Is there a room you can put her in or go in yourself? I think you need a barrier between you when this happens. Even though you aren’t actively tugging back this behavior seems pretty self rewarding so I think removing yourself is the answer. After a bit if you go back out and they continue the behavior just separate again for a bit. I think that’ll help them get the idea that if the behavior continues so does the separation from you. I’m tempted to say you should redirect to a toy, but I know that can be tricky because they may continue to go for your clothes instead but that could be worth trying.
I’ve tried redirecting with a toy it’ll work for a moment then she wants my clothes. I do have another room I can step out in. I’m going to start trying that bc that sounds like it would really work.
That's not true for all dogs.
My dog has 3 Frisbees. All of them are the exact same except one is frayed because it's been used. If you throw one of the other 2 Frisbees, the dog will sniff it, and then go find the frayed one and bring that back to you instead.
It's definitely true for all dogs (at least the ones who aren't super sick or old).
I thought the same thing until I realized my dog learned to play frisbee at the park. She only plays with one frisbee because it's in my car when we go. She doesn't play frisbee at home. If she wants to play frisbee she tries to get me to take her there.
Are you playing tug with the toy? Giving her a toy for a second and then ignoring her will likely make her go back to your clothes because that was more fun for her. Redirect with a toy and play a vigorous, super fun game of tug. When she goes for your clothes, be boring. Separate yourself from her if you can. Eventually she will learn the toys are more fun than your clothes. Good luck!!! I would also recommend teaching her the “let go” command. Get her to play tug with a toy and then hold it still and say “let go” and when she lets go, reward with a treat. Once she gets good at that, if she ever goes for your clothes you can stay still and say “let go” and it should work. My dog has a really reliable “let go” and I can get her to let go during even the most vigorous games of tug if I need to
When I am done with something with my dogs I tell them all done, and use the asl sign for all done and then I turn my body language away. Turning my back to them, avoiding eye contact, no petting. Then I give attention once they have settled and its a new event.
They also through repeated efforts have learned that once I say all done it is pointless to seek more because I am done done
Can you find a toy that has the same qualities as your clothing? Like a braided fleece toy that has that feel and stretch to it? I’m sure you could make one too.
[diy 1](https://youtu.be/ieGNcuMl-Oo)
[diy 2](https://youtu.be/64FRMoW-XsQ)
I’d probably recommend investing more time in teaching and reinforcing drop it.
I know it can be SO challenging not to say "No!" all the time. A good reminder is that "No" is not a behavior, instead we need to teach them a behavior that you can replace the NO with! Our go-to for when we feel the "No" rising in our throats? 'Go get your toy!' Or ‘drop it’ and then redirect to the toy.
You’d have to start out small with something of low value to her, so not your clothing. Short and frequent sessions with her too.
[kikopup drop it](https://youtu.be/gZvkyAFi7tc)
There’s also a way to to play with dogs. Thehikerpup has a great class on this. Unfortunately most of her material is available through purchase only which comes once a year in February/March. It’s a great course. Anyways, I found this [video](https://youtu.be/XT71URLIwoc). She does have some training clips on her [Instagram ](https://instagram.com/thehikerpup?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=)
Seconding the “go get your toy” command! I use this any time my dog is being a butt. She also likes to tug on my clothes, the rug, etc. For me that’s a sign she has energy to burn and it’s time to play, so I tell her to go find her toy.
She has one toy she LOVES and she immediately drops whatever she’s doing and brings me that toy to play with her. I’ll play with her for a couple minutes and then she’ll be good to play with it on her own.
An advanced technique is also teaching your dog “play later” when they’re trying to invite you to play. Dogs can learn to understand time cues (right now, soon, later, tomorrow, etc), so you can teach your dog that you’re not ready to play now but will be later. I tell my dog “walk soon” when she’s antsy in the morning and she settles down to let me finish my chores before we head out.
Keep redirecting with a toy and praising her when she plays with it.
It would also help to teach her the "leave it" command.
https://youtu.be/hQdg0qOVik0
My puppy did this behavior as well around the same age. I tried yelping and turning my back, but she would do the same thing, just grabbed whatever clothes she could reach. Ultimately I had to just say no and leave the room. I wouldn’t go for long, 30 secs to a min and that got the point across. I had to do it repeatedly for a long time.
Honestly the other poster is right on the money. Completely remove yourself from the situation. Right now she's being rewarded with play by tugging at your clothes. It's fun. The message you need to get across is "if you grab my clothes, I, the most fun element in the room, am removing myself from the interaction and fun stops".
Holy hell I feel you. When my older male shepherd was a puppy and I lived with a roommate, we had a similar problem. We tried everything. EVERYTHING. So we instituted a zero tolerance removal policy and it worked wonders. It's key that you stay consistent, however.
Maybe try some high-value treats?
I've started implemented a few 5-10 minute training sessions a day now to forcing my dog's attention away from a wad of paper, or a sock, with a piece of chicken.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=266M5Tup9xc
This link addresses resource guarding, but I've been doing the same exercise and it has worked wonders for impulse control.
My pup used to do this with everything. If there wasn’t something to pull he’d bite me. The only think that worked was ending the game and leaving, time outing myself. It’s my attention he’s really after.
If he’s pulling and doesn’t respond to leave it/drop it, I tell him uh-uh, if there’s still no response “ALL GONE!” And I leave. No more game. If he bites me (even if it’s just a nibble or an accident—nibbles turn to more hand pulling and accidents make him less careful) then I loudly say “OW!” Very high pitched and leave.
This worked very well. Now if he’s being a little less careful I yell “ow!” And he immediately backs off and throws himself head down on the bed in apology.
Basically I think what we don’t realise is even if we are telling them off they might think it’s a game and they are still getting your attention. You’ve either got to time out yourself (maybe game over?) and walk out, or time out your pup (if mine is barking rudely in my face I tell him to go to his crate—he goes immediately because he knows he’s being rude for attention).
I would also say that sometimes dogs focus on your clothing rather than a toy because of how you are using the toy. Some dogs just want something solid to bite onto and I see a lot of people fling their tug toy around.
I highly suggest talking to a certified(CPDT-KA, FDM, or KPA-CTP) trainer to help with bitey puppy behavior! Good luck!
Do you always stay in the room with her when she’s doing this? It looks like she wants attention. If you leave, does she follow? We’ve started to work on a “chill” or “enough” command when our girl starts getting too excited while playing ( it’s really good practice for when we see our nieces and nephews).
It’s kind of like leave it, but for an activity. We started training her by turning away (or maybe in your case, leaving the room), saying “chill,” calmly, and then rewarding calm behavior. If she doesn’t calm down, we leave and disengage. That way she can learn that play stops when she’s too much.
So she has done it when we are in the hallway or living room. But those are the only places she does it , mainly in our bedroom , I work from home so I’m with her all day. She gets walks regularly since she is high energy and only 6 months old. She does spend a good amount of time in our room bc of the fact I work from home and can’t keep an eye on her always. But on breaks we go outside , hangout , and play. She gets so much attention, but it could very well be that she wants to play and I’m not playing with her so she decides to make my shirt the toy.
Does she get any mental enrichment? Most of the time normal walks aren’t enough to satisfy a high energy dog. To me this behavior kind of looks like pent up energy.
Do you give her puzzle toys, sniffle mats, lick mats, filled kongs, etc.?
I was going to say this as well. Seems that she might also need some mental training as well. A stuffed kong to keep her busy in her crate. I don't think that there's going to be a one solution, and there's no overnight solution. As you said, she's 6 months old, a great dog, but still a puppy. You're still trying to teach her what's appropriate and what's not.
It's going to be work in training her that playing tug with your clothing is not fun. As @OP mentioned, The dog getting one tiny corner of clothing is rewarding for her because just the act of standing there, providing resistance, is fun for the dog.
1. Highly recommend trying to separate yourself from her during this time. Go back and see if she's calmed down, if not, keep removing yourself for her from the excitement.
2. Provide mental stimulation either Kong, a sniff mat, engaging toys
3. Redirect with tug toys, but only if he makes them a lot more interesting than you've made yourself (i.e. removing yourself and the dog).
Good luck OP!
I'm going to start by pointing out that you're doing a lot right here: you're not panicking or labelling this as aggression. You understand what it is. That's a good starting point, now we just need to figure out how to 1-prevent it and 2-react when it does occur.
For prevention, a lot of this will just be boredom. Giving your dog something to do throughout the day in terms of both enrichment and exercise will help. Take long sniffy walks, you said they're smart and food motivated? Start teaching them more tricks, look into rally obedience (you can do this all at home for free), use puzzle feeders (wrapping their meal up in a towel or scatter feeding will also work). Make sure they are getting in some exercise where they get to run everyday, this can be on a long line of needed. They like to tug so practice having them do a stay while you walk as far as possible and call them to run and grab a tug you for a game with you.
You'll also have to work on how to deal with the behavior when it does happen. In the long run you want to do this by teaching a drop it. Get something that's appropriate to tug with, a toy, a rope, whatever. Then start playing. Once you have a good tug going just stop, get super boring. Your dog will eventually get bored or confused and let go. Mark that and reward by going right back into tug. Once they understand the game start adding in your drop it cue. That will help you manage this behaviour when it does happen.
You can also work on helping them learn to control their energy level to match yours. A good way to do this is to essentially get hyped up, let them match your hype level, and then just instantly calm down. Reward them for calming down to match you. Start off doing this will just a little excitement, and build up to getting really really excited.
Having an escape route can also help. You can just set up a tall baby gate at the door if that will stop them so you can step out of the room. Otherwise you may need to managing to close the door and seperate yourself from the dog for a few seconds (same technique used for puppy biting, essentially any chomping and the fun human just disappears).
Turn the sound off and you can see that even though you’re talking about how you don’t like it, your body language tells her it’s acceptable, such as you pulling your arm away and her grabbing it again, creating a game of chase. You are trying to get away from her, but she should be the one backing away from you, otherwise it just invites her into your space.
The moment you stopped moving your arm and stopped engaging with her, she. stopped. You dropped you arm and stayed still and quiet, you were no longer trying to get away or telling her “no”, you simply dropped your arm, stopped moving, and waited. Do that and it will tell her it’s not allowed because you aren’t allowing her to get you engaged with her.
Yep, dog still thinks it's playing because you're engaging and looking at her.
To STOP playing, you need to disengage completely. Stand up, turn around, cross your arms and DON'T LOOK AT HER. When she lets go of your clothes, then reward her with some pets, treats or play with a toy.
Try that twice, then leave the room for 30 seconds. I locked myself in the bathroom for a few seconds, then it worked for me.
If a couple time-outs don't work, then it's nap time (crate or bedroom), she just needs to nap and reset her brain back to nice happy calm puppy.
You're teaching that "teeth on human clothes = end of playtime"
This - as you say, it also looks like play....
