Almost 9 months and still nips! Any suggestions?

[Emily]

Mabel is a joy, but when she starts to play with all the neighborhood kids ( and sometimes with just me), she will nip! Her favorite thing to do is play fetch. We can hit a tennis ball 500 yards away and she will chase after it and bring it back. If I keep her exercised she is perfect in the house. She knows not to bite/nip. She knows the command "no bite".  I'm getting frustrated. I don't want her to hurt anyone. Is she still too young to be off leash playing games like that?  Any suggestions?

[jessica (Rufus)]

1 year and still nips tooo i am hoping for one day he just stops

[Emily]

Your pictures are adorable! We just moved from the South/North Kingston area..too bad I didn't find you earlier. They just built a dog park in South County where we lived...they pups could have played!

[Adina P]

It's not so much about age it's about the dog's ability to make good decisions off leash.  MOST 9 month olds aren't able to.  A few who have had RIGOROUS training are capable of good off leash decision making and reliability and even fewer 9 month olds who just happen to be those few 'perfect' dogs that do everything right.  But I'd say, for the most part she's a liability.  Some kids may not know the difference between a playful nip and a bite.  But even worse is their parents might freak out and if there i accidental force she could break skin and be labeled as aggressive.  I think it would be a good idea to keep her on leash and put some concerted training into her in general.  She should be SUPER reliable on sit, down, stay, come and heel ON leash before expecting good behavior off leash. 

 

When it comes to teeth on human skin I, personally, believe that after a certain amount of reminders about 'no bite' there should not be any more warnings--only immediate correction.  This is so that she NEVER mouths/nips human skin--not just so that she stops once told. 

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

What I've found with Murphy is that when he gets into really excited play is when his behavior starts to become unreliable.  When they're still puppies I don't believe they're yet capable of making the "right choices" when they're in a super excited state.  My thought is playing a rousing game of fetch off leash with kids in the mix is probably not something she's quite ready for yet.  It's great that you've taught her "no bite" in the house....that's a wonderful start.  Maybe start out slowly outside with Mabel on a long line....and no kids until she's trained in that setting.  Just my thoughts.

[L.M.]

I totally agree.  We had major problems with our Seamus with this situation up until he was about 18 months at least.  But only when he was off leash, really wound up, and in the backyard.  We would not allow him outside if we had our young nieces over or any kids for that matter.  Even with adult BBQs we would limit him to being outside because he associated grass with very rough (too rough) play.  We corrected him by training him to go fetch something FIRST if he wanted to play with us on the lawn outside.  We also kept him leashed and if he got too wound up, we grabbed the leash and brought him in the house IMMEDIATELY into a time out.  It worked, but quite honestly, I think he also just grew out of it.  He is now 2 and will still play a little rough on occasion on the grass, but the nipping is gone.

[Jennifer,Chloe & Myla]

I can't say anything about the off leash thing because mine never were, but Chloe was well over a year before she would stop her biting/nipping stage. It was only directed at me and my husband but she had me in tears all the time because she would not stop. We tried everything like bitter apple (she liked it) we tried other formulas, noise makers etc, I thought she would never stop and be a safe dog but somehow she just did. Thank goodness. I also would not like to take the chance with the neighbors kids-you never know what might come of it. Be careful!! She's adorable.

[Lindsey]

Ugh! That is frustrating. I count my blessings that Molly didn't- and so far hasn't- gone through the nipping/biting stage. However, I have had my share of dogs that did bite.
I will be honest, I really think that my Molly doesn't do that because, we got her at the age of 13 weeks. Most people get their puppies around 8 weeks. There are studies (I'll try and find some links) that the older the puppy is when taken away from it's mother and sibling, the less likely it will be to nip- the theory behind that is they are immediatly corrected by their mother and siblings with a return bite when they begin to bite one of them. I really think that is why our Molly never nipped/bit. I know you're thinking "GREAT but that doesn't help me!" ...lol...and I'm sorry, I realize that. However, I've also read where a lot of people would immediatly pinch their dog (some people would even bite their dog back! which I think is realllllly weird)....I don't know if you can get to your dog as soon as it nips someone other than yourself, but maybe try pinching the neck area...just like a mother dog or sibling would have done. At first, that will probably be really hard to do...and some people might even balk at the suggestion, but if you're not against it, I would give it a try. I would NOT however, hit your puppy...that just causes fear of hands and can result in the dog biting back even harder for protection. Just a quick, pinch on the neck would suffice.

[Emily]

Thank you all for the wonderful suggestions! She is very smart and eager to please. We are enjoying her so much!  She's got some talent too....anyone else have a doodle that can do somersaults?..The kids are teaching her how to go up and down the slide in our backyard too! So fun!

[Jenny & Henry]

I think what made a big difference with Henry was we stopped with giving him "chances".  He would go to nip my girls and it was "NO BITE" and he was put into his pen for five minutes.  We stay calm but let him know he won't be with us if he does it.  We noticed a big change within two days.  I do believe he realized "awwww shoot, I can't nip them anymore" and he surely did not like being removed for that break while the family was outside playing.  It's a pain but worth the effort.

[Emily]

That's funny. It would seem to make total sense. I'm not sure why with 4 kids..I didn't try kid psychology. Even when watching the Dog Whisperer, they have said to turn your back on the animal as a form of punishment/teaching moments. They love the social interaction and when you ignore them, they know they can't act that way.  It's the I will pet you when you stop jumping type of thing.  I know with nipping you can't turn your back and ignore..it's correct right away and a brief time out with a reminder on the way in & out of the pen of NO BITE could just work for us too. She is so smart. I know she knows!

 

Usually when Mabel does this she is in total play mode or first thing in the morning when we go through the morning ritual :unlock the pen and sit on the floor for belly rubs and quiet time. She cuddles and stretches and stretches and talks..She is soo sleepy but sometimes even then she will nip...very gently but still not acceptable. I usually correct her instantly and she will not do it again until total play mode which is harder to correct. When we are playing  she is usually further than a arms length away so I can't instantly correct her physically-just verbally...Did you just firmly say "no bite" and then grab her collar to take her in? I try to grab her and she runs away as if it were a game. This is why the suggestion of a long lead would be ideal but she just constantly tangles in them that I worry for her safety and mine...the more calm I am the less she is to bolt, but it does drive me nutty at times.