My fellow Canadians. A dog question?

[melindaandrob]

We are the proud owners of a puppy, a Lab, 4 months old (We have had her since she was 8 wks.) her name is Belle. She joins our family along with Walt and Mickey our two black cats. Yes, we are a little Disney obsessed
I have a question for my fellow 'dog people'. Puppy's! Who knew! We are crate training which is working out wonderfully, but I have some questions regarding 'nipping'. She gets overly excited when the kids are around and is jumping and nipping, how do we correct this behaviour?

Do you board your dog during your vacation? Any tips or suggestions regarding boarding?

Thanks
Melinda

 

[alohamom]

We have had a few dogs over the year, our latest being Kona(a town in Hawaii near where we got married) and Kalani(hawaiian word for heavenly). Kona was a bit of a nipper so I used the tried and true holding her snout firmly( but so as not to hurt her)and telling her firmly in a deep voice NO.It only took a day or so for her to get the message but she is not an aggresive dog. This has always worked for me but you must catch them in the act as I am sure you know. Don't worry, Belle will get it eventually...

 

[melindaandrob]

Thank you alohamom, this is our first dog and one of our worries is accidentally turning her into one of those dogs that the neighbours cringe when they see us coming.

 

[tigger2on]

We too, have a lab pup but he is now 9.5 months old. His name is Houdini. The problem with labs is that they are contstantly in need of stimulation in there early years. We have learned this the hard way. We got Houdi at 7 weeks and some breeders think he was removed too early from the litter because he to did the "nipping" thing. Funny thing was he only did it with my DH. He would scream as if in pain and turn his back on Houdi. He knew he'd done something wrong then. When that stopped working, we gave him timne outsin his crate.
Taking them early from the litter doesn't allow the mother time to disiplne them. They are usually all over each other and nipping is how they play. Try to give the dog a toy when the nipping starts to let him know that this is appropriate playing.
We also found a puupy class really helpful. It's like a socialization group for dogs who are too young to go to Obedience classes. He also goes to Doggie daycare all day once a week.
Good luck!
Houdini has now started to eat through our walls!!!!! This is harder to deter than nipping!!!!

 

[Tinkertoo]

Congrats on your new puppy, love the name!! In clicker training they told us to scream loud like it really hurts and turn your back to them, our puppy wasn't a nipper so I can't say for sure if it will work but there is now harm in trying!!!

 

[melindaandrob]

Thank you Tinkertoo, I'll try this! Hopefully she wont bite my butt when I turn away! Can you tell me a little about your experience with clicker training?
Thanks!
Melinda

 

[Tantor]

They told me when the dog nips or bites to yelp very loud (as another dog would do if bit) and the dog thinks it hurting you and let go. We did this for 2 dogs that I trained and it worked wonderfully.

Good luck!!

 

[Dana]

We have a 1year old Golden Retriever (Oliver, from Oliver and Company you're not the only obsessed ones!)

We did clicker training. Found it to be VERY useful. We started him at 4mths. Basically clicker training is.....as soon as a command has been done you click with your clicker and reward with a small treat. You can buy clickers at Petsmart. This worked out very well. They pick it up quick and it's time for you and your dog to bond. The dog gets good stimulation from the training. They view it as playing with rewards.
As per nipping our instructor told us to do the yelping thing as well but we also curled his lips under his teeth till he let out a small yelp. This teached your dog what it feels like to be nipped. After doing this a couple of times Oliver no longer nipped. (Don't press too hard when you curl you don't want to harm your pup)
Also remember, she's only 4mths old. She will grow out of this behaviour very soon. I remember thinking the day would never come. I too worried that my dog would be that hyper tirant that ran wild in the streets nipping people. He wouldn't hurt a fly now. I think a lot of it has to do with play and wanting to chew. We found with his adult teeth (which should be coming in soon for Belle) no nipping at all.

Hope this helps.

Dana

 

[cottontail]

Hi: Contratulations on the pup. I would also phone your vet and usually the staff in the reception area would be able to ask the vet on what to do or they might even know.

Check out at least 2 or three kennels unannounced is best if they will allow it, look for cleanliness, does the dog have an indoor pen (4ft by 6 at least), plus access to a nice size outdoor run, how often do they let them out, cleanliness, gentleness of staff etc. Again ask staff at the vet.

Sometimes your breeder will board your pup for you, ours did.

Deb.

 

[Tinkertoo]

Hi Melindaandrob,

Sorry for my late reply, I've been away.

I really enjoyed clicker training, basically you give your dog a command and once they do it you click your clicker and give them a treat (the treats fade away as training progresses). It's a hands off approach so you work alot with hand signals and food tricks to get the response you want from your dog. Rather than pushing your dogs bum down when you want him/her to sit for example. I was surprised how fast my dog caught on, and she still gets excited when she hears her clicker !!

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask, I'd be glad to help!