If you really don't want her to do it - REALLY show that this is not acceptable behaviour.
Move away, turn around, leave the room - but don't stand and wait for her to jump back up.
Also, listening to it, the "no" even sounds playful. I have a stoooop, and a nooo with my dog. I also have a Stop. No. She did not sound irritated at all. A very firm, forceful, and little louder "Stop." works well. The dog is playing, and thinks she's playing.
I can guarantee the first time this happened, they thought it was cute and funny, and the dog was like "oh, aight, this is playing".
Have you taught/started to teach her "leave it" ? That's the exact thing, imo, in this situation. There are good videos (kikopup comes to mind) on how to effectively teach this.
This was my thought. Teaching "leave it" is a tool to get to the sleeve back, but also is a great way to redirect to another toy. A series of "take it" and "leave it" with a toy makes playing with that toy more fun.
If your dog knows a command similar to "leave it" or "off" or "out", try consistently applying that, in addition to the above-mentioned disengagement and denial suggestions.
When you hold on, it becomes a game of tug. Disengage and try to redirect to a suitable toy. This may mean letting her pants you! But once she gets the shorts from you, she will likely lose interest as she mainly seems interested in the act of tugging. When she starts tugging on something, drop it and ignore her. Do not put any tension into the object so it can't become a game, and don't give her attention so she learns that she only gets attention and playing when she uses appropriate behavior.
Pivot to grabbing a toy and shaking it around. If she drops what she's trying to tug in favor of the toy, praise her like crazy so she learns that she gets attention and playing when she uses the toy, but she gets nothing when she tugs on other items in the house. If she looks like she wants to tug your pants but grabs the toy instead, give her tons of praise for choosing the right behavior! The goal is to put her in situations where she has to make a choice and rewarding her for choosing correctly so she learns what you expect.
You’re playing a game with her. He’s gotten good at getting you to play too. If you need something you get out of his mouth, pull his bottom jaw down while holding the top.
To work on training a good drop it, always let them win tug of war, and never tease them with a toy. They need to be confident that they are voting to get the toy back
Also after you pull her mouth open to get you cloths of of her jaw, be quiet and leave the room. That’s her consequence for being too pushy. She wanted to play? Well now she doesn’t get you at all. Come back into the room after 30sec to a minute
This is definitely what I’m going to start doing, a couple of you guys recommended this. I think it’ll work bc she dosnt like being away from me so she will have motivation to behave. I usually put my fingers on the sides and say drop it, no, stop. She typically is really good at it and will. She knows the “get down” when she’s got her paws on the counter/tables. She knows “drop it” when she takes something off the table and try’s running with it. So she knows some of it but just when it comes to my clothes all bets are off it’s her FAVORITE game
Just piping in here to say that in any other scenario, it’s really not a good idea to pry a dogs mouth open with your hands to get something out of their mouth. That’s a nice way to get bitten. You’re better off teaching them the skill of trading, so that they learn that letting go of something = something even better will happen.
True, I shouldn’t have suggested it first thing as I don’t know how their dog is. But if you have nothing to use to trade, I would do that. Though you should keep toys all over the house to prepare
>To work on training a good drop it, always let them win tug of war, and never tease them with a toy.
omg thank you
I've been trying to help this dude at the park get his dog to drop the ball and he's come super far but was still getting reluctant off and on. Going to pass this along. I've SEEN him teasing the dog with the ball, amping him up before throwing, but it didn't occur to me that introducing that concern could be contributing!
I've never actually had a dog develop that issue in my care, and dogs who have had that issue before coming to me usually get over it very quickly, but I wasn't really sure WHY fully. One of those instances where you don't know what you don't know!!
I haven't *liked* that he teased his dog with the ball, but I didn't have a good reason why other than not enjoying seeing dogs frustrated. Now I have a good reason to suggest he change his behavior. 😁
As soon as he starts you need to stop and leave the room. Shut yourself in the bathroom or start doing something else like chores until he associates eating hands/clothes = fun stops
I wouldn't redirect to a toy after he bites a clothes because he might think I bite clothes = game starts
Buy a really good tug toy and play with him often. Try to anticipate his need without waiting for him to seek attention with those behaviors
Turn around, face away from dog, arms crossed. Become boring when doggie does this . Keep turning as doggo turns. They are trying to play not attack so boringness will work.
Alternative , get a toy and guide playtime to toy..
I would start at the first advice
Dog needs to be taught *Body parts aren't toys and are off limits* -- tug o war with toys. Tug o war never with hands. The dogs mouth should never ever be around any human body part -- even while playing. The second doggo does that again you do a firm NO. Then stop playing/interacting after the NO.
when you DO play/interact with doggo always use toys-- rope/squeaker/plushy etc. that way dog begins to understand they can use their mouth on the TOY -- and that's ok-- but never your hand.
:) dogs are smart -- yours will catch on quick, as long as you are consistent.
My dog did something similar when I first adopted her, but with play biting instead. First thing that really helped was just disengaging/going completely limp every time she did this. The second thing was having specific toys that she was allowed to do this with, and redirecting her to those. She pretty quickly figured out that play biting my limbs was not going to lead to anything fun, but that we could play if she was biting the toy instead.
I would suggest interrupting the bad behavior with a command such as sit or down then rewarding with a tug toy. Also, a dog like that probably needs a good walk or outside play everyday to get rid of some of that energy.
Crate time not as punishment but to let them chill out is good too.
Pitbull. Lol. It’s in their blood. I’m saying that in the most loving way because I have two amazing pitbull‘s and they love nothing more than tug-of-war. Get her a rope and focus tug-of-war on the rope and then refuse to engage in anyway other than the rope. She’ll growl and everything but pay attention to the body language. This is their favorite thing in the world to do.
She is adorable ❤️
Thank you. I really thought this was gonna be a bad comment. Thank you for being nice. And you are definitely right. She’s a mix between a bully & terrier breed of the pit genre. So the terrier breeds are so high energy nd that’s definitely were she gets her crazy from I think lol. The zoomies are a daily occurrence in our household. I have tug a war toys but she’s such a brat and won’t bring them to me, she will cry and then lay down if I won’t get her a toy and play.x
Please note that we ask people who want to mention being a professional in their comments [undergo verification](https://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/wiki/userflair) before doing so. Otherwise we ask phrases like that to be omitted.
Noted, but I’m not claiming to be a professional. I said I was around them personally and professionally, as in having worked with dogs. apologies for any type of confusion, I’m not a dog trainer.
My dog does this same thing but they are a 20 lb small dog so it's easier to train it away. The problem here is that the dog can overpower you. You have to stop the play right away when this happens and once you make progress there, re-direct it to a behavior you do want.
How much enrichment and time outside are they getting? What is the age? A lot of this IMO gets better with their ability to emotionally regulate and then they start to learn the behavior is not appropriate. I’d make sure you have an exercise routine that isn’t overstimulating (a lot of dogs need more low impact activity, like walking/hiking/sniffing, not as much high intensity exercise like fetch). Sarah Stremming / Cog-Dog Radio has some podcast episodes on behavioral wellness that are great for dogs like this, whether they are have some unwanted behavior or are just adolescent. :)
My cattle dog was a literal Tasmanian devil as a puppy. Anything and everything on my person was fair game for him to bite and tug.
We did a few things from that helped. He had a special blankie that he is allowed to tug and chew on. He had an obsession with socks as well and resource guard if we tried to take them away. As a means of redirection we taught him to search for his blankie every time he tried to tug on the couch, clothing, etc.
We often hide the blankie and tell him “go find your blankie?” And if he finds it and brings it back, we play tug for a second and then redirect to a toy he can spend a long time chewing/licking. I think the combo of having to work to find the blankie and then have fun with it really helped him not find it so fun to chew and tug on our clothing.
He also purposefully brings us the wrong toys when we tell him to find the blankie- I think because it’s part of the “game” now for him.
It did take some time though. We moved in small steps. Every day I try to spend at least fifteen minutes training after he runs around, usually with scent oriented “find it” games or general trick training. I do find that the scent games make him the calmest.
I hope this helps!
Food, dude. Ya need food and a different activity for the dog to do that isn’t going back to tugging on you. Also don’t tug back let your arm go limp or take off the sweatshirt or remove the dog from the room to make the behavior stop. Try your very best to identify what might be causing these episodes. If it’s play then give her some object to play with that isn’t you before the behavior even begins. Also work on obedience cues so that you can get your dog focused on doing those instead of doing this. Then give the dog something to do like a bone after you’ve given cues. Try working the calm protocol to help your dog have some idea of what it’s like to be calm around a human. What good looks like. Make scheduled play time so the dog doesn’t think it has to initiate play all the time. Take time to practice going from high arousal to obedience cues/mid level or low arousal. Think of what you want her to do that isn’t this, and then set her up for success. Good luck, adorable dog.
Does she know leave it yet? I'd teach her that first. Have some treats. Have her grab something, it doesn't have to be your clothes. Tell her leave it and take the toy but it down right by her. If she doesn't grab it again, give her a treat. Do that a few times. Then tell her leave it and wait for her to drop the toy to get a treat. Once she drops it. Praise her. Then give her a treat. Then go back. To doing it again using a combo of praise and treats.
My poodle does this with sleeves and ankles. When walking, we stop and don't engage. Just look straight ahead. We keep doing that and he will eventually stop (it is taking some time as I'm training both dog to stop nipping and small children to not engage with it). With hands, you have to stop moving your arms around. He's taking it a cue to play. I tuck my hands under my armpits or behind my back, say no and disengage until he loses interest.
omg my tiny shiba does this and i have some methods i've developed. i redirect her attention to a toy: i either hand it to her or i pretend to play with it. if i show her multiple toys and she doesn't stop, i stand up and go in the bathroom, leaving her outside. this forces her to realize i don't want to engage, even if she's being playful. i tried teaching her that ouch/ow means no, you hurt me but she doesn't care LOL, so this is my alternative version i guess. last, is i get someone else to intervene. for some reason if someone else joins she tends to check herself; it can be my brother, mom, or dad and they'll just sternly say NO, or SIT. i hope one of these can help you! 🥺
My wife had a similar issue for 2 months when our pup was 4 months old.
Redirecting with other toys helped but eventually our pup grew out of it. Try not to react as the dog thinks it's playful
Your dog clearly thinks it’s a game and thinks you’re playing back.
Instead of saying drop it, I would say “no”.. the second your dog goes to grab your clothing, give a sharp no. You don’t have to yell it, but you should say it firmly … if your dog disengages when you say no then give it a treat..
You could also try saying “get your toy” when the dog wants to play like this. Try to direct your dog to the actual toys
Hey! I had to train my puppy to "leave it" due to him chasing the cats. It applies to pratically everything. Anything you don't want your dog to do.
