Nipping when excited / eating shoes

[Nikki & Charlie]

Is there a way to stop my dog from grabbing / eating shoes? Or anything else in his sight...

But more importantly -

He jumps up at us/bites us when hes extremely excited and wants to play and if I just stop and walk away/ignore him, he attacks me from behind. He bites at my behind all the time. I need a way to calm him down.. walking away from him doesn't do it.

[Susan and Bentley]

We were taught to stop walking.  They consider anything moving a toy.  So stand still till he backs off.  We had the kitchen gated off and if he got too wild we'd put him in there and walk out of the room.  Then like 30 seconds later I'd walk back in and greet him like I had just been gone for hours.  This worked sometimes, because no matter what - they are puppies and that's what they do.  Try running him through commands to distract him.  Distraction in any way is the best thing to do.

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

Well, what you experiencing is normal puppy behavior! Tara was the same for a while and it drove me crazy. She too would just come after me if I walked away from her and I had the torn clothing to prove it! LOL  Is he crate trained or does he have an ex-pen or somewhere you can put him in a short time-out when he starts getting too wild? This will give him a chance to calm down and know that his unacceptable behavior will result in his being separated from you. He won't like that. Puppies get overly excited just as small children do if they are tired or overstimulated.

While he is young and in training it is probably best to keep loose shoes, etc. out of his reach. This will just be temporary until he has learned "leave it" and been taught what things he needs to leave alone.  Remember biting and chewing are normal dog behaviors so it will take time to teach him what is expected of him in the human world. This does not happen overnight and patience and repetition are what is needed. Don't get discouraged if you don't see immediate results. He will get it!  I found that keeping Tara on a leash in the house enabled me to get better and faster control of her when she started misbehaving. It just gave me an advantage! LOL

I would suggest that you post this in the Puppy Madness Group and search the site for more information on this topic as it is a very common problem with new puppies. Good luck!

http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/puppymadness

[Judith and Addie]

This may be a little embarrassing with other people around. When my puppy would nip, even if it was while playing tug and she accidentally got her teeth on me, I would yelp, whimper and give attention to the injured part while ignoring her. With me it was usually a hand or arm - I don't know how to address a rear-end nip. After a minute or so, I would pretend to recover and again give her attention.