Nipping

[mj_23_08]

I’ve tried for 3 days doing the brain exercises and what to do to stop the nipping. It seems as though it’s getting worse, she bites down with more strength. It’s really hurting me, I don’t know what else to do. She opened my thumb, an inch long. Help.

[JMFS]

Yikes! What are you doing when she's nipping? Does anything in particular seem to cause it to happen more (e.g., talking in a high pitched voice, moving around excitedly)? How old is she, and what breed (or size if you don't know breed)? How much exercise does she get daily? These are some of the things Adrienne is going to need to know in order to help. In the meantime here are some links to other peoples' questions about nipping that may help:

 

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/forum/showthread.php?166-Puppy-Jumping-up-Grabbing-me&highlight=nipping

Go to post #8 for this one: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/forum/showthread.php?206-Crazy-puppy!&highlight=nipping

This one has Several people asking for help (your issue is Not uncommon so you're in good company): https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/forum/showthread.php?57-Biting-dog&highlight=nipping

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/forum/showthread.php?106-Excessive-puppy-biting&highlight=nipping

 

A snippet from another post that had the same info as the above except this part: I like using hand targeting as a replacement behavior for nipping. You can toss the treats rather than hand feed them so to make the activity extra fun and burn excess energy.

Here's a guide on targeting:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/m...ool/targeting/

 

I'll say it again, this is a Very common issue with new puppies / dogs and you are not alone in this. Thankfully, we have an excellent resource in Adrienne and she's been able to help many people with this irritating habit. :)

[Adrienne Farricelli]

Hello, and welcome to the forums!

 

The brain exercises in the brain training course per se aren't exactly made for stopping a puppy or dog from nipping, they are meant to provide puppies and dogs with more mental stimulation and training so that their minds are better exercised and so that they are provided with outlets for natural, instinctive behaviors. Brain games are though a great addendum to a training and behavior modification program.

 

If your dog is a puppy and learning the ropes of bite inhibition, please take a look at these exercises:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/bite-inhibition-games/

 

And also read through the threads Jennifer suggested which offer a variety of methods to tackle puppy biting. Here is another one:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/forum/showthread.php?215-Puppy-Bite-Inhibition

 

 

Please note that puppy nipping isn't something that can be completely stopped in as little as 3 days. It requires time, consistency and redirection. We aim to have it solved to a great extent by the time the puppy is five months considering that those jaws get more and more strength by this time and doggy adolescence is right around the corner. In the meanwhile, it helps to find a way to redirect (flirt pole, ball tossed the opposite direction, kibble tossed one by one and brain games to encourage independent play).

 

If your dog is an adult, or if the biting happens at specific times, please provide more details. For a more accurate answer, I would need to know your dog's breed, age, when the biting seems to happen the most, what has been tried so far, what you do when she bites. Don't worry to post long: the more detail the better!

Edited November 30, 2019 by Adrienne Farricelli

[mj_23_08]

She’s a 9 week old goldendoodle. Has so much energy, we play games and she’ll be fine and snap all of a sudden and starts nipping. She constantly has something in her mouth when she’s not in her crate. I walk her 3 times a day.

[JMFS]

Man, it's like a Labra- and Golden- doodle explosion around here lately! She very well may be getting tired and cranky if it's sudden onset. I've seen the advice to give them a Kong, or other long-lasting toy, filled with something enticing so they can work on that to self-soothe via licking. I know labs are very mouthy dogs, not so sure about Goldens; though I can tell you my older brother's Golden, Stella, was a little devil when she was younger. She'd peel back those lips, wrinkle her nose and nip my sister-in-law. She did outgrow it, so there's good news for you.

 

One thing that works for us, that takes minimal effort from me, is the flirt pole Adrienne mentioned, or running the pups up and down the stairs. I'll toss a ball upstairs, they run up to fetch, bring it back, I toss upstairs, rinse and repeat. I hardly move at all, but they're tuckered out. At my old apartment I'd throw the ball from our balcony, Mo would race downstairs to get it, bring it back, then I'd toss it again. Now I step inside our screen room, he comes into it (doggy door), I step out, he runs around the screen room to get to me, rinse and repeat. At 9 weeks stairs are a fairly large hurdle, but flirt poles are easy enough. Lasers work, too, but you have to give them a reward at the end or they can get frustrated or even develop issues with lights and shadows. I'll use the laser by having the dog run around to catch it and I'll end it by pointing it to a treat or a toy. Something tangible they can interact with.

