Nipping and play biting. How long is too long?

[StunnedMonkey]

Darby will be 13 weeks tomorrow. We've had her for a month Like all pups she was prone to nipping and play biting. We've followed the generally accepted procedure of letting out a "yelp," trying to keep an appropriate toy in her mouth, followed by ending play if it persists. But it hasn't seemed to have had much of an effect, and when she gets wound up (which is about 3 hours in the early evening every night) she just nips and bites at anything that crosses her field of vision. This isn't aggressive biting or anything. There's no malice. She isn't prone to resource guarding or anything like that. She's just WAY too excited and grabbing at everyone with her mouth.

So is 13 weeks too old to be continuing to do this? Should she have gotten the message after a month? Or is this just normal for a pup this age?

 

[Herschel]

Be consistent and keep working with her. Your kids might confound things a little bit but I wouldn't expect anything major until 20 weeks at the earliest.

The "phases" won't start to taper off until she's 1 year old. It's a long haul, but so worth it. We're just reaping the benefits of our training with Herschel now and I'm so glad we stood our ground with him.

 

[Spirit2010]

Well, we have never had this trouble with Hershey, but with Whisper, she is a different story. lol, And be patient.

 

[StunnedMonkey]

Be consistent and keep working with her. Your kids might confound things a little bit but I wouldn't expect anything major until 20 weeks at the earliest.

Yes, the kids can really get her wound up. opcorn:

Oddly, the puppy is very nippy with my wife as well. Part of that I think is that my wife tries to treat Darby like a lapdog. Sure Darby is only 10 pounds right now, but I don't think Wheatens consider themselves to be lapdogs, particularly during thise high-energy periods in the evening.

Of course she's not nippy with me. Part of that is that I'm the one who most faithfully follows the bit inhibition procedure, and part is probably because I'm with her all day every day so she's not nearly as excited by my presence.

The "phases" won't start to taper off until she's 1 year old. It's a long haul, but so worth it. We're just reaping the benefits of our training with Herschel now and I'm so glad we stood our ground with him.

When you say phases, are you talking about those periods when the puppy just loses her mind and goes nuts for a couple of hours? Is that normal?

Last night she suddenly decided to splash about in her water bowl until she was good and wet and then take to running down the length of the tile and sliding like a little kid on a slip 'n slide. It was actually pretty funny and an impressive display of unbridled puppy joy, but of course I had to put a stop to it. It didn't seem like something that should be encouraged, no matter how entertaining it was.

 

[Herschel]

Yes, the kids can really get her wound up. opcorn:

Oddly, the puppy is very nippy with my wife as well. Part of that I think is that my wife tries to treat Darby like a lapdog. Sure Darby is only 10 pounds right now, but I don't think Wheatens consider themselves to be lapdogs, particularly during thise high-energy periods in the evening.

Wheatens are very much lapdogs. Believe me, they want nothing more than to cuddle with you, run around like crazy, and then lick you about 400 times.

Of course she's not nippy with me. Part of that is that I'm the one who most faithfully follows the bit inhibition procedure, and part is probably because I'm with her all day every day so she's not nearly as excited by my presence.

Keep up the good work. Since you're with her so much it gives you a lot of time to train. Try taking your training to other places (outside) to expose her to new environments.

When you say phases, are you talking about those periods when the puppy just loses her mind and goes nuts for a couple of hours? Is that normal?

Last night she suddenly decided to splash about in her water bowl until she was good and wet and then take to running down the length of the tile and sliding like a little kid on a slip 'n slide. It was actually pretty funny and an impressive display of unbridled puppy joy, but of course I had to put a stop to it. It didn't seem like something that should be encouraged, no matter how entertaining it was.

You're referring to the zoomies. That's the best part about having a dog--when they go crazy and do the silliest things. Encourage that as much as you can!

The phases I'm talking about are lapses in training, odd behaviors, and other things that will surface during the first two years. When she hits 4-5 months, she will probably hit a fear stage. Things that she deals with routinely will suddenly make her cower. She could walk perfectly sweetly on her leash now, but at 10 months she might decide that she wants to pull like its her job. She might not be same sex aggressive now, but it could develop around 8 months, especially for a Wheaten female.

These are things that you should keep in mind while you are training. Partially so you don't lose your mind thinking that your dog just stopped listening for no reason, and also because you should mold your training around her changes in behavior.

Some people don't believe in puppy phases, but I think most of us do.

This is a decent write-up of puppy stages: http://www.petcaretips.net/stages-puppy-development.html

 

[Doberluv]

We've followed the generally accepted procedure of letting out a "yelp," trying to keep an appropriate toy in her mouth, followed by ending play if it persists. But it hasn't seemed to have had much of an effect, and when she gets wound up (which is about 3 hours in the early evening every night) she just nips and bites at anything that crosses her field of vision.

Don't wait for it to persist to end all play. You're putting that behavior on a variable schedule, thereby strengthening the behavior. I wouldn't yelp if it's not having an affect on her. Some dogs take that to mean attention and your joining in with the play. The instant her teeth touch you in the slightest, painful way, abruptly end all attention and play. Don't even look at her.

How much exercise is she getting? When she gets this wound up, it means she needs to be taken outside for some vigorous romping and exercise.

Work on your basic obedience. Give her plenty to think about.

Be sure you're reinforcing her lavishly (not wildly) with a tasty treat and praise WHENEVER her behavior is what you like. Don't just focus on the rotten stuff.

Give her time. She's just a baby. Let her be a puppy. (within reason. LOL)

 

[otch1]

Hi stunnedmonkey. I've been wondering how your Wheaton baby is doing! Something to keep in mind... your puppy is also teething right now. Keep her busy with teething objects during this period, verses a lot of physical contact with the kids. Remember, this is a critical training period for a puppy. When she's out with the kids, that leash should still be attached so she's immediatly under control when she's going after them. The screams and squeals she solicits from the kids is interpreted as play. (I believe I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that your pup probably interprets your kids to be fabulous squeaky toys right now. Lol) Redirecting the puppies behavior in a timely manner is important. I want to see pictures!!

 

[StunnedMonkey]

Hi stunnedmonkey. I've been wondering how your Wheaton baby is doing!

She's doing very well, thank you. I wouldn't want my concern over the nipping to give anyone the idea that we were overly frustrated with her. She's a great little pup.

We're not quite housebroken yet. We have an accident about once every 3 or 4 days. Our longest clean stretch was 5 days. Other than the biting for about 3 hours in the evening, I've nothing to complain about. She sleeps 7 hours in her crate reliably every night, and we just started a puppy class last weekend. If we could get her to holster those little needle teeth, she'd be about perfect.

 

[Doberluv]

She sounds pretty perfect already. She's a puppy doing what puppies do. You're doing fine! Let us know how the classes go.