Nipping (Sorry if it's long)

[BlueAngel25]

Hi All,

In November my fiance and I adopted a 2 year old brindle male. He is a great dog except for one thing that we have not been able to conquer. He nips at your pant legs and shirt sleeves, similar to how a puppy would do it...except he's not a puppy, he's 60 lbs!

We aren't sure how to stop this behavior because it seems like he escalates every time we try to stop him...he seems to think that it is a game.

We are currently in obedience school with him, and he did some of it last night in class. The instructor knows that he is a rescue dog, and she said that we may need to get him evaluated for aggression?!? She said that a dog should NEVER put his mouth on you EVER! My fiance bought into what she was saying, but I personally do not. If he were an aggressive dog, I would expect to see other examples of aggression.

I have a feeling that it may be energy related. Since he's still young, he may just want to get us to play, and this is the way that he is trying to tell us. He's crated during the day while we're at work, but we walk him for about 2 miles when we get home. I just have a feeling that this may not be enough, and he still has more energy.

Can anyone help us with this? Like I said, I don't feel as though he is an aggressive dog, but I do need to stop this behavior since it is unwanted and potentially dangerous. If he were to do this with a child (which we are planning to have), it could create a problem.

Sorry for the long post, and thanks in advance for your comments.

 

[Reagan-Mae]

I agree a dog's "teeth" should never touch human skin and so do most qualifed trainers. My suggestion, when he starts the nipping fold your arms and turn around. He will learn really fast that he will not get any ATTENTION when he does this behaviour. Right now all the things you are doing to teach him to stop are just giving him attention (from his perspective). I have noticed a huge difference in our pup (6 mos) when our teens try to calm her from jumping up or nipping for attention when they try to touch her to make her sit or point at her saying no or sit. When they simply stop everything turn around and not face the dog and fold the arms she stops immediately and sits. After she settles (a few seconds) she gets attention. It works really well. You should be able to teach this to your dog quickly, if you keep it up.

Your biggest problem may result in the conflicting views you and your husband have regarding the dog because you will both treat him differenty, train him differently and discipline differently. You both really should agree on how to approach the dog. That will be the best strategy for consistency and training your dog so he knows what is expected of him at all times.


Reagan

 

[Jan]

Hi All,

She said that a dog should NEVER put his mouth on you EVER! My fiance bought into what she was saying, but I personally do not.

I don't buy that either. It's important when a boxer is a pup, that they learn that their teeth hurt. If they never bite at you, they are never going to learn it. It's important that they learn that they can't put any pressure on your skin with their teeth.

I sounds to me that your boxer just wants to play and hasn't learned that this is inappropriate behavior. I would actually encourage your boxer to mouth at your hands so that you can yelp and stop playing with him, if he bites too hard. I would also work on the off command.

Good luck!