dog nipping

[lhunter5997]

Hello my 15 week old cc was outside running around and all of a sudden she started to nip me on my pants I sternly said no anything else I can do?

 

[tmricciuto]

Sounds like overstimulation possibly. When mine were pups and did that sort of thing they went into their crates to decompress.


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[Hiraeth]

Puppies nipping and mouthing is a totally normal behavior. Saying "no" will do nothing to stop it from happening.

The surest way to stop their natural inclination to nip you is to get them to chew on something else instead. If their mouth is on a toy, it's not on your pant leg. Make sure you have an abundance of toys within reach and offer the toy when your puppy goes for you - when the puppy grabs the toy, praise and play.

Redirection is not a 'quick fix'. It will take many repetitions and months and patience for it to work. If, at any point in time, the puppy repeatedly targets your hand instead of the toy, you can get up and immediately halt play time. Any time she repeatedly nips you, you can teach her that that behavior is undesired by ignoring her. If she continues to pursue you and nip, you can *very calmly* put her in her crate with a chew toy until she calms down.

A lot of people will recommend aversive methods to stop nipping, which can include the human squealing loudly, jaw grabbing, nose tapping, squirt guns, etc. With a breed like a Corso, I highly advise you do not take any of those 'quick fix' easy routes out of the issue. All those negative corrections can either amp up an overstimulated dog or negatively affect your relationship with your puppy. Think about it - all she wants to do is play, and suddenly you grab her or squirt her and she's in pain or confused. Not a great way to begin the foundations of a lifelong relationship.

As a side note, in general, when you're training your Corso, think about it this way - there are a thousand things you don't want your puppy to do. Nip you, chew on your furniture, jump on people, eliminate in the house, lunge at strangers, bark at people/dogs, pull on the leash, etc. There are a limited number of behaviors you DO want your dog to do. Play with you without nipping, chew on her toys, eliminate outside, etc. It's far easier to train a dog to DO fifty things than to not do thousands.

If you simply correct your dog without showing your dog how you would like her to behave instead, she will most likely ignore your corrections. Instead, show her what you DO want her to do and praise her for it. It will lead to a far more positive relationship between you and your dog in which your dog looks to you for guidance when she is unsure. If all you do is correct negatively, your dog will learn that only corrections and no direction come from you.

 

[DennasMom]

Sounds like zoomies and puppy excitement. Completely normal - but needs patience and consistency to convince the puppy that the nipping aspect is not appropriate.

I agree with Hireath - great advice!

Another way to look at this is to make chewing on approved items FUN & EXCITING (i.e. you are involved for some interactive playtime)... AND make chewing on unapproved items, BORING (slow, steady and/or no reaction from you) and, if that doesn't work, add in some unpleasant consequences (i.e. alone/crate time to settle down).

Following that concept... anytime your pup starts to do something you don't like (like grab your pants)... redirect them to an approved toy, engage the pup in some good play games and make it EXCITING! Pretty soon ("soon" being relative... it might be a few months or more), the pup will run past your boring pant-leg and grab a toy to bring to you and 'ask' for a game....

Are you planning on enrolling in any puppy classes or obedience classes? Those are good for learning how to deal with these things, provide good time to bond with the puppy, and can offer some socialization with other similar-aged puppies, too.

 

[lhunter5997]

Thank you for your responses I was outside with her bathroom time and didn't have a toy for her I will the next time

 

[teodora]

I used to turn around and leave. Stop the play session. Shell get it that nipping = no more fun.

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[season]

Saying "No" worked for me. As long as they believe you. I didn't give him a toy to stop him. I let him know right then and there that it won't fly. Happened once and hasn't happened again.


Carpe Diem

 

[Wilsy]

We used a sharp 'ah ah' noise which I guess is basically the same as saying 'no'. You don't always have a toy ready in your hand for redirection or are in a position / location where you can just get up and walk off.

 

[Rugers-Kris]

I didn't use toys unless one just happened to be sitting there. I said "No" and if he continued to try, I turned away from them and stopped all interaction. As soon as the behavior stopped, I would praise like crazy. It takes a little time but with consistency it will work. I wouldn't expect it to be fixed with one correction as Season is saying above as he is the only person I have ever heard say it only happened once. That is a silly expectation. They are puppies and learn with repetition and consistency.

 

[Joao M]

I also basically say (a firm) No.
It´s too soon to say if it will work with my current dog (only with me for 2 weeks) but hopefully it will as it did with the previous ones I had.

 

[season]

I also basically say (a firm) No.
It´s too soon to say if it will work with my current dog (only with me for 2 weeks) but hopefully it will as it did with the previous ones I had.

It will work if you make it work.


Carpe Diem

 

[Joao M]

I will

 

[Hiraeth]

Just saying "no" to your puppy is useless. Unless you're pairing the "no" with a physical punishment for the behavior to teach your puppy what "no" means.

I'm not sure what people don't understand about the fact that showing your dog how you DO want it to behave is more important than showing it how you DON'T want it to behave.

If your child has some crayons and starts coloring on the wall and you say "no, don't do that", and give no other direction, what happens? They start coloring somewhere else you don't want, like on the bed or the floor or their siblings. If you say give them a coloring book and say "here, color on this instead, this is much more fun!" and you make the coloring book fun, then that's where they're going to color. So what's easier? Saying "no" a billion times, or giving positive direction and showing your dog how you DO want it to behave?

