The internet truly is a miraculous thing. Through my work and blogging, I have had the opportunity to meet some amazing dog owners from all over the world. One of my favorite online “doggy parents/friends/trainers” is a young woman from Singapore named Sophia. Sophia is an amazing trainer. I originally met her through my website, Rewarding Behaviors on the forum. I’m not sure how Sophia found her way to RBDT, but I’m so glad she did. Ever since that day, I have been amazed and amused by her training.
When I first “met” Sophia online, she didn’t even have a dog. She did, however, do fantastic work training her guinea pigs, hamsters, and pet fish (yes, fish!) to do all kinds of amazing tricks using clicker training. Her videos are, in my opinion, instant classics because they show that the potential of positive reinforcement truly transcends the boundaries of species. If I am ever reincarnated as a pet goldfish, I can only pray to find a fish bowl in a home like Sophia’s to call my own.
Sophia recently got a beautiful puppy and messaged me on Facebook asking for tips and resources on how to curb puppy nipping. I was typing up a response and then thought many new puppy parents on dogster would benefit from them as well. Here are some of my favorite techniques, tips, and tricks to curb puppy nipping. I’ve included some blogs and articles, but those who are visual learners like myself may want to skip straight to the videos below!
I hope my dogster readers (and Sophia!) find them as helpful as I have.
ARTICLES/BLOGS
Ouch! 5 Ways to Deal with Nippy Puppy Woes
Got Puppy Nipping? Take the Clicker Approach by Karen Pryor (free registration required but so worth it – this is, after all, free training tips from Karen Pryor!
Bite Inhibition Training by Melissa Alexander
Teaching Bite Inhibition by Ian Dunbar
Puppy Biting by Ian Dunbar
VIDEOS
Stop Puppies Biting Tutorial video from clicker trainer and youtube maven Emily Larlham (“kikopup”)
Ian Dunbar Puppy Biting video part I
Ian Dunbar Puppy Biting video part II
Ian Dunbar Punishing Biting video
Ian Dunbar Dealing with Biting video
Ian Dunbar Bite Inhibition video
How to stop a puppy from biting tutorial – I really like this one! I love that she is addressing the problem through redirection, building toy drive, teaching drop it, using varied reinforcers, etc. Great job!
