A lot of pet owner especially animallova readers, know that nipping and mouthing begins in puppy-hood then continues to the life of dog. When your puppy allowed to pull at your clothes, tug on your socks, and rip off your cushion then this is a big problem. It is a natural behavior for a dogs and puppies to explore their surrounding or socialize with other litter mates.
Sometimes they get too excited and bite each other, including you. Since we take them away from their mother, it is our duty to teach him how to cohabitate with humans. To take care a puppy without its mother is important and should be your main concern, since you are the one who will replace their mother. There are 3 ways to stop your puppy from nipping when excited because in the future this will be a problem, as he grow older and stronger.
Nipping in puppies is not a bad news, because there is so many things they need to learn and it is so much fun to explore the world. It would not hurt that much when a puppy nipping at your fingers, get too excited and then bite your finger. As they grow older and stronger this could lead to a problem, they will have stronger jaw with muscle backing it up.
“How does over-stimulation works in puppies?”
We already know that nipping could lead to a bite when puppies get excited. This is fairly happen to us human, except you do not bite on people when get excited, unless you are Mike Tyson. Over-stimulation can cause people to fight; even someone who just laid back like me would punch someone in the face and scream out loud if i am too excited.
Let say you are Michael Jackson fans, and you are about to watch his live concert somewhere in the crowds. Add some way over-stimulating at the chance of being in front row. At this point, you are ready to break through and get jailed to get yourself in the front row. Puppies and dogs in this case, bite to express their excitement over something and you don`t want to be in the position where he gets all excited while nipping your hand.
Here are ways to stop your puppy from nipping when excited.
As simple as it may seem this technique works best to train your puppy indoor to stop mouthing or nipping or undesirable manner. You would only ignore him for undesirable manner give him time out and only after that you resume playing again. For example, your puppies start to nipping at your finger, let him nip and wait until he bite too hard and thenYelp!, until he lets it go. Then fold your hand and walk away from him, do not make any eye contact with him. Eye contact means you challenge him. Give him a 20 seconds time out and resume playing with him again. For notice, do not jerk out, jumping back, grabbing your hand or push him away when he bites you. This action would only encourage him and excite him more to chase.
This training will teach him that mouthing, nipping and biting is a bad thing and should not be done to any human. If and only if your puppy gets too excited and he has urge to nip on something, your skin is not on their list.
There are less aggressive ways for your puppy to meet and greet people when he gets so excited. for example, Instead of running relentlessly towards people and bite them, you can train him to sit and stay, then sniff the person hands. And only after that you will reward him with treats or toys. This will anticipate the bite coming from over-stimulation effect. This “sit and stay” training is so important regarding your puppies will definitely grow older and stronger, some of the breed could rip your flesh easily. And there are puppies that will grow up as big as 120 pounds and could crush a baby just by sitting on them.
Make sure to teach your puppy some basic training. Puppies find a lot of things that make them happy such as toys, food or taking him to the park. This will benefits you to train your puppy not to nip and bite you. Whenever your puppy start to nip on your fingers, offer him a toy or a treat to chew on and praise him. This will teach him that good things happen when bad behavior stops. Do not scold, spank or reprimand the dog, this will erode their trust in you.
“How would you train your puppy if he run around the yard and does not pay any attention?”
Only calm dogs who are behaving well and submissive, but excited puppy would lost their mind and more likely to nip and bite you. Notice that there is difference between calm dog and lethargic dog . Some of the puppies just stored with a lot of energy and would go rampant. We need train your puppy not to nip when excited but before that we need to make him calm first and channel their energy somewhere else. You can take your puppy for a walk around the yard, play tug-of-war, or agility course. If any of these activities does not make him feel relaxed and calm, increase the level of your activity to make him expends excess energy. This benefits both of you, your puppy is more relax and calm on the other hand, you get healthier as you work out with them.
Your puppy did not become hyperactive overnight. It takes progress, determination, discipline and affection to change his behavior. You will get use to taking care of your puppy over time and eventually he will love you back.