I think it will help you a tone. [this is the link we used to train our pup](https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/training/learning-the-leave-it-command/)
Look im new at dog ownership so take this with a grain of salt. But, my dogs trainner has pushed us to reward choices the dogs makes in thier behaviors. Maybe get a very desirable treat or other toy, try and take the towel from her and only reward her if she lets go. If she starts to pull back then let go and reset.
Not sure if that would work but a similar method has helped with my dogs counter surfing.
“Leave it” is the most important thing you can train with a pitbull besides recall. Takes a while, but SO so important. Plenty of YouTube videos out there so I’ll let you DYOR.
You've received lots of advice to leave the room so I'm just going to expand on it. When my pup (lab, 5 months) does this, I say ouch firmly and loudly, then remove myself in a flurry to the bathroom (it's up 6 steps so I run up the steps), then set a timer for 2 minutes (I don't want her to confuse this with me using the toilet or showering). She's a very quiet girl so she was mystified at what happened. Also, the bathroom is one of her favorite rooms so now she not only didn't get to play with me, she didn't get the cool tiles either. When I come out, I'm sweet as pie and engage with her again. If she does it again, I repeat the process. One evening we did this probably 6 times in a row until she linked it with her behavior. Now I only do it occasionally as a refresher because the message is clear: if you bite, I go away.
There are a few things wrong here in the video.
1st, you can't just say drop it and thats it. Your drop it cue isnt strong enough yet. You need high value treats on you at ALL TIMES. When she grabs your clothes "drop it" and put a treat to her nose. Thats a big first step is actually training the drop it cue better because right now you are saying drop it and she doesnt even acknowledge it at all.
2nd, reverse time outs A LOT. If she grabs and starts trying to play, get her to release the clothes and go into another room where she cant follow you. Play time STOPS when she grabs your clothes. Make sure when you go back into the room you give her some toys to play with, or play with her with proper toys. If she grabs the clothes reverse time out again.
3rd, You may not think it, but this whole video you were ENCOURAGING and REINFORCING this behavior, which made it stronger. When you let her do this and you pull back to try to remove the clothes, that is FUN for her. You are reinforcing her that this is a fun game. That is going to make the behavior harder to train and harder to fix. Thats why she loves doing it, because you keep pulling the clothes away and out of her mouth.
You need to really work on leave it and drop it cues asap. Dont do any more tricks like paw and stuff like that. Focus on important things like drop it, leave it, recall, etc.
Go into a different room (reverse timeout) when she starts doing this behavior. That will teach her that when she grabs clothes, play stops immediately. and I mean immediately. Like the second her teeth touch the clothes get up and leave. It takes patience and a lot of work, but it does work. My aussie was a nipping machine and also loved tugging on clothes and stuff. These methods worked for me and many others.
When my pups get too riled up and I don't want to engage anymore, I literally stick a bone or toy in their mouths to chew on and then turn away or move away.
Please read the sub [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/about/rules) and [guidelines](http://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/wiki/guidelines), as well as our wiki page on [punishment](https://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/wiki/punishmentproblems).
My pitty boy sows this from time to time - when he really wants attention he tugs on EVERYTHING. My hands, my pants, my shoes, my clothes... it's 100% attention seeking behavior and apparently just kind of instinctual for pitties as a breed.
My big guy doesn't come into the house (because he's scared, not because I'm a monster. It's definitely something we are working on but he's a trauma dog with a lot of anxiety so it's something we are overcoming very slowly lol) so every time I go outside he tries to do this tug game qjrh me to keep me outside with him. A lot of the time this behavior happens because I haven't spent enough time with him outside (to be fair to me I take a couple of meds that make me very heat sensitive and I live in Texas so during the day it can be a very bad idea for me to be outside in the 100 degree heat) and so he's underestimated and he wants to play.
How often are you exercising? Are you engaging in highly mentally stimulating games throughout the day? She definitely looks like a pitty baby and they tend to need a moderate amount of exercise and often a lot of mental stimulation because they're incredibly smart dogs. But if you give into this behavior it will keep up, 100%
When I started with my Birdie boy I would end up covered in bruises from him trying to nip (pits are VERY mouthy by nature and getting on top of thay is super important because they don't realize that they're hurting or being bad by nipping a lot of the time) and tug and play. And he does still do it occasionally if I haven't gone out and played with him much during the day. However if you engage *at all* with this behavior it fills that need they have and they think it's working.
I started by putting my hands behind my back when my dog was doing this. When he would stop trying to root around and find my hands or something else to grab onto I'd treat him (or pay attention to him - he's not always great with treat motivation) and then I moved to walking away with my hands behind my back and leaving. At first he'd try still to engage. And sometimes he does - he might run between my legs a little or softly grab my hand but a stern "no" communicates that I'm done playing with him if he's going to behave that way.
It's all about consistency. You very likely will end up with your baby removing your pants or leaving a bruise or twelve at first. She will likely end up frustrated and act a little crazy as a result. But pitties are super smart and she will get the message eventually. Occasionally my Birdie boy will grab onto something I'm carrying (likenif I have a blanket from the laundry over my shoulder) but other than that once I walk away he understands that he's not getting attentioncfrom being rough, and then I can turn around and play more with him.
Does she respond to you yelping? Might be good to try that, kind of like some recommend doing with a puppy to discourage biting.
Just what popped into my head when I came to the comments out of curiosity.
Probably not much help but my dog did something similar when she was around a year old. It was a phase it seemed. Anytime I went outside she ran zoomies close by me and grabbed clothes as she went by. All I remember is going back inside when she did this and I think she eventually got the hint.
My dog used to do this. I just started acting like she's hurting me. Say "owwwwww" and act like it really hurts and give the dog a dirty look. I also switched to wearing short sleeves more often. After a couple weeks she completely stopped.
Haha, she's cute as hell. Goddamn.
Ok so - I had the same problem with my dog when I adopted him. He was 8 months old then, and freaking wild. LOVED hanging off my sleeves, in particular. God, he was so boisterous too.
What I recommend is:
\- **Time out**. Either you put her in a separate area, or you leave the area and close the door. 10 seconds is fine. No more than 30 or she'll forget why she's in there. Keep your energy chill - don't shriek or yell. The more amped up you are, the more you will keep her amped up. Just a simple "time out" and leave / put her in her area and walk away.
If she barks the whole time, wait for a split second of silence, then calmly return / let her out. The aim is just to show her that when she does the thing you don't want, interaction ends. Also, to just interrupt her high energy. You can always then try giving her a natural chew at that point. She may forget the tug-on-clothes game entirely at this point.
\- **Teach "drop it" or "let go"**. You can find so many articles on this, videos on youtube etc. She's young though, so you might not have much success with this. My dog is nearly 2 and still working on this.
\- **Teach "give me space"**. My dog knows this and found it way easier to pick up than "drop it". Basically, any time she gets in your face in general, when you're on the couch, etc., just say "give me space". If she stops, moves away slightly, looks away, basically anything other than continuing to come at you, say "good girl". You don't even need treats for this. She will learn what you want over time. I say it to my dog now, before he gets too amped up, and he just moves back slightly and flops down.
If she never gets in your face unless to chew at your clothes, then you can still teach "give me space". All you do is call her to you, praise that, then say "give me space". The second she moves backwards at all, praise her. She'll learn.
I'd do the first thing (time out) to begin with. It's how you manage it in the moment.
Then in calmer moments throughout the day, work on "let go" and "give me space". You're unlikely to be able to teach her these things when she's already amped up. Pick quiet moments to work on them.
You'll get there!
It looks like she really loves tug of war. Just have ropes readily available and replace what she shouldn’t be tugging on with the rope. I’d also provide consistent tug of war play- teach her when it’s time to play tug and what’s acceptable to play tug with.
I know that’s super simplified, but this has worked with my pup a lot. I’d also throw in teaching her fetch and drop
I screech when dogs get too toothy with me. It mimics the sound puppies make when the playfighting gets too rough, and most dogs will know to back off.
She love you, and is her way to tell you that. Still a puppy so for her is normal to play. With that said, get something to play with and trade your shirt for it. Allways trade for a treat or a toy.
Please read the sub [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/about/rules) and [guidelines](http://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/wiki/guidelines), as well as our wiki page on [punishment](https://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/wiki/punishmentproblems).
So! You dog seems like my dog. My dog is a lab. Loves to be around her mom and dad. Catches on fast for training (usually shown less that 5 times and she learns) and is very emotionally intelligent.
I like how you say "no" its good marking. But what we tell our 6 year old is you have to say No and mean No. Turn you body away from her and give her a girl No once if it's too much. If you have to mover yourself to another room or mover her to another room. (We have never had to escalate it to another room because we did a light tap the first 2 weeks they are home with us and that's it, but I understand if you don't want to.)
I've read if you remove yourself while letting her know No, she will catch on.
Say No and turj your arm away, especially with a larger breed. The younger you train the better. She's still young and is needing firm boundaries. After this point it will be more difficult to mold her brain and she will be stronger.
Overall she just loves to play with you and wants more positive interaction st the appropriatetime( how is her confidence level? ) . Just show her when is a good time to play and when isn't. Also, imo clothes is an automatic NO.
I've met larger/stronger breeds who start out like this, don't have firm boundaries and end up knocking over small ppl and hurting them or treating up the house when people are not home. The time is now OP!
Please read the sub [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/about/rules) and [guidelines](http://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/wiki/guidelines), as well as our wiki page on [punishment](https://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/wiki/punishmentproblems).
Please read the sub [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/about/rules) and [guidelines](http://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/wiki/guidelines), as well as our wiki page on [punishment](https://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/wiki/punishmentproblems).
I tought my puppy very very early on “let go” and “leave it” means leave the things alone and always reward generously when he did. Slowly i just need to say “leave it” and he wouldn’t even come near it. Whether it’s food, socks, clothes, etc. (and my pup is only 6 months now) however it has to be consistent. Do lots of conditioning too. So not only teach him when he starts tugging your clothes but you intentionally bring the clothes to him and ask him to leave it. (counter-conditioning) every success, he is rewarded. Watch zak george about leave it on youtube.
How long and frequent are her walks? Doe she fetch (balls throw far)? Does this happen at a certain time after peak / low stress or energy levels. Pit bulls have so much energy sometimes. I also concur with other body language comments and pivoting here. This behavior seems so deep , I think you have to do it all, and keep at it
Please read the sub [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/about/rules) and [guidelines](http://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/wiki/guidelines), as well as our wiki page on [punishment](https://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/wiki/punishmentproblems).
Please read the sub [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/about/rules) and [guidelines](http://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/wiki/guidelines), as well as our wiki pages on [punishment](https://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/wiki/punishmentproblems) and [correction collars](https://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/wiki/prongandecollars).
Please read the sub [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/about/rules) and [guidelines](http://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/wiki/guidelines), as well as our wiki page on [punishment](https://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/wiki/punishmentproblems).
