[swissypup]

My puppy is teething and occasionally bites very hard/growls/shakes her head around while doing it. I have tried to say "OW!" and walk away, but she continues to bite at my legs/jump up and bite. Am I doing the right thing? I also try to give her an apporpriate toy to chew on, but she seems determined to bite me instead! I'm wondering if this is a dominant behavior and I'm not handling it correctly.

[SMoore]

I think you should really start practicing NILIF (nothing in life is free) with your pup. It will help to establish your role as the alpha/leader in your pack. My pup did the biting thing for awhile and it didn't take too long to correct this behavior. It's a lot of work being the leader and most dogs would rather not.

I would just start making your dog work for anything he wants. If he wants attention/play time he has to earn it, before giving him his bowl of food make him sit and stay while you put it on the floor and when you say "okay" or whatever then he can go eat. I practice this with my dogs daily. They don't get any freebies in my house. They have to do a sit/stay before going for walks, before eating, before entering or leaving the house, before getting in the car, etc...

It works wonders.

[Poly]

At what age was your pup taken from the litter?

Occasionally, an individual in the litter does act up and not take the cue when Mom turns her head or gets up and walks away. When that happens, Mom has escalating levels of discipline that she applies. In this way, the puppies learn very early that they have to catch the cues the first time and every time.

This is an extremely important lesson, because when the 'puppy pass' expires - usually between four and six months - puppies will be subject to the cues from the other adults and Mom generally won't intervene to protect them. So a pup that doesn't learn the cues is in real danger.

I suspect that you - or someone else - was inconsistent in teaching your puppy about nipping from the beginning. A puppy that was consistently taught not to nip people at the earliest stage will almost never start to nip people when he gets to the teething stage - barring some medical condition. Any pups that "forget" their early training will correct after a few reminders. Unfortunately, too many people think that puppy nipping is "cute" and don't do the training when they should.

What you now have is a puppy that doesn't recognize your leadership and is not taking your cues. So the first thing you have to do is establish or re-establish your leadership. NILIF is a good approach to do that.

Do not allow your puppy to exhibit any play-killing ("shakes her head") with any article of clothing of yours - especially if you are wearing it at the time. This is really, really bad behavior that your puppy is showing, so treat it seriously - it isn't cute. Keep him on a lead and when he tries this, correct him every time and not with a smile either. Then give him a time out immediately. Also, don't let him bite your clothing - consider it an extension of your skin - after all, he does and so should you. But DO from time to time give him a special toy that he can "kill" by shaking - like a stuffed toy. Remember that NILIF goes for toys as well.

Make sure that your puppy has appropriate chew toys available. Frozen toys are almost irresistable to teething puppies. So try to make such a toy a special "NILIF treat", too.

Once you have estabished your leadership position, if your puppy nips at you when you turn your back to him, turn back around abruptly and face him down with a hard stare and make a face - not a nice face, but a nasty snarly face. That's actually the second stage of escalation that Mom would have used, so if your puppy was in the litter for the recommended time, he should recognize it.

[Annamarie]

quite simply, don't walk away from the dog. just ignore it. if you walk away from the dog, you're inviting a game of chase.

[swissypup]

Originally Posted by SMoore

I think you should really start practicing NILIF (nothing in life is free) with your pup. It will help to establish your role as the alpha/leader in your pack. My pup did the biting thing for awhile and it didn't take too long to correct this behavior. It's a lot of work being the leader and most dogs would rather not.

I would just start making your dog work for anything he wants. If he wants attention/play time he has to earn it, before giving him his bowl of food make him sit and stay while you put it on the floor and when you say "okay" or whatever then he can go eat. I practice this with my dogs daily. They don't get any freebies in my house. They have to do a sit/stay before going for walks, before eating, before entering or leaving the house, before getting in the car, etc...

It works wonders.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hi - Thank you! We have been using NILF, having her sit before going out/eating/affection. She is still learning stay (she starts puppy preschool 4/6) but I am anxious to incorporate that. Is she showing dominance by contuinuing to attack my leg etc when I get up to walk away to end the play session? Not sure what to do.

