Although I've been lucky enough to keep the biting to a very manageable level, my pup Minka (17 weeks) will sometimes mouth and nip at me if we are playing strenuously, or at certain times she's extremely excited and I move in to pet her. I get this under control pretty quickly, and the biting is usually just mild mouthing even when she gives into the urge. Since she still does it sometimes, I'll warn strangers who want to pet her that she can nip if she's excited and to be aware of that even though she won't bite down like she really means it. But what I noticed was that Minka never, ever does the nipping to strangers. She can be extremely excited, they can get her on her belly for a while and rile her up, and they can be moving their hands quickly all around her face. After meeting more and more people, I'm just surprised Minka has never even had that "look" like she might think it's okay to start teething on human flesh when it's with strangers. Is anyone aware of any particular reason why she never nips at strangers, but sometimes she might think it's okay with me? Or am I jumping to conclusions? My guess is that it just has something to do with being outside and away from home where she's done all her chewing, but I really have no idea.
Hi @Henry77 she thinks it's part of the game when she is playing with you. With strangers she lacks the confidence to act so. You need to teach her that nipping you is not okay. If you want to teach her to hold things, then use a tug toy. But biting you results in the game stopping. I would not be getting strangers to over-arouse her either. You don't want her to believe that she has to be highly aroused when interacting with new individuals. You don't want to build such an association. You should concentrate instead on calm behaviour. Sit stays. If she stays and continues to sit, then the stranger can come over and gently say hello. Keep the level of arousal low. Reward calm behaviour.
Thanks, @Michael A Brooks I definitely have been trying to teach her that, and she gets better little by little. It's actually hilarious to me when she motions with her mouth toward me and looks at me, almost as if she's asking, "Please, can I have a little nibble just this one time?" I do typically get up and walk away after she does it more than once, even if she's responding to me when I let her know not too. I feel like if she gets in the habit of trying to sneak in a bite and being told to stop, that becomes like a game in and of itself. I try not to let people go crazy arousing her. They usually don't, but one lady today went straight for the belly when Minka went on her back by her feet. Nothing nuts, though. We didn't stay long. It's just hard to tell people how to pet her in the moment, especially after I already had her and her daughter wait for Minka to sit and look at them and back at me a couple times before I let her say hi. Probably 90% of the people we meet pet her just a few times like a normal person, but sometimes strangers act a bit unexpectedly I think you're right that she sees the nipping as a game she can sneak in with me sometimes. I hate having to walk away all the time, but I do it for her own good. I'm wondering if you have an opinion on whether I should have like a "no strikes" policy or give her an opportunity to calm down and correct herself. I just love playing with her.
Hi @Henry77 I tell people how I want them to behave before they approach my dogs--although I'm discreet. I tell them that I'm teaching my dog, and that if they want to be part of the instruction, then that is fine. If I'm not sure they are going to listen, I tell them I'm in a rush and have to move on. I don't want my dogs to learn that rough-house play is to be expected from strangers. If my dog knocks over someone, then I'm responsible. I don't want my dog to think it's okay to nip me even once. But I do want her to retrieve things. So if she wants to walk around with a small dumbbell then that's fine with me. And sometimes when I play retrieve I will play with her at length as a reward. She had been taught targeting. As a reward I will do some targeting with her. She really enjoys it. Last week I got my dog to go through a tunnel, which she loves, but then I cued to heel. And when she did I cued again to go through the tunnel as a reward. The trick is to work out what things you can do to reward the steadiness and attentiveness to your cues. As you can detect, biting me is not part of the agenda at all. I have fun with her and she with me without any nips.
Thanks again. Minka is great during training. She’ll never bite in the middle of a clicker session. It’s just when we’re hanging out and playing around with no cues that she might start to go at my hand thinking anything goes. I could just keep it all formal but I think I’m too addicted to just rolling around on the floor with her.
I hear what you are saying @Henry77. And I agree with you. We owners don't need to be in training mode all the time with our dogs. I allow my dog to be a dog. At night when I go for a walk I let her sniff lamp-posts, and various spots along the way. I just stand there while she works out the local history. She is on the look out for wallabies and possums. She can sniff the area, where a wallaby has been standing. We both stare at a tawny frogmouth that has just landed in a gum tree. After the obedience class, she is allowed to run off lead with another Lab, who is a member of her class. I have never seen two dogs as happy as when those two play together. They have a special bond. We owners taught them scent detection and each of us used the other dog as a distraction. Sometimes they play chase. More often they want us to be involved in the game. We throw a ball so that they can chase after it and bring it back. For a lark, the instructor of our class had us doing simultaneous figure 8's, and jumps. But I believe also we have to be fair with our dogs, and part of that is being consistent. Your dog probably doesn't understand why it's okay to nip you once but not a second time. She must find to to very confusing. It's, of course, your prerogative. I'll leave with just one rhetorical question: If some kid she knew started rolling around with her, would she know what was acceptable?
