Training a dog not to nip is an essential component of training any new pup. Some pooches do this as a type of play, and others as form of of anger or upset. Whatever the individual case may happen to be, it can be extremely disconcerting if the habit has taken a firm root in your dog's psyche. Don't be discouraged however, with daily application of effort, any irritating habit can be broken.
Use of the teeth in both play and hunting comes quite natural to any four-legged mammal. They don't have hands to use to manipulate objects, and a natural and inevitable consequence of this (albeit obvious) fact is that they use their mouth much more often for physical manipulation. Dogs can be quite fond (unfortunately) of chewing up things, as well, and this can actually be a good thing as it can help them to clean their teeth. You would not want your favorite pet to get an unfortunate mouthful of cavities, would you?
Taking a moment to remember that this type of behavior comes instinctively to a dog can help you in dealing with the frustration. One suggestion I would highly advise you to take would be to avoid games such as the ever popular tug-of-war altogether. Others might include putting a bit of bitter apple on your hands so that if the hound does happen to bite at your hands, at least it will not enjoy the flavor. Bitter apple can also be used effectively to break shoe chewing behavior as well.
Dogs are pack animals, and ultimately look to please their owner. What is important is that they can make the link between your apparent displeasure with the highly specific action that they themselves took. While I believe that reward based training is much better than using punishment, some canine habits can be hard to break through reward training exclusively. Jumping on visitors to your home is just such an example of highly problematic dog behavior that might not breakdown easily only using reward-based training.
It is important, however, that you do not punish the dog too harshly. Also important is that the punishment is immediately following the incident, so as to better ensure that the connection of the punishment to the bad behavior or habit is made. This is one reason you might consider the use of a remote citronella spray collar. These are only mildly irritating (instead of injurious) to the pup, but not harmful, and may be used from a distance so that the dog doesn't connect the punishment with the owner. Thereby averting an unnecessary fear response to said owner.
Use of the teeth in both play and hunting comes quite natural to any four-legged mammal. They don't have hands to use to manipulate objects, and a natural and inevitable consequence of this (albeit obvious) fact is that they use their mouth much more often for physical manipulation. Dogs can be quite fond (unfortunately) of chewing up things, as well, and this can actually be a good thing as it can help them to clean their teeth. You would not want your favorite pet to get an unfortunate mouthful of cavities, would you?
Taking a moment to remember that this type of behavior comes instinctively to a dog can help you in dealing with the frustration. One suggestion I would highly advise you to take would be to avoid games such as the ever popular tug-of-war altogether. Others might include putting a bit of bitter apple on your hands so that if the hound does happen to bite at your hands, at least it will not enjoy the flavor. Bitter apple can also be used effectively to break shoe chewing behavior as well.
Dogs are pack animals, and ultimately look to please their owner. What is important is that they can make the link between your apparent displeasure with the highly specific action that they themselves took. While I believe that reward based training is much better than using punishment, some canine habits can be hard to break through reward training exclusively. Jumping on visitors to your home is just such an example of highly problematic dog behavior that might not breakdown easily only using reward-based training.
It is important, however, that you do not punish the dog too harshly. Also important is that the punishment is immediately following the incident, so as to better ensure that the connection of the punishment to the bad behavior or habit is made. This is one reason you might consider the use of a remote citronella spray collar. These are only mildly irritating (instead of injurious) to the pup, but not harmful, and may be used from a distance so that the dog doesn't connect the punishment with the owner. Thereby averting an unnecessary fear response to said owner.
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