5 month old puppy nipping heals

[RobertAlbino]

We rescued a lab mix about 2 months ago and she constantly nips at my kids feet especially when outside playing. I can’t leave her outside alone with them as she won’t leave them alone. Any advice would be helpful we’ve tried to turn are back and disengage but that doesn’t seem to deter her.

 Thanks  Rob

[Adrienne]

Hello and welcome the forums,

How old is this Labrador mix?

How is her bite inhibition? Is she nipping hard? Leaving marks?

Is she nipping while they are running around? Does it happen only outside?

These extra details will be extra helpful, thanks!

 

[RobertAlbino]

Thanks for getting back to me so quick. She’s about 5 months old, running makes it worse but she’ll come bite at their pant legs even if they are just standing there. More so outside she seems a lot better indoors but will occasionally start biting their legs and feet, mornings seem to be worse. The bite does seem more like playing but for kids 5 and 7 it can hurt. Seems the littlest one is her favorite target 

[Adrienne]

Thanks for the extra details, they are very helpful.

I am glad to hear that she's young and still a puppy, but we want to tackle this sooner than later as sometimes these nippy behaviors can persist longer than we would expect. This type of biting can just be play, but it can also be due to overstimulation and low frustration thresholds. Children in particular can rev these dogs up and the more we allow them to stay in this hyper arousal state, the more they rehearse these nipping behaviors. When it gets out of hand, it can start becoming the default behavior these dogs fall into every time they are exposed to overly exciting situations. 

These dogs won't typically be changed overnight, but with time, training and consistency we can reduce this type of nipping. Important is to prevent this behavior from occurring in the first place as much as possible and reinforcing alternate behaviors and rewarding anytime the dog acts calm.

Training (sit, down, stay, leave it, drop it) along with exercises to encourage better impulse control and frustration tolerance is important in these dogs. You can find several impulse control exercises here:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/impulse-control-frustration-tolerance/

Also, here are some bite inhibition games to redirect biting, teaching hand targeting is one of my favorites:

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

These dogs require lots of low stress handling in quiet settings when the pup is chill and no touch should be allowed otherwise. This can get tricky in homes with children. Ideally, she shouldn't be allowed to be around the children when she is in this overly excited nipping state. This allows her to rehearse these overly excited/frustrated behaviors, and the more she rehearses them, the more they put roots and become more established. Being around the children should be allowed only when she's capable of interacting in other more productive and structured ways (asking her to sit and then chasing a ball, playing with a flirt pole, ignoring the children and choosing to dig in a digging area, searching for goodies hidden around the yard etc).

It goes without saying, that to initially help her succeed, she should be exposed to children when they are calm rather than running around and making exciting, overstimulating sounds. Keeping on her leash when out in the yard and providing her with some alternate activities such as training, brain games (bottle game, muffin game) and sniffing games can help her learn to focus on other things rather than wanting to just nip the children. 

One of my favorite games for teaching puppies to control their impulses a bit more is learning to respond to a smacking sound made with your mouth. First, make a smacking sound and toss a valuable treat (kibble can work too if your pup loves to eat it) for your puppy to chase and eat. Repeat several times until you get a reliable response. More details on this is found here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/the-airplane-game/the-smacking-sound/

Next, practice making this smacking sound when you are in the house and your children are outside playing and your puppy watches them from a window. You want to basically do this exercise, only that your puppy is observing the children play rather than the Fedex drivers: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/university/look-at-that/ 

Practice then with your puppy on the leash as she watches your children walk around the house. Then, as her impulse control gets better, practice with your children playing in the yard at a distance. Then practice with your puppy on a long line (longer leash) and then only once she responds reliably, you can practice with her off leash. If you notice an intent to nip make sure to redirect your puppy before she has had a chance to nip and latch on. Once latched on pant legs or shoes laces or clothing, puppies are more difficult to distract. Once redirected, for longer pauses, rather than tossing a treat to chase, provide your puppy with a stuffed Kong to enjoy in a quiet area away from all the hustle and bustle of child play. Remind your children to always keep space when the pup is eating.

Other tips that come to mind:

-All meals should be fed from food puzzles, brain games, foraging and training.