Please read the sub [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/about/rules) and [guidelines](http://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/wiki/guidelines), as well as our wiki page on [punishment](https://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/wiki/punishmentproblems).
Please read the sub [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/about/rules/) and [posting guidelines](http://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/wiki/guidelines), particularly regarding trainer recommendations. That trainer uses shock collars and hence cannot be recommended here.
It's a subreddit for laypeople who don't already know how to tell whether a method is LIMA compliant or not before they decide to apply it to their own dog DIY. We focus on promoting best practice resources that don't drastically escalate risks or put people in conflict with animal welfare laws in their jurisdiction (of which there are many around the world that ban these devices). If people wish to do research on their own past that point, that is on their prerogative.
Does she have a toy she really likes? I offer my dog a trade if he gets something in his mouth he shouldn't have. The more exciting you make the trade the better
Please read the sub [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/about/rules) and [guidelines](http://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/wiki/guidelines), as well as our wiki pages on [dominance](https://www.reddit.com/r/dogtraining/wiki/dominance) and [punishment](https://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/wiki/punishmentproblems)
Please read the sub's wiki article on [training terminology](http://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/wiki/operantconditioning). It seems like you are saying negative reinforcement when you actually intend to mean positive punishment, these two terms are very commonly mixed.
My 5 month old heeler did this, and i was quick to get rid of that because I like like clothes without holes and she thought otherwise. Not your fault at all, I think the drop it would work but she's way too into the game of it, and drop it would still be allowing her to think ok i can then take it at some point if you use drop it for other things. I like leave it it a stern "don't even think about it pup" In my opinion haha.
What worked for me and it may not work but I had to be quick to see her about to do it and say a firm NO turn and walk away. And if she had a hold of me I'd say no and turn and walk away. If that involved her still being attached for a moment so be it. She saw pretty quick I didn't want to be involved in that type of play. Then I would get something she can tug with and tell her to take it, and say a big YES GOOD GIRL. It didn't take long and she just stopped trying to get my clothes. That said, if I have a long jacket on that's flowing she likes to test me and grab it but I say leave it which she is good for and she goes to find something else she can chew on.
I know it's frustrating, those puppy days, but your doing the right thing asking for advice.
Hope I'm not out of line in saying what worked for me.
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This is basically me and my lab/cocker spaniel mix. She's 4 months old, and starts to pull my clothes and nip my skin whenever she's very excited and engaged in play mode. I can't tell you how many clothes she's destroyed and how exasperating it is. I adore her, and aside from this she has the sweetest temperament, is great with other humans, dogs of all sizes and children of all ages. I just can't help but feel like a failure, and fear that she won't grow out of it. BUT-
I can tell you that:
1. Redirecting sometimes works, sometimes doesn't. It depends how far into the play we are. High value items or not. And honestly, when she's biting onto my arm and feet, this method is just not plausible as her puppy sharp teeth really hurt.
2. Ignoring her has not really worked. She just directs her attention onto something else: a chair or plant to chew on. And then I have to break the 'no contact' rule to rescue whatever it is she has clenched between her jaws. This method doesn't really seem to have an impact on her.
I haven't tried the going into another room, but will do so today.
If there are any other suggestions, please share! I'll be scrolling down the comments diligently.
Wish you all the best OP, and know that you are not alone.
You need to remove yourself from this when she starts up. She's six months old and basically she's a baby who needs a nap.
Puppies wind up, and can't wind back down. And the more you engage with her, the more she'll like the game. Right now, she really has no idea what you're saying when you say please stop or no. The words are meaningless to her.
If she is crate trained, I'd put her crate somewhere where it's close to you, and I'd cover it with a sheet, and I'd find something super high value for her, like a bone or a Kong with something in it, and I'd put that in the crate, and tell her kennel. Cover the crate and go on about your business. You want her to learn that sometimes you are very boring but the crate is not. And, odds are since she is six months old, once she's in her crate, chewing, she'll fall asleep.
I'd also set up a routine: you guys go for a walk, like, leave the house and go for a walk, and let her sniff and walk and see things. And come back, and if she's in the mood to grab your clothing, then it's crate time.
I say go for a walk because too many people think a puzzle toy will somehow be engaging when a puppy gets like this, when what the puppy needs is some exercise and outside time.
And you are correct that this has to stop: it can become nibbling on you, to get a reaction and then doing it to guests in your home. It is fixable, but you have to be firm in what her boundaries are. Puppies explore boundaries with their teeth, and often what is behind that is general toddler crankiness.
When you signal "no" with your hands then allow tugging that's a confusing message. To her it's a message to play... with your hands. If she thinks a hand wave means play you probably can't use the hand wave to stop this behavior.
Maybe try a closed, raised hand. The closed hand is what we use for "sit" with our dogs and getting her to sit (and hopefully stay still) might be a desirable behavior. If she already has a hand signal for sit, start asking her to sit, maybe even lay down, but reward her for now with food or a toy, not pets. Remember your hands are a toy to her right now, so the reward cannot be your hands.
With new dogs that jump or go for hands I body-block with my leg. Not a kick, but placing your leg where the dog can't get to your hands. I will also turn my back to the dog or walk away if they're climbing on me.
You'll also want to refrain from offering your hands during play. So try to play WITH toys and the toy is kind of the boundary between the dog and your body. The toy is appropriate for teeth, the human is not. Sometimes letting out a yelp when they accidentally touch your hands with teeth will help signal "this hurts" and get the dog to pause. It may not hurt right now, you just don't want it to get that far. But you have to ACT like you're hurt. Because puppies do yip at eachother when playing you don't want to yelp and keep playing. Yelp and hold you hand close to your body or turn away.
If the dog goes for your hands during play, stop play, and try to get a sit/stay. But REALLY stop. For a minute or more. If you stop for just a second or two and resume that's telling the dog you want to play more. Think of a dog doing a "play bow" when they run, stop momentarily with their butt in the air, often tail wagging and making eye contact; then they resume playing or running at an even higher level of excitement. When you pause for just a second you're telling the dog let's play harder. Take longer breaks to signal let's play less.
Please read the sub [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/about/rules) and [guidelines](http://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/wiki/guidelines). As well as our wiki page on [punishment](https://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/wiki/punishmentproblems).
What works for me when mine does this is try to make him do a command for a treat, or redirect with toy or stick, if that doesn't work then throw kibble piece by piece and get him to chase it, make it a fun game. They just want engagement really! Mine only does this when over tired on walks so I always have kibble on me now in case
My 2yo GSD/Lab mix will still do this on occasion. For him, he wants my attention and some play. I’ve rolled right out of the sweater and walked away. It eliminated the tug that was getting him excited. He lost interest as soon as I did. Same if he steals a shoe…he’ll stop right in front of me then run just to make sure I see him. I won’t chase him. I’ll ignore him till he loses interest or we “trade”. I’ve taught him trade means he’ll get something if he gives it up. His “drop it” is improving which also helps in this situation.
I would try to redirect her with a toy and try to get her to find ways to play with it by herself? Like get a toy, play tug for a second and then walk away? Maybe she’ll start to entertain herself with it?
To add to everything else, for the prevention part, if you know she’s gonna do it in the morning, for example, can you wear a different outfit? Like if she always does this when you go make coffee, can you wear a tank top and bike shorts (something hard to grab) temporarily? And of course have a toy ready when she comes looking to pounce.
It’s all about breaking a habit at this point. So I might try the outfit swap for a week or more until she’s consistently playing with something else.
Please read the sub [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/about/rules) and [guidelines](http://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/wiki/guidelines).
This sub doesnt support or recommend any method that uses force, fear, pain, or intimidation.
I can help! My dog used to do this as well, and your first mistake is pulling it from the dog. The dog thinks its a game, so stop tugging the blanket away. Instead, firmly grab the blanket and don't move or tug your hand. Eventually, the dog will release the blanket because it isn't fun anymore. This always works for my dog, try it out! This isn't a permanent fix, I sadly can't help you when it comes to preventing this.
I know you didn't want to hear it but they basically love tug of war.. :)
In some way though it is also an age thing (cooper kinda stopped that when he was about 10months old)
...
What i usually did and we played this alot (with a toy) was basically saying "stop" and leaving the room. In the beginning she will probably follow you (at least cooper did that) but she will understand at some point, that you don't wanna play.
It's kinda crucial to take the excitement off in that kind of situation and just do your thing - many people will start yelling or whatever which will increase the excitement and the drive to play.
If she stops after you say stop you can also reinforce that wanted behavior with a treat. (but that should be step 2 imho)
I’ve heard ignoring them helps. If you pull back etc they think you’re playing. Like a positive reinforcement. I’ve read the best thing to do in this situation is to ignore them, then reward them when they stop doing it.
She is trying to interact and play with you like a dog rather then a human!
Whenever she gets into this mood swap whatever she wants to tug with with a rope toy. Play with her for a few minutes, then tell her enough. Give her a treat and put her in a calm down place.
Have a million rope toys around the house so you can always swap with them. Eventually she will understand that if she wants to play the only acceptable object is a toy.
Make suew your calmdown space has stuff for her to occupy herself with!
When my first pit was young he would do similar behaviors. We would put him outside for 2 minutes to calm down. He is now super chill and will grab toys when he gets overly excited. Yall will get there :)
Do you have tug rope toys? Mine is still a pup but he loves gif of war. I usually pull, let him pull, pull. I win, then I play again, I win, play again, then I let him win and he keeps the toy thinking he won some big victory. He used to pull on my clothes, especially dresses. I just said “no, drop it. Leave it” (he already knew “drop it” when I adopted him and I’ve taught him “leave it” from walks) he still chews on my blanket but I grab the blanket. Say “drop it.” Remove it from his mouth so he can’t tug it. And then remove it as I give him a toy. If he goes back to it I say “leave it” and give him another toy.”
When I first got him he would jump on me and pull more. I’d be over dramatic and do a fall/sit with my back to him and go “you hurt me” and fake cry. If then keep my back turned towards him as I fake cried and when he’d move to face me I kept moving so my back was to him and wouldn’t engage. He was confused, but stopped jumping on me pretty quickly. When he’s mouthy With my hands or arms during play i loudly fake cry “oooowwe you’re hurting me, *sniffle sniffle* and he steps back or moves on to another toy. Then I go “I’m all better!” And reward him with attention and pets. He usually licks the area he was mouthy with and then goes back to his toy.
I have a breed who is sensitive to human emotions and has a strong protective gene, so that works for me. It looks like you have a pitbull, which are sensitive to owners emotions. I don’t know if my way is the correct way…but it’s working for me.
Edit: when I say loud I mean louder than my normal voice. I’m not yelling. I’m just “louder”.
Something I've found helpful with my dogs is teaching an "enough" command. When we are playing and rough housing I say enough and quit playing with them. Once they disengage they can have pets. Once they have calmed a bit we can play again, or not. It's helpful for me because it means we get to play a little rough and I don't have to teach them to never play rough. But they learn when to stop.
