Hi all, My puppy is 10mths old now. She hardly jumps up (at me at least, on the gate is difference, but I get her to sit), and hasnt bite me where it hurt in say since she was 8mths... The last couple days she nipped i twice but today she seems calm again,... Is this normal for her age or should she never do it....it was out of ordinary. Also she does still mouth...well not really but f she has a toy in her mouth and bumps against you. It's not sore like the nips though... Think she'll still be like this at 15mths... Why I ask is she's going to have a lady house/pet sit while I'm away for three weeks.... It's partly that feeling of...is my child going to behave...?
What were you doing when she nipped? One thing that triggered some nipping is if I did anything too exciting...running (we used to cross a busy street daily on our walks and sometimes we would jog across to beat the cars and she would jump and nip), flapping arms, playing tug in the evenings when she was more excitable. I stopped anything I was doing and walked away. If she was on leash I would stand there arms at my side and ask for a sit, didn’t move until she sat. I upped my training, especially on walks with lots calm sits, stays, go to your bed etc. I also introduced a cue “look”...it means stop what you are doing and look at me. I still use it all the time to get her attention. There are several members that have good advice on this who are probably sleeping at the moment!
I can't speak for all labs, but Xena is almost 2 and still gives the odd nip but only when she's very excited. What you've described seems to be just that, so I wouldn't panic. As for the house sitter, I wouldn't worry too much. My mum has house sat Xena twice, the first time at 8 months. My mum also has ZERO dog experience. 8 months old was a challenge but it went as smoothly as could be expected, but I'd done a lot of prep work with her beforehand, and Xena was familiar with her. As long as your dog has spent some time with the house sitter and is familiar with your routines and your expectations then I think it'll be fine. My mum house sat Xena again last month and was shocked at how much easier she was than at 8 months lol. They're just a handful at that age!
