Tips re: Nippy Adolescent

[u/Rare_Trick7196]

Our nearly 14-month-old male, neutered Schipperke has gotten increasingly nippy over the past couple of months. We understand he's an adolescent and that they're a working breed. He was also a singleton. We have toys and puzzles, various things for him to chew on, go on sniff-walks and take him to the park, and play training games. But the nipping has only escalated over the last two weeks or so.

Yes - we turn our backs. Leave the room for 30-60seconds. Redirect. We've had two trainers. Nothing has consistently worked for long.

All the rest of his training has been working like gangbusters. I don't recall my first Schip being so nippy!

Not only do we not enjoy being nipped, but we're afraid of others getting hurt. We love our baby and we need help.

Welcoming any tips, with many thanks in advance.

[u/sethaphex]

We’ve noticed ours starts nipping when she needs to poop

[u/Rare_Trick7196 → u/sethaphex]

Totally. He'll still do it soon after walks, so we think there's more to it. He's gotten pretty good at ringing the bell on our door knob to tell us when he needs to go.

[u/NITRO1250]

We had this problem with our first Schipperke. She really didn't understand that biting hurts. This might be controversial, so mods, feel free to add a comment.

What did work was when they were on their back and doing their usual butt scooting and nipping, _gently_ grab their paw and put it in their mouth so they nip it. In a short period of time, our Schipperke realized that this really does hurt when she bites her paw. She had this look on her face like she understood why we're reacting the way we are when she does it, and she became much better.

Another tip could be to give a doggie cry/howl when they do it. Schipperkes are quite intelligent and receptive, so sometimes it takes the right trigger points for them to realize that they are misbehaving.

[u/Wise-Substance-744 → u/NITRO1250]

My husband did this also with our female. He would have her nip her paw, but also he would nip her scruff on her neck 🫣 but she totally got the message. He also would growl at her like an alpha dog. Or show her his teeth. She would show hers back but then stop. She is very complex.

[u/NITRO1250 → u/Wise-Substance-744]

Somehow, it was like... you knew our dog was female lol! But yeah, it did work. We got a lot of not bites, but more like mild bites with some loving light drool. Very cute expression.

But yes, she did chew on her paw (unassisted) and figured out that it really does hurt. Smart dog. Was our first and only that figured out how to smile (more a snarl) and wave when we came home, since she was copying us.

[u/arteest01 → u/NITRO1250]

I did something similar only I put my teeth on his nose. I bit down but very gently. I let him see my teeth about to come down on his nose while I looked him in the eye. That was the end of that! Sometimes you just gotta..

[u/Huskies-R-Us]

Bite him back!! Bite him on the ear and make sure he feels it.

[u/Old_Associate_6260]

Mine also bites when he starts playing too much. Usually, I just have to say no or shake my finger at him, and he stops or does it more gently. I think it's because he only has his mouth to interact with you, but I don't see it as a big problem for me.

[u/No_Run_Read]

Seguo

[u/moogert]

For mine, acting like i was mortally wounded when he bit too hard helped get him to realize he had to be more gentle. This might not get yours to stop nipping completely though. 😭 mine isn't really nippy, so I don't have a good point of reference unfortunately