Ziggy used to be quite a mouthy dog when he was younger but for the last 6 weeks or so he's been much less mouthy and nippy which we were really pleased about. Unfortunately though, it's just started up again and now he's mouthing and nipping quite a lot again. It's such a shame when he was doing so well! He really lulled us into a false sense of security! Any ideas as to why he's gone mouthy and nippy again? Might it be teething? Or perhaps I've got a naughty teenager on my hands? Thank you for any ideas! Lorraine
Hi Lorraine My pup was like this and still has her moments. She is just over 8 months. Admittedly, my experience with lab pups is quite limited but I was having a conversation with one of my friends, who is sooooo much more experienced than me, about biting suddenly reappearing after having subsided for a while and she wasn't particularly surprised by it. In her view they do start to test the boundaries a little more as they get a bit older. That was what i found with Bonnie. I must admit I think we became a little more relaxed with her as well when it seemed the niping had calmed down, so I don't feel we were reinforcing the no biting rules as much as we should. In my experience, each puppy I have had has responded brilliantly to praise and it has been a case of giving lots of praise every time for the behaviour you want. Consistency, I find, is the key to it, so keep at it. I have found a lot of Bonnie's nipping behaviour comes from frustration, overexcitement or over-tiredness. If you think that could be the case for Ziggy, trying to reinforce a cue to calm down could really help and taking yourself/or him away from the situation for a bit of timeout may help too.
