Nipping: teething, behavior, both?
Proud owner of a 5-month-old shepherd mix whose nipping is ramping up as of late. I’m not sure how much to chock up to teething (she’s definitely in the throes of it, poor girl), but she’s been nippier than usual.
In particular, when she’s excited to see me in the morning, she will nip at my toes. I’ve taken to wearing socks around the house on the off case she does catch some skin. I’ve tried redirecting to a chew toy with varying degrees of success, and I’ve also tried yelping like I’m in pain when she nips, but that seems to reinforce that it’s a game, rather than communicating I don’t like it. Furthermore, I wipe her paws every time we come in from going out just so it’s nothing new when it’s raining or muddy out, and she’s taken to nipping at me when I do that. I think she thinks the towel I wipe with is a toy?
Anyway, any advice on curbing these behaviors as much as possible would be welcome! Again, I know she’s in the midst of teething but at the same time I want to nip (ha) poor behaviors/decisions in the bud.