Dog Jumping and Nipping Problem

[EarthWhispers]

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I got a new puppy nearly two months ago. He was a dream when it came to training to use the outdoors as his toilet... only one accident indoors. Our problem is jumping and nipping at people.

We've tried several methods for both problems that have always been successful with past pets, but nothing is working on him. For jumping, we've tried pushing him down and firmly saying down, we've tried grabbing his paws when he jumps up and holding them until he grows frustrated... I even resorted to trying a method I hate... stepping on his rear toes when he jumps. For biting, we've tried the firm no, holding the lower part of his mouth, holding his mouth shut and even replacing whatever limb of mine he bit with one of his chew toys.

Buddy is a fast growing German Shepherd/ Golden Retriever mix (looks like a Black Lab, eh?), so I need to get this under control before he gets really big. He's already nearly 40 pounds at 4 months old! Hope someone has some tips... thank you in advance!

[HorseCrow]

When he jumps/nips, cross your arms across your chest and look up into the ceiling, completely ignoring him until he stops. Then praise him and give him attention as a reward for stopping. It may take some tries that last fairly long, but he will soon catch on, that when he jumps, he is completely ignored. Dogs hate being ignored and when it clicks that jumping+nipping = being ignored, he will stop.

[Old Witch]

When he jumps, say No! Then teach him to sit and tell him Good!... As for the nipping, tell him No Bite! and put him in Sit, tell him Good Dog! You must be consistant and if he's stubborn, you must be firm...If all else fails, bribe him with treats....

[Black RiverWolf]

when my roomates lab jumped on her she put her knee up so he would hit it when he jumped it was rather effective. no more jumping. i haven't had to much of a nipping issue when Whistler did it i would old his jaw together ans tell him no bite it worked with a pitt.

[EarthWhispers]

:hugz:Thanks for the tips.

I've tried the knee and the holding his jaw... hate to do either, but they haven't worked anyway. I've tried the firm "no" and I'm very consistent with calling him on his mistakes, but he just seems to not get it. He seems to actually enjoy getting in trouble!

I'm off work right now, so I also have lots of time to spend with him. This give him plenty of opportunity to jump or nip... and plenty of times for me to say no. What's so frustrating is that I've never had a problem with training pets before... heck, I even trained my cat to jump rope!

I may need to resort to treats... lol.

[ShamanFeather]

I went over to a friend of mine's and they had a poorly trained husky who thought ppl were his toys. Every time he bit toward me or started jumping i put my hand over the top part of his jaw and looked straight into his eyes and told him no forcefully. I kept my hand on his jaw for a while and kept staring and repeated no. This helped him realize I was the alpha and i was going to be in charge. He stopped jumping and trying rather quickly and whenver he tried again I'd reinforce my position as alpha. Wolves in the wild will put their jaws over the top of another wolve's to show dominance and this is still in thier genes it seems.

I suppose you could get a spray bottle. But the trick is to be persistant and consistant and not be afraid to sound big and mean when you say no.

[WitchJezebel]

When he jumps/nips, cross your arms across your chest and look up into the ceiling, completely ignoring him until he stops. Then praise him and give him attention as a reward for stopping. It may take some tries that last fairly long, but he will soon catch on, that when he jumps, he is completely ignored. Dogs hate being ignored and when it clicks that jumping+nipping = being ignored, he will stop.

The ignore stand is what my trainer taught me to do with my dog. He was a psycho jumper, but not a nipper and that worked wonders! He'll still occasionally come up on his back paws, but he won't make actual contact. Good luck Hon!

[EarthWhispers]

The ignore seems to be what's doing the trick... he hated being ignored! The nipping is easing up now that his new teeth are in. Thanks for all the tips and advice!

[MoonDragn]

I never had the nipping probs but I used to cuff the dog lightly on his face whenever he jumped at me. After a while he didn't stop jumping at me but learned to dodge that hand LOL.

I don't know what my uncle did but he took the dog out back and spent 20 mins with him. After that he learned all kinds of tricks and how to behave too. I wish I knew what he did.

[WitchJezebel]

I never had the nipping probs but I used to cuff the dog lightly on his face whenever he jumped at me. After a while he didn't stop jumping at me but learned to dodge that hand LOL.

I don't know what my uncle did but he took the dog out back and spent 20 mins with him. After that he learned all kinds of tricks and how to behave too. I wish I knew what he did.

You should never swat at a dog with your hand, it teaches them to be afraid of it. If you have to physically discipline a dog, you get a rolled up newspaper which doesn't hurt but makes alot of noise. You don't ever want a dog to be afraid of your hands - if you make a sudden movement in front of a dog who's been taught to be fearful of hands, you could get bitten.

[MoonDragn]

well most of the time it was more of a catching and pushing than swating... I hated the dog jumping on me cause we kept him outside (mom was deathly afraid of dogs) and this dog used to step in his own stuff...

The dog was really smart though. After a while I just make a fist at him and he would back down. The dog was very protective and would bark at everyone who was a stranger but would leave people we knew alone. One time a neighbor's dog came by and it purposly opened his mouth and put it over the other little dog's head and then backed up and pretended to chomp down, it shut the other dog up for a bit.

[WitchJezebel]

Yeah, mine's pretty smart too - he knows when I've had enough of his nonsense (he's a big brat). He hovers in the kitchen when I'm cooking and if he gets in my way ONCE I'll stand at the doorway, stare him down and point... he just walks out and I don't have to say a word.

If I shake a fist at him though? The doofus think's I'm playing with him and he starts to bark at me and wag his tail. It's b/c when he was little I'd shake a fist at him and tell him I was going to kick his ass and then I'd wrestle with him. Can't now though, he's 100 lb and he'll hurt ya, not to mention he's 9 and he's starting to show a little arthritis.

[MoonDragn]

I guess the difference is I never play those types of games with that dog when I had him. It was always with toys or running and chasing but I would never let the dog touch me if I didn't want him to.

I especially avoided him licking me. I have seen him eat his own crap too many times to let him lick me.

[WitchJezebel]

I guess the difference is I never play those types of games with that dog when I had him. It was always with toys or running and chasing but I would never let the dog touch me if I didn't want him to.

I especially avoided him licking me. I have seen him eat his own crap too many times to let him lick me.


We are very different then - I'm extremely affectionate with my dog, I hug him, kiss his face and he comes close to sit by you so you can rub him. He's a hands on kind of dog and he's always been - he will sometimes get really annoying if you don't give him attention when he wants it - to the point that you have to scold him. Yeah, he's spoiled beyond all recognition.

Thankfully, MiLo doesn't eat crap, that's so nasty and I've seen many dogs do it.

[MoonDragn]

Oh I hugged my dog constantly too, I just stopped him from licking me.. didn't always work but I manage to stop alot of slobbering. My dog was extremely loyal. He used to break out of his chain but would sit at the end of my driveway waiting for me to come home from school. I was the one that fed him and I think he was attached to me the most.

The old saying "Don't bite the hand that feed you" was definately true with my dog. He has never tried to bite me ever. Not even when playing.

[Raven Reed]

One thing that works with dogs is to put pennies in a coke can and shake it loudly when they do something wrong. They HATE the noise.