biting and growling at me

so... Jellybean is a really sweet dog but when I have treats in my hand that she REALLY loves or don't get to giving them to her fast enough, she growls and even comes up behind and nips the back of my leg. I've been ignoring her, but today I grabbed her by the scruff and told her off. She gets a bit jumpy and bity on the lead now and then, but I think that's boredom/being tired (we have been walking her A LOT - posted in another thread).

any quick tips on getting her to stop growling and nipping/biting?

I've read the puppy biting article here and loads others - get up and leave the room, ignore her, etc. just wondering if there is anything else i can do about the growling and getting all excited (but in a naughty way)

How old is she? The best method is really to just ignore her. She is seeking attention and if you do the opposite she will stop.

If she is growling or grabbing for treats you should have her sit and wait for her meals which will teach her some patience.

OK I'll stick with ignoring - she is only 4 months old so I can fix this relatively quickly I hope and I RARELY resort to even touching her for discipline - scruff of neck and telling off is as far as I will go but I hate doing even that. I think I need to correct the way she gets treats from our hand as well, so she must approach slowly and sniff for it first. when she comes a-running, she jumps up even if the treat is down low, so needs better control.

thanks!!

We have taught Suki to wait for a treat and only take it when we say okay. She is food motivated so it was easy to teach. Jellybean should be teething at her age as well. Have lots of frozen snacks on hand to help with the pain. We used sliced sweet potato, carrots, ice cubes and Kongs.

sounds good - yes, I think I'll freeze a tray of chicken broth cubes and veggies. I'm curious how she'll respond to a frozen Kong - she loves her Kong, that's mainly what she growls at me over getting.

i've been trying making her sit first before she gets to jumping, that helps a bit.

If she likes the Kong it will keep her busy and dull the pain from teething.

If you make her sit and wait for food it will help. Start gradually and only have her wait a couple of seconds and then increase the time and the growling for food issue will be in the past.

I think most of us have gone through this so take comfort in knowing patience and consistancy will pay off

i'm wondering if the shake can thing would work too. i've used it once or twice before but it's not a regular part of our discipline - ignoring her or leaving the room to ignore her is what we do mostly, along with re-directing to what she is allowed like a chew bone or something else to "do".

Also what scares me about the barking and growling (and nipping at my leg) is that she'll bite a bit too hard and hurt me. how do i ignore her when she is biting and jumping? this is new for her, but then she is pretty new. :-) i guess just leave the room entirely once i get away from her?

I also wonder what everyone thinks about grabbing/firmly holding their scruff when they are out of line. After seeing our breeder scruff Callie once (when she got really wild with her sister and wouldn't stop biting her) I have done it a few times when Cal was really bitey with us. For her it seems to break the mood better than just walking away from her. Not often...maybe 2-3 times in the last two weeks.

When she's biting because she's tired we have her nap in her crate and that works, but this seems to work at random times during the day when she gets wild.

What does everyone think?

She is still very young. The ignoring thing does work th best but you need to remain calm and be consistent. A mother dog will 'mouth' the pups if the get out of line but it is more of a 'snap out of it' mechanism.

When my pup gets a bit nippy or grouchy I always use a vocal correction - such as ' AHHH!!!' really loud and a hand signal too in front of his face.

Im getting to the point now where I can just say AHHH!! and he will stop in his tracks. M older dog will just obey the hand signal now.

consistency is key tho - and ALL of u need to do/say the same.

I think we've all been here, as difficult as it may see, ignore her, turn away from here. Also teach her sit and wait. Kenny is great at that. He even sits and waits if our cat pinches his food lol

Thanks everyone - sorry, just worried still about this part

Girly wrote:
Also what scares me about the barking and growling (and nipping at my leg) is that she'll bite a bit too hard and hurt me. how do i ignore her when she is biting and jumping? this is new for her, but then she is pretty new. :-) i guess just leave the room entirely once i get away from her?

she actually nips the back of my leg and it's not very pleasant. If I ignore her, she continues - leave the room I guess is next best, but then she'll just play with something else. Maybe a time out corner just for her that isn't her crate? i really don't want her biting me, but i REALLY really don't want her biting the kids if they ignore her.


have a nice Saturday everyone!

