Puppy Training 101

What did we do before the Internet? it's  hard to remember. There is an astounding amount of puppy training material that is out there! What is great for us 'golden years' folks is we can look something up and not worry about remembering it, just bookmark it. This is true for the youngsters too, which is not a good thing, and their brains will atrophy from lack of use, but that is another issue to be delta with later.

I am becoming something of an expert on puppy nipping as Pippi is quite the mouther/biter. I feel a sense of urgency to get this behavior under control simply because Pip is 11 weeks and her baby teeth are all erupted and hurt when she nips or chomps. I realize this mouthing is important in their growth and she can bite, chew or mouth on her toys - not my hands or toes.

I first started working with the "ouch" technique - didn't work. Then Cesar Millan's "tssst", which was mildly successful for a while but then something changed and the tap on the neck or hindquarters turned into a game. I would tssst and tap her and she would turn and snap at me. Well, I was having none of that.

I looked up biting on You Tube which, for me, is a great way to retain information a little longer, and found a slew of suggestions.  Tab289 is this young man who has a lot of training videos that are pretty good. The bitting one didn't work for us but the "Leave It" one is which is equally important for a curious nose to the ground puppy worked well. http://m.youtube.com/user/tab289

On another video,  as the dog is escalating in her nipping, this guy opens the dogs mouth and slides his hand all the way back of her jaw; and holds the position for about 10 seconds then releases. You have to hold her head and apply slight pressure from both ends.  This is to ignite the gag reflex. Wear a glove.

I didn't like doing this and felt I might be hurting her little jaw, but I did it and all I can say is Pippi went right to sleep after our  training session. However, she is still nipping and I will try my daughters suggestion -  when the dogs mouth is open put your thumb on their tongue and hold their lower jaw. Look at the dog and say "no bite" or what ever you use, then let go. You don't have to use a lot of pressure with your thumb. This technique worked for her when she was training her terrier "Hoops". We shall see.