New pup nips and chews--help, please!!!!!! (long, sorry!)

[Willow]

In the interest of trying to provide as much helpful information that may pertain to the problem, this is long, sorry! After the death of our third Cairn on May 22, we were without a Cairn for more than 12 hours for the first time in 30 years (we were devastated anyway; and she was not ill, and she was only 10), soooo...on May 27 we went to a breeder and came home with an 11 week (which puts her at almost 14 weeks now) female wheaten puppy. We are, of course, totally enamored of her, but she nips FAR worse than I remember any of our other Cairns doing! And it is **painful**, not to mention, bad manners . Nothing I have tried seems to make any impression on her; she has a LOT of toys of all sorts, including rawhide chew squares, rawhide chew sticks, dry puppy chow, small Milk Bones, real bones (those especially for dogs, not table bones), a knotted rope toy---all sorts of things to chew on with different textures and tastes. Every time she is on my lap and begins nipping my face or chewing my hand (or whatever other body part is close), I tell her firmly no and put a rawhide square or stick in her mouth and praise her lavishly when she chews that instead...it works for a few moments, then she is back to nipping and chewing on me. I can be sitting at the dinner table eating or at the computer, and she jumps up and nips my thigh, or standing or walking in the house (and the yard as well) and she nips whatever she can reach. House training is going about average, and she is not jumping ON me much now, so correcting that is going fairly well, too. Other than this behaviour, she is very affectionate. She does this to DH as well. We NEVER play "rough" with her, so I can't think of anything we might be doing to encourage her nipping and chewing on US. She gets LOTS of attention, and we do play tug of war with the rope toy (the most agressive play we engage in with her) as well as other play, so it isn't rough play or handling that is adding to the problem so far as I can tell. We also have 8 cats, but all of them were accustomed to, and some were very fond of, our third Cairn, and our second one as well, which we had at the same time as our third one. She plays fairly well with them, but I have found a couple of tooth marks on them, too...the four kittens (two years old) I have had from birth are so affectionate and loving they will usually run and get up on something when she gets too rough, rather than swatting at her; they all seem to really enjoy running and playing with her until she starts nipping. The older cats, she generally doesn't play with, they don't "play", which is what she likes about the young ones. Other than nipping and chewing, she is very affectionate, I am at a loss as to what else to try---help, anyone????

[annuline]

This is a difficult one to break. When my puppy bites, even in play, I will let out a yelp to startle her, then pull away. I will then supply her with a toy and play with her. As long as she isn't biting me, I play, when she bites me, I yelp again and give her the toy. Over and over and over and ...... On occasion I have had to resort to a flick under the chin and say No Bite, or a yelp followed by the flick. I try to be consistant so she understands. I bought some bitter apple spray, too. When she bites in a place, like you mentioned the leg when you are at the computer, try a bit of the spray on your leg. The stuff is nasty and she will understand that the bite gets a yucky taste. I have also used the spray to help with barking problems.

I just love these little dogs. Like you, I will always have a cairn terrier in the house.

:angel:

[Guest]

>but she nips FAR worse than I remember any of our other Cairns doing! And it is **painful**, not to mention, bad manners . Nothing I have tried seems to make any impression on her;

Have you tried "time out"? When she nips, yelp, say No, and then put her in a crate. Let her think about her actions for 10 minutes, let her out again and if she nips, repeat the above and leave her in the crate for 15 minutes and so forth.

>she has a LOT of toys of all sorts, including rawhide chew squares, rawhide chew sticks, dry puppy chow, small Milk Bones, real bones (those especially for dogs, not table bones), a knotted rope toy---all sorts of things to chew on with different textures and tastes.

Time for the "nothing in life is free" routine. Take away her toys and make her earn play time by doing tricks. Teach her sit, down, etc. If she nips take away the toy and time out again as above.

>begins nipping my face or chewing my hand (or whatever other body part is close), I tell her firmly no and put a rawhide square or stick in her mouth and praise her lavishly when she chews that instead...it works for a few moments, then she is back to nipping and chewing on me.

If she starts to nip again after such a short time then you have not made an impression on her you have only distracted her for a few minutes. Therefore the punishment is not working---tell her no and crate her--more time out. If she can't behave then she will have to leave the party.

>and she jumps up and nips my thigh, or standing or walking in the house (and the yard as well) and she nips whatever she can reach.

If she jumps on you bump her with your knee and tell her no. If she nips then it is time out again.

>We NEVER play "rough" with her, so I can't think of anything we might be doing to encourage her nipping and chewing on US. She gets LOTS of attention, and we do play tug of war with the rope toy (the most agressive play we engage in with her)

Tug of war encourages rough play and aggression unless you win every time. Since you are having a nipping problem I would stop the tug of war games immediately. Also, let her "earn" your attention and affection by learning tricks--sit, down, shake and so forth. If she wants your attention then she must work for it.

>but I have found a couple of tooth marks on them, too...the four kittens (two years old) I have had from birth are so affectionate and loving they will usually run and get up on something when she gets too rough, rather than swatting at her

They are enabling her bad behavior.

Chewing is normal for a puppy but niping to the point of leaving marks means that she has never learned to soften her bite and she should never ever put her teeth on a human.

Try Carol Benjamin's book on "Dog Problems".

Lynda Hammel

[Guest]

We have a puppy, Rebel, 12 weeks old. He was biting hands and feet. I went to a class on puppies and it was suggested that as soon as teeth touch skin to pick him up with your hand under his belly and extend your arm. You should see about a 30% improvement each week. It is working so far only in the evenings when he is tired does he bite our hands. I started trying this also when he bites at our feet and ankles. I picked him up and held him out and don't say a word. When I put him down he will look at me and leaves the feet alone.

They gave us tips on other things to do if this didn't work but so far so good. He is very smart and I think he likes it better when his feet are on the ground and we are talking to him!