Nipping, any advise will help...

[Katie and Twinkie!]

I got Twinkie exactly a week ago to the date, she is 10 weeks old and she nips all the time. I have tried the yelping like a puppy would and it's not working so well. I have four children and they love Twinkie and want to play all the time, but she is nipping them too. Please help. :) I know it will just be a phase but any advise on helping this be a quick phase is appreciated!
Thanks.

[Linda,Yankee & Finn]

When she nips, put her in another room by herself for a few minutes, maybe the bathroom but not for too long. It's like a time out for puppies. They want to be with you and it's punishment to take that away from them.

[1xar0x2rcx0li]

Depenging on your training philosophy you could try a few things. The ignoring could work, they learn that nipping gets them boring alone time. I would always try that technique first, but maybe just by you leaving the room or standing up and turning away. If you giude the puppy to another room after nipping, they are getting immediate attention for the behaviour, the fun little walk, rather than immediate withdrawl of stimulus. Or you could firmly, but safely, grab her by the scruff and say a loud and firm NO and dont let go until she is calm. Different camps on training have recommended these two different techniques.

[Adina P]

Hi Katie, congratulations...you have a healthy NORMAL puppy =)

In addition to yelping (and YELP like a shark tore your leg off...not a tiny little squeak) your pup needs a clear CONSEQUENCE to her actions. So get up and LEAVE her alone (walk over a baby gate, close a door behind you or crate her) so that she knows..."biting humans hurts them and I lose all my friends!"

It will take endless repetition before she gets it so be prepared for that. Also go to our main forum page (Click the Forum tab at the top of any page) and type the word "nipping" into the search box and hit enter....you'll get LOTS of past discussions and responses on this topic. Also search for "biting" and you'll get even more =)

[Debbie and Thomas]

Katie-Adina's post about leaving the room is about the only thing that worked for us. I tried screaming like he had torn my hand off-yes he was startled for a second but went right back to the biting. If I turned my back to him and stood like a statue with my arms crossed-he would just jump up and nip me on the back of my legs or "ouch" butt! He was relentless and I used to go to bed worrying that I had a really bad dog on my hands. Then I sarted leaving him alone in the room ie:family room or kitchen as I calmly walked away and retreated to another room and slammed the door. I would stay away for 2 minutes and then clmly walk back in and continue with what I was doing and simply ignore him. After about 50 times of doing this-he got the point and never nipped at me again. Now my husband and son were another story. They thought it was ridiculous to leave the room for a tiny little puppy-well they paid the price as he then took out his mouthiness on them. It finally ended though-but once in awhile at almost 9 mths old-"jaws" still appears when our doodle gets wound up. When he was younger-even up to 7 mths old, when he was all wired up-I would tie him up on a long leash which I attached to a door handle. It was just long enough so he could not reach the boys . He would just lie down and behave watching us. Hope this helps and good luck-it does end and all I can say is that at least they are not biting in a viscious way-they are just playing even though it hurts and gets VERY annoying at times.

[Debbie, Brianna and Duncan]

This may help, http://www.ehow.com/video_2200248_stop-puppy-mouthing-biting.html The video starts after a short couple of second ad....sorry. Love the name Twinkie.

[Katie and Twinkie!]

Thank you everyone for all the advice, I will keep you posted on our progress!

[LuvMyAbby&Kaela]

I thought my pirrannha doodle would never stop biting. I am happy to say at 5.5 months old she rarely does it at all anymore. I did all the things, yipe, ignore, hold shut snout, tried to get her to bite herself, in the end it she just grew out of it...(my DH was a little mean to her when she tried to bite him and she stopped niiping him long ago). I cant be a big meany though she took longer to stop with me.

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

Always, always, always have a good toy or two or three in your hand or lap when you are playing with Twinkie. Soft toys, ropes, soft squeakies seem to work best while puppies are young. This is especially true for your children. Don't wait for her to put her mouth on you, put the toy in her mouth. Insist that she has the toy in her mouth when she interacts with a human. If the first toy doesn't work try a different toy in her mouth. Usually with consistency in a couple of weeks she will want a toy in her mouth when she plays with you. Puppies play with their mouths - all the time - so help her understand that the toy is the appropriate thing. If she absolutely won't use the toy, then immediately stop playing or interacting with her in any way. This is for the children, unless they are fairly big, they are not going to convince her to stop mouthing, she thinks they are puppies. She will continue to mouth them even if they yelp, she will just think she needs to be softer or may even think it is part of the game. Children have little or no tolerance for any amount of mouthing and those puppy teeth are sharp!

This has always worked for me - hope it does for you.