 

Just in case the Find It game isn't mentioned in the posts, that's another good way to tire out her brain. She's still pretty young, but you can make the game easy for her, then raise the criteria as she gets the hang of it. Gertie didn't know what the heck I was on about initially, and now it's her second favorite game (flirt pole is the first favorite).

Edited December 1, 2019 by JenniferM.
technology glitch

[mj_23_08]

Thank you, just ordered a flirt pole. Hope that will help. My arms, legs and clothes are suffering.

[Adrienne Farricelli]

Sounds like a good plan! As you wait for it to arrive, make sure to practice targeting and all of the other games suggested in this thread. Keep us posted on how things go and what games your puppy seems more responsive to. Your puppy is very young and at this age all they want to do is play and that involves a lot of mouthing. At 9 weeks, those teeth are super sharp! Some dog owners wear tall boots (like Wellington boots) as many puppies lose interest when biting on tall boots also because when wearing tall boots we are less likely to get hurt and move. Movement is what mostly attracts puppies so lack of movement makes feet/legs lose their big appeal.

 

Make sure to allow her some quiet times to nap as cranky pups get super nippy. Provide her with a quiet area with not much noise, movement going on. A crate covered with a blanket is often needed for young pups who get overstimulated easily.

[mj_23_08]

So far, we've practiced targeting and now she likes but again, she starts getting either excited or cranky and will start biting my leg. Sometimes I rather not remove my work uniform because its long and I wear boots. When I'm around in anything loose she will grab it and tug. I try to redirect her attention but it seems she's so focused on whatever it is I'm wearing and not the chew toys. She likes playing with the flirt pole and that does keep her busy. Sometimes her teeth get stuck on my clothing and if I move, it'll yank her and she starts whining but will attack again. It's been a painful 2.5 weeks for my legs.

[Adrienne Farricelli]

Good to hear she likes targeting! That's a good way to train her to focus on your hands in a more productive way (nose touching rather than nipping). You can do several reps of this game and toss her kibble as a reward to give her a little exercise workout as well.

 

If she's aiming mostly for the legs, it's because they move and she loves to play tug with them. Legs have become her best play buddy, the equivalent of another puppy to play with considering that, at this age, what puppies do is play all day long with other pups. Have you tried walking around with the flirt pole? The secret may be to catch her *before* she has the opportunity to latch onto your clothes. If you catch her once she's latched on, by then, she's likely deep into "croco pup modality," and therefore, too focused on the task making it much more difficult to redirect her.

 

This means, as soon as you notice her coming towards you with the intent to grab your clothes, stop walking in your tracks since movement is what mostly attracts her. So as soon as you notice her intent- before she latches on- you can try to:

 

-Wiggle around your flirt pole. Move it around in unpredictable ways while you add some funny sounds to make it super fun. Let her latch on to it and create gentle resistance, by tugging back when she tugs as that resistance is what keeps her going. Once she's latched, you can try to walk around holding the flirt pole and she'll likely lag behind tugging back at the toy at its end to her heart's content.

-Toss a tennis ball the opposite side. Your pup should go catch it, leaving you time to walk around. When she comes back, have another ball ready to toss. Careful if she starts nibbling on tennis balls as many pups love removing the fuzz and ingesting parts.

-Play some kibble-tossing games. As soon as she approaches you, toss a piece of kibble the opposite way. Once she comes back, keep tossing her kibble. Turn it into a fun game. With time, she may rush towards you with the intent of playing this game rather than tugging.

-Let her target a target stick or a long wooden spoon. Hand targeting works well in training pups to interact with hands in a productive way, especially when sitting. Since when we walk around our hands are too high, an "extension" can come handy. Praise and reward with tossed kibble as soon as she targets the target stick or wooden spoon.

