Elwood is nipping!

Now that Elwood is settling in he`s starting to nip. Not just little nips either, they bloody hurt! He first of all starts to have his mad 10 minutes, running over the sofas etc, then he starts to make a noise like barking and grumbling (not growling). When I get near him he tries to nip me. He got me yesterday and bruised my arm. He has been doing this to my husband as well. I try to get him by the collar to put him outside to calm down but he tries to get me again. When I do get hold of him, I dont speak to him or make eye contact,I just put him outside for 5 minutes. When I let him back in he`s calm again and will usually lie down and settle. He`s quite a big boy and I can`t be having a dog that size nipping!! Any ideas?

i have no advice but would be interested to see peoples replies as im having the same problem with buster who is 6 months, i have had a month

when he starts to get too giddy stop it there before it gets to the nipping stage. if they are too giddy jumping on the sofas etc then its time to calm down before it gets out of hand. a dog will not listen to you when they are too hyped up so try to stop it before it gets that far. if he does nip just give a firm NO and send himt to bed

If at all possible, I'd avoid grabbing his collar as this will just excite him & make matters worse.

Try to stop the rough, out of control play before it starts if you can. Have you tried the puppy routine of a long, low "No!" and then totally ignoring him? No interraction at all, no eye contact, no speaking etc. All play must stop immediately.

He should soon realise that he only gets played with & acknowledged when he's calm & does a she's told!

He is trying to get your attention you need to ignore him completly until he calms down

Caryll wrote:If at all possible, I'd avoid grabbing his collar as this will just excite him & make matters worse.

Try to stop the rough, out of control play before it starts if you can. Have you tried the puppy routine of a long, low "No!" and then totally ignoring him? No interraction at all, no eye contact, no speaking etc. All play must stop immediately.

He should soon realise that he only gets played with & acknowledged when he's calm & does a she's told!

Caryll, I`ve tried that but all he does then is get even more excited and jumps around more, trying to grab me!

Smack him on the bum and shut him out the room.

shakespearesdog wrote:Smack him on the bum and shut him out the room.

LOL my husband nearly shot him last night!!

As soon as he starts getting to much shut him out the rrom or in crate if he is crate trained for 10 mins when u let him out ignore him and if he starts agin just calmly put him staright out again he will get the message!

I`m going to give it a go later because I know he`ll be at it again. He really is doing my head in at the moment.

Dont take any messing from him, he needs to no your the boss and u mean buisness! If u say NO u mean it! As soon as it starts remove him quickly with no fuss and and tell him no. Maybe just leave him 5 mins coz thinking about it he needs to learn that by going over the top he gets put out and u need him to get it wrong a few times for him to learn the lesson lol

blaze wrote:Dont take any messing from him, he needs to no your the boss and u mean buisness! If u say NO u mean it! As soon as it starts remove him quickly with no fuss and and tell him no. Maybe just leave him 5 mins coz thinking about it he needs to learn that by going over the top he gets put out and u need him to get it wrong a few times for him to learn the lesson lol

Little f****r just had my arm again.I know he`s only playing but it bloody hurts. I did just put him in his bed and a firm NO . I think I shocked him a bit lol

this could be against some modern teaching so use it if you run out of ideas and the dog is not dominant. I tought a dog out of same problem by shouting OI very loudly while starring squarely into its face everytime he did it. it helps if done while playing games to give you the opportunity to give praise and encouragement for wanted behaviour.

if the dog is dominant you risk confrontation with a square stare though

shakespearesdog wrote:Smack him on the bum and shut him out the room.

Smaking him would serve no purpose whatsoever!

blaze wrote:Dont take any messing from him, he needs to no your the boss and u mean buisness! If u say NO u mean it! As soon as it starts remove him quickly with no fuss and and tell him no. Maybe just leave him 5 mins coz thinking about it he needs to learn that by going over the top he gets put out and u need him to get it wrong a few times for him to learn the lesson lol

That's the best way, I think.

Smaking him would serve no purpose whatsoever

He would know he'd been naughty.

Olly used to get over excited and nip bloody hard when we first got him,we found a loud NO and leave him or put him out of the room it worked now he never nips my wife and only me occasionally and only when i play rough with him i know, i shouldnt but hes so cute in loony mode!