Jumping and Nibbling

[Tessiesdad]

Hey all!

So I have an eight month old boxer (female) puppy who was recently spayed and I've been working hard to train her. Unfortunately she's still jumping up on to anyone who comes into the apartment, even me. Also, she seems to have a fetish with hands and just wants to nibble them even if a toy is present.

We've tried redirecting her with a toy but she still seems to just want to play with hands. Recently, I've tried having her sit and stay at the door anytime someone enters the front door, but it's been pretty slow progress so far.

Any other tricks or suggestions so far? Any input would be much appreciated

 

[srennie]

I'm having the same problem with an 8 month old pit that I'm training at the shelter. He is really good until he gets excited, then he is jumping on me..he also jumps on all new people he meets and being a shelter dog, I haven't been able to get him around a lot of people of different ages to really work on this. What I do when he jumps on me is to just say 'no' and turn my back and I don't engage him until he has calmed down. He will also nibble on my hands if he wants me to play or if he is laying down with a toy and I pet him....we're working on being still to get affection. I've also tried making sure he has a ball in his mouth when I pet him and for the most part that works. If he puts his mouth on me I tell him 'no' and walk away. I'm also trying to desensitize him to excited body movements because if he gets adopted into a family with children he'll have to exercise self control around a lot of excitement. He is such a smart and friendly and outgoing dog but he needs more self control. I take him out to the yard and jump around and squeal like an idiot, waving my arms around and only when he sits in front of me do I throw the ball. He's doing better but I'm the only one working with him....1 hr/ 3days a week...so I know it will just take time.

 

[Rocky and Ty]

Our boys actually completed a obedience class. Every time the trainer took the leash in his hand, our dogs were on their best behavior. Almost like a new dog. When people come over, our dogs like to jump. If you tell Rocky no jumping, he will jump in place until he lets it all out. Tyson, we have to keep on a leash and check him multiple times until he calms down. I usually will let him smell the person but also hold him back so he can't jump. Once he calms down, he's fine. Boxers can get very excited or nothing. The trainer told us to watch the tone of our voice. If we sound or act excited, so will they. If they are over excited when people come over or enter a room, try ignoring them until they calm down. No eye contact or communication. Sometimes when we leave the house, they will nip at our ankles or even our hands when we shut the door. Seems like if we give them a treat before leaving and telling them no barking works most of the time. We've been boxer owners now for about 4 yrs and it never gets old.

 

[dodgeandmar]

Dodger has never been a jumper, but Marlee does it, only to me, when she gets excited. She jumps with her front legs stretched out like she's trying to hug, but her toenails HURT if they catch. Whenever I see her about to do it, I raise my leg and turn to the side a little and say "No Jump!" Then I don't give her any attention until she calms down. After about 3 days she learned that if she wants to be loved on she has to sit still and be a nice little lady.

 

[boxerallie]

our trainer had us knee our boxer in the chest when she jumped on us. Not hard! it was more like we just put our knee out and she ran into it and sternly say no when she did it. as soon as all 4 paws hit the ground, give praise. we had to do it maybe 3-4 times but she doesn't do it anymore. the first time she thought we were playing, but she got it the next time. she will sometimes think about it and jump up but she doesn't put her paws on us. as far as guests coming over, we had to keep her on the leash and when she jumped, we pulled her down with a stern no and again when all 4 paws were on the ground she got praise. we only had to do this a few times and now she doesn't jump on anyone!

as far as the nipping, allie did that too. it's a sign of dominence. our trainer had us use our hands and make like we were biting her in the neck as we said no. it's a really quick motion and as soon as she stopped she got praise. the key is making sure as soon as they stop the bad behavior you praise.

good luck!

 

[EAO76]

Keep in mind that a dog that knows how to use their teeth gently and understands the strength of their bite is a lot less dangerous than one who has never experimented with their mouth & therefor has not learned bite inhibition. You have to use good judgment and understand when the dog is too excited (excitement CAN lead to aggression) but little nibbles (especially the "flea bite" type nibbles) are not a terrible thing. And its not a sign of dominance. The flea bites are usually a sign of affection and rough housing with the mouth is just typical dog behavior (albeit sometimes inappropriate). If you don't like it then by all means correct it (the best way is to yelp, like a puppy or dog would. They understand that VERY well) but dogs are dogs & they use teeth (watch how they play with each other).

The best way to correct jumping is to turn your back. You need to pretend a jumping dog doesn't exist (what dog?). You have to be as boring as possible. The dog is looking for attention so if you remove all attention (no looking, talking, touching, etc) then the dog will eventually stop jumping. It will take some time but if you are consistent it works. As far as bringing in guests you need to tell them to ignore your dog. And it helps if you can crate her or leash her until she calms down. Once she is calm then she is allowed to interact with guests.

 

[Davedbd]

I just watched an episode on PETS 101 about puppies and one method they talked about for nipping is applying some frozen butter to your hands and letting the pup lick you. Supposedly they will learn to lick rather than bite/nip. I'm not 100% sold on this but just thought I would add it as an alternative.
Our 11 week old Tiara has made vast improvements on her bite inhibition and jumping. We adopted her at 6 weeks. Pretty early by normal standards, but our home is better than some smelly kennel. We say "Ouch!", No Bite. for the 1st nip and the same for the next instead we cross our arms and turn away, ignoring her for 10 seconds. The 3rd time and she gets the same but this time its a 20 sec time out in the small bathroom alone. She comes out very calm and we continue with the play usually with far less biting. It has been a crazy 5 weeks but she gets it now and only has an occasional nip and even that's normally by accident. I agree that they should be able to nip/bite early on and learn that it hurts humans. This way they will be less likely to give a "full bite" in the future. Human skin is gentle and we will not tolerate that behavior. Than when that is fully enforced you can teach a full "No Bite", with NO TEETH touching skin at all. I've read many posts on owners that enforce a NO TEETH at all, even during play.
As for the jumping, we put her in a Sit- Stay when the doorbell rings right by the door. We get her calm and than open door. Keeping her in Sit-Stay, we tell everyone who enters to ignore her for the 1st five minutes. No eye contact, no hello's....nothing. We reinforce the sit-stay.. allow the person to enter and than greet Tiara when we say so and only when she is calm. This has been difficult, but I am seeing big improvement.
I am NO expert...this is my 1st time actually raising a dog, so please just take this as another opinion and nothing more. Most of what I've learned is from a few books and forums like this one.