since so many people have dogs here-

any advice on puppy nipping? Our man, who is 12.5 weeks, is biting EVERYTHING- the leash, the couch, the rug, ME...
we have bitter apple and that helps to some degree...but any tricks?

Perhaps you should discipline him by spanking him on the ass whenever he does it. It worked with my dog, and she was a Rottie.

phew, considering we've had 3 pitbulls i know what you're going through. on our second one we bought these choke collars(not the inhumane ones, the ones trainers suggest) and we kept their leashes on in the house and whenever they did something they weren't supposed to i.e. chewing, pissing, shitting, killing small children etc., we just tugged on it. Kind of an instant reminder not to do whatever he or she is doing. The collar, by the way, is supposed to mimic the mother's bite around the neck. good luck.

I don't suggest this, but when my golden was a puppy she would bite the crap out of my wife until one day my wife had had enough, grabbed her and bit her backside just enough to make her give a little yelp. She never bit my wife again.

Steve

hahaaahhaa I giggled so damn hard at work just now reading this.

Don't know about dogs since my mom's never bit anyone, but I did have to give my cat a whack in the ass last night for ripping ANOTHER hole itno our boxspring and crawling into it. I was under the bed at 10:40 pm taping up a hole swearing the whole time.

My dad's dogs always seem to jump on people though. They used to have this shaky thing that scared the dog if he did something wrong and they shook it at him. Or get a spray water bottle and spray it at him whenever he bites, maybe that'll deter him.

i was so lucky with my dog. he never chewed anything up except his rataan bed and i think he was just complaining about the style.

i don't have any advice to offer but has anyone seen the dog whisperer on the discovery channel. that man is the jesus of dogs.

Another thing - if you are going to discipline the dog at close quarters, the recommended way to do it is to gently slap the dog's chin, in an upward motion. It doesn't take much force, is humane, and dogs hate it. Another very good technique is to deny the dog attention when it misbehaves. What it wants, usually, is your undivided attention, and when it figures out that biting you, jumping on you (puppy play, in other words) makes you turn around and ignore it or get up and go away for a minute, they usually quit after a day or so. They want you to stick around and play. Use it against them.

edit: that pic is sorely lacking in Bobbo shirtness.

The spray bottle idea is also a good one. We used this whenever Gabrielle would misbehave. This was my discipline method when she was older, when spankings were no longer needed.

Another variation on the chin slap, is the finger on the roof of the dog's mouth. Apply a little upward pressure. He won't go for your fingers if they get associated or conditioned to an unpleasant sensation. I recall our dog's breeder giving us that advice.

I'd put that dog on a hotdog bun with mustard and relish.....

i mean, it's cute..dammit....i dont wanna eat it.....although a hot dog sounds good bout now.....

Yep I've heard that one too.

i have three dogs, and i have never hit one of them. please do not hit a dog. - or at least know that when the dog bits you its because it sees your hand as a source of pain for it (try not to attach to much higher thinking to it...its a dog)

keeping their leads on in the house can work very well.

a big thing for my dogs in their training was while they were training:

1. never let 'em out of your sight

2. if you do not have time to pay attention to the dog, then put it in its kennel

3. for god's sake have a kennel to put the dog in

4. never use the kennel as a "time out" or a a punishment as the dog should feel safe in its kennel and making the kennel a "bad place" will create confusion for the dog

5. remember that dogs chew things because, for one they do not have hands and chewing on things is their way of discovering things.

6. rawhides, rawhides, rawhides.....

This is the correct answer. My wife trains dogs, and this is her recommended technique. We've got a 3-month-old Springer Spaniel puppy who was biting me too much, and this worked like a charm.

1. the dog whisperer is my favorite show, I swear
2. I refuse to hit this little man
3. I can't use a choke collar on a 6 lb puppy
4. thinking about the spray bottle
5. I try to ignore him and deny attention when he is bad but it's hard when he runs up to me and CLAMPS down on my foot/leg/hand, etc.

I will defintely try this.

Spare the rod, spoil the dog. I don't mean "hit" the dog, I mean tap his chin real firmly from underneath. But believe me, you wanna stop this behavior NOW, not later. It won't take long.

our puppy used to bite pretty hard when she was a puppy so what we would do when she bit was put her in an isolated spot for awhile until she calmed down. it worked pretty fast.

Ours get this treatment, still waiting for results. I think our trouble is we've got three teethers right now, and they nip and tussle with each other as their general play routine. It's taking some time for them to differentiate between "another puppy, okay to nip" with "person, don't bite." When they're held, no problem, but they play with everything--grooming brush, broom/mop, etc. Basically, if something is in motion, it's a game and vulnerable to a nip.

salt, salt, salt...

rawhides are good on occasions, but the salt content is not good for the dog. just get the little guy one of those nyla bones. they last forever and, like baskin robbins, they come in 42 flavors.

he luuuuuuuuvs the nylabones!

our dog really likes greenies - you can get a shit load of them for about half the store price from KV VET Supply (they are on line)

I've read that especiallly if the puppy is biting YOU, you should clearly say "Ow!" and let the dog know that he's hurt you. And then ignore him for a while. He'll get the message soon enough. As for chewing other things, it sounds inhumane, but crates are the way to go. If you're not around, you gotta crate them.

To this day, my 9 year old lab still "play-bites" with me sometimes. She gets very excited while we're playing tug with one of her favorite toys, and sometimes she accidentally bites me.... not enough to break the skin, but enough to know that, "Oh, shit, I bit Mommy." She always backs down and is very repentant.

btw, your pup is ADORABLE!

Ditto.

thanks. and oh yeah, we are all about the crate training. totally.
he was whining like crazy this AM when I was getting dressed - pllaaaaayyy with me!!! Puhleeeeze! Alas, I ignore him (even though it's hard) as it is my house.

and for those of you that knew, he is doing a lot better (he had kennel cough that turned into pneumonia and almost died at 9 weeks)