Our Basset hound is 7 months old. He is NOT particularly interested in toys is very food motivated.
Recently he has started nipping a lot at us. Hands or clothing and ankles are favourite places to go for. I have searched and searched for ways to manage this behaviour but I constantly find " have his favourite toy in your pocket"
He doesn't care about the toy & I rarely wear clothing with pockets. If I do I am female and pockets are usually not big enough for his toys.
I have with some success tried making a loud sound as he does it as if I am hurt but it doesn't deter long term. He is not at any point trying to harm us it is in playful/ he wants to play. However, when I am cooking this need to play is becoming a bit of an issue/danger. We do manage this by placing him in his crate (we got him age 3/4 months so he is not fully crate trained but does go in it happily) and crate does calm him down. We are concerned however he will start associating the crate with punishment and I would prefer it to be his safe place.
We have tried to turn our back towards him this does not work at all with him he simply continues nipping or tugging at your clothing.
I have tried walking away too however there are times where this is not possible (like when cooking) & when I return he seems even keener on the biting (as if he missed us and now REALLY wants to play)
He gets 2 sometimes 3 walks a day and is taken outside in-between. He is super food motivated however I worry he will get fat if we don't try to limit the food intake (we take his daily treats out of his food allowance) He is rarely left alone for long periods of time as I am at home and on the day I am out (from 9 15 until 1.30) we have a dog walker come in at 1130 to take him for a 30-45 min walk)
Any suggestions for how to deal with this in a positive way? He is a bright chap and usually takes ok to training (Basset hound so a lot of patience and repetitiveness needed) has the loveliest temperament and apart from this nipping he really is perfect in every way for our family.
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puppy nipping
14 replies
Enko · 06/02/2020 10:25
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