# Mac is a little nipper



## born36 (Jun 28, 2011)

Mac is 8 weeks old and is already a nipper. I agree it seems to be when he is tired but I am struggling to just ignore and turn my back as this results in him jumping up and biting my rear or hanging off my shorts. He even tore my wive's trousers yesterday. It is difficult to get him to settle when he is tired and the more tired he gets the worse the biting is. My arms look like we own a cat not a dog. All scratched up. If this post is correct I have 8 more weeks of this which seems crazy! I can totally relate to the ware wolf comment. I hope the behavour changes as right now when he gets this way there is nothing that works to get him settled and the more we try the more he thinks it is part of a game and the more excited he gets.

I have already read the post on this forum but nothing in it seems to help. I just wanted to sort a way to settle him when he is tired. Any thoughts. Whew!!!


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## redrover (Mar 17, 2011)

It sucks, but patience truly is the only answer. He doesn't have his litter mates anymore, so you are the only feedback for bite inhibition at the moment. If merely turning around does not work, then start leaving the room. Jasper thought me turning around was the best game ever for a week or two, so I started walking out of the room and closing the door for a minute or two. Do you also yelp or say "Ouch!"? That helped immensely with my dog. Sometimes if we wrestle a little and it gets to be too much, I can simply say "Ouch!" and he'll immediately back off and play much gentler, and has gotten gentler with his mouth every time. I say it for just about everything. He bites my pant leg? Doesn't hurt me, but I still say "Ouch!" Once Mac learns "ouch!" then you can even preempt a bite by saying it.

If it gets to be much too much, you can try putting him in his crate. Do it calmly, try not to get tense or angry while doing this, and don't say anything (I followed this rule, because sometimes all I really wanted to say was "Bad dog!" which wasn't going to be helpful to the situation). Note that this is a _consequence_, not a punishment--which is why you're doing this calmly, and not angrily, which will be scary for the puppy. And, like babies and toddlers, sometimes the only way to get them to go to sleep when they're overtired is to put them to bed and leave them there. Like the Gerber method for dogs. My trainer says this is not just a time-out for the dog, but also a time-out for the human, to go relax and calm down, instead of getting even more frustrated and upset.

Depending on when your preference is to have him play with other vaccinated dogs or puppies (different folks have different viewpoints on socialization ages--I started letting him play in controlled situations by about 10 weeks), it usually gets better. I found that once Jasper was playing with (and biting) other dogs, he picked up on bite inhibition much more quickly, and never initiated rough play with me on his own--I always had to be the one that would start it with him. Prior to that, he would think just me walking past him was an excuse to tackle and bite! I will say that the nipping stopped for Jasper at about 12 weeks, though different pups will have different timelines.

And if you have kids or kids might be in the picture, you may also want to train your dog, or at least expose him to, children of varying ages/sizes. For one, children are so much more excitable about these things, and they're also so much more tackle-able and bite-able to a dog, especially a puppy.


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## Macaroni (Jan 19, 2011)

First or all...great name! Our boy is 6.5 months and his name is Mac as well.

Ahh the biting stage...I remember that...when Mac would jump at my back, try and nip my ears, etc. He still tries the odd nip when he gets really excited. Anyway, when all else fails, I use to pin him on the ground on his side. Some people don't agree w/ it (yes I did it to him the odd time at a young age). But it's not to hurt him in anyway, just make him realize your the boss and the behaviour isn't acceptable. He might struggle at first a bit, but just stay calm and steady. After only maybe 45-60 seconds, Mac would calm down and sometimes even fall asleep in place. Completely your prerogative should you feel it acceptable to do this, but I don't have a problem w/ it and found it worked really well.

Best of luck w/ it!


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## born36 (Jun 28, 2011)

Thanks Redrover and Macaroni for the advise I think I will try the ouch/yelp thing and if that doesn't work consider the time out and then the side. As the side thing is a physical change I am aware that most of the time with Mac touch equals more excitment so will try the now touch options first.
Macaroni yes great name. Ours is named Mackinac pronounced 'mackinaw'. It is an island in Michigan where my wife and I met. She is English so have moved to the UK to live and Mac is the addition. Wishing your dogs all the best.


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## RubyRoo (Feb 1, 2011)

Oh the nipping phase - Ruby was a nightmare during this time. She would constantly bite at my legs and had bruises everywhere. I tried everything - yelp, water bottle, pet corrector spray, holding her mouth closed....nothing worked. I noticed she did it when she was overly excited. What kind of worked was bitter apple spray - covered myself in it and always carried a toy with me. Unfortunately, I had to ride it out and it got better the older she got. I think it got better around 4 months.

The good thing was she never ruined any of our furniture. She just focused on biting us!


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## mswhipple (Mar 7, 2011)

Yes, it will get better... It really is a puppy phase. Hey, born36, I went on my (first) honeymoon on Mackinac Island. Small world, huh? That was a long time ago, but I still have fond memories of it.


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## Linescreamer (Sep 28, 2010)

Most of them go through this. I posted some ideas on this before. The best way to handle this is distract him with something else. He needs you help and understanding.


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## angelas3 (Jul 19, 2011)

We have a nipper also !!

Cooper came home with us on 16th July and he's 9 1/2 wks old. He is the same as Mac, when he gets overly excited he grabs on to your clothes and has his own tug of war game with you, unfortunatly doing it more to the kids. "No" worked at first but now he just won't let go so I'm sure at some point we will have some ripped clothes ! 

I think I will try putting him in his cage and giving everyone some time out. Lets hope it passes quickly.

He has only just had his first injection so at the moment is not socialing with other dogs but will be doing it as soon as I can.

I'll finish on a positve note think we have cracked house training and he's nearly sleeping through the night.

No pics yet will post when I have a good one.


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## born36 (Jun 28, 2011)

Good luck Angelas3.
Mac is still doing this at 12 weeks so it is a long haul. However what really snaps him out of the tug and bite mode now is spraying him with some water from a spray bottle. It snaps him right out of it! Try it on your pup. It doesn't scare him at all just makes him stop instantly and look at me as if to say 'What was that?'


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## sarahaf (Aug 17, 2009)

I don't have much to add except that with Rosie it was also a nightmare--we really thought it would never end. She seemed relentless and it did hurt so much. It seemed like a miracle to us when the behavior just disappeared little by little (I believe around 16 weeks?). We tried the yelping but that didn't work well for us as it seemed to excite her. Pretty much anything interactive egged her on. Trial and error, I guess. Time out minus yelping is what helped the most, but I think maturation is what finally led the behavior to disappear.


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