When u have a treat in your hand, hold it in a closed fist so that she knows it's there and get her to sit, by holding it above her head and move your hand to make her move back and sit, when she sits open your fist to let her get the treat, she just needs to learn patience, make her sit before she's allowed to eat her dinner, have her kong etc

With time you should be able to place a treat on the floor in front of her and make her wait for your command before she eats it!

She just needs to know that being calm and sitting gets her wat she wants, jumping and biting gets her nowhere!

micheled wrote:I also wonder what everyone thinks about grabbing/firmly holding their scruff when they are out of line. What does everyone think?

I've never been too keen on 'scruffing' a pup. It doesn't actually teach a dog anything at all - other than avoiding your hand! Yes, I know the mother does it to her pups, but we are not dogs & our dogs all know that, it just isn't the same.

I'm not saying it's cruel or even wrong, just that I don't think it does too much.

*Karen* wrote:When u have a treat in your hand, hold it in a closed fist so that she knows it's there and get her to sit, by holding it above her head and move your hand to make her move back and sit, when she sits open your fist to let her get the treat, she just needs to learn patience, make her sit before she's allowed to eat her dinner, have her kong etc

I've been doing this.

Apart from the treats/food related jumping and biting though, she still just does it apparently for fun when there is no food at all. Even if I have nothing in my hand and she just wants *something* (to play, my attention, not really sure what), she sometimes jumps and bites my leg. I don't know what to do for example when we are outside, not in a place where I can easily "ignore her" or leave the room. I guess I can also stomp my foot with the leg she's not biting to snap her out of it? The other day I just scooped her up and held her, not cuddly but just to keep her still and that helped.

Sorry to belabour this, hope that's more clear - It's just that it's a bit scary when she gets in those jumping/biting moods.

Have you tried a bottle or can with rocks inside yet?

i have and that gets her attention, but it's not something i tend to carry around with me so if we're in the garden or even in our living room and it's on a table not nearby, it's not as east to use effectively. it does put her off though.

so i've been trying ignoring and it wasn't working so well, then leaving the room, but she still did it. then today i tried ignoring by staying but leaning over so i can cover my calves because she sniffs and nips at them. that seems to work, so far so good at least. we have also all been ignoring her when anyone comes over/home to stop her jumping on new people. we have been doing it by using her crate because it's big enough and she can calm down in it. but when we let her out, she sort of jumps again - mainly on the kids as they are even thicker than the dog when it comes to basic commands - we tell them what they can do and what they can't when she comes out but it's like talking to a brick wall. but we'll all get there sooner or later!!

It is frustrating but you are on the right track.

Just have patience and be consistent. They are little babies and it takes awhile.

trying trying... so i tried the covering my calves again and she just started biting my hands pretty hard. so i had to leave the room. i do think it's sinking in, just taking time. we are determined to help her with this though

I just takes some times. Suki was very troublesome for a few months but she did catch on

Girly wrote:trying trying... so i tried the covering my calves again and she just started biting my hands pretty hard. so i had to leave the room. i do think it's sinking in, just taking time. we are determined to help her with this though

Really, it shouldn't be you leaving the room (that's an invitation for her to follow you & play!), you should pick her up & put her out of the room. It's a subtle difference, but there is a difference!

ahhh OK - i've read leave the room in a few places, but your comment makes sense because she does follow me or try to beat me to it.

i'm ready to cry with her lately, to be honest.

We've all been through it but trust me patience and consitancy pays off in the end.

As pups, they are so full of themselves that you think you'll never see the end of it, but they do improve. Once they start to get the hang of it they change quite rapidly, so you just need a little more patience & she'll get there!

LOL waiting patiently for all the naughty stuff to work itself out