I might be taking in a pitbull puppy. It wandered into my buddies house a few weeks ago and no one in the neighborhood knows anything about it. It cant be more than a few months old. He cannot keep it (he has had it for about 3 weeks).
Anyways, he brought it over last night, so I could get a good look at it. Very playful, not shy at all, a few loud noises dont bother him, he actually goes and investigates it after a few seconds.
I have not had a 'puppy' this small before, my bandogge I got when it was about 19months or so.

My question is, he was jumping up quite a bit. When I would play and pet him he was VERY excited and would jump up and try nibbling at my hands. Dang this guy has some sharp little teeth! Is this normal for this small? You can hardly get a 'pet' in sometimes without him trying to nip.
My main concern is if I do take this dog in, I want to make sure he knows right of the bat he cannot mouth me or 'nibble' on me. But at what age should this start and how do i go about it? Is this just 'puppy play'? What age should this STOP?
Also what is the best way to teach him this is no acceptable?

I read a few posts a while back, I need to search around again, but they had to do with the nipping/nibbling at the owners hand. The replies were something to the effect of a firm 'no' and ignorance for a few minutes.

Anyone have any links or articles?
Any advice is appreciated!

Thanks!

The only way to prevent this with a 'pit bull' is to carry a night stick or flap jack with you and whap it over the head when it engages in this type of activity NO I am only joking with you DO NOT DO THAT What you have read is correct for now he is only a pup. A baby grabs your hair, beard, nose, lips etc. what do you do to train/teach them not to do that,certainly don't whap em in the head!!! same with a baby dog ie pup, it just doesn't have any hands.He just wants to play and you have to let him know how to play and that you are the boss.

I was jus' jokin' cause the way it sounded to me was that you were looking for special training tips cause he is an APBT . Later

wasnt really looking for anything 'just because he is a APBT' basically just in general.
Thanks though! I had to laugh when I read that though! When I read the first line, I was thinking, wtf is this guy thinking?!?!
haha!

I feel inadequate in that I have a Corgi pup (10 weeks) and not a GS, but I still have a question about nipping. I know he's a herding dog so it is instinctual, but I can hardly get a pet in and he's biting my hands. When I tell him no, he stops, but then goes right back to doing it. When I put him in his crate he calms down. So I take him out and again he wants to bite my hands. Does anyone know if this is typical puppy behavior or Corgi behavior and how do I know if he's learning that I don't like his behavior by putting him in his crate if he immediately comes out and wants to bite again? Thanks for any help!

Puppys in general are mouthy, just tell him no and give him a bite tug or something that you can RE-DIRECT the mouthing to. The mouthing usually stops after the pup is done teething and has his adult teeth in.

I have a 16wk old Border COllie pup who is doing the same thing. Like a child, when pups teethe, they need something to chew on to soothe their gums - preferably something you WANT them to chew on, not your hand, a shoe, kid toys....

I give my BC his own toys and when he goes for my hand, I give him a small pop on the nose and tell him in a firm voice "No biting! Play nice!" and he stops. You can also put Bitter Apple or liquid soap on your hands and let the pup get a taste...he'll soon catch on that biting your hand tastes awful. I would recommend using the firm correction also, because while your hands might not taste good, someone else's will.

Things will improve once the puppy teeth are out, but using correction/training now will also teach him who's boss.

Thanks for the help! I was considering trying the bitter apple and then thought the same thing about him biting my husband or others. He does seem to be learning "no!" and will either stop or start licking my hand, just not 100% of the the time. If I bop him on the nose he thinks I'm playing and barks with his play bark. When he seems more agressive and doesn't listen as well, I put him in his crate. I'm hoping he learns and gets better as he outgrows his puppy stage. Now, if I can also teach him to stop nipping at my feet when I walk! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> I just received the 8weeksto8months video today. Can't wait to watch it.

My Corgi herds me constantly. She herds my other dogs *a lot*, and is apparently frustrated that they don't run in straight lines. It's cute in an irritating sort of way, although I'm waiting for one of the larger dogs to put her in her place ( she's the senior house bitch ).

Herding breeds......*sigh*

I had that problem with my gs pup - he constantly tried to nip - hands, feet, basically anything he could get his teeth into.
I had no idea how to correct so i called up a retired police dog handler who told me that as soon as he nips, to take him by the scruff of the neck, give a quick shake and say NO. Basically a short sharp shock.
If this didnt work and the pup still persisted i was to shake him that bit harder, and again a NO correction.
If this still didnt put the thing of nipping then i was to take him by the scruff, lift him off the ground then give him a shake and say NO.
Using this method stopped him nipping almost straight away.
I was very careful not to be to rough when shaking him - though he was a stubborn little ****. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Thanks for the advice. Those Corgis have very sharp teeth so when he nipped at my hand and got me with those sharp teeth I tried the "NO!" and grabbing him by the scruff of the neck and it really got his attention. His response was so funny because he immediately looked like he knew I was upset and crawled up my chest to snuggle (this is not a snuggling puppy). I've tried it a couple more times and now he seems to listen when I just say no and he'll start licking instead of biting.

On the herding problem, we have a hill in our back yard that Scooter loves to run up and I couldn't get to him so after watching the video "8WeeksTo8Months" it occurred to me that I should start leashing him every time we go outside. I'd walk around our yard with him and when he'd start to nip at my feet since I already had his leash on, I'd pop it and say "NO!" Now he still wants to nip, but since he has learned "NO" so much better, he stops.

Two problems on the way to being solved with the training of his owner! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />