Nipping / Please Help
I am new to the forum and have a great 8 month old OES named Kayla (please see picture, will add more). We have had her since June and she has been great addition to our family. She is 48 pounds, house trained and we do crate her during the day. Our biggest concern now is that we were not as active with her training as we were in the begnning and for a short time we lost control of her behavior. Our biggets problems are jumping and nipping. We met with a great trainer and we now all subscribe to the same repetitive commands to get this under control. We now ignore her and turn our backs to the jumping, and that has worked well. When we turn around she is now sitting there waiting for her treat. If it persists and gets out of control we command her to "STOP" and this to works to some degree. The nipping is now where we face our biggest challenge. If she is going after a blanket or shirt sleeve we have been reinforcing a command of "LEAVE IT", and giving her a treat as a reward for letting go. However what do we do when the nipping gets out of control? She seems to do it to me the most and she will look at me (especially when I get home from work and am chaning clothes), and try to jump up or nip at anything I am holding. If I ignore it it is followed by barking and nipping at my rear or back of leg. I will command leave it but usually by this point she is a bit out of control. If I am lying in bed it can start as well and If I ignore her she will grab the bed spread, blanket, newspaper etc, and then bark as well, then go aftern my hands, forearm or thigh. It is certainly not biting, but just an nip or gnawing. I would like some advice on this such as an additional command or something because I am at a loss. As an example we were leaving to go to the movies last night and she started in our bedroom. I had everyone leave and she would jump on & off the bed barking and trying to nip at me. I am commited to our commands so I was screaming STOP & LEAVE IT but she just has such an attitiude and it does not do anything other than get her worked up. We have been identifying her licks as "kisses" so if I try to pet her and she licks my hand rather than nip I will reward her with a treat and really positive attention "good kisses". Any suggestions or help at all would be greatly appreciated. She is such a wonderful dog outside of this behavior pattern and I am willing to spend as much time with her as possible to help her. Thank You, Jay |
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| I'm also new here and our situations sound exactly the same right down to the "good kisses". Help!!! |
| Welcome to both of you!!!!
This forum has been a godsend for me with my new puppy issues. I am sure you will get some great advice here, but in the meantime, you can search for the topic, Puppy nipping or nipping and you will find threads on how others handled this. (Unfortunately, I do not have any advice since Heart, does not nip like that YET, she is only 5 months old. ) |
| Hello Jay,
Welcome to the forum and welcome to the neighborhood, literally! Ron, Mulligan and I live just a couple of towns west of Natick. Kayla is a doll - her markings are quite striking. Sounds like some of what you are experiencing with Kayla are typical Puppy behavior issues. We experienced some them when we were fostering Mulligan at the age of two. Perhaps Mulligan can teach Kayla a few things?!! Have you ever taken Kayla to Callahan State Park in Framingham? It is very dog-friendly and a great place for pooches to romp. We would be happy to meet y'all there before the snow startts flying. Let us know. Sheepie regards, Joan |
| We are very close by. I used to work in Southborough for quite a long time. Beth & I actually went to the OES New England Rescue Auction this past Saturday in Westford. Annie, who runs the shelter helped us out a few weeks ago with Kayla so we wanted to make sure we were able to help out her shelter as well.
Kayla has been quite a challenge for us, but she is such a great dog & all the effort & time has been worth it. We did puppy training with Kayla at Just for Pets in Wayland all summer & Kayla was able to socialize with other puppies and loved it. We did take her to Callahan State Park & she met some great dogs. However she way spayed later that week and we have not been back since. If you would like to meet up and have our dogs meet please contact me at any time by sending me a PM through the forum. We have quite a few dogs in our neighborhood and Kayla does very well with them. They are all a bit older than her but she seems to have great puppy manners and does give them space. Thank You, Jay |
| Hi Everyone,
I am new to the forum as of this morning. I have a 9 month old puppy (Sadie) and she is doing the same things that everyones describing. She nips and jumps all of the time and when we tell her to STOP, she thinks we are playing and gets even more aggressive with the nipping and jumping. We have tried the turning around when she jumps and it's the same result. She jumps so much and does not realize that she is so strong that I always have bruises all over my legs. We have has her since she was 8 weeks old and she had done so good that we thought we finally found the breed of dog we had been longing for. Sadie is a beautiful puppy and can be affectionate at times (when you give her a treat) but I don't want to rely on treats to calm her down because then she is going to know what she needs to do in order to get a treat. If anyone can offer any advice on something that might work, I would be greatly appreciated. Thank You, Sandy, Sam & Sadie |
| Murphy is just past four months old. He does the nipping also for attention and when he is excited. There is a lot of information on this forum that has helped me and him. Our trainer also recommends we growl like a dog would growl at him to let him know that is wrong, also folding our arms and ignoring him. It works. it is also followed by a "good boy" when he stops. Murphy must do something such as sit or down before he gets a treat or attention. |
| Yup - what Murphy's Mom said. Though if you're going to do the growl, you better sound like you mean it, and not like you might be soliciting play. Also, for the jumping up on you, when you fold your arms, lean into and over dog. When a dog jumps up towards us, our natural reaction is to step/lean back. That's basically an invitation for a dog to come into your space. Since that's what you DON'T want, do the opposite. Step into and lean forward. That tells the dog to back off.
