# My Wheaten puppy is nipping/biting and not walking



## cte1sttime (Jul 4, 2011)

Hi, my now 12-week old Wheaten puppy is nipping/biting, sometimes along with growling. Is this normal? He does this when he is playing. Sometimes it is nipping the hand or whatever near him. A couple of times he actually nipped me and my daughter on our faces. Is he just getting too involved in his play? A lot of times when we are trying to take off his leash, he tries to nip us as well. When he does this, we pick him up (while trying not to get nipped) by his armpits and firmly say no bite. 

This ties up to my 2nd question. He has decided he doesn't like walking. When we take him out for a walk, he would sit, lie on the ground, or pull strongly on the leash the other way. Sometimes, I will pick up his butt to get him off the ground, pick him up and walk a few steps, or pull on the leash. Sometimes while walking, he would bite on the leash and growl. I am thinking this is why he is nipping us when we try to get the leash off. What are we doing wrong?


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## McBee (Jul 1, 2011)

Read the thread sticky'd at the top titled: The Bite Stops Here

That may give you a start on how to deal with the biting/nipping.

As for the leash training, let him/her run around the house (supervised) with the leash attached to them. This will help them feel more comfortable once they become use to it.

Training on leash can be done in different ways, but providing treat motivation may help. Have your dog to the left of you, leash in hand, treat in right hand. Get their attention and start to lead off with your left foot while constantly talking and keeping their attention on you. All the while, giving positive reinforcement. After a few good steps, give the treat and praise. Then repeat the process. 

Hope this helps.


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## HerdersForMe (Jul 26, 2011)

McBee said:


> Training on leash can be done in different ways, but providing treat motivation may help. Have your dog to the left of you, leash in hand, treat in right hand. Get their attention and start to lead off with your left foot while constantly talking and keeping their attention on you. All the while, giving positive reinforcement. After a few good steps, give the treat and praise. Then repeat the process.


This is very important for proper leash training. Once the puppy is comfortable in the leash odds are they will be very distracted by other things, constantly. It is very important to constantly keep the pup's attention while walking. It's also a good place to assist in teaching "Lets go".


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## cte1sttime (Jul 4, 2011)

I think my puppy is used to the leash. He used to loved walking. We started walking with him when we got him at 9 weeks old. We would walk every day. About a week and a half ago, he suddenly decided he doesn't like walking and just sat on the ground or laid on the ground. I don't know what triggered this. 

The biting has gotten scary today. We were sitting outside watching my daughter and her friend toss a ball. He was sitting on my lap while I was looking through his hair to see if the tick my daughter found earlier and was really gone. He seemed interested in the ball toss but not overly excited. When I stepped back into the kitchen to prep for dinner, I asked my daughter to walk him. He came back in and played a little. Then, he sniffed around and when to the kitchen door. It seemed like he needed to pee, so, I took him out. He did pee a little. Since he didn't poo, I figured we will just walk back and forth in the yard just in case. He walked a little then started chewing and growling on the leash manically. In addition, he would lie down and chew grass, again manically. He ran around in circles wrapping the leash around me. When I finally was able to to hold him by his arm pits (this is what our breeder said to do when he nips), he kept snapping at my hand and growling. I held him to me and finally he relaxed and started to fall asleep. This incident scared me. I think he would really hurt me if he got his mouth on me. 

I've read the Ian Dunbar book "Before and After You Got Your Puppy" and Patricia McConnell's "The Puppy Primer". And we have tried doing what he said. I've also watched his training tapes. But, they didn't address what to do when the puppy goes crazy. Can it be hormones?


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## RoughCollie (Mar 7, 2011)

I have a wheaten puppy too. Mine is 6 months old and our problem got worse the day he turned 5 mos. When I read your thread title, I thought, oh no ... did I post this thread and just not remember it?

