how can I stop my dog from nipping when she gets excited?

Question
I have recently adopted a dachshund mix 8 month old puppy from the local humane society and from the firsttime I pet her in kennel she has a tendency to want to nibble when she gets excited.  She is a good dog for the most part but has some behavioral issues like eating everything she can find, sneaking items out of the house and jumping up one me.  The nibbling and sneaking are the most irritating. what do I doto stop this?

Answer
Hi Chris,

It's up to you to put away anything you don't want chewed! If it's out laying on the floor or someplace your dog can reach, it's fair game, and you have nobody to blame but yourself for not putting your stuff away. You need to be especially careful with food, as some human foods are toxic to dogs.

As far as the nipping goes, there isn't a quick fix, but with your patience and consistent training the following should help. Make sure no one is playing "mouth games" with the dog, encouraging her to put teeth on humans for any reason.

Simply (and gently) hold your dog's mouth closed for 15 seconds (work up to this time--at first it might frighten the dog to hold for more than about 5 seconds), while praising the dog. Say "[Dog's name], close your mouth. GOOD close your mouth!"

This teaches the dog the words for the behavior you want, and eventually you can remind the dog about the mouth by just saying those words. But that stage won't last long, because if you are very consistent about doing this intervention every time your dog puts teeth on people, eventually your dog will never do so at all.

By handling the mouthing from a positive point of view with praise--although it's still a correction: done every time the dog's mouth touches a person's skin, it shows the dog the correct behavior of keeping teeth off people and praises the dog for doing it--you gain other benefits, such as accustoming your dog to being comfortable having someone control its mouth.

You do have to be consistent and stay with this over a period of time to get really solid results. Dogs not taught about teeth on people do not automatically outgrow it, so this is time very well spent training your dog. This method works on adult dogs as well as puppies, and is much safer for both you and the dog than harsh corrections.

Read about how to prevent your dog from jumping here:

http://life.familyeducation.com/dogs/pet-training/47305.html

http://ezinearticles.com/?How-To-Teach-Your-Dog-Not-To-Jump-Up-On-Visitors&id=67...


Best of luck,
Patti