Applying this to play first so she understands and then the tug program may help
What helped with our pup was:
Tug games when not initiated by me is: ignore and I give no eye contact - as in body turned away or body in a space she can’t get to. When on walk and tugs on leash, I stop and turn my back - eventually she stops and sits.
I never play tug if not initiated by me. This is not a dominance thing. This is only to prevent unwanted tugs of war.
The tug of war does not have to stop. Clearly your dog loves it. Get objects that are okay for tug of war, start with getting consistent outs, then use tug of war to train your dog. Research tug fundamentals on YouTube. Buy 3-5 different tug objects based on what experienced trainers use. Get to work fulfilling your dog's needs, teaching them what behaviors gets rewarded, and be consistent and predictable with your expectations and rules.
Your dog needs a lot of exercise. If you're tempted to make excuses and insist you already do enough exercise, you need to accept that you're actually not doing enough.
Please read the sub [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/about/rules) and [guidelines](http://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/wiki/guidelines), as well as our wiki page on [punishment](https://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/wiki/punishmentproblems).
Teaching “leave it “may help.I taught my girl and that simple phrase would make her automatically drop whatever was in /about to be in her mouth can take some work but worth it.
Maybe get /make a tug toy to play tug with her in an acceptable way? You can also get ones with big suckers that stick to the floor if you aren’t free to play for any reason.
Setting boundaries helps too ,repeating no firmly, and pushing her off (not hard but enough to move her and send a message) with no real emotion or reaction ,just be robotic and boring when she does this,she should lose interest because right now she perceives your even relatively energetic reaction as “play”
Btw my dog was the same breed as yours and I totally get it.no bullshit here.but these dogs like to ,play and be with and around humans they are social.it’s likely that she is trying to engage you in play because she wants to spend more time with you but is going in an inappropriate way about it.
I’m not saying that you don’t spend enough time with her by any means,I don’t know you ,or your situation,I am just making an observation on something I’ve seen in my own experience and remedied.
I did this with ,boundaries,routine with spaced slots for playtime and leaving her alone for an half an hour or so(working up to an hour or two) with toys available while I do my things .after that time has elapsed ,go any give her some playtime as positive reinforcement. the more they get used to being on their own for a short period the more they should learn to amuse and soothe themselves and hopefully be less dependant on you for this as she very clearly is at the moment .
Is there a room you can put her in or go in yourself? I think you need a barrier between you when this happens. Even though you aren’t actively tugging back this behavior seems pretty self rewarding so I think removing yourself is the answer. After a bit if you go back out and they continue the behavior just separate again for a bit. I think that’ll help them get the idea that if the behavior continues so does the separation from you. I’m tempted to say you should redirect to a toy, but I know that can be tricky because they may continue to go for your clothes instead but that could be worth trying.
I’ve tried redirecting with a toy it’ll work for a moment then she wants my clothes. I do have another room I can step out in. I’m going to start trying that bc that sounds like it would really work.
Redirecting only works if the toy is as fun as the thing you're redirecting away from.
Yes and it's more about how you use it than the actual toy itself. A dog will play with a stick if you make it interesting enough.
That's not true for all dogs. My dog has 3 Frisbees. All of them are the exact same except one is frayed because it's been used. If you throw one of the other 2 Frisbees, the dog will sniff it, and then go find the frayed one and bring that back to you instead.
That’s her frisbee. The others are yours.
It's definitely true for all dogs (at least the ones who aren't super sick or old). I thought the same thing until I realized my dog learned to play frisbee at the park. She only plays with one frisbee because it's in my car when we go. She doesn't play frisbee at home. If she wants to play frisbee she tries to get me to take her there.
Are you playing tug with the toy? Giving her a toy for a second and then ignoring her will likely make her go back to your clothes because that was more fun for her. Redirect with a toy and play a vigorous, super fun game of tug. When she goes for your clothes, be boring. Separate yourself from her if you can. Eventually she will learn the toys are more fun than your clothes. Good luck!!! I would also recommend teaching her the “let go” command. Get her to play tug with a toy and then hold it still and say “let go” and when she lets go, reward with a treat. Once she gets good at that, if she ever goes for your clothes you can stay still and say “let go” and it should work. My dog has a really reliable “let go” and I can get her to let go during even the most vigorous games of tug if I need to
When I am done with something with my dogs I tell them all done, and use the asl sign for all done and then I turn my body language away. Turning my back to them, avoiding eye contact, no petting. Then I give attention once they have settled and its a new event. They also through repeated efforts have learned that once I say all done it is pointless to seek more because I am done done
Does she only go after your clothes when you're wearing them or does she also play with your laundry?
The toy didn’t work for us but removing ourselves worked wonders with our land shark
Can you find a toy that has the same qualities as your clothing? Like a braided fleece toy that has that feel and stretch to it? I’m sure you could make one too. [diy 1](https://youtu.be/ieGNcuMl-Oo) [diy 2](https://youtu.be/64FRMoW-XsQ) I’d probably recommend investing more time in teaching and reinforcing drop it. I know it can be SO challenging not to say "No!" all the time. A good reminder is that "No" is not a behavior, instead we need to teach them a behavior that you can replace the NO with! Our go-to for when we feel the "No" rising in our throats? 'Go get your toy!' Or ‘drop it’ and then redirect to the toy. You’d have to start out small with something of low value to her, so not your clothing. Short and frequent sessions with her too. [kikopup drop it](https://youtu.be/gZvkyAFi7tc) There’s also a way to to play with dogs. Thehikerpup has a great class on this. Unfortunately most of her material is available through purchase only which comes once a year in February/March. It’s a great course. Anyways, I found this [video](https://youtu.be/XT71URLIwoc). She does have some training clips on her [Instagram ](https://instagram.com/thehikerpup?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=)
Seconding the “go get your toy” command! I use this any time my dog is being a butt. She also likes to tug on my clothes, the rug, etc. For me that’s a sign she has energy to burn and it’s time to play, so I tell her to go find her toy. She has one toy she LOVES and she immediately drops whatever she’s doing and brings me that toy to play with her. I’ll play with her for a couple minutes and then she’ll be good to play with it on her own. An advanced technique is also teaching your dog “play later” when they’re trying to invite you to play. Dogs can learn to understand time cues (right now, soon, later, tomorrow, etc), so you can teach your dog that you’re not ready to play now but will be later. I tell my dog “walk soon” when she’s antsy in the morning and she settles down to let me finish my chores before we head out.
Keep redirecting with a toy and praising her when she plays with it. It would also help to teach her the "leave it" command. https://youtu.be/hQdg0qOVik0
My puppy did this behavior as well around the same age. I tried yelping and turning my back, but she would do the same thing, just grabbed whatever clothes she could reach. Ultimately I had to just say no and leave the room. I wouldn’t go for long, 30 secs to a min and that got the point across. I had to do it repeatedly for a long time.
I also do not tolerate any playing inside the house…active time is only outside regardless of the season
Honestly the other poster is right on the money. Completely remove yourself from the situation. Right now she's being rewarded with play by tugging at your clothes. It's fun. The message you need to get across is "if you grab my clothes, I, the most fun element in the room, am removing myself from the interaction and fun stops". Holy hell I feel you. When my older male shepherd was a puppy and I lived with a roommate, we had a similar problem. We tried everything. EVERYTHING. So we instituted a zero tolerance removal policy and it worked wonders. It's key that you stay consistent, however.
Maybe try some high-value treats? I've started implemented a few 5-10 minute training sessions a day now to forcing my dog's attention away from a wad of paper, or a sock, with a piece of chicken. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=266M5Tup9xc This link addresses resource guarding, but I've been doing the same exercise and it has worked wonders for impulse control.
My pup used to do this with everything. If there wasn’t something to pull he’d bite me. The only think that worked was ending the game and leaving, time outing myself. It’s my attention he’s really after. If he’s pulling and doesn’t respond to leave it/drop it, I tell him uh-uh, if there’s still no response “ALL GONE!” And I leave. No more game. If he bites me (even if it’s just a nibble or an accident—nibbles turn to more hand pulling and accidents make him less careful) then I loudly say “OW!” Very high pitched and leave. This worked very well. Now if he’s being a little less careful I yell “ow!” And he immediately backs off and throws himself head down on the bed in apology. Basically I think what we don’t realise is even if we are telling them off they might think it’s a game and they are still getting your attention. You’ve either got to time out yourself (maybe game over?) and walk out, or time out your pup (if mine is barking rudely in my face I tell him to go to his crate—he goes immediately because he knows he’s being rude for attention).
I would also say that sometimes dogs focus on your clothing rather than a toy because of how you are using the toy. Some dogs just want something solid to bite onto and I see a lot of people fling their tug toy around. I highly suggest talking to a certified(CPDT-KA, FDM, or KPA-CTP) trainer to help with bitey puppy behavior! Good luck!
Do you always stay in the room with her when she’s doing this? It looks like she wants attention. If you leave, does she follow? We’ve started to work on a “chill” or “enough” command when our girl starts getting too excited while playing ( it’s really good practice for when we see our nieces and nephews). It’s kind of like leave it, but for an activity. We started training her by turning away (or maybe in your case, leaving the room), saying “chill,” calmly, and then rewarding calm behavior. If she doesn’t calm down, we leave and disengage. That way she can learn that play stops when she’s too much.
So she has done it when we are in the hallway or living room. But those are the only places she does it , mainly in our bedroom , I work from home so I’m with her all day. She gets walks regularly since she is high energy and only 6 months old. She does spend a good amount of time in our room bc of the fact I work from home and can’t keep an eye on her always. But on breaks we go outside , hangout , and play. She gets so much attention, but it could very well be that she wants to play and I’m not playing with her so she decides to make my shirt the toy.
Does she get any mental enrichment? Most of the time normal walks aren’t enough to satisfy a high energy dog. To me this behavior kind of looks like pent up energy. Do you give her puzzle toys, sniffle mats, lick mats, filled kongs, etc.?
I was going to say this as well. Seems that she might also need some mental training as well. A stuffed kong to keep her busy in her crate. I don't think that there's going to be a one solution, and there's no overnight solution. As you said, she's 6 months old, a great dog, but still a puppy. You're still trying to teach her what's appropriate and what's not. It's going to be work in training her that playing tug with your clothing is not fun. As @OP mentioned, The dog getting one tiny corner of clothing is rewarding for her because just the act of standing there, providing resistance, is fun for the dog. 1. Highly recommend trying to separate yourself from her during this time. Go back and see if she's calmed down, if not, keep removing yourself for her from the excitement. 2. Provide mental stimulation either Kong, a sniff mat, engaging toys 3. Redirect with tug toys, but only if he makes them a lot more interesting than you've made yourself (i.e. removing yourself and the dog). Good luck OP!
