during game playing… when the dog is jumping up to get something. So don’t play games that include waving your hands, tug of war or asking him to jump up. Playing fetch and retrieve games is fine as long as your dog knows to drop the toy… that way he is not fighting over the toy with you.
5. Most importantly, be consistent. Dogs don’t understand the “sometimes” word. They do understand the word no! Stay consistent… don’t confuse him.
The articles is really great
. Good job,
Sawicka recently posted..Preparat Odchudzanie
Twitter: YourDogTraining
I am glad you like it Sawicka.
I totally agree with your point about being consistent. This is one of the most important key factor’s when it comes down to Dog Training in general. Often you can see people not being consistent with their teaching’s, that’s when there training session start to fail.
Thanks Sawicka for sharing your personal experience
.
Kriss Schaefer recently posted..Guaranteed Ways on How to Train a Dog to Sit
Twitter: peachesgolden
I have found that saying ow can be helpful as a puppy may not know its hurting you. It casues the puppy to realize the caouse and effect.
Peaches recently posted..Dog Proofing Your Home
Twitter: googlai
Thank you for sharing great ideas. i really love your this post.
Googma Sansar recently posted..The Effective Ways to Web Optimization
Twitter: surajramnani
I will need to reach this article once again and train my dog properly from now on..Thanks for the post
Suraj recently posted..Sniper Elite 3 release date to be sometime in 2014
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Thanks For the help Schaefer. I was facing the same thing with my dog too.
I feel much better after reading this post.
Thanks again
srikanth recently posted..PENDRIVES AT Lowest Prices Ever Upto 72% OFF
Twitter: peachesgolden
One of the keys is to r give up focus on working with the dog. The nipping will end if you are consistant and work with the dog.
Peaches recently posted..How to Calm A Hyper Dog
Twitter: cammipham
Make me think. I need to forward this post to my sister so she can teach her dog properly. Thanks for sharing
Cammi
Cammi Pham recently posted..My Perfectly Imperfect Life And The Blog
Really good points. But when the dog is already big, I mean lets say 2 years old and still nipping you and other animals, are there any ways to avoid it? We have a dachshund, lovely one. And recently we’ve got a kitten. So our Elvis (the dog) doesn’t let him live. He expresses his love to this kitten in quite a rude way.. We don’t know what to do ((
Evan recently posted..5 Free Music Joomla Templates
Twitter: peachesgolden
Nipping is dangerous as small kids can get hurt by little nips that dogs make
Peaches recently posted..Ear Infections in Dogs
Great Points! I have had problems with this but I’ll try this!
Twitter: nerdsoncall
number 2 has been working well for us… we just put her in her crate, for 5 minutes to settle down. Nipping has gotten better
Andrea recently posted..Avoid Social Media Scams with These Tips
Twitter: peachesgolden
If you are crate training this can cause a problem as they start to see the crate as disapline rather than a safe home.
Peaches recently posted..Tips & Tricks to Crate Training / House Breaking
Twitter: DavidSitto
Thank you for the great tips, we just recently got a baby pitt bull and his favorite thing is to bite alllllll the time. Hes cute but he doesnt know when to stop. im gonna give the yelping trick a try and see how he reacts to that. Thanks again. i’ll be back for more cool stuff.
~David Sitto
Twitter: peachesgolden
W dogs like pitt bulls its important to nip this in the bid. You can’t have a full grown pitt bull nipping at people it would be dangerous. The stronger and bigger the dog the more important this is.
Peaches recently posted..American Golden Retriever vs English Creme Golden Retriever
Twitter: himanshuk18
Hi Andy being a dog lover i really adore this post” ways stop dog nipping good”. I also have a dog and now i am following these methods and will inform you about his change. Keep posting articles like his in your website thank a lot.
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Twitter: deep_singh13
Hi,
these tips really useful to Stop Dog Nipping. like you and pro blogger.
And after about this topic. i got some useful and valuable information in this post thanks.
Thanks for share with me!!
deepak mehra recently posted..University College Management Software
My mom had a puppy that liked nipping people with it’s sharp teeth. It was her second dog and she allows her dogs plenty of contact with other people’s dogs. Basically the other dogs made it clear to the puppy that biting was not OK. In my opinion dogs learn more quickly from each other than they do from people.
Jane recently posted..Bringing Home a Second Cat
Twitter: peachesgolden
The issue is that dogs teeth become less sharpe as they get older but their jaws get much strong so more damage can be done with duller teeth.
Peaches recently posted..How to Calm A Hyper Dog
Twitter: Rohitkabdwal
very nice article kriss,
dog nipping is not considered as a good habbit,
because dog might accendently cut your arm and their are chances of infection to body..
very nice and informative article
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Twitter: Rohitkabdwal
very nice article kriss,
dog nipping is not considered as a good habit,
because dog might accidently cut your arm and their are chances of infection to body..
very nice and informative article
Rohit recently posted..Find the sum of all the multiples of 3 or 5 below 1000
Twitter: PearShapedGal
Oye, I wish I read this 2 yrs ago when we got our 2nd puppy cocker spaniel. Taylor was very bite oriented and I wish I read #3. This probably would have discouraged him to use me as a chew toy.
Monica
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Twitter: peachesgolden
The biggest issue is to be consistant with your dog. No matter the age a dog can learn it you are consistant
Peaches recently posted..10 Foods Your Dog Should Never Eat
Twitter: musicianmakers7
Great article!
I have a friend who just recently got a puppy. If she does have trouble with dog nipping I’ll be sure to share your article. I’m no expert with dogs but is it a big problem amongst dog owners?
Leslie Edwards recently posted..The Basics On How To Make Electronic Music: Drum Loops
I normally say “ouch” on a high note when our puppy bites my hand and he immediately stops what he is doing. Also make sure that he has a lot of toys to chew on. When he is chewing something redirect his attention to his chew toys. You need to be consistent on that so that every time he has the urge to chew he will chew on his toys instead of your furniture.
I believe you cannot stop dog nipping specially when they are teething you just need to give them more attention and teach them which objects are they allowed to chew on.
Grace recently posted..Alternatives to Torrific
this is great i was searching all over the place, my english bulldog just ate half of the couch lol
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Great informative article Kriss ! It’s important to help your puppy learn to curb his mouthy behavior. The ultimate goal is to train your puppy to stop mouthing and biting people altogether. Thanks once again for sharing this article.
Twitter: peachesgolden
The sharpe teeth of puppies are a good reminder of the importance of training a puppy early in life
Peaches recently posted..Exercising Your Dog
Twitter: peachesgolden
Dogs can get mouthy some times make sure as a pet owner you correct them with love and care
Peaches recently posted..Ear Infections in Dogs
Twitter: Elena__Anne
Nice tips Kriss. I don’t know a lot about dogs, but I think that anything must be done in a good manner, with love and not violence. Dogs have instincts and can get our vibes!
elena_anne recently posted..7 Myths about Walking
thanks for the information. I always plays with my dog with those type of Nipping games. Thanks for your tips. And more over i have naother pet dog, but it is very very small dog, how can i stop Nipping to him.
mary stella recently posted..summer
Hey Kriss,
Nice post and Thanks for sharing these important tips to stop dog nipping. I really like the first two point and this post really very helpful and I have got some good way to stop dog nipping.
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