Hi -

I rescued a 4 yrs old Chocolate Lab last week. He is very playful and
hyper. He loves to kiss and chew on my hands and toes. He nipped me
twice on my chin after he kissed me. He also likes to jump on me and
sit on my lap. He acts like a puppy, but he is 4 years old. How do I
teach him to stop jumping, nipping, and chewing me like his toy.

On 1 Mar 2005 08:16:03 -0800, "NP" wrote:

I rescued a 4 yrs old Chocolate Lab last week. He is very playful and
hyper. He loves to kiss and chew on my hands and toes. He nipped me
twice on my chin after he kissed me. He also likes to jump on me and
sit on my lap. He acts like a puppy, but he is 4 years old. How do I
teach him to stop jumping, nipping, and chewing me like his toy.

When he jumps, present your knee and tell him "No." This is usually
quick and effective, plus the word "No" can be transferred to other
corrections.

If you like the chewing (as I do), you can teach him that it is only for
you two--not just anyone. If you don't enjoy it, or just want to be able
to decide when its okay for you two, apply some sort of unpleasant
consequence, when he begins to chew on you.

This is not for everyone, but its doesn't seem cruel, and it is
effective. At his age, his teeth aren't "puppy sharp". So, when you
don't want him to chew, place your thumb against the roof of his mouth
and the other four finger on the bridge of his nose. Don't try to hurt
him, (and do not block his nostrils) because that's Not the object. It
creates an odd, unfamiliar and uncomfortable condition that he will
quickly learn to avoid. Hold on for 30 seconds or so then let go. Repeat
as needed, but the chewing, mouthing, usually stops soon.

I don't say "No" when I'm doing this, but I do ask "Is that what you
want?" or "How does that feel to you?" You could actually say anything,
as long as the tone was right.

For the dogs in my life, chewing is okay, but they know the stop
signal--or the "don't even try" signal. LOL.



School - Four walls with tomorrow inside.

"NP" wrote in message
ups.com...
Hi -

I rescued a 4 yrs old Chocolate Lab last week. He is very playful and
hyper. He loves to kiss and chew on my hands and toes. He nipped me
twice on my chin after he kissed me. He also likes to jump on me and
sit on my lap. He acts like a puppy, but he is 4 years old. How do I
teach him to stop jumping, nipping, and chewing me like his toy.


congrats and good luck. what'd you name him? have any pics?

Michael A. Ball said in rec.pets.dogs.behavior:

When he jumps, present your knee and tell him "No." This is
usually quick and effective, plus the word "No" can be
transferred to other corrections.

Turning your back is just as quick and effective, as well as
being safer for the dog.

--
--Matt. Rocky's a Dog.

On 1 Mar 2005 18:12:10 GMT, Rocky wrote:

Turning your back is just as quick and effective, as well as
being safer for the dog.

or tell them to sit. i figure it's more effective to avoid the
situation (by turning, as you suggested) or to give the dog an
incompatible command, than to keep telling him "no" all the time.
that gets old. yeah, "no" is a valuable tool and has its place, but i
think it's way over-used.

--
shelly
http://home.bluemarble.net/~scouvrette || http://cat-sidh.blogspot.com

Remember, the curly toed miracle keeps the flip flop on.
-- Eddie Izzard

His name is Sundae. The shelter gave him the name. His color is like
hot fudge. He hates camera. It's not easy to take good pictures of him.
When he sees camera, he just runs away and hide his face under the
table. I think he might have bad experience with flash.
MauiJNP wrote:
"NP" wrote in message
ups.com...
Hi -

I rescued a 4 yrs old Chocolate Lab last week. He is very playful
and
hyper. He loves to kiss and chew on my hands and toes. He nipped me
twice on my chin after he kissed me. He also likes to jump on me
and
sit on my lap. He acts like a puppy, but he is 4 years old. How do
I
teach him to stop jumping, nipping, and chewing me like his toy.


congrats and good luck. what'd you name him? have any pics?

Rocky wrote:

Turning your back is just as quick and effective, as well as
being safer for the dog.

This one, I have had very limited success with. Some dogs don't really
care, and would be glad to jump on whatever side you're presenting them.
Since I am generally not agile enough to do the whole knee thing, and
not convinced that someone at a size disadvantage can pull it off, I
haven't tried that either.

Generally, I do one of two things. If I can see it coming, I preempt it
by saying 'Uh-Uh' and/or side stepping, and then praising when the dog's
feet are all firmly on the ground. If this has no effect, I grab the
front feet and keep them there, not giving them any interaction beyond
that. I am at an arm's length, so they can't really do anything (like
give kisses/licks), and this really, really seems to work. A lot of
dogs automatically go into sits when you do this, which is a perfect
time to release and praise. What I've noticed is that when preemption
by itself is inadequate, the holding the paw approach, followed up with
preemption on the next attempt seems to work better.

Neither of my dogs are jumpers, so I have mostly used it on friends'
dogs, and the ones from the dog park.

Suja

shelly said in rec.pets.dogs.behavior:

Turning your back is just as quick and effective, as well
as being safer for the dog.

or tell them to sit. i figure it's more effective to avoid
the situation (by turning, as you suggested) or to give the
dog an incompatible command, than to keep telling him "no"
all the time. that gets old. yeah, "no" is a valuable tool
and has its place, but i think it's way over-used.

Sit is what I use. My response was meant to be a "Just as easy
but better than a knee in the chest" method which Ball
recommended.

--
--Matt. Rocky's a Dog.

Suja wrote:

Rocky wrote:

Turning your back is just as quick and effective, as well as being
safer for the dog.


This one, I have had very limited success with. Some dogs don't really
care, and would be glad to jump on whatever side you're presenting them.
Since I am generally not agile enough to do the whole knee thing, and
not convinced that someone at a size disadvantage can pull it off, I
haven't tried that either.

Generally, I do one of two things. If I can see it coming, I preempt it
by saying 'Uh-Uh' and/or side stepping, and then praising when the dog's
feet are all firmly on the ground.

I have an even simpler solution. If the dog jumps, I stop dead, fold my
arms, and look upward. I mentally "turn off" from the dog, and I stay
that way until the jumping stops. As soon as the butt is planted, I bend
over with effusive praise, which usually triggers jumping. I then
immediately re assume the first position. It's amazing how fast the dog
learns that jumping gains them nothing. I can generally train it to even
the worst offenders within 5 to 10 minutes. No pain, no punishment, but
a very effective correction.

On 1 Mar 2005 18:57:28 GMT, Rocky wrote:

Sit is what I use. My response was meant to be a "Just as easy
but better than a knee in the chest" method which Ball
recommended.

ugh. yes, turning is just as easy and is not likely to injure the
dog.

--
shelly
http://home.bluemarble.net/~scouvrette || http://cat-sidh.blogspot.com

I imagine that yes is the only living thing.
-- e.e. cummings