[italianwjt]

Appreciate any comments on mouthing. When I'm playing with my puppy he gets excited and sometimes nips at my hand or arm. I have him enrolled in puppy classes with several other puppys and the trainer said to squeeze his bottom lip over his teeth so he can feel the pain. I say no bite and redirect his attention. When I tried what the trainer said my puppy seems to get angry and lunge at me in a defiant way. I think this may cause aggressive behavior. Any input will be appreciated.

 

[SouthKakBully]

Yeah, I'm having the same problem with my pup. When he nips at me I say ouch in a firm voice. Then I ignore him and walk away. That seems to work sometimes.

 

[BullPunk77]

southkak that in my opinion is the best way to go about it, when we got tuck he nipped an awful lot, never in an aggressive manner just playful nipping. so we would say ouch like it hurt and then redirect him if he did it again we would say ouch and walk away and ignore him. you may also want to try the timeout approach if it doesn't get better, say ouch and redirect him and if he does it again put him in timeout in a room away from you

 

[pitbull_lover08]

Kobi used to have that problem and I got advice to use Bitter Apple spray when im playing with him. You spray it on your hands, arms and feet and then when you play with your puppy and he goes to nip at you, he will get a REALLY good taste of the BA and stop pretty quickly. Once he stops tell him "No Bite" in a firm voice. This stopped Kobi from consistently nipping, and biting at my hands and arms in little over a week. Try it!:thumbsup:

 

[pipsqweek]

when dogs play they yelp or cry a little to let eachother know that the other dog is biting too hard. This is a communication. They usually continue to play almost as if the yelp was ignored, but the message got through and they move on and continue. This is why, to me, the loud word (such as OUCH!!, No BITE!!!, or NO!!!) is effective because it is what they naturally understand. most puppies get startled. This is when you walk away and ignore them for a few minutes. Then you continue to play when they calm down again. They will get the message after a few repititions (i mean days/weeks not minutes/hours)
Some get really out of handand when you try to ignore they will start nipping your pants trying to play. In this case you can pick them up and redirect their attention, or what some call "time out" by placing them somewhere else (a different environment that will break their concentration/obsession on playing) Just be carefull not to get bit while your carrying them in their frenzy
I used to take my guy outside and hang out on the porch for a while, or to the kitchen and start putting away dishes making noise with them to break his focus on nipping my pants.
This was 3 weeks ago now he's 4 months and he knows when i disagree with a behavior and we play with little problems. Patients with the little brats is the key

When they do this it looks very agressive, but they are just playing. It could very well turn into agression if they don't learn their limits or how to handle their emotions. Don't forget that you should be able to start and end play time at what ever second you want. This should be your goal for the later months/years.
I hope this helps

 

[Chica]

Chica is almost 5 months and she does that quite abit..Actually not as bad now that i tell her "no no bad dog"

 

[BAZIRK]

I myself havnt experienced it with Vega but his mother is really bad when it comes to nipping! I wont tolerate it if he does inhereit the habbit!

 

[Figgy1682]

i have read in a magazine about bully breeds that the best way to stop this is to grab the dogs closed mouth firmly and and look them square in the eye and say NO BITE. this works with saphira for a while then she tries again, usually it takes 2 trys and shes done.

 

[ILuvPits87]

Yeah the thing with the toung dont work with my dog... she will get more aggressive and TRY to nip at me even more, she will grown then nip at same time... Right now im doing the ignore and NO!!! thing but still nothing but im being consistant with it as much as i can and she isnt no where from being a pitbull

 

[Patch O' Pits]

Redirection always has worked best for mine.

How old is the pup? What type of toys are you using to redirect?

Just curious as to how much bully breed experience your trainer has as those who don't know the breed often also can't handle a high drive bully for training IMO

 

[ILuvPits87]

4 months... shes doing better but she has many toys that i redirect her with, but shes just stubborn but for a stubborn dog ive trained her to sit,lay, speak and she does then all by command but her tension span with these commands are low and thats what im working on. shes daschund/ somthing else if you want i can post a pic of her and maybe you can determine the other half of what she is, i did a serch of doberman pinscher/daschund and got a pic that looked just like her

 

[pipsqweek]

the lack of attention span usually come from hyperactiveness. She is too built up to do something challanging with you and sit, lay, etc. isn't cutting it for her. Probably in her mind she is saying, "yea, yea, yea... i know this stuff, but let's go do something interesting!!!"
I usually do obedience stuff in the afternoon. This is after a morning run, mid-day rest, and some food. Then my guys are pretty satisfied and relaxed, but not beat up (as in dead tired). This way they have better focus (not distracted by trying to do something) and are more willing to practice some obedience now that i've satified their needs. "satisfy a dog's needs and she'll satisfy your's"
Like Patch said, you have a high energy (or drive/stubbornness if you wish) dog who is going to require good exercise directed into positive activities. You have an athlete who isn't going to like being only a house pet. Loving you is much too easy of a job for her. But, it seems like you are doing very well so far, so keep it up.

