My 6-month puppy nips and pulls clothes for attention. How to stop?

I'm not entirely sure if you're referring to actual aggression (intent to bite), or just nipping behavior, which is very normal and common in puppies. If Cooper is doing the usual puppy nipping (very excited, wiggly body, chewing on everything, jumping up, etc), then there are a few things you can do. One is to just get up and walk away when he becomes too excited, and ignore him (you may need to leave the room). Once he is calm, you can start play again to help teach him that nipping behavior doesn't get attention. Yelping out Ouch! In a high pitched voice can also help, as it mimics playing too rough with a litter mate. Replacing the chewing/nipping with an appropriate toy so his mouth is occupied can also help. Be sure to praise and give him attention when he is focused on his toys, rather than your hand! Puppies do start to get adult teeth around 6-7 months of age, so you may see a surge in nipping and chewing then as well! If Cooper is showing actual aggression (growling, stiff body, whale eyes, pinned back ears, snarling, showing teeth, biting to try and break the skin) then this is a serious and complex situation that should be checked out by a veterinary behaviorist in person. You can look for one in your area by following this link: http://www.dacvb.org/about/member-directory/

First off, I highly recommend a beginner training class with Nero, and also getting him into something fun and active such as agility or flyball, as Sheepdogs are extremely smart and extremely prone to boredom. Sometimes, having a focused training class or activity can help get out that energy and put your dog to work so they are less likely to become bored and destructive. As for nipping, there are a few things you can try out: Have a toy or bone handy that you can put in Nero's mouth when he gets excited to give him something to chew on and be mouthy with other than your hands/arms. If he picks up a toy on his own, be sure to give him lots of praise to help teach him this is a good thing. If walking away or yelping doesn't help, teaching him something such as "settle" can help him to focus on calming down and relaxing instead of ramping up the behavior with more excitement. Grabbing his collar and holding him down is likely just exciting him more, but focusing on training such as sit, down, settle, etc can divert his focus into something productive instead. Practice "airplaning" treats. This involves having Nero sit and slowly bringing a treat down to him. If he jumps up or gets excited, you have him sit again and start over. Once he can focus on staying still, he gets the treat. This can help teach some impulse control and reduce excitement behavior. Give him a job! Redirect his attention by telling him to go find a specific toy or bone. This can help him get out that excited energy and focus on chewing on the toy, instead of jumping all over you.

Hendrix is super cute! I would recommend starting with some basic commands. Start with sit,come and stay multiple times through the day with treats as rewards. Most dogs at this age will only pay attention for a small amount of time, even minutes, than as they get older continue to do the training but increase the amount of time per day. Also when Hendrix bites you can say no and replace it with something that should be chewed on. hope this helps

Great question! You right to try to stop this behavior now. Dallas needs to learn that this is unacceptable. When he puts his whole mouth around you, say "no," remove your arm from his mouth, and turn your back on him. Ignore him until he is behaving appropriately, and then reward him with your attention and praise. You may have to get up and walk away. Whenever he is accepting love and petting appropriately, praise him verbally, but the minute he puts his mouth on your arm, you stop and ignore him. You are teaching him that he will get all the attention he wants when he behaves in an appropriate manner, and will be ignored when he doesn't. He will learn which behaviors gets him attention and praise, and biting you will lead to ignoring.

You mentioned that Ryder was 3 weeks old, but she is listed as 3 months old in the description, so I am going to presume that she is 3 months old. Pit puppies are generally very food motivated and eager to please, so you do not need or want her to be overly hungry or energetic before trying to do a training session. Take her on a walk first and let her get her energy out before a training session. And keep her training sessions short. Puppies have VERY short attention spans. When you are working with her, make sure you are not bending over or putting the treat too close to her that she is air nipping. You want to be able to stand up and give her a command and have her pay attention. Another trick you may want to use is to use a clicker or squeaky toy to get her attention when using her name, then treat reward her. There are a number of good training techniques. You may want to look into clicker training or working with a trainer for a puppy class to get you started. Good luck! I hope that was helpful and gives you some ideas. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

It sounds as if there is an imbalance in the relationship between you and Remi. I see that, in the photos you provided, he is on the bed and on the furniture. Those are your spaces and not his (especially since you are having behavior issues with him). Try this for starters: one morning when you have no pressing need to get out of bed immediately, roll up your pajama bottoms to your knees so they are not available to him. Then start lowering your feet very slowly over the side of the bed. As long as he remains calm, keep praising him and continue to lower your legs. The minute he goes after them, bring them back up onto the bed again. You may also use a small treat every time you drop your legs by one increment and he remains calm. It may take you a long time to get out of bed that day! If at any point he starts his antics, bring your legs up and start again, going only as far as you got them before he became naughty and work forward again, more gradually this time. Be sure you have no excitement in your voice, as this can make the problem worse because he'll respond to your emotion. This does not solve your overall problem, however. Although Remi seems to respect your husband, the same cannot be said for you and your friend. This tells me that (a) he can behave if he wants to, and (b) you may be treating like a doll or a baby rather than as a dog. This will take more advice to fix than I have space here to give it. You can click on the prompt to start a consult, where we can work on it. Or you can ask your vet for a referral to an animal behaviorist (different from a trainer) to sort out your issues with Remi. Good luck!

Yes, it's very normal for a 5-month-old puppy to try and grab whatever he can with his mouth - this is how puppies explore the world, and how they instinctively want to play. I would recommend getting some nice long, floppy rope or fleece toys that you can carry with you for him to grab when he gets excited, rather that biting your clothes. This is a better option than scolding him, which tends to just make the pup more excited and often makes things worse. If you need some hands-on guidance to help you with this, you can search for a qualified reward-based trainer in your area here: www.ccpdt.org