We have a three year old dog, had him since a pup. He’s a mutt – longish hair beagle style dog. Actually he is really pretty intelligent.
He’s been an awesome dog so far. I’ve taken many tips, and have become his “pack leader”. However, he tends to nip at my kids when they are playing/rough housing, and when other kids come over he has nipped at them for playing, or when they have food in their hands.
Obviously this is a problem (though he never nips hard…just enough to scare them a bit). How do I overcome this? What would the Dog Whisperer tell me to do?
I am a dog trainer and I say your dog needs to go to Dog School. If you haven’t the money try my 1, 2, 3 easy tips.
1. Make a spot in the house for him to discipline him for doing this. The spot should have NO toys, NO children, and NO attention for about 5 minutes.
2. Take away play time/ treats for misbehavior.
3. Play with him more. Show him how to play nice and discipline for naughtiness.
I would say take him to obedience school. There are experienced people there who can help train your dog to stuff such as not nipping. Whenever he does something wrong, scold him by saying no or bad dog. They can usually sense when you’re mad at them by the tone of your voice. This should also help your dog to not to it again.
I use a dog training tip I learned from a vet. He said to get a small soda bottle (like a 16 oz Pepsi ) and after you rinse it out fill it with some pennies. When your dog does something you don’t like – just shake it at the dog, and the noise will stop him from doing whatever it is that he shouldn’t be doing. When you shake it at him use a word command like – No – or – Bottle.
After awhile all you will have to is say the word and your dog will associate the word with the noisy bottle and it should be effective.
NEVER hit you dog with the bottle or anything else. Also, when he guits nipping and listens, you should reward him for doing so.
Well, what you should do is let your children and dog rough house…. Then when you see him nip your children once, jerk him quickly by his collar and say “NO! Bad dog!!! ” Then punish him like putting him inside his crate or making him lie down.
Do this over and over again every day. Hopefully he’ll get the picture. And everytime he licks your children’s face, give him a treat. He’ll learn lick, not nip!
Good luck!
Dogs have personalities just like we do, your dog is getting older, and maybe the kids make him nervous… is he crate trained?
when he nips, hold his snout (like your holding a coke can) and in a stern voice say “NO BITE”
but usually in adult dogs they already have their personalities.
just like you and I….maybe he is not clicking with the children, maybe he is a quiet type dog, maybe he is just nervous.
I have a lab that we can throw in the pool, lay on him, feed him from out hand, and even pull his tail, he loves it;…. he has a very playful personality… then I have a poodle, he is something else!
he is picky, he is nippy, and if he gets mad he will do naughty things.
he is crate trained and most of the time we have to keep him in the crate because of his bad habits…
good luck with your dog.. but keep in mind, he has feelings too.
Flick him on the nose when he nips and tell him NO.
If a sharp “No” isn’t enough, and it wasn’t enough for our JRT, I found this, which has worked for the most part. He stops nipping and always licks us. I try to yelp like another dog would if he were nipping at a dog who he caused pain.
From the ASPCA:
– Give a high-pitched yelp, as if you are in pain, when the puppy bites too hard. This should startle the puppy and cause him to stop, at least momentarily. Praise the puppy for stopping and/or for licking you.
If it a serious niper and if could end up hurting someone really bad , take it and put it to sleep.If it is ” puppy nip ” or ” dog gets really excited nipp just take it to a obedience school.It will work.
I just wouldnt let him play with the kids if he is going to bite them I wouldnt worry about the dog worry about your kids safety cause you never know someday that dog may get even worse and really hurt one of your kids bad
When your dog goes to nip,you smack him firmly across the bridge of the nose and you tell him no!Then say bad dog.That is how we broke our rat terrier mix.