# Desperate of nipping



## LaVidaLoca (Feb 20, 2012)

Hi all, 
my mostly adorable pup has made a pact with the devil I guessand makes me really really desperate. Her nipping wen out of control today and I tried different methods like spraying bottle, ignoring her, turning her my back, give a timeoit in the crate, trying to stop with saying "no bite", taking her out, giving her chewing treats&toys and she bite me in my leg and broke a little bit my skin. I'm reall really worried and i don't have any idea how to handle this intense!!!! nipping. When she comes out of the crate she directly runs to my feet ankles and starts nipping. This evening is a **** of a ride and I'm really upset.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

Just keep working with her and make sure she has enough exercise. Your little shark will turn into a sweetheart in no time.


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## redbirddog (Apr 23, 2010)

*A tired Vizsla is a happy Vizsla. * 

The shark attacks that TexasRed talks about will be a memory soon enough. You shouldn't loose too much blood. :


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## RubyRoo (Feb 1, 2011)

Also, remember this is a phase and it will get better. I remember when Ruby was going through this and I was so frustrated. I always had lots of different textures for her to chew on. I used to spray my arms and legs with bitter apple...lol

It will get better....hang in there


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## threefsh (Apr 25, 2011)

Ah, the sharky stage... I remember this well. Our little red devil drew blood from myself, my hubby, and ALL immediate family members. Does your girl have other puppies to play with? This was our biggest help because Riley was able to get all her biting out on other puppies instead of our skin! Also, get her something really hard to chew on like a deer antler. 

As for you, pour yourself a glass of wine and repeat after me "this too shall pass".


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## DougAndKate (Sep 16, 2011)

My only advice is patience. I know it's hard. Elroy turned on me one night at around 4 months when we were out at the park. He tore my forearms up, I had to wrestle him and carry him back to the truck, which wasn't really close. When I got home I called my wife and said "He has to go! I can't take it any more!"

We found that timeouts on his bed or crate worked the best. Any physicality just wound him up even more. Like others said, it will pass.


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## polkan (Dec 29, 2011)

I could be completely misunderstanding your post (if so - sorry!), but to me it sounds like most of the attempts to stop that behavior basically meant you were paying a lot of attention to the puppy right after the nipping incidents. So I'm wondering if you may have been reinforcing attention seeking behavior without meaning to.

If you talk to a behaviorist, a common scenario is when owners ignore their dogs when they are quiet but pay a lot of attention to them when they are excited and seek attention. When the dog is very young and energetic, this mode of ignoring them for good behavior and paying attention for unwanted behavior becomes a life lesson in how to quickly and effectively get the owner focused.

Kathy Sdao (who trained with Karen Pryor, if I'm not mistaken) recommends rewarding the dog periodically and frequently for any behavior you want to encourage, including _especially_ when the dog is quiet (e.g. when you're working at home, or reading or watching TV). At first, it seemed really upside down to me, but it really makes sense from the behavior conditioning point of view. 

If your puppy is craving attention, perhaps increasing the amount of interactive activities could help, too, such as rope tugs, retrieves - anything that requires the two of you together.


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## tracker (Jun 27, 2011)

I second that Polkan. 

Lui has gone through this phase and I have tried several other methods, but standing up straight and staying still, or just walking away and ignoring him have worked the best. 

Is her tail wagging when she is nipping? When Lui does this his taill is always wagging and looks like he is just playing. 

Be patient, it will pass.


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## mswhipple (Mar 7, 2011)

Like everyone else has said, this really is just a puppy stage that they all go through. Whatever way you choose to deal with it, the main thing you have to do is survive! The behavior eventually goes away by itself.


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## LaVidaLoca (Feb 20, 2012)

Few minutes ago I wrote such a long answer back and now -gone- because someone posted at the same time....aaaaaaah Wheeeeere's my post?!!!