 

[Patch O' Pits]

Here is one to make you laugh. I was training an APBT pup who was a rescue I got at 5 weeks of age so obviously taken too young but I had no choice inorder to save her.
I always had toys in my pockets to redirect her. The one time I didn't we were walking and she decided my sweatpants were a tug and actually pulled them right down. Luckily it was about 5 am and no one was out to see that

LOL Owning a high drive pup is always an experience, just be patient and consistent and it will be well worth it

She was and still is very high drive and is now 9 years old. She has 3 agility titles a CGC and is a therapy dog non the less now

 

[Judy]

lol @ the pants hee hee

 

[pipsqweek]

thats fantastic Patch.
Thats exactly what those kind-of-dogs need to have. plenty of mental and physical stimulation.
I don't like when people try to force a dog to be lazy by "training" them.
It's nice to teach them that we want them to behave and relax, but we have to satisfy their needs 1st.

 

[ILuvPits87]

how can you train a dog to be lazy?

 

[geisthexe]

Training a puppy not to Bite &/or Playing to Rough

When a puppy learns about his/her mouth and what it can do, they start to explore it. He/She learned how to rough house with its litter mates. So now you ruff house with him. They do not understand how aggressive it is getting until you let the pup know.

Play Biting
- if the pup chomps down on your finger, hand, wrist or ankle immediately cry out OUCH but make it sound like you have just lost that body part. DO NOT RAISE YOUR VOICE IN ANGER, STRIKE THE PUP, OR POINT YOUR HURT LIMB AT THEM AND DO NOT PULL IT AWAY FROM THE PUPS MOUTH. Just yell a yelp as another pup or mom would. This should suprise the pup enough to have them stop. Soon as the pup releases, you need to change your tone and warmly praise the dog for letting go. Have a toy near by and give them the toy to redirect the situation.

Playing Roughly
- playing tug-a-war is a great game to play with your dog but it can also cause problems, do does not give up until you do, dog starts to growl when you try to get the toy, dog becomes aggressive over the toy. Remember you make the shots of when the toy is there's and when it is not. Tug toys should be just for that and not toy on the ground for them to chew on if the dog becomes more aggressive over that toy. (you are the one that says when the game begins and when it ends. while you are playing tug a war practice using the word "Drop it" so the dog understands when the game end. And this way it is always a GAME.

Hope this helps

Deb

 

[pipsqweek]

what i mean by "lazy" is when a dog just sits around inside the house and doen't do much all day except wait for the owner to give him a little 15 minute walk around the block.
I've seen people "training" their dog to do this by correcting and correcting until the dog is afraid to even move about the house. I understand that you shoud teach them how to behave around the house, but if you don't provide them with their primal needs, which include a Real walk at least, how can you expect them to be happy and willing to obey what you want. It's very stressfull to them.
Kids who aren't physically and mentally challenged steal, get into gangs, beat up other kids etc.
Dogs who aren't physically and mentally challenged nip, jump ontop of you, jump over gates and run away, attack other dogs, etc.

I'm just saying to exercise them first then teach them to behave around the house. Almost every dog was created for a working purpose, so we have to give them some job. Just like humans, they gotta get out the house, and i don't mean the backyard. They have legs and muscles along with their brain for a reason.
By the way, good stuff Geisthexe. Nicely simplified

 

[Patch-O-Pits]

Thats exactly what those kind-of-dogs need to have. plenty of mental and physical stimulation.
I don't like when people try to force a dog to be lazy by "training" them.
It's nice to teach them that we want them to behave and relax, but we have to satisfy their needs 1st.

Absolutely. A happy, well exercised, tired pup is a better behaved member of the household

 

[legacy413]

When a puppy learns about his/her mouth and what it can do, they start to explore it. He/She learned how to rough house with its litter mates. So now you ruff house with him. They do not understand how aggressive it is getting until you let the pup know.

Play Biting
- if the pup chomps down on your finger, hand, wrist or ankle immediately cry out OUCH but make it sound like you have just lost that body part. DO NOT RAISE YOUR VOICE IN ANGER, STRIKE THE PUP, OR POINT YOUR HURT LIMB AT THEM AND DO NOT PULL IT AWAY FROM THE PUPS MOUTH. Just yell a yelp as another pup or mom would. This should suprise the pup enough to have them stop. Soon as the pup releases, you need to change your tone and warmly praise the dog for letting go. Have a toy near by and give them the toy to redirect the situation.

Playing Roughly
- playing tug-a-war is a great game to play with your dog but it can also cause problems, do does not give up until you do, dog starts to growl when you try to get the toy, dog becomes aggressive over the toy. Remember you make the shots of when the toy is there's and when it is not. Tug toys should be just for that and not toy on the ground for them to chew on if the dog becomes more aggressive over that toy. (you are the one that says when the game begins and when it ends. while you are playing tug a war practice using the word "Drop it" so the dog understands when the game end. And this way it is always a GAME.

Hope this helps

Deb

I completely agree, that's exactly what I do. My Dogs' tug toys stay out of reach and out of their vicinity until I engage in the game of tug. And absolutely, a tired puppy is a more manageable pup.