#1 Read _The Bite Stops Here_ sticky. Aidan doesn't nip out of anger; he is playing. The suggestions in the article work, to a point, and the positive changes took a couple of months to occur. Aidan has only broken the skin on my arm once in the last couple of months. His bite inhibition is very good. 

Bite inhibition is important. Aidan has his adult teeth in, and he can clamp his jaws shut so tightly that we could pick him up off the floor by whatever he has in his mouth. I open his mouth to get contraband out, and it is much harder to pry his jaws open now than it used to be. Luckily, he doesn't try to bite or nip me when I do that, probably because he is resigned to it.

Sometimes he nips faces while he is licking them. My husband and I don't let him lick our faces or ears because of that.

#2 Take him to obedience classes. Positive reinforcement training works with Aidan. I have to use a stern voice with him. He's been behaving much more since our last class. The trainer told him, "No! Stop That!" To my amazement, Aidan stopped what he was doing, which was trying to bite me to get me to play with him (according to the trainer). What I experience is a puppy who is in a frenzy and does not pay attention to what I say.

I have used "No! Stop That!" on him several times since Weds night, and it works. I have no idea why. I say it in a stern voice.

#3 The zoomies on the leash thing is still going on here. He is in a frenzy and pays no attention to what anyone tells him, and will bite. We no longer attempt to play with him when he is like this. I bring him in the house, and he zooms all over the place, then tries to get someone to play. The type of playing he wants is rough on humans: biting, running, pouncing, and wanting to be chased, over and over again. So I put him in his crate until he calms down. 

He has, for the most part and for unknown reasons, stopped lying down in the middle of a walk to do nothing or to eat grass. 

#4 Read this - _The Basics of Training Your Wheaten_ - http://www.scwtca.org/train/index.htm It is really helpful, especially since Aidan wants to be the boss and he continually tests me to see if I've come around. I haven't tried the security hold exercise yet, but that's on the agenda for this weekend. 

#5 I think a contributing factor for Aidan is that he needs to run, not merely be taken on walks. I can't run, so my kids and I take him to a pasture and let him run around. We have him on a 50' leash. 

He also loves playing with other dogs. In September, I plan for him to go to a dog daycare once a week, so he can do that. He really loves going to obedience classes because of the other dogs there.


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## cte1sttime (Jul 4, 2011)

RoughCollie: Thank you so much for your post. You made me feel much better. Now I know Indy's problem is probably common to Wheatens. We all read "The Bite Stops Here" and will try this out. Hopefully I have good news to report soon. We started Indy on puppy classes a few weeks ago. He will be going to his 4th class today. But it is not an obedience class. I will see if there is any that he can join. We have a friend with a puppy that is a month older than Indy. But, they don't want the puppies to get together until Indy has all his shots. Other friend's dogs are several years old. Our breeder thinks he should be with dogs his age.


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## RoughCollie (Mar 7, 2011)

There is a Yahoo group called SoftCoatedWheatens. It has 1,804 members, and it is pretty active since there were 156 new messages in the last week.

Aidan missed the puppy class because when it started, my husband had a stroke. Aidan is in the beginner's obedience class, along with other puppies his age. We will probably have to repeat it, as Aidan performs well at home, but not during class -- he is too distracted by the great smells on the grass and the other puppies. He sure has a great time there. He follows me to the bathroom when I get ready to go, and then won't leave the room. Next to the kitchen, the bathroom with all its water sources is his favorite room. All I have to say is "We are going to dog school", and he is at the front door in a flash. During his next flash, he is dragging a teen at top speed to the car. He sure is strong for a 35 lb. dog.


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## runner (Jul 13, 2011)

Our Wheaton will be 9 mo. old the 26th of this month and she does the nipping/biting thing too. She also runs around on the carpet like a mad man, if we start playing with her then, she'll get a little rough and the biting gets more aggressive so we don't do that anymore. I think she needs a good walk or run. I took her out for a walk on Thursday for about 4 hours, not a continous walk, temp in the high 70's, when we got home she was pooped and went right in her crate and slept. When she got up later, the nipping/biting thing wasn't happening. Just my 2 cents.


