[hovacallan]

I have a 2 year old male, Hova, that becomes rowdy when i'm at work. We have two daughters, 3 and 7, and a 2 year old pit/corgi mix and a huge back yard with dog doors. The dogs play together for hours every day and I spend time with them playing in the evening. When i'm at work and he gets excited, he **playfully** nips at my wife from time to time. He does not do this with me, he's not trying to hurt her but it's unacceptable. When the kids are playing in the yard, running or swinging, he gets excited and does the same with the girls - it's unacceptable.

My wife is pretty fed up with this behavior but is not very inclined to spend time training (she's taking care of 2 kids and in med school :rolleyesww: )

Does anyone have any recommendations on how to deal with this issue?

 

[falnfenix]

i may be wrong, but if your wife isn't willing to put in the work, i doubt he'll listen to her.

 

[GingerGunlock]

In my experience, with my dog, people who aren't willing to put in the time training with her (even 5 minutes a day really helps!) aren't people she's inclined to listen to.

If nothing else, you and your wife should adopt a protocol for if he starts nipping and behaving poorly. This behavior must be very rewarding for him, or he wouldn't do it!

 

[MeadowCat]

It sounds like the dogs are pretty much given free reign, with no rules? Especially with a dog door so they can come and go as they choose? My first step would be to put a stop to that right away. I'd institute some crate time and some boundaries. But yeah, your wife would really have to be on board with at least something in order to get some results. If she isn't willing to make any changes whatsoever nothing is going to improve.

 

[hovacallan]

Thanks for the advice. Can you give me a bit of insight on the reasoning behind crating if the free reign isn't an issue for us? Would you tell me about your crate habits and the boundaries you require?

 

[MeadowCat]

Thanks for the advice. Can you give me a bit of insight on the reasoning behind crating if the free reign isn't an issue for us? Would you tell me about your crate habits and the boundaries you require?

It seems like the free reign is a bit of a problem. The dogs play for hours and you say it's when he gets wound up and excited that he's nipping? It sounds like they are pretty self-directed all day? Entertaining each other? It's not that I don't think housemate dogs should be allowed to play, but I think in these circumstances they may be interacting too much, winding each other up (especially the dog that's nipping).

It sounds like he really needs some direction and some work on self-control exercises. I'd start with simple things like crate time for an hour or two after meals. I'd do self-control exercises like the "It's Yer Choice" game (you can find it on Youtube). I'd have your wife doing short (like 3 minute), fun training sessions with him on simple obedience commands. I wouldn't let the dogs run wild with the kids if he's nipping them, too - that's another time I'd have dogs crated with a nice chew - a raw bone or bully stick.

But again, your wife would really need to be on board with putting in some work. It sounds like she's overwhelmed, and I don't blame her. Med school and two young kids, plus an adolescent male dog is a TON of work.

Have you worked with a trainer at all? What kind of mental stimulation does the dog get?

 

[hovacallan]

Meadowcat: thanks for the advice. We have crates for both dogs but discontinued use after i installed the dog doors. Hova (the dobe) gets pretty wound up when he's in it and it was painful for me to witness. I'm a bit of a softy i guess... I take him on runs in the morning before i leave and we do some games in the evenings (a few times a week) just to interact. He's been through probably 4 months of real training where we worked with a trainer once a week and i practiced with him in between. he knows the commands and follows them when they're coming from me.

I spoke with my wife about the suggestions we've received and she's said she's willing to work with him. Sometimes we need the same advice from someone outside our personal circle to believe it...

 

[Lopez19d]

I don't know if it's recommended, but Ihad the same issue withh the nipping. He wouldn't nip at me, but my wife and child was another story. As everyone has suggested, my wife started working with him and he quit nipping at her. But that still left my 3 1/2 year old son. Well I decided to get a spray bottle and every time he began nipping at him, he immediately got sprayed. He learned after the 3rd time he didn't enjoy the spraybottle. Now he behaves and plays nice with my son! now when he sees the spray bottle, he gives me this disgusted look and does this funny whine/growl at the bottle lol