-Add obedience exercises into the treat tossing games. This requires you to train her to sit. Once she comes your way, ask her for a sit and then toss the kibble the opposite way to reward her. Here's how to train sit: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/sit/

-If possible, once she sits, you can reward her also with an empty water bottle with no lid. Most puppies cannot resist the crinkling sounds produced by chewing on these. They make an economical. temporary chew toy. Always monitor your puppy when chewing if your puppy tend to ingest things and consider that excess chewing can make some parts sharp. To make the bottle even more interesting, fill it up with a portion of your puppy's daily ratio of kibble so your puppy will keep busy trying to roll the kibble out. You can read more about this fun game here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/high-school/the-bottle-game/

 

These redirection methods all require that you walk around with something when you are "actively training." When I have pups to train, I like to "wear" my flirt pole around my waist or around my shoulders like a scarf so it's always readily available. Treat bag with kibble just clips to my belt or pocket of my pants. Kibble can be also be kept in a pocket. Several balls can be easily transported in a small bag or pocket. When you are not actively training her to not nip, your pup should be kept busy in other ways, like playing independent brain games at a distance from you, sleeping in her crate, training other skills, exploring the yard, learning brain games, socializing (in a safe way, since she hasn't been fully vaccinated yet), settling on a mat with an interactive toy etc.

 

Other flirt pole ideas:

 

-Reserve games with flirt poles only for training her not to nip you. If you leave her access to it 24/7 she might get bored and pick your legs/clothing over it.

-Make playing with the flirt pole extra rewarding. You can even train a "drop it" when playing with it. Simply let her play with it, then stop tugging back with it, say "drop it" and show a treat/kibble protruding from your fingers, as soon as drops the toy at the end, toss the treat/kibble. Then, progress to no longer allowing the treat/kibble to protrude from your hand, say "drop it" and as soon as she drops, toss the treat/kibble. Then further progress to no longer keeping the treat/kibble in your visible hand, ask her to "drop it," and as soon as she drops, get a kibble from your pocket/treat bag and toss it.

 

Other general ideas that come to mind:

 

-Consider that chew toys get sort of boring once puppies see them around most of the time. Rotating them helps keep the interest alive. However, if you need to redirect from nipping consider that regular chew toys may not be equally appealing to legs and loose clothing that moves around and creates resistance (dogs love to tug things that offer resistance!). It may therefore help to redirect to an interactive food puzzle such as Kong Wobbler, Buster Cube or regular Kong filled with a portion of your dog's daily ratio of kibble or the bottle filled with kibble described earlier.

-Don't forget to train your pup some bite inhibition. This is a very important skill. A good exercise to train this using treats is here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/train-dog-take-treats-gently/

and here is one using toys: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/bite-inhibition-games/

-If you have the possibility, puppy classes ran by a reputable dog trainer (make sure steps are taken to prevent spread of infectious diseases) can provide pups with an outlet for their excess energy and nipping since they often get to play with other pups. They also further refine bite inhibition by playing with other pups.

 

The main goal in getting a puppy to stop nipping legs is to teach the puppy that it's boring playing with them because there are far better forms of play out there that don't involve legs. So move less and make your toys move more. Wriggle them, toss them, provide toys that release food. With their strong urge to bite and play satiated with other forms of play, soon, puppies should outgrow the habit of chasing legs just as they outgrow the habit of chasing their tails.

 

Finally, since you mention her getting cranky, consider tiredness and overstimulation. Young puppies need to play, be socialized and trained, but they also need to sleep and they can get cranky and bitey when they are tired, but unable to fall asleep. If all your puppy's needs are met, give your puppy a safe chew to gnaw on in her crate/exercise pen. You may need to cover her crate with a blanket and keep quiet if possible (TV or calm music playing can help) to keep her from getting too overstimulated and promote relaxation. Your puppy should find his/her off switch and should soon fall soundly asleep.

 

I hope this helps! These puppy nipping stages sure feel quite long, but fortunately, it reduces over time if we help our pups make good choices and prevent turning nipping us into a strongly addicting game.

Edited December 7, 2019 by Adrienne Farricelli
Had more things to add

[mj_23_08]

This week seems to have gotten real bad!! :( she won't redirect and if she does she'll come right back and grab my leg. The same goes with treats, she'll eat the treat then back to biting. And it's so strong. Sometimes I feel bad because I try not to move and it pierces my skin and my instinct is to kick out my leg and sometimes I kick her off with it and it makes me feel horrible. Not that it stops her or anything, she goes back to bite my leg. I don't know what to do anymore. She's ruined 4 pants already. My thighs are shreds.