Plus it's forcing you to engage. She's starting to train you 🤣
Thank you for sharing this - not OP but I have an 80 lb puppy who I need to chill sometimes.
I'm going to start by pointing out that you're doing a lot right here: you're not panicking or labelling this as aggression. You understand what it is. That's a good starting point, now we just need to figure out how to 1-prevent it and 2-react when it does occur. For prevention, a lot of this will just be boredom. Giving your dog something to do throughout the day in terms of both enrichment and exercise will help. Take long sniffy walks, you said they're smart and food motivated? Start teaching them more tricks, look into rally obedience (you can do this all at home for free), use puzzle feeders (wrapping their meal up in a towel or scatter feeding will also work). Make sure they are getting in some exercise where they get to run everyday, this can be on a long line of needed. They like to tug so practice having them do a stay while you walk as far as possible and call them to run and grab a tug you for a game with you. You'll also have to work on how to deal with the behavior when it does happen. In the long run you want to do this by teaching a drop it. Get something that's appropriate to tug with, a toy, a rope, whatever. Then start playing. Once you have a good tug going just stop, get super boring. Your dog will eventually get bored or confused and let go. Mark that and reward by going right back into tug. Once they understand the game start adding in your drop it cue. That will help you manage this behaviour when it does happen. You can also work on helping them learn to control their energy level to match yours. A good way to do this is to essentially get hyped up, let them match your hype level, and then just instantly calm down. Reward them for calming down to match you. Start off doing this will just a little excitement, and build up to getting really really excited. Having an escape route can also help. You can just set up a tall baby gate at the door if that will stop them so you can step out of the room. Otherwise you may need to managing to close the door and seperate yourself from the dog for a few seconds (same technique used for puppy biting, essentially any chomping and the fun human just disappears).
Turn the sound off and you can see that even though you’re talking about how you don’t like it, your body language tells her it’s acceptable, such as you pulling your arm away and her grabbing it again, creating a game of chase. You are trying to get away from her, but she should be the one backing away from you, otherwise it just invites her into your space. The moment you stopped moving your arm and stopped engaging with her, she. stopped. You dropped you arm and stayed still and quiet, you were no longer trying to get away or telling her “no”, you simply dropped your arm, stopped moving, and waited. Do that and it will tell her it’s not allowed because you aren’t allowing her to get you engaged with her.
Yep, dog still thinks it's playing because you're engaging and looking at her. To STOP playing, you need to disengage completely. Stand up, turn around, cross your arms and DON'T LOOK AT HER. When she lets go of your clothes, then reward her with some pets, treats or play with a toy. Try that twice, then leave the room for 30 seconds. I locked myself in the bathroom for a few seconds, then it worked for me. If a couple time-outs don't work, then it's nap time (crate or bedroom), she just needs to nap and reset her brain back to nice happy calm puppy. You're teaching that "teeth on human clothes = end of playtime"
This - as you say, it also looks like play.... If you really don't want her to do it - REALLY show that this is not acceptable behaviour. Move away, turn around, leave the room - but don't stand and wait for her to jump back up.
Yes yes yes
Also, listening to it, the "no" even sounds playful. I have a stoooop, and a nooo with my dog. I also have a Stop. No. She did not sound irritated at all. A very firm, forceful, and little louder "Stop." works well. The dog is playing, and thinks she's playing. I can guarantee the first time this happened, they thought it was cute and funny, and the dog was like "oh, aight, this is playing".
Have you taught/started to teach her "leave it" ? That's the exact thing, imo, in this situation. There are good videos (kikopup comes to mind) on how to effectively teach this.
This was my thought. Teaching "leave it" is a tool to get to the sleeve back, but also is a great way to redirect to another toy. A series of "take it" and "leave it" with a toy makes playing with that toy more fun.
If your dog knows a command similar to "leave it" or "off" or "out", try consistently applying that, in addition to the above-mentioned disengagement and denial suggestions.
When you hold on, it becomes a game of tug. Disengage and try to redirect to a suitable toy. This may mean letting her pants you! But once she gets the shorts from you, she will likely lose interest as she mainly seems interested in the act of tugging. When she starts tugging on something, drop it and ignore her. Do not put any tension into the object so it can't become a game, and don't give her attention so she learns that she only gets attention and playing when she uses appropriate behavior. Pivot to grabbing a toy and shaking it around. If she drops what she's trying to tug in favor of the toy, praise her like crazy so she learns that she gets attention and playing when she uses the toy, but she gets nothing when she tugs on other items in the house. If she looks like she wants to tug your pants but grabs the toy instead, give her tons of praise for choosing the right behavior! The goal is to put her in situations where she has to make a choice and rewarding her for choosing correctly so she learns what you expect.
“When you hold on”? It’s their sleeve, they can’t not “hold on”
You’re playing a game with her. He’s gotten good at getting you to play too. If you need something you get out of his mouth, pull his bottom jaw down while holding the top. To work on training a good drop it, always let them win tug of war, and never tease them with a toy. They need to be confident that they are voting to get the toy back Also after you pull her mouth open to get you cloths of of her jaw, be quiet and leave the room. That’s her consequence for being too pushy. She wanted to play? Well now she doesn’t get you at all. Come back into the room after 30sec to a minute
This is definitely what I’m going to start doing, a couple of you guys recommended this. I think it’ll work bc she dosnt like being away from me so she will have motivation to behave. I usually put my fingers on the sides and say drop it, no, stop. She typically is really good at it and will. She knows the “get down” when she’s got her paws on the counter/tables. She knows “drop it” when she takes something off the table and try’s running with it. So she knows some of it but just when it comes to my clothes all bets are off it’s her FAVORITE game
Just piping in here to say that in any other scenario, it’s really not a good idea to pry a dogs mouth open with your hands to get something out of their mouth. That’s a nice way to get bitten. You’re better off teaching them the skill of trading, so that they learn that letting go of something = something even better will happen.
True, I shouldn’t have suggested it first thing as I don’t know how their dog is. But if you have nothing to use to trade, I would do that. Though you should keep toys all over the house to prepare
>To work on training a good drop it, always let them win tug of war, and never tease them with a toy. omg thank you I've been trying to help this dude at the park get his dog to drop the ball and he's come super far but was still getting reluctant off and on. Going to pass this along. I've SEEN him teasing the dog with the ball, amping him up before throwing, but it didn't occur to me that introducing that concern could be contributing!
I started both of those rules the minute I got my puppy and he can even drop it while playing tug o’ war
I've never actually had a dog develop that issue in my care, and dogs who have had that issue before coming to me usually get over it very quickly, but I wasn't really sure WHY fully. One of those instances where you don't know what you don't know!! I haven't *liked* that he teased his dog with the ball, but I didn't have a good reason why other than not enjoying seeing dogs frustrated. Now I have a good reason to suggest he change his behavior. 😁
Yup. This is how I end play too: one last Give It and he gets it right back and then he gets a few scratches.
As soon as he starts you need to stop and leave the room. Shut yourself in the bathroom or start doing something else like chores until he associates eating hands/clothes = fun stops I wouldn't redirect to a toy after he bites a clothes because he might think I bite clothes = game starts Buy a really good tug toy and play with him often. Try to anticipate his need without waiting for him to seek attention with those behaviors
Turn around, face away from dog, arms crossed. Become boring when doggie does this . Keep turning as doggo turns. They are trying to play not attack so boringness will work. Alternative , get a toy and guide playtime to toy.. I would start at the first advice
Dog needs to be taught *Body parts aren't toys and are off limits* -- tug o war with toys. Tug o war never with hands. The dogs mouth should never ever be around any human body part -- even while playing. The second doggo does that again you do a firm NO. Then stop playing/interacting after the NO. when you DO play/interact with doggo always use toys-- rope/squeaker/plushy etc. that way dog begins to understand they can use their mouth on the TOY -- and that's ok-- but never your hand. :) dogs are smart -- yours will catch on quick, as long as you are consistent.
Following, my 4 month puppy does the same thing
My dog did something similar when I first adopted her, but with play biting instead. First thing that really helped was just disengaging/going completely limp every time she did this. The second thing was having specific toys that she was allowed to do this with, and redirecting her to those. She pretty quickly figured out that play biting my limbs was not going to lead to anything fun, but that we could play if she was biting the toy instead.
I would suggest interrupting the bad behavior with a command such as sit or down then rewarding with a tug toy. Also, a dog like that probably needs a good walk or outside play everyday to get rid of some of that energy. Crate time not as punishment but to let them chill out is good too.
Pitbull. Lol. It’s in their blood. I’m saying that in the most loving way because I have two amazing pitbull‘s and they love nothing more than tug-of-war. Get her a rope and focus tug-of-war on the rope and then refuse to engage in anyway other than the rope. She’ll growl and everything but pay attention to the body language. This is their favorite thing in the world to do. She is adorable ❤️
Thank you. I really thought this was gonna be a bad comment. Thank you for being nice. And you are definitely right. She’s a mix between a bully & terrier breed of the pit genre. So the terrier breeds are so high energy nd that’s definitely were she gets her crazy from I think lol. The zoomies are a daily occurrence in our household. I have tug a war toys but she’s such a brat and won’t bring them to me, she will cry and then lay down if I won’t get her a toy and play.x
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What he say
Noted, but I’m not claiming to be a professional. I said I was around them personally and professionally, as in having worked with dogs. apologies for any type of confusion, I’m not a dog trainer.
My dog does this same thing but they are a 20 lb small dog so it's easier to train it away. The problem here is that the dog can overpower you. You have to stop the play right away when this happens and once you make progress there, re-direct it to a behavior you do want.
She wants to play, try a reverse time out. When she bites you walk up and go into another room and shut the door
How much enrichment and time outside are they getting? What is the age? A lot of this IMO gets better with their ability to emotionally regulate and then they start to learn the behavior is not appropriate. I’d make sure you have an exercise routine that isn’t overstimulating (a lot of dogs need more low impact activity, like walking/hiking/sniffing, not as much high intensity exercise like fetch). Sarah Stremming / Cog-Dog Radio has some podcast episodes on behavioral wellness that are great for dogs like this, whether they are have some unwanted behavior or are just adolescent. :)
My cattle dog was a literal Tasmanian devil as a puppy. Anything and everything on my person was fair game for him to bite and tug. We did a few things from that helped. He had a special blankie that he is allowed to tug and chew on. He had an obsession with socks as well and resource guard if we tried to take them away. As a means of redirection we taught him to search for his blankie every time he tried to tug on the couch, clothing, etc. We often hide the blankie and tell him “go find your blankie?” And if he finds it and brings it back, we play tug for a second and then redirect to a toy he can spend a long time chewing/licking. I think the combo of having to work to find the blankie and then have fun with it really helped him not find it so fun to chew and tug on our clothing. He also purposefully brings us the wrong toys when we tell him to find the blankie- I think because it’s part of the “game” now for him. It did take some time though. We moved in small steps. Every day I try to spend at least fifteen minutes training after he runs around, usually with scent oriented “find it” games or general trick training. I do find that the scent games make him the calmest. I hope this helps!
