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8 Week Old Australian Shepherd Puppy Nipping

by Karla McLeod
(Kincheloe, Michigan)

Maya

We have a 8 week old Australian Shepherd puppy. She came to our family 2 weeks ago. All was fine for about two days and then the nipping started. Whatever method we try to get her to stop (spraying with water, tapping on the nose, pushing her over on her side and saying no) only makes her madder and then she goes after you even more. Do you have any suggestions? Really need some advice.

Comments for 8 Week Old Australian Shepherd Puppy Nipping

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puppy
by: Anonymous

From your comments it appears that you got your puppy at 6 weeks of age. That's a bit young. Eight weeks is more often the youngest age of taking a pup away from the litter. That extra couple of weeks playing with littermates and mom helps puppies to learn bite inhibition. The siblings and mom teach puppy how not to bite and nip too hard and too much. They learn manners and the rules of play. Is it possible for your puppy to play with one or more other young dogs who could help your pup learn this?

Thank you
by: Karla McLrof

Thank you!
I will try to set up some play dates!

Nipping
by: Anonymous

We also got our puppy before 8 weeks at least we didn't know it at the time. She did the same thing. She was worse with my wife than with me. My wife even made up a little shield to block her. 😁 She is almost 20 months old and this behavior has gone away. The one thing we would do when she would nip is stop dead in our tracks and ignore her. Do not look at the pup or acknowledge the pup. When she stopped we would praise her or pay attention to her. Eventually she got the hint. These are very smart dogs and herding is part of their instinct. Eventually the nipping will stop. Make sure to find a job for your dog. Otherwise you may run into other issues. Hope this helps.

Puppy nipping
by: Ann

This is normal puppy behavior. But with Aussies just giving NO or tapping nose etc is not going to get you the corrected behavior. Reward the behavior you want ignore the bad. Only took my pup a few days to learn nipping got a no and ignored or put down. Licks got a momma loves kisses and lots of attention. Now she is a big kisser lol. Always reward the positive behavior. They are a breed that wants to please they just don't know what it is you want yet.

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