[OldTimer46]

Gracie , is 4months old,
If she gets mad at you for correction,
Lets say, I picked her up to get her out of the situation , she protest and has a squirming fit and knips at me in protest.
I know about redirection but when they knip or it seems like something a little more severe is in order.
I have been using the redirection or just get up and leave her or put her in the crate..... but she seems to have a temper and will have a little fit.... and sometimes a little more seems to be needed
What methods do you use for correction ?
Thanks
OT

 

[tracyc]

IMO, at 4 months old, ignoring them is the worst "punishment" you can give. So leaving her to throw a fit in her crate. If she realizes that throwing a fit gets her nothing, she'll quit soon enough.

If she nips you, you can try YELPing really loud (make it dramatic!) like she's really injured you. Then ignore her. This is how puppies teach each other in the litter how hard they can bite. They bite until the other one squeals. So you need to squeal.

I also think that making a low growling noise ("baaahhh" is the sound I use) as a sign of disapproval is perfectly fine. If she grabs the couch cushion (or even looks like she might) then give her a growl that says, "back off from that, it's mine" and then redirect to something else. The thing about a growl is it's all-purpose. She doesn't have to know a "command word"--but she'll understand that whatever she's doing right at that moment isn't pleasing you.

 

[GSDOwner2008]

Well, I know that there are several methods to deal with nipping, like getting up, and ignoring the pup, and then you could yelp as a small pup would to get the point across.

However, when my pups nip at me for correcting them, I will put Zeus up in his crate, or his "room" (a section of the house that is babygated).

Apollo on the other hand gets put into a down - stay in the corner by the door until he calms down, usually for 5-10 minutes. After that, I'll call him on the sofa, stick a bone in his mouth, and we'll watch T.V. peacefully. Zeus however would rather play, so instead, I run around the living room a few times, or we play fetch.

 

[JKlatsky]

When our guy was puppy he would pick mercilessly on our older dog, which really wasn't fair to her. He'd latch on to the scruff of her neck and she'd just kind of drag him around. Initally I didn't think she minded or if she did, she would correct him herself. It never
happened and then I noticed all these scabs on her neck from where he was actually drawing blood.

So I decided this couldn't go on, redirecting didn't work, she was more fun than anything I could pull out. So when he would go for her, I would issue a "No! Leave it!" and I would take the top of his muzzle, so that his lips rolled over his teeth and give a little squeeze, until he would squeal and protest. I would THEN present a toy and praise him for grabbing that. The idea being that grabbing dog=unpleasant, toy=pleasant. Sort of a modified redirection.

As far as your situation, I would Yelp to start off. I think if she was in a situation, she doesn't understand what's going on, she's either really wound up or nervous, and it's fairly natural for dogs, especially puppies, to use their mouths. A loud Yelp from you let's your puppy know HEY that hurts! Usually tone of voice and redirection is enough. I kind of just expect them to be rotten gators until they're done teething.

Another thing I did to lessen mouthing and get my dog to be more gentle with my hands was feeding my dog by hand. I would close my hand over some kibble, and of course he would chew my hand trying to get food, and as soon as he stopped mouthing my hand, the hand would open and he could have the food. It only took maybe 2 days and then would touch my hand with his nose and back off to wait for his reward.

 

[DSudd]

Apollo also has a temper. And he lets you know it to. LOL

When he nips I will make a noise to get his attention and then I tell him no bite, give kisses. Granted it took a little bit to get him to stop nipping us, but he is getting much better. If he tries it now, you can barely feel it, but he gets the same answer. If I find him chewing on something he is not supposed to (my shoes for the past 2 days) then I use redirection. He has a couple of toys he loves and it is working well. Of course if he chooses the toy over my shoes he gets praised for that.

I think Rocky has been very helpful in teaching him about biting. I like the feeding by hand idea. I might have to try that one.

 

[LedZep]

My 7 month old still sometimes has tantrums when told he can't do something, but it is getting better through redirection and practicing leadership. But on those occasions when you just have to grab them by the collar and pull them away from something, there are still occasional arguments.