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## hotmischief (Mar 11, 2012)

Don't get disheartened La vidaloca it will improve. You are not alone I also have a 14 week old pup, but have the nipping under control. I had bought my pup lots of hard toys which I thought would be good for teething - Wrong - he wasn't interested, we were much softed and chewier!! You ae obviously very tasty!! Then I read in a book call "The Perfect Puppy" - whenever they start nipping tell them No and give them the soft toy. Then when they are chewing their toy lots of praise. 

This has worked really well for Boris - except he does confuse my Great Danes ears with his soft toys, poor Fergus. 
You'll get there in the end.


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## datacan (May 15, 2011)

Dog training is big business, "new and improved" methods are sometimes the best sellers. Personally, I found best results by looking at the past and selectively trying techniques that I found humane, by today's standards. One of the newer methods I liked was the use of marker or clicker.

I agree with those who think that owners are largely responsible when it comes to unwanted dog behaviors. Giving attention at wrong times, rewarding at the wrong times (usually far too late) are just some examples. 
That's where looking into marker or clicker training may be useful.
Although I have not used clicker methods exclusively, I have tried it. I ran into problems when the dog started to anticipate treats and even the clicks. Too smart for his own good.

*To the point*: One method I found helpful was to spread some peanut butter on the palm of our hands and let the puppy lick it. This may have taught him to lick instead of nip at our hands. Also, when he barked for attention we crated him, sat directly in front of his crate and just looked at him directly, calm without anger or emotion. When he settled down, we opened the crate door and hand fed him his meal. 

Also, we taught him the OFF command. Additionally, we tried to involve the pup in all our daily activities. We used a free leash (leash tied to our waist and attached to the dogs collar). There are many types of these leashes and I must say it was the best leash we ever used. With this leash we did house work, yard work, walked and worked together. Vacuuming is usually hard on dogs because some motors make high pitched noises that only dogs can hear (that's why they may be barking or uncomfortable around vacuums). 

Sorry for the long post,
there is just too much to write and I am afraid much was left out as well.


P.S. I take no responsibility for the accuracy of the info in posts, they represent only my opinion.

Julius


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## hotmischief (Mar 11, 2012)

Re what to put in your Konk - I use a little bit of Marmite. or if you are an Aussie try Vegimite. More recently I have been feeding a raw diet which come ground up in a 1Kg box and I shovel some of that in to the middle and he loves trying to lick it out. If your going out and want to keep him occupied, put the paste inside the Konk and freeze it - that will really keep him busy.

I will have to try your idea with treats re the vacuum cleaner. Boris really hates it when it is switched on - runs off. Do you give the treats while it is stationary???

I took Boris for his first walk on the leash down the road the other day - he was very fearful of the traffic. I just stood there reassuring him (patting him). When I told my trainer she said I was reward bad behaviour . To sit down and ignore him and after a while start to drop a few treats on the ground. Is that what you do with the vacuum cleaner?


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## hotmischief (Mar 11, 2012)

Thanks LaVidaLoco, will get the vacum cleaner out and try that, also with the traffic. We have been sitting at the end of the road watching the traffic go by - as you say I have been ignoring him and we have improved from cowering under a bench to sitting out in front of me and we are getting closer and closer. 

I find it really interesting how much I am still learning about training a dog, even though I have had dogs for 50 odd years. It was so obvious that I was rewarding bad behaviour by patting him when he was frightened of the traffic when it was pointed out to me - it is so obvious where I was going wrong.

Thanks for the help.


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## rebecca (Aug 20, 2011)

Hello, Just wanted to add a bit of my advice that seemed to work with mine. 
Mine only started nipping me when we were out on our walks, on leash, and in the field. I also tried the ignoring, turning back , putting the lead back on, but that turned into a game of trying to catch him to get him back on the lead, thus making him wanting to do it even more!!

What's working for me so far, ( he sometimes still does the biting, but then remembers it's not allowed and nothing positive will be gained by continuing) was when he was about to do it, give him a command to do instead, channel his energy into something positive. A sit, or lie down, anything! It would help calm him down and actually listen to me, as before he was charging at me, excessively barking and biting for my attention. So now when he charges for me, I cal him name and command him to do something. Now when he charges at me, he stills and waits for a treat.


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