Once again...NIPPING

[Katie and Twinkie!]

So I know I have posted about this before, but I really need some help on the nipping situation. Twinkie nips constantly, she nips the most at my children, which just scares me. She is not being mean, or anything, its like she is just playing but it hurts. I started w/ the yelping like I was hurt, and it seemed to make her want to play more, I tried bopping her in the nose saying "no bite" which made her sad but didn't help much, I tried holding her mouth closed while saying "no bite" which she responds to well, but only for a very short time and then off to nipping again. I know she is just a puppy and I need to be patient, but I just think it's abnormal as often as she is doing it. PLEASE HELP w/ suggestions. This is really the only issue I have, as she is AWESOME otherwise. Thanks again.

[Kyoko]

Yes. Be a tree and turn a back on them worked the best for us, too. When my kids became a tree, Charlie stoped jumping on them right away and walked away. She looked like she was saying " What? you are boring! I am not playing with you!"

[Liza, Halle and Finn]

It's weird, but it seems like those of us with goldendoodles have more problems with this than people who have labradoodles...Anyway, as your pup gets older, this will problem will get better. Our Kachi was just like this when he was younger. I was quite frustrated. Like you, we tried EVERYTHING that anyone suggested. Nothing seemed to work, but we stayed on him about it, always letting him know that we did not like it, and now that he is older, it's not a problem.

[Adina P]

It probably seems that way because Kachi is a goldendoodle =) Rosco bit me for a year and he's a labradoodle.

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

Hi Katie and Twinkie and kids. Nobody including Twinkie is abnormal by your description. What you have is a communication problem. Kids play like, well, kids. They talk and scream and wave their arms and run and use their hands to pick up things. They roll around on the ground and wrestle with each other. They have been taught not to use their teeth on each other, but that does not keep them from pinching, tickling, and generally using their hands on each other.

Puppies, and Twinkie is still a puppy, don't have hands and their paws have claws. Puppies play with each other with their mouths and their bodies. They bark and growl, playbite, wrestle and roll around on the ground, taking turns holding each other belly up with their teeth on the other's neck! Twinkie is inviting to play, or playing every time he nips or grabs a shirt, or jumps. The air can and the toy will help him to understand that this is not welcome. But it is your job to come up with games that everyone can play successfully. Just running around and playing pirates or ball is an invitation to nipping!

Your job, time consuming, but worth it, is to teach both the kids and the puppy games that they can play together. Just generally running around with each other is not a good game. One of the kids is for sure going to get a "play bite'. When you do not have fur, "play bites" hurt!

Use the air can and the toy suggestions, they should help. But teach your puppy and children games to play together. Fetch, puller tugger ( it does not teach agression or reenforce dominance - watch two or more dogs play at it- they take turns winning). Hide and seek - each kid takes turn hiding and you and the others use "hot and '"Cold to help Twinkie find them. You may need to begin by giving the hider a smelly treat to help Twinkie out You can hide with Twinkie and the kids can find Twinkie. Red Rover teaches Twinkie to wait and come when called. You will need to be Twinkie's partner, with Twinkie on a leash for awhile to teach him this game.

You can turn teaching command and tricks into games under your very watchful eye. Twinkie is not old enough to play with your children by himself. If you spend just the next few months teaching them to play together it will make a huge difference in how your children bond with Twinkie. When they want to play tag or you can no longer watch them, take Twinkie with you.

Raising a puppy with children is a lot of work, but worth the effort. All those stories , movies and TV shows where the dog is the children's best friend - the dog is 3 or over and well trained and in real the children are trained to - to act appropriately with the dog.

I have been where you are, it is fun,but also a lot of work. But it is soooo worth it. Your children will learn to love your dog and spend time with her for the rest of her life.

[Sessa]

You have received excellent advice and very positive courses of action!

For us, the "toy in mouth" routine worked best...Sharon's description with Boo is pretty spot on for us too....its about replacement of your hand with the toy--they nip at your hand for attention, you say "no" but then shove a toy in their mouth with big praise...they DO make the connection, trust me...at 3yrs old, my Mija runs and grabs her toy when she gets really excited--she'll release the "need" to have something in her mouth while still enjoying excitement with us! :) The cherry on top--she learned quickly as well that toys are an acceptable and encouraged way to interact with humans! ;)

Which brings me to the one reason I wanted to reply---the "need" to have something in their mouth.

I truly believe that all these doodles--labradoodles or goldendoodles (etc)--have an instinctual need for communicating and interacting with the world via their mouths (all dogs are really like this, but I have specifically noticed this being pronounced with the parent breeds of doodles, and a few other breeds too)...the retriever part of them all--be it latent or active, engages the mouthiness....
...so, in the end, it should be of no surprise to have a "mouthy" puppy. ;)

Again, to leave this on a positive note--these traits are wonderful when given appropriate direction and outlets...training a retrieve with them is a breeze--which not only translates to fun & games, but also translates into real-life therapy and assistance techniques!

Keep up the hard work and try all the suggestions given---the nice thing about this site is you'll never have a lack of suggestions for things to try!!
Don't forget to have fun!! :)

[Adina P]

Sessa, I love reading your advice, probably because I usually agree with it ;-), but particularly because it comes across that you are SMILING as you write it.

[Lorraine Bromley]

You are soooo right. We have dogs that were originally bred to use their mouths to work. There are other breeds that are also bred to this purpose. They all have nipping biting issues not just doodles. I do think that if you have a doodle people use this as a negative. If you have a viszla for instance (my sister has one) no one complains that it is also always grabbing you and using its mouth as it is a pure bred show dog with using its mouth as a positive feature.
All dogs that instinctually bite and nip do need to use thier mouths and it is up to us as owners to give them positve opportunities to do so.

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

We had our first puppy obedience class on Saturday and I got some good tips on the nipping. Our trainer is a behavioral specialist and is certified in so many areas.
She said it is a 3-step process that escalates as the nipping does. This is within a certain time period (close together - 15 minutes or so):
First nip - Yelp. Like you said you have tried.
Second nip - Stand up and turn around and do not say one word to Twinkie. No acknowledgement of the nipping.
Third nip - Leave the room. Again do not say one word.

It was interesting because we observed this with our pups. If they played too rough, the first time was a warning with the pup being aggressed yelping. Next time, the puppy would look away from the agressor and the next time, the puppy would run away fromt the aggressor.

At this point, Peri does not nip, so I can't say this works from personal experience. But our trainer swears by it. She says saying "no" or pushing her away is pointless, as they like that attention. That is acknowledging their behavior.

Good luck.