-Outlets should be provided such as play with flirt pole, chasing a remote controlled car, games that involve digging and sniffing. 

-Dogs prone to nipping excessively need to checked for having sufficient rest and undisturbed sleep. They shouldn't be exposed to over stimulating situations that causes them to rehearse excited nipping. Excessive exercise/activities of the wrong type (like too much time roughly playing, excessive play of fetch) can cause a dog to stay overstimulated for too long. Nipping behaviors tend to get worse when a dog is cranky. 

-Nippy dogs should also learn to handle touch without getting nippy; here is a guide: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/exercises-to-teach-puppies-to-tolerate-touch/

-Getting angry with the puppy and delivering corrections often exacerbates this behavior. 

-The good news is that many puppies as they get older, learn how to "restrain" themselves, however it requires teaching them how to act calm. Trainer her to lie on a mat can be helpful: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/video-archive/train-dog-go-to-mat/

-Use a baby gate (or tether the pup) to separate pup from children especially at the times when the behavior is worse. If mornings are worse, keep your puppy behind the baby gate and let her expend some energy working on a food puzzle (Kong Wobbler). As she gets better under control with her training, you can have her lie on a mat with some long-lasting edible (like a stuffed Kong) to keep her busy and instruct your children to stay calm, respect her space and ignore her as "she's learning to be a good dog." Of course, avoid any foods around the children if your pup has shown signs of possessive behaviors over it (food guarding).

-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/

-In some unfortunate cases, excessively nippy, hyper aroused pups turn out not being the average household dog that does OK just being kept as a pet. In other words, these dogs need more work than average, and therefore to thrive, they need to be provided with some type of "job" or the possibility to compete with them in sports. 

I hope this helps! Let me know how things go. If you still struggle, feel free to post again and we can do more troubleshooting and try different approaches. 

 
Disclaimer: Dogs and children should always be supervised when together. For stubborn cases or if your puppy or dog is exhibiting worrisome signs of anxiety or aggression. please enlist the help of a dog trainer or dog behavior professional. This is for safety and correct implementation of behavior modification. 

 

 

[RobertAlbino]

Thanks for all this info, I have had her on leash when In back with kids but will try working on what you said. We did the dna test and found she has Rottie, Estrella mountain dog and appenzeller sennenhund in her as well as lab. She’s smart , house broke in a day and seems to be chill at night but of course kids are sleeping. Also working on digging, pulling on walks read another one of you responses about stopping every time she pulls which seems to be helping but makes for some long walks lol. And she tries to go after cars and people while on walks which is worrisome. If you have any tips for that?

 Thanks again Rob

 

[Adrienne]

Interesting mix! She sounds very smart, and I am sure she'll be happy with an increase in training and mental stimulation (brain games). 

We have a section on digging here:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/behavior-training/digging/

I am sure she would enjoy a digging pit filled up with sand and buried toys. 

Yes, stopping when pulling can make for long walks, especially if the pulling has been rehearsed for some time, but I feel it's important too rewarding the dog for walking nicely on leash  for several steps doing attention heeling as outlined in the course: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/heeling-attention-heeling/

Car chasing in dogs on-leash may often stem from a desire to play, as a way to release pent-up energy or out of prey drive. Some dogs may be highly focused on the wheels, trying to lunge and grab them as they rotate. In some cases, dogs may want to chase cars because they find the sound produced by certain cars as scary or unpleasant.

The best way to tackle a dog's behavior of wanting to chase cars while on-leash is to use systematic exposure and training an alternate behavior. In this case, you will need to dedicate a part of your walks for teaching your dog to better cope with the sight and sound of cars without overreacting. To perform these exercises, it's best to start on a road where cars pass every now and then, versus the continuous flow of cars and traffic as seen in big cities, so that it becomes clear in your dog's mind that great things happen each and every time a car passes by.

Here is a thread on car chasing, as you can read, I prefer training attention heeling rather than a sit as it's more dynamic in nature. 

About going after people on walks, do you mean she is barking/growling or lunging at them in an aggressive-looking way? Or just wants to chase them? What is she doing exactly and is she normally OK, sociable and friendly with people? Does this behavior happen only when on leash? 

Thanks.

