Ok so ive been trying to deal with it lately and just tell him no and ignore him. But im getting frustrated. Whenever im watching TV or playing a game or just not painf attention to him, and he has nothing to do, like he is bored with his bone or toys. He starts to jump on me and do these little nibbles and bites on my side and legs. Its not like a full mouth, he barley opens his teeth and starts digging in and nipping down. Ive put him in time out from this, it doesnt really work. The only thing that seems to work a little is when i walk out of the room and keep him in there. If i come back in 30min he usually calms down. Only bad thing is, i hate doing that if im doing something. Also i dont know if thats a correct training method.

Overall i dont know if its a teenage phase thing, or not enough exercise, or just need some training. I think i do need to increase his exercise a lil now that he is older. I take him for about a 45 min walk everyday. I think im going to try rollerblading with him soon since its starting to get a little nicer. But any tips or suggestions?

To me it sounds like all three, probably part of the teen phase, definitely needs more exercise, and needs some more training. I've noticed with Dizzy as he matures mentally he can handle more training, but also needs constant practice on the stuff he knows.

I've worked a lot with teaching Dizzy a signal for 'eff off' and worked to teach him how to keep himself entertained in the apartment without causing trouble. So to teach him a signal to walk away and leave you alone try this: sit where you normally sit when he bothers you. Have training treats and a clicker, and wait. I'm sure he'll start to bother you and go through all the behaviors he normally does to get your attention. The more these behaviors increase in intensity, the more you disconnect from him. Look away, turn away, etc. He will come to a point where he will exhaust all the stuff that normally works or he'll get bored, and he'll take a pause or look away for a split second. The second he does, click and reward. Repeat over and over slowly increasing what you require of him in terms of turning/walking away from you. I don't have a command for this, i have a hand signal. I brush my hands together like I'm brushing crumbs off and then show him my empty hands. When I do this he walks away and settles. I taught him this for dinner time. Basically it tells him, he's not going to get anything, and he needs to go away from the table and settle down. You can also teach it by giving the command/signal and tossing a treat away when he walks away click and give another treat.

It also sounds like he just wants some quality time with you. That nibbling behavior is a grooming thing. Diz will do that if I'm brushing him. He'll turn and nibble on my arm like that with just his front teeth. If Koda is doing that out of the blue, to me, it sounds like he just wants to hang with his buddy. I would send him away, and if he obeys, take a break and go play with him for 15 min.

Another helpful one is a place command. I tell Dizzy 'go to bed' and he goes and lays on his dog bed wherever i happen to have it at the moment.

Uhhhh...you might need to up the exercise - Ami gets 3-3.5 miles in morning and another 2 or so in the evening plus play time mid-day and before crating at night. Since his walks are a combination of focused full steam ahead and meandering, sniffing, digging in the ditch, the morning takes almost 2 hours and the evening at least an hour.And he still is rarin' to go. I know when it's time to walk him 'cause he either nose-butts me in the tusch or does the exact same little nipping thing you talk about. If you're trying to do something or watch tv - maybe have a tug toy to tease with (I just use old towels most of the time - he loves that and easy on his mouth) or roll a tennis ball (watch the lamps  ). Your boy is telling you he needs more stimulation - rollerblading sounds wonderful - I've thought about it but am a little leary - at my age, injuries take a whole lot longer to heal. Did get a Walky Dog for my bike though.

Ok so ive been working on this with koda a little lately. I havnt been able to increase his exercise though cause ive been having problems with my foot, and just had some minor surgery on it yesterday. My family has been walking him for me the past couple days, but they dont walk him long enough. So he is pretty bottled up.
I have been working with he starts to nip, id put him in a sit and wait for a few seconds and then give him a piece of kibble. However he goes right back to the nip. I know a lot of it is exercise and he is bored, but i kind of feel that if i reward him with kibble once he nips then sits, that he is learning its ok to nip. Am i thinking about this wrong?

Any way you could put him in doggie daycare for a day or two? Or even a half day? I totally understand not being able to exercise him because you're injured, that sucks. I hope your foot gets better. Even if you only can send him for a half day I promise you it will totally chill him out. I'm not sure the cost but it is most definitely worth the money. It's quite expensive here in nyc, but if I'm having a busy week or have something else going on, it's a life saver.

I think if you don't reward him, he's just going to get more frustrated and nip more, then you'll get more frustrated, then he will, and it will just suck for you both. How about a new toy or a marrow bone? I got Dizzy one of these and he goes nuts over it. The first night he had it, he literally played with it by himself and exhausted himself. He was squeaking it and pouncing on it, tossing it in the air, chasing it. It was great! Last night I actually wore him out playing fetch with it inside the apartment. FETCH!!! And he doesn't fetch, like ever! I just make sure I don't leave it with him all day, so he gets excited and it's special for him to play with. Some other great toys would be a laser pointer in the back yard, or one of dizzy's favorites is actually a cat toy called da bird. It's 3 feathers on the end of a poll, he goes totally nuts for it. All these are ways you could play with him while sitting, but would wear him out pretty well.

To me, the nipping sounds like he is just really dying to play with you, like a kid tugging on your shirt tails. Are there any other ways you can play with him without hurting yourself? 'Find it' works really well for Dizzy. I send him to bed, then hide treats and call him and say 'find it' at first I'd have to point right to it, but now I can point in the general area and he'll sniff it out, if he doesn't find it quickly I'll point it out to him. For whatever reason, this makes him think a lot more than other types of training and also takes the edge off.

Eric your Mom just needs to give him more hugs!

Lol i still play with him. Im not worried about him hurting me from that. We play fetch and tug. And i even have a lil remote control car he likes to chase around the house. After that though he still nips. As far as a morrow bone and stuff.. I spend sooooo much money on bones lol!! He loves them. And goes through then quickly. Once he gets all the good stuff of it he gets bored. But sometimes though he just doesnt want it. Like last night i tried to play a game, and i opend a brand new himalyen dog chew for him. He loves them. And he chewed for not even 5min and came and started his nibble game. Usualy i can give him a new bone and he will play with it for about a hour. But some days he just does t want it. And i try to get him different stuff and not the same chews over and over so he doesnt get bored. But there is only sooo much stuff i can find that i consider good quality for him.

Ha ha, I hear you! Diz is the same way. Our new trainer in class said we shouldn't leave their toys out for them all the time, so now he only has a nylabone. It really has made a big difference in the way he feels about his chews and bones as well. Have you tried a butcher at a grocery store? I get Diz raw marrow bones for $1.50 a lb.

What about daycare?

Sorry forgot to answe about the day care and i meant too. This past summer i looked at the places in my area within a 25min drive and didnt find any that i felt comfortable leaving him there. I called a bunch and actually visted 2 and just didnt feel like i would be ok dropping him off there.

That is a really good idea about leaving his stuff out though. I used to do that then just got lazy i think... Im going to start trying that i think. Do you do toys and everything? Or just chews you only leave out?

I only leave out one nylabone and one plush toy out all the time, which he hasn't torn up yet. When I leave for work (if my hubby is home and not traveling) I leave him with a marrow bone or pig ear and his usual plush toy. Pat said yesterday, that he worked on the marrow bone for a couple hours before he fell asleep and Pat put the bone back in the fridge. If Pat's not home I leave him with an antler or a couple different chews, which he then hides and re-rides throughout the day and maybe eventually eats. But if I'm home, he only has his one plush toy and the nylabone. If any other toys come out, I'm actively playing with him with those toys.

Im going to have to try somethin like this. Thank you very much!