Nipping..ouch..ignore...

[Flashy Fawn]

My 7 week old Cooper is undeniably still in his nipping and biting stage and I am trying the "nip...ouch...ignore" technique. Sometimes it works very effectively, but other times he runs away, gets down on all fours and then charges for either my pants, feet or hands again and barks or growls sometimes making it impossible to ignore him because I have to keep doing the "ouch and ignore". Then, he walkas or runs away and seems to calm down, but as soon as I approach he does the "getting down on all fours" thing again. It seems like playing but I am concerned it is defiance. It also seems to only be happening when we get home from work every day(Cooper is a project manager in training. And comes to work every day on time. !) So I am wondering if it is because of a lack of play during the day and he is just exerting his extra energy?

Does this sound normal? Should I be concerned?

All thoughts appreciated,
Nick and Cooper

 

[Caney Creek]

It's very normal. And I don't think he's being defiant, not at all. He is WAY to young for that at 7 weeks. I would say it is both -- if he isn't getting any play-time during the day, he must also have some extra energy to burn What does he do all day? Can you get him some more exercise during the day somehow? If not maybe you could try to do it first thing when you get home. You're doing the right thing ignoring him when he nips to get you to play, but I can also see where he's coming from if he has had nothing to do all day, so try to get him engaged in activity as soon as possible so that he doesn't have the chance to act up.

 

[Flashy Fawn]

It's very normal. And I don't think he's being defiant, not at all. He is WAY to young for that at 7 weeks. I would say it is both -- if he isn't getting any play-time during the day, he must also have some extra energy to burn What does he do all day? Can you get him some more exercise during the day somehow? If not maybe you could try to do it first thing when you get home. You're doing the right thing ignoring him when he nips to get you to play, but I can also see where he's coming from if he has had nothing to do all day, so try to get him engaged in activity as soon as possible so that he doesn't have the chance to act up.

Well, for the most part he sleeps. He wakes up and explores a little bit, then we go outside to use the bathroom. He seems to know already where he has to go to eliminate and we usually walk around for five or ten minutes while out there. I have been trying to engage in some play, like tug of war or just a little wrestle. But he usually will visit the secretary and play a little with her and then goes right back to sleep. Now, when we get home I will either take him for a short walk or run with him some in the back yard. Should I try some mental exercise too?

 

[Caney Creek]

Should I try some mental exercise too?

Of course It never hurts, and the more he gets the better. Short training sessions, interactive toys, even games like hide-and-seek, or hide the toy. Use your imagination to make up things for him to do. Do you have chew-toys or bones for him at work? That would help to keep him occupied too. He might be sleeping a lot during the day now, but in a couple of weeks it will be a different story

 

[Flashy Fawn]

Of course It never hurts, and the more he gets the better. Short training sessions, interactive toys, even games like hide-and-seek, or hide the toy. Use your imagination to make up things for him to do. Do you have chew-toys or bones for him at work? That would help to keep him occupied too. He might be sleeping a lot during the day now, but in a couple of weeks it will be a different story

He has plenty of toys. And he chews on them some. But he eventually gets bored and goes to sleep.

 

[HyperNeko]

Dealing with the same thing

Neko is 10 weeks and the nipping has gotten out of hand. I've tried to act like it hurts and turn my back but that doesn't work. He doesn't pay me any attention and if I walk away he follows. I wish someone would tell me how to stop him from nipping. I've taken him to the petstore and little kids want to play with him. He jumps up on them and nipps. I don't want him to hurt anyone.

 

[LILYLARUE]

Helping Udders has some great playtoys for the mind. They have two different gadgets that you hide a piece of kibble in and they have to slide open the doors to get to it. I just found these the other day and placing an order for both styles.

Maybe something like this in the office would keep him busy and entertained without needing too much interaction from you.

I find Lily will sleep if she is bored at the office. She goes with me every other day mostly. If we are at home during the day, she is pretty active. It could be the relaxed environment at work that bores him.

 

[larrygs]

Regarding the post about Neko, Layla was quite persistent at the beginning as well. The simple ouch and turn away wasn't effective. We were at our wits end and began to call her a demon dog. I think part of the problem is we didn't do the right things at the beginning. Just didn't know better. For whatever reason, the problem was worse for my wife.

On the advice of a trainer we respect, we set up learning sessions. My wife would sit on the bathroom floor and play with Layla. The moment she bit, my wife loudly yelped, left the room, closing the door behind her and leaving Layla alone. After a minute or two, my wife would return and repeated this scenario. Over and over again. To our amazement, after about a half hour or so Layla stopped biting.

Of course she retested us the next day, and we would repeat the sessions. Once I was in the shower and could observe Layla when my wife left the room. For the first couple of times, she was still quite eager to play and bite. But after about 3rd time my wife left the room, you could see a wave of resignation wash over this little puppy. It was so cute.

Later she would occasionally get too wound up playing and bite, but a yelp and withdrawing of attention stopped her without us resorting to a learning session.

She is now quite aware to be gentle with her mouth to the point people comment on it.

Good luck!

 

[Swampo]

I use my lunch hour and breaks for outside play time with mine. I swallow whole my lunch and then go outside with whichever pup I have that day. When inside, (I'm in a small warehouse alone) I'll have a few toys with me and throw them as I am walking around working. I'll also chase them or run from them on my travels through the building. They are 6 months though. When they were your pups age, they mostly just slept.

 

[JohnS]

11 weeks and still biting

My puppy of 11 weeks (Maggie) is still in the biting stage, and like someone else said, the biting is worse when my wife is the target. I think she knows I won't tolerate it and she completely ignores my wife's pleas for her to stop.

I don't think it's going to end anytime soon, but she really hasn't damaged anything and I'm very happy about that. She'll be 12 weeks this coming Monday.