# Arg! Chew Toy, Not Me!!



## patk (Jun 13, 2013)

interrupt with "no" and isolate her for a minute or two - as in, put her in her crate in another room, if possible. do this consistently. another pf member experienced what you're going through and finally ended up just wearing a blanket until her dog outgrew this behavior. i'm not sure that's the best option for you, especially with an elderly aunt around.


----------



## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

Most pups do grow out of it with help, but it can take months of patient teaching that hard nipping means game over. I used the squeal and turn away method, which worked well for my tinies. A few minutes behind a baby gate would help reinforce the message (I would be wary of using the crate as an aversive, but if she is cranky through tiredness a nap may be in order!). Having your aunt with you certainly complicates the issue - I think I would treat it rather as I would having a puppy and a small child, with constant supervision and always being ready to distract Dulcie. The big difference is that your aunt is more able to understand the need not to wind the puppy up, and is far less likely to run around flapping and squealing! In fact she may be exactly the person to help Dulcie learn to be calm and control her frustration, rewarding her for gentle interactions and leaving the room when the pup begins to get obstreperous.


----------



## MiniPoo (Mar 6, 2014)

We had a lab mix that we got from the humane society when she was about 3 months. She seemed calm at first then became this biting, jumping demon. We had to muzzle her at the vet and while she loved my DH, she bit me pretty bad several times. Very energetic as a puppy and hard to walk and control in general. Since we had to muzzle her on certain occasions (shots at vet, getting nails done), we decided if she wouldn't stop nipping, we would put on her muzzle for a few minutes, then take it off. Before we put it on, we would say "Do you want the muzzle?" to show our intention when she was acting crazy. After a while, she started calming down when we said these words or just held up the muzzle. It was like a time out without the crate.

Since she jumped around so much, we sometimes kept a short tab on her collar so we could catch her and she couldn't start a game of keep away. Again, we just didn't know how else to handle her.

This dog lived to over 13 years, and she did outgrow the nipping and jumping but it was some time over a year. She was half lab and half beagle. Just crazy as a pup. Later became a couch potato and was a good, slightly neurotic dog.

I know our method would not be recommended by many, but it seemed humane for both the dog and us. I think her biting was why she was given up in the first place.


----------



## Rachel76 (Feb 3, 2014)

Aahhh yes, Hemi is now six months old and finally doing better. A couple of months ago I was in your shoes (minus the elderly aunt). 

I tried to make sure our outings weren't too long so Hemi could take a nap, I wore only old clothes, and paid lots of attention during play time to stop it _before_ she became over aroused. I know it's not easy. I repeatedly left the room every time she nipped, Hemi was confined behind a baby gate. During this time I was calm and quiet and kept my back to her. If I yelped at all it seemed to encourage her. 

I have a couple of small scars on my hand because she chomped me hard enough to draw blood, it wasn't aggression, just overly aroused. Hang in there, it will get better.


----------



## Suddenly (Aug 8, 2013)

I'm not sure if this will work. I was watching one of those shows on TV the other day I think it was on Animal Planet and it was about bringing puppies to their new homes. Anyway they were saying they some puppies go through the nipping stage. What they said, and I saw was that they put butter on the top of their hands so insteAd of the nipping the puppy would actually lick the butter. I'm not sure about this but maybe it's worth a try. Maybe somewhere there is an article about this.
Wishing you the best!


Sent from Petguide.com Free App


----------



## patk (Jun 13, 2013)

i believe another pf member mentioned using the peanut butter on the fingers technique to teach not biting hands. sounded like an excellent response to biting at hands. the problem comes when a dog nips everywhere and anywhere. pretty hard to turn oneself into a jar of skippy.

if you think of the psychology behind turning your back to the dog, the message is, calm down, i don't like what you're doing. (that's actually what's involved when dogs turn away from other dogs, according to turid rugaas.) when that message is not received by the puppy, the next logical step (in dog/human interaction) is a minute of isolation. using the dog's crate (in another room, away from humans) is based on the assumption that your dog is comfortable with her crate, goes into it on her own when she wants to get away from the world, etc. so she is isolated for about a minute (that's the punishment) but still in a place where she feels safe. 

by the way, your "ignore," if face on, should include head turned to the side, nose up and no eye contact. 

also, are you yipping like crazy when she nips at you? it works with some dogs that spent long enough with their littermates. i did it to the sweetest maltese pup who was teething and wanted to chew my fingers. she stopped, gave me a look, and got up and walked away. i was too much of a wimp for her to play with!


----------



## MiniPoo (Mar 6, 2014)

Suddenly said:


> I'm not sure if this will work. I was watching one of those shows on TV the other day I think it was on Animal Planet and it was about bringing puppies to their new homes. Anyway they were saying they some puppies go through the nipping stage. What they said, and I saw was that they put butter on the top of their hands so insteAd of the nipping the puppy would actually lick the butter. I'm not sure about this but maybe it's worth a try. Maybe somewhere there is an article about this.
> Wishing you the best!
> 
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


Licking instead of biting is a big improvement. I am always putting stuff on my fingers for the dogs to lick: dog toothpaste, yogurt, a dab of canned dog food. If I put my fingers in front of my current dog's mouth, she licks it probably in hopes of something good. I hope this technique helps.


----------



## GeriDe (Mar 2, 2014)

From day ONE I didn't allow Khaos to nip or mouth. If he started I said "no bite....playyyy" and shoved a toy in his mouth. He stopped using me as a chew toy within a week and have never gone back to it.


----------

