Nipping puppy

 If you can get Sadie to a puppy play group, she will learn what she needs from her mates.  Otherwise, you can try what the littermates do to teach one another this.

When she nips, you yelp, turn your back and ignore her.  All play STOPS.  She need to learn bite inhibition - how much strength she has in her jaw and how to use it.  Puppies generally learn this through age 18 weeks or so, so she is just at the right stage of development. 

 I'm not a trainer (we do have some on here who will post, I'm sure) but holding her mouth closed is not going to do much, IMO.  

Once you turn your back and stop play, she will have to sort out what happened and why.  She will walk around to your front (I'm thinking you are sitting on the floor playing with her) and start sniffing where she nipped.  Let her, and if she wants let her lick it as well.  

Tara -- in order for "yelping" to have **any** effect at all you must convey **PAIN**.  Puppies yip and yipe and it's awfully easy for a human woman to sound more like a puppy "play yip" rather than truly conveying PAIN when they nip.

I don't yelp.  But I do give a good loud "OWW" and remove my arm abruptly from the mouth (make it darned obvious that HURT) and turn away.  Do not allow the pup to mouthe you **at all**. No teeth on skin.  period.  Not ever ... not in 'play' not in "cute" ... just never ever teeth on skin. 

You have to over-act it a bit -- remember, dogs are VERY visual -- when you turn away, don't be relaxed about it.  stiffen your spine, go ramrod STRAIGHT with tension ...

DOGS READ THAT -- that's how they communicate with each other -- so it's appropriate they learn your body language as well.  When you say "No" MEAN it.  lower your tone -- be very careful to take all the "feminine" tone out of your voice.  That's difficult for many women if you have at all a sweet voice.  Make your tone very low -- make your 'no' almost resemble a growl in tone. 

 that may sound like over-kill but if the dog is ignoring you that will help you get thru.  When I turn away I usually plant my feet 2 feet apart, put my fists on my hips, with my muscles all tensed. 

 Remember -- a dog looks for signs of tension in other dogs -- the hackles raise -- that is TENSION in the skin on the back of  the neck that brings those hairs up.  The face tenses -- when two dogs face off mostly they are looking at each others body stance and tension.  It's respected.  This will help YOU be taken more seriously  as well.

I'm not saying you are a dog  I'm saying USE inate dog communication skills - they surely aren't "inate" for you and I, but they convey a wealth of information.

The first time you say a truly heart-felt "OWWWW" and convey that pain in your voice -- she'll pay attention.  And as Sandy says -- let her "say she's sorry" by offering a healing lick. 

But then don't let your guard down.  Most of the time they get more bold in that rough mouthy play because they have mis-understood your physical cues and have assumed it was no big deal.     Some dogs are simply more dominant than others -- and by "dominant" what I really mean is more strong-willed.  And you simply have to convince her it is your way or the highway. 

She sees you as a toy .... so a really effective tool is simply removing her "toy" so when she's over the top, just plain leave.  That takes a while to get thru - but she will begin to get it that when you do NOT like something you aren't going to repeat yourself 70 times.  YOu are simply GONE.  But when you come back don't come back all lovey dovey either. 

It's hard -- we WANT to play wtih them.  But teaching them is important.  And most every interaction you have with her she is LEARNING --even if you don't realize you are teaching her something! 

 Just wanted to chime in and add, it will take more than a little while to take care of it. No matter what you try, you will need to do it consistently, and it will take time. Teach your nine year old to react by stopping play too when the puppy nips. Your nine year old can do this. They may not be perfect at it, but I was able to teach a 5 year old to do this with her puppy. Just simply, if the puppy is not being nice to you, you don't play with it. Just like you would do if another kid wasn't being nice, you'd stop playing with that kid.

It's pretty normal puppy behavior to bite while playing.  What a littermate or another dog will tolerate is usually more than we find comfortable.  I usually do two things to curb the biting.  The first method is to gently shove a toy in the pup's mouth the second teeth touch skin.  This means being prepared with a toy close at hand when playing with the pup. 

 The second method is to instantly stop play when teeth meet skin and leave the room and leave a closed door between you.  After 15 seconds return and act as though nothing happened.  Repeat every time the pup uses his teeth on your skin.

Keep in mind that the puppy isn't misbehaving when it bites, it's just doing what comes naturally to dogs.  It's up to the owner to not get upset or mad or stern with the pup.  Yeah, not that easy but it helps to remind yourself that this isn't bad behavior in the dog world. 

Jackie makes a very good point.  Like human babies, puppies explore the world with their mouths.  And, she is right, in the animal world, this isn't misbehaving.

It's very hard to remember that when the teeth are on YOUR skin!   

 Jackie, I used the stuff toy method with my first Aussie pup. He was always at his worst at the front door. Lots of ankles to bite there! I always stuck a stuffy in his mouth. He still ran around excited but wouldn't drop the stuffy an therefore no nipping. It got so he knew a knock or the doorbell was his signal to run and get a stuffy.