Hello! I am going to send you information on the nipping/biting, as well as jumping. Both of these behaviors are attention seeking/play engaging behaviors. The best you can do for both is to completely ignore. But I am sending information with much more detail than that! Nipping: Puppies may nip for a number of reasons. Nipping can be a means of energy release, getting attention, interacting and exploring their environment or it could be a habit that helps with teething. Whatever the cause, nipping can still be painful for the receiver, and it’s an action that pet parents want to curb. Some ways to stop biting before it becomes a real problem include: Using teething toys. Distracting with and redirecting your dog’s biting to safe and durable chew toys is one way to keep them from focusing their mouthy energies to an approved location and teach them what biting habits are acceptable. Making sure your dog is getting the proper amount of exercise. Exercise is huge. Different dogs have different exercise needs based on their breed and size, so check with your veterinarian to make sure that yours is getting the exercise they need. Dogs—and especially puppies—use their playtime to get out extra energy. With too much pent-up energy, your pup may resort to play biting. Having them expel their energy in positive ways - including both physical and mental exercise - will help mitigate extra nips. Being consistent. Training your dog takes patience, practice and consistency. With the right training techniques and commitment, your dog will learn what is preferred behavior. While sometimes it may be easier to let a little nipping activity go, be sure to remain consistent in your cues and redirection. That way, boundaries are clear to your dog. Using positive reinforcement. To establish preferred behaviors, use positive reinforcement when your dog exhibits the correct behavior. For instance, praise and treat your puppy when they listen to your cue to stop unwanted biting as well as when they choose an appropriate teething toy on their own. Saying “Ouch!” The next time your puppy becomes too exuberant and nips you, say “OUCH!” in a very shocked tone and immediately stop playing with them. Your puppy should learn - just as they did with their littermates - that their form of play has become unwanted. When they stop, ensure that you follow up with positive reinforcement by offering praise, treat and/or resuming play. Letting every interaction with your puppy be a learning opportunity. While there are moments of dedicated training time, every interaction with your dog can be used as a potential teaching moment. Jumping: Teach your dog that they receive no attention for jumping on you or anyone else. Teach your dog to do something that is incompatible with jumping up, such as sitting. They can't sit and jump up at the same time. If they are not sitting, they get no attention. It is important to be consistent. Everyone in your family must follow the training program all the time. You can't let your dog jump on people in some circumstances, but not others. Training techniques: When your dog… Jumps on other people: Ask a family member or friend to assist with training. Your assistant must be someone your dog likes and wants to greet. Your dog should never be forced to greet someone who scares them. Give your dog the "sit" command. (This exercise assumes your dog already knows how to "sit.") The greeter approaches you and your dog. If your dog stands up, the greeter immediately turns and walks away. Ask your dog to "sit," and have the greeter approach again. Keep repeating until your dog remains seated as the greeter approaches. If your dog does remain seated, the greeter can give your dog a treat as a reward. When you encounter someone while out walking your dog, you must manage the situation and train your dog at the same time. Stop the person from approaching by telling them you don't want your dog to jump. Hand the person a treat. Ask your dog to "sit." Tell the person they can pet your dog and give them the treat as long as your dog remains seated. Some people will tell you they don't mind if your dog jumps on them, especially if your dog is small and fluffy or a puppy. But you should mind. Remember you need to be consistent in training. If you don't want your dog to jump on people, stick to your training and don't make exceptions. Jumps on you when you come in the door: Keep greetings quiet and low-key. If your dog jumps on you, ignore them. Turn and go out the door. Try again. You may have to come in and go out dozens of times before your dog learns they only gets your attention when they keep all four feet on the floor. Jumps on you when you're sitting: If you are sitting and your dog jumps up on you, stand up. Don't talk to your dog or push them away. Just ignore them until all four feet are on the ground. Please let me know if you have additional questions. Thank you for writing in!

Aug. 17, 2020

Hello Jackie, Start with good socialization and house manners. Check out the PDF E-book AFTER You Get Your Puppy from the link below. Much of this will not apply age wise, but you will certainly find good tips about socialization, bite inhibition, chewing, potty training, manners, and other foundational things pup needs to begin with. www.lifedogtraining.com/freedownloads Next, work on taking pup through Basic through Advanced obedience courses. Basic obedience helps pup learn the meaning of commands, Intermediate practices those commands around lots of distractions, and advanced transitions pup to obeying those same commands while off leash and around distractions. Each level of obedience builds on the other. Enrolling in those three classes at a high quality training group is one of the easiest ways to learn how to teach pup all of that and be able to practice around the distractions of other people and dogs, but you can mimic the same scenarios yourself if you are willing to learn a lot about training - without enrolling in classes. If you train yourself, finding good trainers online to learn from can certainly help. Ian Dunbar has several online video or website courses where you can teach yourself how to train. There are many other good trainers on Youtube but it can be hard to know which training advice is good vs. not without a background in training. Know that good training is often common sense though. It should sound practical, fair, consistent and make sense that it would work. Some great commands to teach include: Down https://www.thelabradorsite.com/train-your-labrador-to-lie-down-and-stay/ Sit https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-german-shepherd-puppy-to-sit Stand Stay https://www.thelabradorsite.com/train-your-labrador-to-lie-down-and-stay/ Wait Place https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O75dyWITP1s Heel - Turns method: https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-poodle-to-heel Come - Reel In method or Round Robin, then Reel In during intermediate: https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-whippet-to-recall Watch Me Quiet - Quiet method: https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-shih-tzu-puppy-to-not-bark Out - which means leave the area https://www.petful.com/behaviors/how-to-teach-a-dog-the-out-command/ Leave It - leave it method: https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-shih-tzu-puppy-to-not-bite Okay - release word meaning a command is finished and pup can relax or stop waiting Drop It Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

April 29, 2020