Originally Posted by Poly

At what age was your pup taken from the litter?

Occasionally, an individual in the litter does act up and not take the cue when Mom turns her head or gets up and walks away. When that happens, Mom has escalating levels of discipline that she applies. In this way, the puppies learn very early that they have to catch the cues the first time and every time.

This is an extremely important lesson, because when the 'puppy pass' expires - usually between four and six months - puppies will be subject to the cues from the other adults and Mom generally won't intervene to protect them. So a pup that doesn't learn the cues is in real danger.

I suspect that you - or someone else - was inconsistent in teaching your puppy about nipping from the beginning. A puppy that was consistently taught not to nip people at the earliest stage will almost never start to nip people when he gets to the teething stage - barring some medical condition. Any pups that "forget" their early training will correct after a few reminders. Unfortunately, too many people think that puppy nipping is "cute" and don't do the training when they should.

What you now have is a puppy that doesn't recognize your leadership and is not taking your cues. So the first thing you have to do is establish or re-establish your leadership. NILIF is a good approach to do that.

Do not allow your puppy to exhibit any play-killing ("shakes her head") with any article of clothing of yours - especially if you are wearing it at the time. This is really, really bad behavior that your puppy is showing, so treat it seriously - it isn't cute. Keep him on a lead and when he tries this, correct him every time and not with a smile either. Then give him a time out immediately. Also, don't let him bite your clothing - consider it an extension of your skin - after all, he does and so should you. But DO from time to time give him a special toy that he can "kill" by shaking - like a stuffed toy. Remember that NILIF goes for toys as well.

Make sure that your puppy has appropriate chew toys available. Frozen toys are almost irresistable to teething puppies. So try to make such a toy a special "NILIF treat", too.

Once you have estabished your leadership position, if your puppy nips at you when you turn your back to him, turn back around abruptly and face him down with a hard stare and make a face - not a nice face, but a nasty snarly face. That's actually the second stage of escalation that Mom would have used, so if your puppy was in the litter for the recommended time, he should recognize it.

Hi - THANK YOU!! I clearly need to be stricter with her and re-establish myself as the pack leader. Is it okay to give her a time-out in her crate? I thought that it wasn't supposed to be used for anything negative? We got her a day shy of 8 weeks old - she is now 10 weeks. Ihave been practicing NILF, but not with her toys. I'll start on this tonight!!

[Chicster]

I also heard that you aren't supposed to use the crate as punishment. I read an article though that explained how to do it in a good way.

The dog does something "bad" ie: an undesired behavior, so you tell him "You won the prize!! Yay!" in a really cheerful voice. Lead him to his crate and give him a time out for a few minutes. Do this everytime he does the behavior and he will figure out soon enough that he doesn't want that prize. But to him it is never seen as negative or mean since you are being cheerful with him and not using your angry voice.

I haven't tried it yet but it seems logical to me and the lady who wrote the article has found it very useful.

[TooneyDogs]

Originally Posted by swissypup

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Is it okay to give her a time-out in her crate? I thought that it wasn't supposed to be used for anything negative?

The time-out is really just a cool down period. Puppies often overdo it and when they're tired, they get a little cranky so, a nap might be in order.
It's not punishment.
The other really important use of the time-out is for behavior modification. After the social isolation (not a nap) you are looking for a new/better behavior to reward and develop. For example..a dog jumping on people...you briefly socially isolate the dog and then try the greeting again. If the dog doesn't jump this time but, now stands quietly or sits...you reward and praise...developing/encouraging a new way to greet without jumping.
Again, it's not punishment.

[sarahc]

As a newbie on the block and as I know absolutely nothing about dogs or dog psychology all I can say is that all this stuff about nilif makes complete sense to me, it resonates on a common sense level. Having said that I would never have thought of it on my own! I can see my pup enjoying these 'rules', after all rules are safe and the big wide world with no rules is very daunting, especially for a lttle pup.