When your puppy is nipping and mouthing you, it's trying to play. It's not trying to hurt you. So if every time your puppy tries to play you say "no", and get up and walk away, what kind of repressive message does that send to your puppy? It says "no, don't try to play with me, I don't like it". Instead, teaching your puppy how to play with you properly, which is by keeping teeth on toys instead of your arm, is a much better way to build a relationship with your dog.

 

[Joao M]

Hiraeth,
I respect your opinions, but I don´t fully agree with this one. It has worked for me in the past, so it is not "useless".
Anyway I am not telling the OP what to do, just saying what I have been doing and that it has been working.
ps: it also works with children

 

[Hiraeth]

Well, of course being oppressive works. Squirt bottles with lemons, shock collars, beating your dog... All those methods work, too. But at what cost? And does that mean we should use them?

Playing with your dog with a toy and praising for chewing on the toy works, too. But instead you'd rather shout "no" and walk away? Why? What's the point in having a dog if all you're going to do is teach it how NOT to act? Training shouldn't be an exercise in punishment and reprimands, it should be an exercise in guidance and learning the 'correct' way to behave.

 

[Joao M]

It´s opressive ti say no? you compare it to beating a dog? are you serious?
Well, I don´t see a point in entering into a discussion because of this specially when the concepts are so different, so I won´t.
it is probably a regional/cultural difference.

 

[wumba]

Well, of course being oppressive works. Squirt bottles with lemons, shock collars, beating your dog... All those methods work, too. But at what cost? And does that mean we should use them? Playing with your dog with a toy and praising for chewing on the toy works, too. But instead you'd rather shout "no" and walk away? Why? What's the point in having a dog if all you're going to do is teach it how NOT to act? Training shouldn't be an exercise in punishment and reprimands, it should be an exercise in guidance and learning the 'correct' way to behave.

I think what they are trying to say is that these methods may scare or shock the dog into the behavior you desire. The alternative is to shift the puppy's focus in a less abrasive way. But maybe I misunderstood.

 

[Hiraeth]

I think what they are trying to say is that these methods may scare or shock the dog into the behavior you desire. The alternative is to shift the puppy's focus in a less abrasive way. But maybe I misunderstood.

Exactly. Saying "no", of course, isn't on the same level as beating or abusing a dog. But it's aversive. The reason the dog stops doing what it's doing is because you've shocked or scared it into not doing it.

And justifying the use of a method simply because "it works" isn't justification at all. Like I said, if we use the "it works" justification for everything, beating a dog also works. That was the comparison I was trying to draw.

So why shock/scare when you can redirect positively?

 

[season]

Just saying "no" to your puppy is useless. Unless you're pairing the "no" with a physical punishment for the behavior to teach your puppy what "no" means.

I'm not sure what people don't understand about the fact that showing your dog how you DO want it to behave is more important than showing it how you DON'T want it to behave.

If your child has some crayons and starts coloring on the wall and you say "no, don't do that", and give no other direction, what happens? They start coloring somewhere else you don't want, like on the bed or the floor or their siblings. If you say give them a coloring book and say "here, color on this instead, this is much more fun!" and you make the coloring book fun, then that's where they're going to color. So what's easier? Saying "no" a billion times, or giving positive direction and showing your dog how you DO want it to behave?

When your puppy is nipping and mouthing you, it's trying to play. It's not trying to hurt you. So if every time your puppy tries to play you say "no", and get up and walk away, what kind of repressive message does that send to your puppy? It says "no, don't try to play with me, I don't like it". Instead, teaching your puppy how to play with you properly, which is by keeping teeth on toys instead of your arm, is a much better way to build a relationship with your dog.

It's not useless. It worked for me and Solo just fine. I didn't need to show or teach Solo what I wanted him to do. Telling him No and having him stop was all I cared about. Not to mention he never did it again. I continued to play. Still do. No nipping and biting. Easy. He stopped when I said No. He felt the energy behind the word. Still does. It worked for everything I needed him to stop doing. I didn't spend any time sitting him down and explaining to him what I wanted instead of nipping or any other unwanted behavior. It's really not complicated. Correct what u don't want. Praise what u do. Be consistent. Our relationship is just fine. No "self esteem" issues.


Carpe Diem

 

[Smokeycat]

Well, of course being oppressive works. Squirt bottles with lemons, shock collars, beating your dog... All those methods work, too. But at what cost? And does that mean we should use them?

Playing with your dog with a toy and praising for chewing on the toy works, too. But instead you'd rather shout "no" and walk away? Why? What's the point in having a dog if all you're going to do is teach it how NOT to act? Training shouldn't be an exercise in punishment and reprimands, it should be an exercise in guidance and learning the 'correct' way to behave.

The problem I see with just using a redirect method is that it only works with that behavior. There's no carry over. All 5 of my pets understand the word no. I've taught they to know that when I say "(their name) no" it means whatever you are thinking about doing, don't do it. I combined the redirect with a universal cue word. I've also done the walk away or crated depending on the situation.
I did more harm to his (Jiggers) mental state by neutering him early, as recommended, than I did by teaching him the word 'no'.

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