We have an 8 month old yellow - Stella. She seems to have outgrown the normal puppy biting but has a residual irritating issue. She seems to get excited and "nips" as I call it. She will use her front teeth to "nip" including when she has a toy/bone in her mouth. She will do it to us, and other adults - but not to my granddaughter, who is 19 mos old. She seems to do it when she first greets, or meets, someone new - but to my husband and I most all the time. I am not sure how to break her. We tell her "no bite" and push her away. It's irritating and hurts too sometimes. She is also jumping up still, at times, and wondering the best way to start correcting this. Thanks to anyone with suggestions. Jen
Hi @Jennifer L , welcome to the Forum from myself and Cassie who 15 months and my first lab, so while I'm not an expert at all I have had the same issue with her. The best advice I had was to withdraw my arms and all interaction the second it starts, just keep doing it consistently until she gets the idea it's not wanted, and I would say it's working. I also say "no biting", but withdrawing arms works best for me. It's tough when sometimes I know she's just greeting me, but she is much better now. And also ask other people to do the same. I'm sure others will be along but I hope this helps.
Hello and welcome to the forum! Saying "no biting" is pointless, as your dog doesn't speak English and, unless you've actually trained it to mean something (which you obviously haven't), then you might as well be saying "Keep on biting". Furthermore, talking to her, even to say "don't do that" is giving her attention, which is rewarding her behaviour. The best courses of action here are: 1. Train an incompatible behaviour. Rather of thinking what you don't want (jumping up), think of what you can train that you would prefer. So, all four feet on the floor is a popular idea, or you can teach the dog to greet you in a sit. Or, I believe Ian Dunbar has found that his dogs don't jump up if they greet him with a toy in their mouths (not sure this would hold true of all dogs, mind), so that might be something else to consider. Your dog only gets greeted when they offer the behaviour you want. Don't nag her when she's excited, as saying "sit sit sit sit sit" when she's not in a frame of mind to listen just won't work. Just ignore her until she's calm. Most of the time, this behaviour is largely our own fault - we're happy that the dog is happy to see us, so we make a fuss of them, especially when young and cute. So pup learns that you coming home is hugely exciting, and responds accordingly. For me, I like that welcome, so I'm not bothered to train a sit or similar. But I did ignore the really excitable jumping up and would only greet and fuss when they were being less ridiculous. I don't mind them standing up against me, but I don't want them to jump frantically. Choose what you're after and only give your dog attention when she is offering that behaviour. 2. Management. If she does this when you're out, or if someone comes in the door, prevent her from practicing it. This can be by putting her on her led and standing on it, so she physically can't jump up. Or, in the house, put her into her crate or a separate room until your guest has entered and sat down. If she's still excited, you can pop her on lead and use the idea of standing on it indoors, until she's said hi calmly.
thank you for your input Selina. I appreciate it. I understand the withdrawl idea and plan to use it. Unfortunately, she sometimes will do the nipping while we are walking and does it to our legs (or my brother behind - ha).
Thanks Snowbunny. I had heard to do the leash thing outside while on walks, but had not thought to do it inside the house. I like the idea. Stella is smart and picks up things very quickly which is why I do not want to "screw up my dod" and create problems that will last a lifetime.
I would definitely second the standing on leash advice. I have recently had problems with Cassie which I've documented on the training logs, it's a long story. But standing on the lead and doing nothing else, has really worked. But you have to be determined and consistent. Good luck.
Our 7 month old golden retriever does this as well. Still nips occasionally as you are walking in front of her. And still jumping up on us when we come in the door. I will also give the leash trick a try too. My labs have never really had this problem as they greet with a toy in their mouths and I haven't ever seen them jump up while having a toy. Wonder why that is?
Hello! I am new to this and this subject quickly caught my attention. We have a 8/9 month old lab. She is nipping/biting with barking as she is wagging her tail. If we put our feet up on the recliner, she walks by, nips hard and starts barking and doing the downward dog. Last night, she was sleep on the floor, we took her out to go to the bathroom, straight up to bed and she turns wild. She starts ju,ping, biting, barking. We have done the timeout with the crate, we squirt the water bottle, sh wears a leash at all times so we can get a hold of her. What now?
Hi Tracy and welcome to the forum. The behaviours that you describe, the wagging tail while nipping, the play bows (or downward dog as you call it), suggest to me that your dog is excited and wants to play. Keep in mind that she is basically at the teenage phase for dogs with all that that entails. Firstly, please stop squirting her with water. At best it will make her more excited, at worst you will create a dog that has fear issues around people - not pleasant for your dog and a far worse behavioural issue for you to deal with. How much daily exercise, play, and training does she have? All of these will help to burn off surplus energy and make your dog easier to live with during this phase. When she does nip you the best course of action is to deny her any attention - no verbal reprimands, no physical responses, just complete absence of any response at all. Eventually (it may take a while) she will learn that nipping means no attention and so she will stop. Let us know how you get on
It definitely sounds like an invitation to play. Lots of dogs do seem to like some evening activity. My dog is an adult so no longer bites or barks for attention, but if I'm sitting on the sofa with my iPad early in the evening she comes and nudges it with her nose. (She has had at least two hours of off lead walks earlier). I ask her to lie down (which she does because I spent a long time training it) but then I put the iPad away and go and play with her -because that's why I have a dog. We have a game of tug or catch the ball or practise a trick or two. It's only about 10 minutes maximum and then she settles down for the evening. I understand that if you've been at work all day it's more demanding, but if you keep it light-hearted it can be fun and relaxing for you too, and if you instigate it before the biting starts you're not rewarding bad behaviour.
Finn does this and is our first lab we learned this. He doesn't jump up but carry his cuddle and walk to an fro to great.
Thank you all for the info. Bentley goes for several long walks throughout the day, she runs hard for about 2 hours a night chasing toys, squirrels, birds, she swims, she is an active dog. She is like a child and has our undivided attention when we are all home. When she barks and bites, it is very hard to ignore her. Her bites hurt. We are trying.
Ok, well it certainly sounds as if Bentley has plenty of physical exercise How much mental stimulation does she get in the form of training and play with you (rather than playing by herself). As strange as it may seem, undivided attention is not a good thing - Bentley needs to learn how to relax when with you without getting constant attention. Do you have a dog bed or blanket in the room that you use in the evenings? It might be helpful to encourage her to go to her bed and relax - you can do this by rewarding her with treats when she goes there. In addition whenever you notice that she has voluntarily sat or lay down you should calmly drop a treat for her (not in an excited manner as you might with other areas of training, say nothing, just drop the treat) to encourage this calm behaviour.
