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Hi Ashlee,
I am glad that Zeus is improving in other areas! Now for the nipping….
Yes he is teething and will be until 8 months. Baby teeth will fall out between 4 and 6 months old and permanent teeth will continue to come in until about 8 months.
It is great that he is doing so well with his obedience. Keep following pack structure rules. You mentioned you pet him too long. ( I agree it can be hard to resist such cuteness). Remember quality not quantity 🙂
Do you think he tolerates a certain amount of petting and then starts nipping? If so try to end petting before he gets to this point. If you want to increase the amount of time that you can pet him ( let’s say he has been exercised, and isn’t allowing hands on for more than 1-3 seconds) . You can ask him to sit , show him a treat and feed the treat while you pet. When treat is finished hands come off. For example he may only be able to lick and nibble at the treat for the first 2 seconds then he can have the treat on the 3 count. Gradually increase the length of time spent petting and waiting for treat. You can even pair a command with this called “easy”. As he gets better at this you can eventually say ” easy” then pet and then give the treat.If he does have something in his mouth you should teach him to trade. You don’t want him to learn to play keep away to get your attention. If he has already grabbed something in his mouth get a favorite toy or a yummy treat and show it to him ( you may have to hold the treat to his nose). Say in a happy voice “out” (“leave it” would be for something not yet in his possession). As soon as he drops it praise him and give him the treat. As he gets better at it he won’t need to see the treat first before dropping the item.
It would help me to know what you have been doing up until now when he nips you. Any particular techniques you have already tried and his response? But in the meantime until I hear back from you, can he be distracted by obedience
commands at all?Best,
Teresa