[RobertAlbino]

Her behavior is similar to when a car goes by, she barks and tries to get at them. She ok when we let people in the front door calm walks up to them and seems ok. We have a contractor working at the house for about a month and a half now and sometimes she sees him in the yard when she’s out there and does nothing then others mostly when he’s caring something she’ll bark and nip his pant leg as he walks. If she’s in the house and she sees him in the yard she goes berserk same thing when he comes up the basement stairs into the main house. We have only had her about 2 months so he’s almost been here as long as her I would have thought she would be use to him at this point.

[Adrienne]

Thanks for the extra details,

The barking and lunging at people on walks, would require a similar protocol to the passing cars. She will need to be initially kept at a distance from people to ensure she's well under threshold, https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/threshold-levels/ and need to be worked on training her an alternate behavior such as attention heeling using super high-value treats/foods.

The last dog I worked with for a similar issue improved a whole lot, but only after I started mixing pieces of baked liver with her treats. With time, she started voluntarily offering me heeling at the sight of people coming close to us which made for some wonderful (and quiet!) walks. If at any time your dog reverts back to the barking/lunging, consider that as a sign that she's not ready yet for that level of exposure. Several steps back need to be taken by increasing distance and reducing the intensity of the exposure. Baby steps need to be taken when it comes to behavior modification, always working at the dog's pace and level of comfort.

The behavior exhibited towards the contractor seems to be fear-based. She likely doesn't like that his silhouette changes when he carries stuff. Also, dogs can get suspicious of people working around the house, carrying large items, using loud machinery and coming and going repeatedly. It can be very stressful to some dogs. A behavior modification protocol is discussed here:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/fear-people-wearing-hats-accessories/

and here is a similar approach with people entering the home:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/dog-barking-someone-enters-room/

When she's in he house and sees him in the yard, do not allow her to go berserk, that will only become a long-term habit which can exacerbate as she becomes an adolescent. She should be moved away from windows from where she can see him, and when you can train her, she should be conditioned to respond to your smacking sound as described here:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/university/look-at-that/

The goal is to create a positive conditioned emotional response, where rather than barking at the contractor, she is looking forward to spotting the contractor because his presence predicts treats:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/conditioned-emotional-response-cer/

When the contractor walks around the home or yard, it would be imperative preventing her once again from rehearsing the problematic barking and nipping . This is just teaching her to control his movements and can become troublesome as she matures and becomes more confident if we allow this behavior to establish and put roots.  When the contractor is working around the home or yard, it's therefore important to keep her away from him, and when time permits, she should be leashed, so that some sessions of Look at That exercises can be practiced (like 5-8 minute sessions, three time a day), where she's fed something tasty every time the contractor walks by.

The adolescent stage is right around the corner (beginning at six months), and things tend to exacerbate at this stage, so we want to tackle these behaviors quickly, sooner rather than later. Due to the fact that you have children in the home and she's barking and nipping/attempting to nip people, it would be important working directly with a behavior professional once again for safety and correct implementation. 

Disclaimer: behavior modification comes with risks. If your dog shows signs of potential aggression (lunging, barking, growling, snapping, biting) for safety, please consult with a dog behavior professional who uses force-free behavior modification techniques for direct in-person guidance. Articles, videos and general info found in the forums or course (or any online source) are not meant to replace in-person training/instruction. By using this course and forum, you are waiving any liability claims or other type of claims related to any dogs' behavior against you or others.

[RobertAlbino]

Thanks again this is some really good info,I’ll keep you posted. I started putting her kibble in the Kong along with some treats she like and sealing it up with peanut butter seems to keep her occupied I’m assuming challenges like this stimulate her mind?

[Adrienne]

Yup, mental stimulation (through brain games, food puzzles) is very important for dogs. They help deflect boredom and provide outlets for their natural behaviors. Dogs are happier and more relaxed when they keep their minds busy on a daily basis. It can be tiring too (some even say as much as exercise). 

Once she gets better under control when seeing the contractor (no longer trying to chase, nip) you can train her to hold a nice stay on a mat where she receives goodies for staying nicely composed and once she's better relaxed she can maybe even enjoy a stuffed Kong there. 

 https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/video-archive/train-dog-go-to-mat/