[Adrienne Farricelli]

I feel your frustration, so many puppy owners feel this way, it just feels like the nipping stage never ends!

 

How are you redirecting exactly? What of the above methods have you been using? We need to find what she likes doing best and what she finds most reinforcing. It sounded like target training was something she enjoyed doing. Are you doing several targets in a row? Also, what kind of flirt pole are you using? Does it have a toy at the end that squeaks? Are you moving it around a lot? Making it super fun to play with tugging at it? And also giving access to it mostly when you are planning on working on redirection? If you present it too often she might get bored of it and go back to choosing your legs.

 

I think this might be a matter of momentum, catching her before she comes back to grab the leg and redirecting over and over, and then, after several trials of this, right before she gets cranky, end the training by providing her with something that is longer lasting and let her enjoy it as you leave the area.

 

So let's say she approaches you and you ask her to target and you toss her a kibble/treat to reward the target, next right when she is almost done chewing the treat, be ready to re-engage her with another target (present your hand right in front of her so your hand is very salient) or a game with the flirt pole or just tossing another treat or a ball. Do this several times in a row. Careful in being ready to catching before she even thinks of grabbing your leg. Then, after she has done several reps of this, be ready to give her some longer lasting goodie (like a puppy-appropriate edible chew toy or stuffed Kong) and give her some down time, preferably leaving the area while she consumes it ending the training session.

 

This may be important considering that she may go back to biting as a way to encourage you to interact more with her. In other words, it could be she doesn't like the game to stop so she's looking at ways to "re-activate you". It's important to always find productive ways for her to use her teeth so that she spends lesser and lesser time nipping your legs.

 

It may help to wear extra layers of clothing so that you may be less likely to move around. I know of some owners who have been wearing tall boots so to move less around during training. I have used my horse-back riding chaps too. Does the biting occur mostly when you are standing or sitting?

 

Time, consistency and patience is needed with these young pups. Most are land sharks at this age. Keep redirecting and working on bite inhibition. Provide brain games, training, and exercise. Don't forget naps, bad episodes often take place when pups are starting to get cranky. Do you have any friends with vaccinated puppies of her age? Fortunately, most pups outgrow this nipping stage, but teething gets them grumpy and just like babies they sort of throw fits of nipping instead of crying.

 

At her age, your pup may also benefit from learning some basic impulse control exercises How is she doing with sits so far? Below are two pups I recently worked with at 7 weeks sitting nicely before their meals, your puppy should be able to do this. Incorporating some impulse control exercises can help you add some behaviors that can distract from excessively nipping.

 

 

Once she knows sit, you can therefore also train some helpful impulse control exercises such as sitting for meals, sitting briefly before you open the door (look up the open sesame game) and sitting before tossing a ball. If you can use her kibble for training (giving one kibble for to reward each exercise), you have loads of opportunities for training impulse control exercises such as approaching you, sitting in front of you and you tossing her a treat to reward the sit. Always end the training with a longer lasting treat (a cookie that takes some time to eat, several kibble tossed for a fun treasure hunt) as you walk away and are done with the training. This way you outsmart her so she doesn't have the chance to latch on and she doesn't even feel the need to attack your legs.

 

Another helpful exercise you can do is the Jazz Up and Settle Down Game:

 

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/high-school/jazz-up-and-settle-down/

 

Once she learns this game, you can redirect her to a sit when you notice she wants to nip, but as always, try to outsmart your smart pup and aim to catch her before she even thinks of nipping your leg. The more you catch her before, the better, as many pups are too aroused to listen once they latch on.

 

Finally, something to consider, is that you might be seeing what's known as an extinction burst. In other words, the behavior getting worse before it gets better. What may be happening is that, if previously you used to move your legs a lot when she nipped, but now you are trying to move less, she may be biting with more intensity because she's hoping to get you to move and interact more with her. If you hold your ground, there may be chances she might start giving up trying. Of course, staying still can be quite a challenge with those sharp needle teeth puppies have! -but this is where wearing more clothing or tall boots can turn out very helpful.

 

Keep us posted on how she does with these exercises and feel free to post when you notice the nipping getting better or worse. Are there some times when she nips the most? What seems to evoke the behavior? The more details the better so we can do some more troubleshooting.

Edited December 15, 2019 by Adrienne Farricelli