My 4 month old pup jumps and nips at my legs/groin after going number #2 and while playing fetch in the field. Don't know why he does this on these occasions but he does. He seems like a totally different dog when he does this. How should correct him without harming his drive?

Sounds like he's in high drive, and you're stimulating it. Generally a dog will direct its drive at the most "prey like" object around, if that happens to be your shirt-sleeve, well...

Do you have the "Building Drive, Grip and Focus" DVD? It sounds like these techniques would work really well with him.

I actually purchased the video last week, I am waiting for it to get here. Hopefully I have not done any damage to his drive.

I have no desire to build any more drive as my 6 month old will be just a family pet. He's got more prey drive than any dog I've ever had. Cars, squirrels, etc. When he gets excited he's nippy still. He seemed to be growing out of it. This week was worse than others as he was nipping at my hand when I walked by several times. It didn't hurt at all, but it was strange for him.
The only thing I can think of was that he didn't get as much exercise as usual as we (finally) had some days of drenching rain.
What's the best way to discourage pup from nipping or latching on to your arm. I have the puppy and basic obedience video's, but apart from distracting them, I don't see what to do.

Paige, it sound like your pup just feels good . Since you know that he will do this crazy running and biting, I’d say keep a ball or tug with you and be ready for a quick focus training session (you’ll know how after getting the video in.) Or even just a game of fetch.

Leslie, I’d say you already figured out that he needs more exercise, but beyond that, I’d give a firm “NO” and walk away or ignore him. If he persists, I would take him by the collar and again say “NO” and hold him firmly. He is a baby, and you need to treat him like a small child. It is OK to learn and explore, but there are some things that are not OK to do and the corrections need to be geared to the discretion. (But I personally prefer to distract them)

And keep in mind that all of that prey drive can be channeled into obedience work. It couldn't be easier if he already has it. Your dog will learn fast and happy and all of your neighbors will be jealous. (Trust me, it looks so nice when a dog behaves and looks so happily adoring at their master while doing so :grin

I see people walking high energy/prey drive dogs that are being so naughty jumping around, wanting that squirrel or what ever. I just wish they would learn to focus it with some structured play into a well-behaved pet that wants to listen. It is just that much easier with a dog like that. And they are the ones that end up in a shelter because their owner can’t handle it.

I guess I am unsure what to do with all that drive after the basic commands if I don't want to build more drive. We were doing well with retrieving the ball, but now he's not interested in it anymore. I would love to do agility or something like that, but know absolutely nothing about it and I haven't seen too much of it in CT. My puppy is way too young, but how do we feel about the backpacks I've seen for dogs.

Bumping this up as I'm unsure what to do after the basic commands if I don't want to build more drive. How do you channel all that energy and drive? I've got the puppy and basic obedience dvd's, but think he needs more than that. He's just going to be a family dog, not a working dog.