akyramoto82
Posted : 3/23/2010 1:08:57 PM
spiritdogs
BEVOLASVEGAS
Am I the only person who just replaces my arm with something appropriate to chew on?
When Cher was in the chewing/mouthing phase, I always kept a toy with me so that I could hand it to her when she started getting mouthy. She can de-squeak a cuz in no time, but, now, she knows what is & is not acceptable to put her mouth on.
I doubt that you are - and I think it's a great tactic, too. It's just that some dogs ignore the substitute, so it is always nice to know other approaches, too. I do not, however, subscribe to the theory that you just let your dog bite at your hands. I would still want to impress upon the dog that I am not a chew toy, and that an alternate behavior is the one that will produce attention, play or rewards from me.
I always redirect, and if Zoey still goes at it I ignore her or leave, game over. so far she has stopped nipping a lot faster than I thought she would for her breed. She will try it once in awhile if I'm giving her scratchings, but same thing - she tries to be mouthy scratchings/lovings stop.
I never let her mouth me, I wanted to make it clear to her no matter what human hands/body parts/even clothing in puppy mouths is not acceptable.
Punkchica just keep trying, eventually he'll get the message. seems like most things we try to teach our pups fail because of our inconsistencies, in my opinion :)