# Nippy Puppy!



## skunkybeaumonte (May 4, 2009)

My new puppy Stella is almost 12 weeks old, and nips like crazy! We don't know how to get her to stop. Every time anyone goes to pet her, she goes straight for your fingers or arms and nips. She also goes for the toes and pant legs! I know she is just a puppy and is teething, but it is a really annoying habit of hers. We have tried filling up and empty pop can with coins and shaking it each time she nips, yelping "ow!"or "ouch" each time she nips, and saying "no!" in a low voice each time she nips. None of these methods have worked! Any advice would be greatly appreciated.


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## goldengirl09 (Jul 23, 2009)

My guy was pretty nippy too but I learned a lot by taking a positive training puppy class. I think the number one thing you need is patience. I know it is SO frustrating but hang in there. I mostly tried to distract him with toys. I also bought some bitter apple spray from petsmart and sprayed it on whatever I did not want him to bite (pants, shoes, hands, furniture, etc.). 

I would avoid using the can as it might be scary and he could learn to associate it with you instead of his nipping behavior.

If the puppy is really being relentless with the biting and redirecting and bitter apple isn't working, try to ignore her. It's hard to ignore if she follows you around the house biting you like my guy did  SO that's when I would put her in a time out in a small bathroom or something- just for a minute or two.

Hope that helps! It worked pretty well for Harvey. Good luck!

P.S. Theres another spay besides biter apple called bitter yuk or something like that- I would stick with the bitter apple. My puppy licked that other stuff off and continued to chew  The bitter apple worked great though.


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## Nicole74 (May 30, 2009)

The one thing that worked best with us is letting out a huge yelp! The kids and I were quite loud. We would get up and leave or ignore her if she was too nippy. If getting up and leaving didn't work with Bailey, we would put her in the crate/kennel. It was so constant and it did drive us crazy. I also had taught her no bite once she had a soft mouth. I would gently move her muzzle away from our hands, feet, hair, or clothing and said no bite. 

Also, I make every one in the family has their own quiet time with Bailey. I make sure they hold her nice and snuggly and belly up in their laps. We will do this through out the day.


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## Noey (Feb 26, 2009)

must be something in the water. Our almost 12 week has been very nippy as well, but we are making progress. Our vet said remove him from the area and place him in his crate immediately. This seems to work, but has to be done several times over. It’s the crazy puppy energy that gets the nips going.

I found if I pick him up when it's really bad, get him to stop the wiggles and calm him for at least a minute by basically giving him a hug so he can't move...it slows him down and reduces the nip factor.

Constant "no bite" when he is in a nippy round also gets him. I say "no bite" and make him sit, he comes back for a bite, "no bite" again, we do this until he comes at me with a "I'm going to bite you, no maybe lick" and when he goes to lick we give him a lot of good responses. He trots off.

When he does get a bite in make sure it's not your fingers that end up in his mouth, the back of your hand and or fist push back so his mouth can't bite and a "no bite" is not what they want, but works as well. (this only is used rarely when my hand gets in the way/sneak attack and is not as mean as it sounds).

My guys love the bitter and apple spray, so that does not work at all for us. Scout licks whatever gets sprayed, and looks up for more. 

Another thing is positive training. Scout is very food focused so I can get a training treat and make him sit easily if he starts to bite…refocus his attention. 

My biggest issue is the biting during play, as Noah and Scout both seem to get a little over stimulated and go into a puppy play mode that involves ear pulling, nipping, and climbing all over each other in play. I find Noah, our 1 year old golden, likes to try and make the puppy nip...so he is getting mixed signals from Noah and us. I also have found Noah seems to like the puppy getting a time out…so he seems to be working against us. : )


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## buckeyegoldenmom (Oct 5, 2008)

When my puppies are that age...I always have a toy at hand. A big soft toy to stuff in their mouth everytime they try to go for me. 

It is a stage. A stern "no bite" stuff toy in mouth and then praise them for chewing the toy not you.! My puppy and two year old even now when they get excited and get a little mouthy..I say go get your toy and off they go to find a toy and bring it back to me.


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## Maya's Mom (Apr 13, 2009)

We had a braided fleece toy for this stage that had a loop at one end, so we could wear it around our wrist. We always had it on our wrist, so it was there immediately to redirect any bites with. She liked to play tug with it, too, so it made it really easy to redirect her. When she did bite us, we said "Game Over" and turned to statues. (Yelping just got her more excited.) We stood with our arms crossed on our chest and totally ignored anything she did (including jumping, biting, humping) until she sat quietly at our feet or went to get another toy. This was very effective because she learned that biting didn't get her any attention.


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## lynnzieandme (Sep 27, 2009)

*i know how u feel!!!*

my new pup was extremely mouthy even a experiensed breeder commented on how mouthy myne was! but i tried a few diffrent things and she finaly starting to settle down. just remeber all puppys go through this and usualy come out of it so dont worry if u discerige it while young she should grow out of it

1.like u said making a huge yelping noise is a opt.
2. as soon as she nips make the yelp! and either turn ur back or simple walk away
3.gentle grab her collar and her body and pin her down telling her to calm down while acting com ur self
4.tell her yap tell her no and try to offer her a toy

iv been doing this the whole time iv had her and now shes almost 1 monthes of nip free

worked for me hope i helped


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## Obi's Mom (Jul 16, 2009)

You got alot of great advice! 

This is a completely normal stage all pups go through. It DOES get better. 

Obi was a total land shark until he was about 4.5 months old. As soon as the baby teeth came out, and the big teeth grew in, the biting seemed to subside. Now, he can be mouthy at times, but never nips like he did when he was younger.


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