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## cte1sttime (Jul 4, 2011)

runner: I don't know where my respond went. I did type up a response and I thought I replied...who knows. I have to admit, I have been getting little sleep lately...staying up til 2am 3am troughing the internet for information about puppies, training, biting, nipping, crating, one training method vs another, etc...then waking up at 5am. I know I can't do 4 hour walks on a daily basis. I can do the morning (1 hr max walk) and late afternoon walks. When my daughter goes back to school, I will come home every 2 hours from work to give Indy short walks. I hope this will be enough to get rid of the crazies. I like fast pace walks but hate running. Maybe I can get me friend who is a jogger to take him for a run???


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## runner (Jul 13, 2011)

cte, yeah 4 hour walks aren't the norm, it was my day off. I'll start running again when the temps start to fall. She's been on a crazy schedule too, so maybe that's some of it too.


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## stephanie.weissman (Oct 10, 2011)

I am having the same nipping/biting problem with my wheaten puppy lately. We have had her about 2 weeks and she is now entering her 11th week. The first week and a half she was really sweet, she let me hold her all the time and she was great. This weekend she started getting really nippy and trying to nip me HARD when I pick her up so that I would put her down. I have no clue what to do, it kind of scares me! We are starting puppy classes with her next week. Since we brought her home we have been crate training her. We have been socializing her with other dogs at Petco in a controlled environment one day a week and we have been spending lots of time with her! We work during the day and have a dog walker come 2 x's a day to take her out (for 30 minutes). We have been trying to give her limits and consistency. Our trainer said she might be over stimulated because we play with her so much and do not give her enough time to rest. I don't know if it could be food related and she is just not feeling well, I have been giving her chicken and rice per the vet's suggestion to help her stomach because she has loose stools. I just fear that we are raising a little terror since this behavior just started out of nowhere and I can't help but feel responsible for it. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Did your dog eventually overcome the terrible stage? Any ideas on what I can do? Thanks!


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## cte1sttime (Jul 4, 2011)

Hi Stephanie, I think I responded to your post on the Wheaten Yahoo site. Indy is 5 months old now and is a gentleman. He is such a good puppy. When he needs to go out, he comes to me and gives me a look, then goes to the door. He even rings the bells I have hanging on the door knob. He is not perfect and has pee'd in his crate a few times when I got held up at work. But, that is my fault.

You sound like me a couple of months back. If you can see my hands, you will see all the bite marks Indy left there. But, if you remain calm and patient, the nipping will stop. My trainer said that all new puppy owners have this look on their faces that says who switched my cute puppy with the devil dog. Actually, the biting now is a good thing. It teaches bite inhibition when their bites can't cause real damage.

In the past, Indy's nipping starts after our AM walk. We will go to the backyard and he knows it is play time and gets aggressive with the leash, jumping up and biting. This is his way of saying I am ready to play now. As long as I am calm, ignore the jumping, I can just take the leash from his mouth. If I have a treat, he would drop the leash immediately and sit down. You must learn the off and take it command (have a treat in your fist, let the puppy try to get it, when she finally gives up and stop nosing, nipping your fist, say off, open your fist, and say take it). When your puppy nips you, you can say off, and she will stop. Also, never pull your hand away when she nips, fist your hand or spread your hand open so that the pup can't get at it. The pup will stop. Many suggests saying ouch and turning your back to the puppy. I find this does not work with Indy. Instead, I yip like a puppy and that sound immediately stops any nipping. I think Indy recognizes that as a "you inflicted pain on me sound". I don't free feed Indy. When it is meal time, I prep his food and he has to do a few commands of sit, down, and wait until I release him to eat. 

The main thing is to be calm and firm. I know it is easier to say then done. But, if you resolve to occasionally getting a bite/scratch until the nipping phase is over, then you will be good to go. 

I hope this helps you,

Cat and Indy


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