Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello,
Does anyone know how to stop the BC from nipping at our legs? Everytime I walk this will happen at least once and sometimes even more than once. Any training tips? As I said before, my puppy is only 7 weeks but I would like to know for future. Thanks.

At 7 weeks old your BC is still very young. He probably shouldn't have been made available until 8 weeks or more since he learns much of his redirection from the mother. He is looking at you and your family as a member of his litter and this is what puppys do... they mouth and nip each other. Do you own a crate for the pup? When he nips you could give him a correction and place him in the crate for a minute or two... a time out. Any longer than that and the pup will not remember what he is being corrected for. You could also try giving out a loud yell, like OUCH and immediately move away and ignore the pup. If he is acclimated to a collar and leash he can be corrected that way as well. What you don't want to do is push the pup away and let him return to do the same thing. All this does is reinforce him into thinking this pattern is a game.
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Bob

If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.

>>Hello,
>>Does anyone know how to stop the BC from nipping at our legs? Everytime I walk this will happen at least once and sometimes even more than once. Any training tips? As I said before, my puppy is only 7 weeks but I would like to know for future. Thanks.

>>>>>>>>>>

The rough way, which I can't recommend, but can work for a dog expert with good timing and soft shoes or bare feet, is to give your pants leg a vigorous shake while the pup has hold. If it doesn't work the first time, don't do it again, and don't do it on a dog other than a very young puppy.

Another method for experts only is a very light scruffing. It can't be done in anger and it has to be over before the pup even knows what happens. You can DAMAGE a dog this way, so again, it's for experts only.

A safer approach is to stop (removes the stimulation of the pup's prey drive instinct) and work on a trained task at that moment. Never let the pup grab without you stopping and dealing with it. The trained task can be taught with food--but properly, not by waving food hopefully in the air and expecting the pup to understand English!

Any trained task will do. For a trained dog, I like to use the down, but a pup won't do that well enough at that age and you do not want to force-train a down. A sit can work well, lured at first with a treat held just exactly right to bring the pup's head up and hind end down. A focused attention exercise would be ideal (see the articles Attention, Please and Eye Contact at the link below my signature). Also, if you have an assistant, you could call the dog back and forth between you a few times. You could so a fetch if the pup will do that. A few will, and Border Collies are that precocious!
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series articles at http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=SRC&S=1&SourceID=47

Thanks but I am still having trouble. My husband tried the scruff approach and it worked the first day. I tried it and she got away and she fights back and thinks I am playing. I've been trying it all week but it is not working. I think I will try the play and ouch thing for awhile. I don't want the puppy to become aggresive. She bit me hard once. She only nips at me when I walk so hopefully she will grow out of it. Comments?

>>Thanks but I am still having trouble. My husband tried the scruff approach and it worked the first day. I tried it and she got away and she fights back and thinks I am playing. I've been trying it all week but it is not working. I think I will try the play and ouch thing for awhile. I don't want the puppy to become aggresive. She bit me hard once. She only nips at me when I walk so hopefully she will grow out of it. Comments?

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No more scruffing! It didn't work the first time, so you STOP. After that, it's fighting with the dog and nobody wins those fights. Besides, you will injure the dog. Shaking a dog can cause brain damage! The chance to startle her with a one-time experience that sometimes works with a puppy is past. No more scruffing.

No, she will not grow out of it. She needs training. You may need the help of a veterinary behavior specialist in person to get you started, until she is old enough for puppy class (and cleared for it medically by your veterinarian.

This breed needs to be in formal training with weekly class or a private trainer to at least a year of age! Don't put it off. It will get worse, not better. See the articles Behavior Specialists and Dog Trainers, Herding Dogs, and Training: What Does Your Dog Need? at the link below my signature.
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series articles at http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=SRC&S=1&SourceID=47

Thanks. Puppy Class sounds like it would really help. I guess I need to wait until all her shots are complete and ask the vet where to go for these classes.
My husband is the lucky one. She still goes to him and plays with him without biting him. Looks like he scruffed her at the right point in time. I've only had her for 2 weeks and I am stressed out about this situation. Any tip for what I do from now until I can attend puppy classes? I stopped scruffing. Now I am trying out a rolled up magazine and just smashing it on my legs when she nips at my legs so the noise distracts her. Then I get a toy to play with her.

liberally on your pants leg. But another problem that you might be facing is that border collies do nip at legs. It seems to be one of their traits. We have a border collie mix, and she will grab my son's pants legs whenever he runs in the yard with her.
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sue, cheyenne-the American bulldog bully, nehi-her long suffering border collie mix, and charlie-our "basic black, white, and brown dog" who is watching from the bridge.

>>Thanks. Puppy Class sounds like it would really help. I guess I need to wait until all her shots are complete and ask the vet where to go for these classes.
>>My husband is the lucky one. She still goes to him and plays with him without biting him. Looks like he scruffed her at the right point in time. I've only had her for 2 weeks and I am stressed out about this situation. Any tip for what I do from now until I can attend puppy classes? I stopped scruffing. Now I am trying out a rolled up magazine and just smashing it on my legs when she nips at my legs so the noise distracts her. Then I get a toy to play with her.

>>>>>>>>>>>

I'd hate to make a dog spooky about anything. In this case, you could wind up with, for example, a dog who hates paperboys and mailmen.

Teach her to Sit for a treat, and then when she nips at pants, stop, turn to face her with a smile, tell her to sit, and give her a treat when she does. It's a very smart breed, and if you stick with positive methods you won't do any harm. After she sits for the treat, then you could toss a toy for her to chase. But she's likely too young for retrieving alone to be strong enough to stop the pants-nipping. BCs do love to retrieve, but at this point you'll probably need to get her stopped in order to redirect the chasing drive.

Her brain is so impressionable right now that the magazine thing is risky. Parents punish kids, and it seems to work at times. That's because kids can use and understand words to make connections between actions and consequences. Punishment goes wrong with dogs much more than it goes right, because they tend to make the wrong connections, lacking the ability to think in words.

Until your dog is released for class, a veterinary behavior specialist in person could either teach you safe training techniques or refer you to a reliable trainer or non-veterinary behavior specialist for private lessons. Dog training is a skill, and it takes a lot of skill to train a BC. They are too smart and too sensitive for most owners.
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series articles at http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=SRC&S=1&SourceID=47