Worried about biting

[DionChappie]

I've had my new 6 month lab X around 4 weeks now. He's beautiful and i love him. But, he's going for my cat, barking at her and going for her. When I told him off tonight and tried to put him in the other room he nipped me. He does nip a lot but I'm told that's something he will grow out of. I'm a first time dog owner and I'm lucky I can ring the dogs trust if I need advice. I've also got lots of doggie friends who support me. I'm not too worried about my cat. I'm sure we will get there in the end but I am worried that my dog might bite me. In the absence of being able to ring dogs trust for a bit of reassurance does anyone have any advice?

I have a new rescue border collie who has nipped a couple of times. The advice I have been given is to "dial everything down" ie avoid the situations which could lead to bad behaviour. In my case this means slowing down all the activity (my collie likes to do things at warp speed) My walks now last hours but we dont get very far........everything is done under control - even play is controlled and under my terms. I think the idea is that eventually (hopefully) she will look to me for instruction rather than make the (sometimes bad) decisions herself. Lots of positive and calm reinforcement of the good behaviour. I do lots of mini training sessions during the day trying to encourage her attention to be on me. I try to keep calm myself and not react to unwanted behaviour.
Good luck.

My dog goes for my cat also gives the mouth like he's going to bite me (like he's telling me off) but he never does and I know he wont. Are you scared of your dog?

Just a question but how did you tell him off ?

I think you need some help with this behaviour before it escalates.

It sounds like he needs a lot more time to get used to the cat, how are you managing introductions? Also what do you mean you told him off? If you cannot stop the behaviour from happening, be calm, silent, and put him in another room. What did you do before he bit you? Don't pick him up and if you can't control him by leading him from the collar leave a short lead on him (always supervise him when he has the lead on) so you can control him this way.

Are you getting any training help?

What are you doing to address the nipping? Most dogs will grow out of it but you can use techniques to help them along the way.