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Puppy nibbling on hands
At 08:31 AM 2/28/2001 -0800, you wrote:
Couple questions for
all you veterans out there:
1. Biting. During play time
invariably Echo will fixate on the hands and nip nip nip.
This is very common behavior for all retriever puppies. You know
how a baby/toddler likes to feel things with their hands and put
them in their mouth? Consider a retriever puppy's mouth as
it's
third hand. They are exploring the world through texture,
taste
and smell.
There is a saying in dog training; ignore the negative, reward the
positive. How does this apply in this situation?
As long as the puppy is jumping up and nipping, ignore it
completely.
Bring your hands up out of his or her range, don't talk to the puppy,
don't make eye contact. Pretend it isn't even there.
As soon as the puppy desists from this behavior, give verbal and
physical praise (good dog....pet, pet, pet) or even a treat.
This requires you to be walking around a lot of the time, at first,
with treats on your body <s> To be an excellent observer of
your pup's behavior. And to have a quick sense of timing to
reward just as the puppy desists.
Puppies are so fast moving, sometimes you end up rewarding
the next thing they do.
Just takes time to train yourself and the dog. But it's very
rewarding. I promise you the puppy will come up with some
antics during this process that will make you laugh.
Oh....and practice the Zen of Treat Giving. Never allow the
puppy
to grab the treat out of your hand. Curl the treat inside your
hand.
Only allow them to eat it, when they are calmly sitting or standing
quietly.
School's out! :-)
Linda
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Linda Shipman
Juneau, Alaska
Linda.Shipman@chezor.alaska.com
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