Nipping: in addition to all the other good things you're already doing, try to have a toy ready. Stash it so you can grab it easily in the situations you know elicit the nipping. A dog who has a toy in his mouth can't nip...that buys you a little more time to train for more civilized behavior. And then, the number one key to getting the behavior under control: more exercise. A safe outlet for all that pent up energy. Everything you guys have been describing is what I love to see in a puppy. For about 10 seconds...before you start working on channeling it into something more useful.  Lots of play/prey drive. That's fantastic.
Now go out and find yourselves some nice obedience and agility classes, or get them herding instinct tested when the opportunity arises, because all of these puppies probably have wonderful potential. And they're all telling you plain as day they need a job. Kristine |
| You are so right. In addition to the trainer, i am taking Murphy for group obedience training and will go on to agility. He also goes to day care once or twice a week - they play under supervision - he comes home tired and happy. i also take hin to Petco for socializing and training. He gets at least two walks a day. Exercise , mentally and physically, sure makes him happy and calm. he likes to be busy and he likes his naps. |
| Thanks for all of the good advice. Sadie usually does pretty good with just one of us home but the minute that we are both here, she turns wild. I work twelve hour shifts, 2 days on and 2 days off and when I come home, I can not even get in the door before she is jumping all over me, knocking everything out of my hands.
We have also tried the growling back at her and that just seems to excite her even more. I am at a lost end and not sure what to do about her behavior. We exercise her daily and nothing seems to tire her out.  |
Sandy34667 wrote: We exercise her daily and nothing seems to tire her out.
What kind of exercise are you doing with her? They really do need a LOT at that age. Our solution to overwhelming puppy energy was to find a neighbor with another young, active dog to play with.  |
| welcome jay .. i just wanted to say hi from fla.. i have the same problem so you see you are not alone |
| We walk her & play with her...fetch, roll on the floor with her etc.... |
Sandy34667 wrote: We walk her & play with her...fetch, roll on the floor with her etc....
I'd say she needs more exercise. Also obedience training (it not only helps your dog be more obedient...it also mentally and emotionally tires them out) |
I'd like to say Welcome to the two newcomers. This is a great source of information and friendship. I have two girls, only the youngest 1 1/2 years old nips when she is excited. I will be using the techniques described by the others to help me too. Your oes has beautiful markings. Enjoy and Welcome!  |
| Welcome to all the new comers in this post. As for advice on the problems, just read the replies that were written. As for the nipping I make Obe have a toy in his mouth when we play, it works. Other than that I am working on the jumping myself. I am going to try the step into him instead of leaning back. He is getting better (about time). I just need everyone to do as I want them to do. I don't care if you let your dog jump on you, I don't want mine doing that. He gets confused when I tell him no/down etc. and then someone five minutes later encourages it. Makes me mad and takes that much longer to train him. |
| Lots of good advice.
I'd like to chime in that a useful command I have learned to teach my dogs is "GIT" as in 'get out of here--NOW' Useful when one of them (or all of them) are too wound up and in the way, or if there are quarrels over attention from humans who, for whatever reason, do not wish to be the ones to leave the room (another strategy). IE, Sherman decides he just has to be near me when I just have to tend to something cooking on the stove. It's not really an option to leave dinner to burn to deny him the attention by leaving the kitchen and I also consider dogs underfoot while I am cooking to be a hazard to their safety and mine. So "Git" with a stern arm gesture in the direction I wish the dog to go works. It isn't as elegant as "Go to your place' which is one I need to work on teaching my dogs, but it's quick and effective. Basics are: 1. Keep your dog well exercised, both physically and mentally 2. Distract from nipping by having them keep a valued toy in their mouths to take care of their prolonged oral stage/nipping instinct. 3. Deny your dog attention (positive or negative) for unwanted behavior--turning your back, leaving the room, or making your dog leave. |
| I have an OES who is almost a year old. Sophie jumps on everyone constantly now. For the first nine months it was just the two of us. My daughter came home in August and now I have two other relatives living with us. She does fine when it is just me. We have tried everything, turning back, using the same language, "No jump", giving treats, etc. She gets exercise, is let out of her crate often. I can't let her in the house with everyone unless she is on a leash which I control. I have had three OES before but Sophie is uncontrollable. I am ready to throw in the towel and give her away. Paying for training is not an option. |
bjrick wrote: Sophie jumps on everyone constantly now. For the first nine months it was just the two of us. My daughter came home in August and now I have two other relatives living with us. She does fine when it is just me.
It sounds to me like not everyone in the house is being consistent. Its hard when you are working with a dog, and other folks in the home don't always enforce the same rules. 
Also...not to sound like a broken record, but young sheepies really need a LOT of exercise. It can be surprising how much is not enough. 
If you do decide to give Sophie up, please contact an OES rescue to find her an appropriate home. |
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