Hi everyone! So glad to find this forum..
We have a 4 month old Golden puppy. Sometimes she gets into these cycles of jumping/biting and I just don't know what to do. For example, if I am sitting on the couch, she will jump up with her front paws. I will say OFF and remove her. But as I remove her she bites my arms. And then she jumps up again! Each time she does this, it gets wilder and wilder. Other times we'll be playing with her toys on the floor, but it seems she prefers my arm. I coax her with other toys, but she always come back to my arm. Sometimes she'll even jump up and nip at my face. (Not aggressively). Another example is when she will jump up on me, I will turn around, and cross my arms to ignore her. But then she'll nip my butt or the back of my legs and it hurts like heck! I feel like I need some sort of negative consequence so that she learns to not do this, but I know she is too young for a pinch collar. We have tried a squirt bottle, but that just provokes her and winds her up more. We have also tried the pennies in a can. That worked about twice and then she wasn't scared of the sound anymore, and thought it was a toy. So I am at a loss now. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Heather

Heather,
I'm always surprised that people feel a 4 month old puppy jumping up and nipping is a big deal/problem, it's normal and goes away. Sounds like an excited puppy, that's great.

It takes a little time to teach them what you're looking for, if you feel it's that bad, put a leash on the pup anytime it's out of the crate, problem solved.

Mike,
The puppies mother would tolerate a lot of this behavior in a 4 month old, they play very rough,
AL

Rough is RIGHT!!! Not to mention teething...+

 Quote: al curbow

Mike,
The puppies mother would tolerate a lot of this behavior in a 4 month old, they play very rough,
AL

That's true, but when the mother wanted the games to end, she would make it very clear. The OP should make it clear, as well, IMO.

I say this, because I've come across many people that use a sing-song "no, no, no, Poopsie" to stop a dog from playing too roughly, which the pups interpret as encouragement. Puppies understand tone a lot better than words!

Also Heather, I'd be willing to bet that your 4 month old Golden is a high energy dog. She might actually be telling you something! Review your dog's daily exercise, and consider if she could use some more. At that age, you don't want to exercise them to death, but there are lots of things you can do to wear out your pup without harm.

"A tired dog is a good dog" is a phrase that's said often here, and with good reason.

Best of luck to you.

Well, there you go Heather, a few differences of opinion, choose what you think is best and good luck with your puppy, they grow up way to fast.

Michelle, did your pup chew up your hands and legs yet? Post a link to some pics of the little guy will ya!
AL

Very interesting to hear the range of opinions! Thank you. I think I could be more patient with the nipping if I didn't have bruises all over my arms from it! ;-P

 Quote: Al Curbow

Post a link to some pics of the little guy will ya!
AL

AL,
Just between you and me, I think that her dog ate her camera and she doesn't want to tell us........hee hee

Quote:
AL,
Just between you and me, I think that her dog ate her camera and she doesn't want to tell us........hee hee

Or maybe he chewed a little to much on her fingers

My pup (now six months) does that too. Mostly with my son. I put a muzzle on him. I am hoping that he learns that if he wants the muzzle off and to be able to chew on his bone, that he needs to not chew on the human.