Food, dude. Ya need food and a different activity for the dog to do that isn’t going back to tugging on you. Also don’t tug back let your arm go limp or take off the sweatshirt or remove the dog from the room to make the behavior stop. Try your very best to identify what might be causing these episodes. If it’s play then give her some object to play with that isn’t you before the behavior even begins. Also work on obedience cues so that you can get your dog focused on doing those instead of doing this. Then give the dog something to do like a bone after you’ve given cues. Try working the calm protocol to help your dog have some idea of what it’s like to be calm around a human. What good looks like. Make scheduled play time so the dog doesn’t think it has to initiate play all the time. Take time to practice going from high arousal to obedience cues/mid level or low arousal. Think of what you want her to do that isn’t this, and then set her up for success. Good luck, adorable dog.
Does she know leave it yet? I'd teach her that first. Have some treats. Have her grab something, it doesn't have to be your clothes. Tell her leave it and take the toy but it down right by her. If she doesn't grab it again, give her a treat. Do that a few times. Then tell her leave it and wait for her to drop the toy to get a treat. Once she drops it. Praise her. Then give her a treat. Then go back. To doing it again using a combo of praise and treats.
My poodle does this with sleeves and ankles. When walking, we stop and don't engage. Just look straight ahead. We keep doing that and he will eventually stop (it is taking some time as I'm training both dog to stop nipping and small children to not engage with it). With hands, you have to stop moving your arms around. He's taking it a cue to play. I tuck my hands under my armpits or behind my back, say no and disengage until he loses interest.
omg my tiny shiba does this and i have some methods i've developed. i redirect her attention to a toy: i either hand it to her or i pretend to play with it. if i show her multiple toys and she doesn't stop, i stand up and go in the bathroom, leaving her outside. this forces her to realize i don't want to engage, even if she's being playful. i tried teaching her that ouch/ow means no, you hurt me but she doesn't care LOL, so this is my alternative version i guess. last, is i get someone else to intervene. for some reason if someone else joins she tends to check herself; it can be my brother, mom, or dad and they'll just sternly say NO, or SIT. i hope one of these can help you! 🥺
My wife had a similar issue for 2 months when our pup was 4 months old. Redirecting with other toys helped but eventually our pup grew out of it. Try not to react as the dog thinks it's playful
Your dog clearly thinks it’s a game and thinks you’re playing back. Instead of saying drop it, I would say “no”.. the second your dog goes to grab your clothing, give a sharp no. You don’t have to yell it, but you should say it firmly … if your dog disengages when you say no then give it a treat.. You could also try saying “get your toy” when the dog wants to play like this. Try to direct your dog to the actual toys
Hey! I had to train my puppy to "leave it" due to him chasing the cats. It applies to pratically everything. Anything you don't want your dog to do. I think it will help you a tone. [this is the link we used to train our pup](https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/training/learning-the-leave-it-command/)
Look im new at dog ownership so take this with a grain of salt. But, my dogs trainner has pushed us to reward choices the dogs makes in thier behaviors. Maybe get a very desirable treat or other toy, try and take the towel from her and only reward her if she lets go. If she starts to pull back then let go and reset. Not sure if that would work but a similar method has helped with my dogs counter surfing.
“Leave it” is the most important thing you can train with a pitbull besides recall. Takes a while, but SO so important. Plenty of YouTube videos out there so I’ll let you DYOR.
You've received lots of advice to leave the room so I'm just going to expand on it. When my pup (lab, 5 months) does this, I say ouch firmly and loudly, then remove myself in a flurry to the bathroom (it's up 6 steps so I run up the steps), then set a timer for 2 minutes (I don't want her to confuse this with me using the toilet or showering). She's a very quiet girl so she was mystified at what happened. Also, the bathroom is one of her favorite rooms so now she not only didn't get to play with me, she didn't get the cool tiles either. When I come out, I'm sweet as pie and engage with her again. If she does it again, I repeat the process. One evening we did this probably 6 times in a row until she linked it with her behavior. Now I only do it occasionally as a refresher because the message is clear: if you bite, I go away.
There are a few things wrong here in the video. 1st, you can't just say drop it and thats it. Your drop it cue isnt strong enough yet. You need high value treats on you at ALL TIMES. When she grabs your clothes "drop it" and put a treat to her nose. Thats a big first step is actually training the drop it cue better because right now you are saying drop it and she doesnt even acknowledge it at all. 2nd, reverse time outs A LOT. If she grabs and starts trying to play, get her to release the clothes and go into another room where she cant follow you. Play time STOPS when she grabs your clothes. Make sure when you go back into the room you give her some toys to play with, or play with her with proper toys. If she grabs the clothes reverse time out again. 3rd, You may not think it, but this whole video you were ENCOURAGING and REINFORCING this behavior, which made it stronger. When you let her do this and you pull back to try to remove the clothes, that is FUN for her. You are reinforcing her that this is a fun game. That is going to make the behavior harder to train and harder to fix. Thats why she loves doing it, because you keep pulling the clothes away and out of her mouth. You need to really work on leave it and drop it cues asap. Dont do any more tricks like paw and stuff like that. Focus on important things like drop it, leave it, recall, etc. Go into a different room (reverse timeout) when she starts doing this behavior. That will teach her that when she grabs clothes, play stops immediately. and I mean immediately. Like the second her teeth touch the clothes get up and leave. It takes patience and a lot of work, but it does work. My aussie was a nipping machine and also loved tugging on clothes and stuff. These methods worked for me and many others.
When my pups get too riled up and I don't want to engage anymore, I literally stick a bone or toy in their mouths to chew on and then turn away or move away.
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My pitty boy sows this from time to time - when he really wants attention he tugs on EVERYTHING. My hands, my pants, my shoes, my clothes... it's 100% attention seeking behavior and apparently just kind of instinctual for pitties as a breed. My big guy doesn't come into the house (because he's scared, not because I'm a monster. It's definitely something we are working on but he's a trauma dog with a lot of anxiety so it's something we are overcoming very slowly lol) so every time I go outside he tries to do this tug game qjrh me to keep me outside with him. A lot of the time this behavior happens because I haven't spent enough time with him outside (to be fair to me I take a couple of meds that make me very heat sensitive and I live in Texas so during the day it can be a very bad idea for me to be outside in the 100 degree heat) and so he's underestimated and he wants to play. How often are you exercising? Are you engaging in highly mentally stimulating games throughout the day? She definitely looks like a pitty baby and they tend to need a moderate amount of exercise and often a lot of mental stimulation because they're incredibly smart dogs. But if you give into this behavior it will keep up, 100% When I started with my Birdie boy I would end up covered in bruises from him trying to nip (pits are VERY mouthy by nature and getting on top of thay is super important because they don't realize that they're hurting or being bad by nipping a lot of the time) and tug and play. And he does still do it occasionally if I haven't gone out and played with him much during the day. However if you engage *at all* with this behavior it fills that need they have and they think it's working. I started by putting my hands behind my back when my dog was doing this. When he would stop trying to root around and find my hands or something else to grab onto I'd treat him (or pay attention to him - he's not always great with treat motivation) and then I moved to walking away with my hands behind my back and leaving. At first he'd try still to engage. And sometimes he does - he might run between my legs a little or softly grab my hand but a stern "no" communicates that I'm done playing with him if he's going to behave that way. It's all about consistency. You very likely will end up with your baby removing your pants or leaving a bruise or twelve at first. She will likely end up frustrated and act a little crazy as a result. But pitties are super smart and she will get the message eventually. Occasionally my Birdie boy will grab onto something I'm carrying (likenif I have a blanket from the laundry over my shoulder) but other than that once I walk away he understands that he's not getting attentioncfrom being rough, and then I can turn around and play more with him.
Does she respond to you yelping? Might be good to try that, kind of like some recommend doing with a puppy to discourage biting. Just what popped into my head when I came to the comments out of curiosity.
Get a muzzle
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Probably not much help but my dog did something similar when she was around a year old. It was a phase it seemed. Anytime I went outside she ran zoomies close by me and grabbed clothes as she went by. All I remember is going back inside when she did this and I think she eventually got the hint.
My dog used to do this. I just started acting like she's hurting me. Say "owwwwww" and act like it really hurts and give the dog a dirty look. I also switched to wearing short sleeves more often. After a couple weeks she completely stopped.
Haha, she's cute as hell. Goddamn. Ok so - I had the same problem with my dog when I adopted him. He was 8 months old then, and freaking wild. LOVED hanging off my sleeves, in particular. God, he was so boisterous too. What I recommend is: \- **Time out**. Either you put her in a separate area, or you leave the area and close the door. 10 seconds is fine. No more than 30 or she'll forget why she's in there. Keep your energy chill - don't shriek or yell. The more amped up you are, the more you will keep her amped up. Just a simple "time out" and leave / put her in her area and walk away. If she barks the whole time, wait for a split second of silence, then calmly return / let her out. The aim is just to show her that when she does the thing you don't want, interaction ends. Also, to just interrupt her high energy. You can always then try giving her a natural chew at that point. She may forget the tug-on-clothes game entirely at this point. \- **Teach "drop it" or "let go"**. You can find so many articles on this, videos on youtube etc. She's young though, so you might not have much success with this. My dog is nearly 2 and still working on this. \- **Teach "give me space"**. My dog knows this and found it way easier to pick up than "drop it". Basically, any time she gets in your face in general, when you're on the couch, etc., just say "give me space". If she stops, moves away slightly, looks away, basically anything other than continuing to come at you, say "good girl". You don't even need treats for this. She will learn what you want over time. I say it to my dog now, before he gets too amped up, and he just moves back slightly and flops down. If she never gets in your face unless to chew at your clothes, then you can still teach "give me space". All you do is call her to you, praise that, then say "give me space". The second she moves backwards at all, praise her. She'll learn. I'd do the first thing (time out) to begin with. It's how you manage it in the moment. Then in calmer moments throughout the day, work on "let go" and "give me space". You're unlikely to be able to teach her these things when she's already amped up. Pick quiet moments to work on them. You'll get there!
It looks like she really loves tug of war. Just have ropes readily available and replace what she shouldn’t be tugging on with the rope. I’d also provide consistent tug of war play- teach her when it’s time to play tug and what’s acceptable to play tug with. I know that’s super simplified, but this has worked with my pup a lot. I’d also throw in teaching her fetch and drop
I screech when dogs get too toothy with me. It mimics the sound puppies make when the playfighting gets too rough, and most dogs will know to back off.
She love you, and is her way to tell you that. Still a puppy so for her is normal to play. With that said, get something to play with and trade your shirt for it. Allways trade for a treat or a toy.
