Ask a dog mom

[Mister Agenda]

My Aussiedoodle Finnegan is about nine or ten months. He used to be very nippy and has gotten better, but he still gets fits where he's excited and nips at hands and jumpt up to nip at our faces. Not hard (he drew blood a few times when younger), but sometimes it hurts and it's hard to discourage him and calm him down. We've tried pointedly denying him attention. It's usually in the evening when we're all sitting in the media room and I figure he's bored and wants attention, but he doesn't have to choose violence to get it, y'know?

Any suggestions on getting him to improve on this? He's smart and picks up tricks easily, but he's hard to train off problem behavior.

Have you looked into any puzzle toys for him?  Quinn did well with those while still in the bitey stage.  

Keep in mind that Finnegan is basically a teenager and that too shall pass.

Thanks for the advice, we have tug and throw toys for him, he tends to destroy anything else but maybe we can find a more durable puzzle toy. The one we got him before he outsmarted (just turned it over and ate the treats off the floor, then tore it up). It's definitely worth another try.

---

Cry. Or yell ouch. And move away stop all play right then and there

Thanks, we do say ouch, but he's so damn cute it's hard to stop playing with him. That's something that I'm sure will help, thanks! We owe it to him to train him right and not let him slide on bad behaviors a few seconds after he does them just because he's a looker.