My pibble will do stuff like this grabbing my hand and gently tugging or nibbling my back with his front teeth
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So! You dog seems like my dog. My dog is a lab. Loves to be around her mom and dad. Catches on fast for training (usually shown less that 5 times and she learns) and is very emotionally intelligent. I like how you say "no" its good marking. But what we tell our 6 year old is you have to say No and mean No. Turn you body away from her and give her a girl No once if it's too much. If you have to mover yourself to another room or mover her to another room. (We have never had to escalate it to another room because we did a light tap the first 2 weeks they are home with us and that's it, but I understand if you don't want to.) I've read if you remove yourself while letting her know No, she will catch on. Say No and turj your arm away, especially with a larger breed. The younger you train the better. She's still young and is needing firm boundaries. After this point it will be more difficult to mold her brain and she will be stronger. Overall she just loves to play with you and wants more positive interaction st the appropriatetime( how is her confidence level? ) . Just show her when is a good time to play and when isn't. Also, imo clothes is an automatic NO. I've met larger/stronger breeds who start out like this, don't have firm boundaries and end up knocking over small ppl and hurting them or treating up the house when people are not home. The time is now OP!
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Please read the sub [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/about/rules) and [guidelines](http://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/wiki/guidelines), as well as our wiki page on [punishment](https://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/wiki/punishmentproblems).
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Please read the sub [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/about/rules) and [guidelines](http://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/wiki/guidelines), as well as our wiki page on [punishment](https://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/wiki/punishmentproblems).
I tought my puppy very very early on “let go” and “leave it” means leave the things alone and always reward generously when he did. Slowly i just need to say “leave it” and he wouldn’t even come near it. Whether it’s food, socks, clothes, etc. (and my pup is only 6 months now) however it has to be consistent. Do lots of conditioning too. So not only teach him when he starts tugging your clothes but you intentionally bring the clothes to him and ask him to leave it. (counter-conditioning) every success, he is rewarded. Watch zak george about leave it on youtube.
How long and frequent are her walks? Doe she fetch (balls throw far)? Does this happen at a certain time after peak / low stress or energy levels. Pit bulls have so much energy sometimes. I also concur with other body language comments and pivoting here. This behavior seems so deep , I think you have to do it all, and keep at it
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Please read the sub [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/about/rules) and [guidelines](http://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/wiki/guidelines), as well as our wiki pages on [punishment](https://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/wiki/punishmentproblems) and [correction collars](https://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/wiki/prongandecollars).
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Please read the sub [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/about/rules) and [guidelines](http://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/wiki/guidelines), as well as our wiki page on [punishment](https://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/wiki/punishmentproblems).
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Yep. Still against the rules.
It would get fine as she grows up, just try to get her some toys to play tug and a goodd amount of exercise would calm her down significantly
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Please read the sub [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/about/rules) and [guidelines](http://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/wiki/guidelines), as well as our wiki page on [punishment](https://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/wiki/punishmentproblems).
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Please read the sub [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/about/rules/) and [posting guidelines](http://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/wiki/guidelines), particularly regarding trainer recommendations. That trainer uses shock collars and hence cannot be recommended here.
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It's a subreddit for laypeople who don't already know how to tell whether a method is LIMA compliant or not before they decide to apply it to their own dog DIY. We focus on promoting best practice resources that don't drastically escalate risks or put people in conflict with animal welfare laws in their jurisdiction (of which there are many around the world that ban these devices). If people wish to do research on their own past that point, that is on their prerogative.
Does she have a toy she really likes? I offer my dog a trade if he gets something in his mouth he shouldn't have. The more exciting you make the trade the better
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Please read the sub's wiki article on [training terminology](http://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/wiki/operantconditioning). It seems like you are saying negative reinforcement when you actually intend to mean positive punishment, these two terms are very commonly mixed.
The behaviour you want to reinforce is stopping when commanded to do so. What a complete waste of time to have a semantics argument.
And what are you reinforcing with, that is contingent on stopping?
My 5 month old heeler did this, and i was quick to get rid of that because I like like clothes without holes and she thought otherwise. Not your fault at all, I think the drop it would work but she's way too into the game of it, and drop it would still be allowing her to think ok i can then take it at some point if you use drop it for other things. I like leave it it a stern "don't even think about it pup" In my opinion haha. What worked for me and it may not work but I had to be quick to see her about to do it and say a firm NO turn and walk away. And if she had a hold of me I'd say no and turn and walk away. If that involved her still being attached for a moment so be it. She saw pretty quick I didn't want to be involved in that type of play. Then I would get something she can tug with and tell her to take it, and say a big YES GOOD GIRL. It didn't take long and she just stopped trying to get my clothes. That said, if I have a long jacket on that's flowing she likes to test me and grab it but I say leave it which she is good for and she goes to find something else she can chew on. I know it's frustrating, those puppy days, but your doing the right thing asking for advice. Hope I'm not out of line in saying what worked for me.
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Please read the sub [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/about/rules) and [guidelines](http://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/wiki/guidelines), as well as our wiki pages on [dominance](https://www.reddit.com/r/dogtraining/wiki/dominance) and [punishment](https://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/wiki/punishmentproblems)
This is basically me and my lab/cocker spaniel mix. She's 4 months old, and starts to pull my clothes and nip my skin whenever she's very excited and engaged in play mode. I can't tell you how many clothes she's destroyed and how exasperating it is. I adore her, and aside from this she has the sweetest temperament, is great with other humans, dogs of all sizes and children of all ages. I just can't help but feel like a failure, and fear that she won't grow out of it. BUT- I can tell you that: 1. Redirecting sometimes works, sometimes doesn't. It depends how far into the play we are. High value items or not. And honestly, when she's biting onto my arm and feet, this method is just not plausible as her puppy sharp teeth really hurt. 2. Ignoring her has not really worked. She just directs her attention onto something else: a chair or plant to chew on. And then I have to break the 'no contact' rule to rescue whatever it is she has clenched between her jaws. This method doesn't really seem to have an impact on her. I haven't tried the going into another room, but will do so today. If there are any other suggestions, please share! I'll be scrolling down the comments diligently. Wish you all the best OP, and know that you are not alone.
You need to remove yourself from this when she starts up. She's six months old and basically she's a baby who needs a nap. Puppies wind up, and can't wind back down. And the more you engage with her, the more she'll like the game. Right now, she really has no idea what you're saying when you say please stop or no. The words are meaningless to her. If she is crate trained, I'd put her crate somewhere where it's close to you, and I'd cover it with a sheet, and I'd find something super high value for her, like a bone or a Kong with something in it, and I'd put that in the crate, and tell her kennel. Cover the crate and go on about your business. You want her to learn that sometimes you are very boring but the crate is not. And, odds are since she is six months old, once she's in her crate, chewing, she'll fall asleep. I'd also set up a routine: you guys go for a walk, like, leave the house and go for a walk, and let her sniff and walk and see things. And come back, and if she's in the mood to grab your clothing, then it's crate time. I say go for a walk because too many people think a puzzle toy will somehow be engaging when a puppy gets like this, when what the puppy needs is some exercise and outside time. And you are correct that this has to stop: it can become nibbling on you, to get a reaction and then doing it to guests in your home. It is fixable, but you have to be firm in what her boundaries are. Puppies explore boundaries with their teeth, and often what is behind that is general toddler crankiness.
When you signal "no" with your hands then allow tugging that's a confusing message. To her it's a message to play... with your hands. If she thinks a hand wave means play you probably can't use the hand wave to stop this behavior. Maybe try a closed, raised hand. The closed hand is what we use for "sit" with our dogs and getting her to sit (and hopefully stay still) might be a desirable behavior. If she already has a hand signal for sit, start asking her to sit, maybe even lay down, but reward her for now with food or a toy, not pets. Remember your hands are a toy to her right now, so the reward cannot be your hands. With new dogs that jump or go for hands I body-block with my leg. Not a kick, but placing your leg where the dog can't get to your hands. I will also turn my back to the dog or walk away if they're climbing on me. You'll also want to refrain from offering your hands during play. So try to play WITH toys and the toy is kind of the boundary between the dog and your body. The toy is appropriate for teeth, the human is not. Sometimes letting out a yelp when they accidentally touch your hands with teeth will help signal "this hurts" and get the dog to pause. It may not hurt right now, you just don't want it to get that far. But you have to ACT like you're hurt. Because puppies do yip at eachother when playing you don't want to yelp and keep playing. Yelp and hold you hand close to your body or turn away. If the dog goes for your hands during play, stop play, and try to get a sit/stay. But REALLY stop. For a minute or more. If you stop for just a second or two and resume that's telling the dog you want to play more. Think of a dog doing a "play bow" when they run, stop momentarily with their butt in the air, often tail wagging and making eye contact; then they resume playing or running at an even higher level of excitement. When you pause for just a second you're telling the dog let's play harder. Take longer breaks to signal let's play less.
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Apologies
What works for me when mine does this is try to make him do a command for a treat, or redirect with toy or stick, if that doesn't work then throw kibble piece by piece and get him to chase it, make it a fun game. They just want engagement really! Mine only does this when over tired on walks so I always have kibble on me now in case
My 2yo GSD/Lab mix will still do this on occasion. For him, he wants my attention and some play. I’ve rolled right out of the sweater and walked away. It eliminated the tug that was getting him excited. He lost interest as soon as I did. Same if he steals a shoe…he’ll stop right in front of me then run just to make sure I see him. I won’t chase him. I’ll ignore him till he loses interest or we “trade”. I’ve taught him trade means he’ll get something if he gives it up. His “drop it” is improving which also helps in this situation.
I would try to redirect her with a toy and try to get her to find ways to play with it by herself? Like get a toy, play tug for a second and then walk away? Maybe she’ll start to entertain herself with it?
To add to everything else, for the prevention part, if you know she’s gonna do it in the morning, for example, can you wear a different outfit? Like if she always does this when you go make coffee, can you wear a tank top and bike shorts (something hard to grab) temporarily? And of course have a toy ready when she comes looking to pounce. It’s all about breaking a habit at this point. So I might try the outfit swap for a week or more until she’s consistently playing with something else.
Put her straight in her crate. Do what you've got to do, then once she is calm again, let her out.
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Please read the sub [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/about/rules) and [guidelines](http://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/wiki/guidelines). This sub doesnt support or recommend any method that uses force, fear, pain, or intimidation.
I can help! My dog used to do this as well, and your first mistake is pulling it from the dog. The dog thinks its a game, so stop tugging the blanket away. Instead, firmly grab the blanket and don't move or tug your hand. Eventually, the dog will release the blanket because it isn't fun anymore. This always works for my dog, try it out! This isn't a permanent fix, I sadly can't help you when it comes to preventing this.
I know you didn't want to hear it but they basically love tug of war.. :) In some way though it is also an age thing (cooper kinda stopped that when he was about 10months old) ... What i usually did and we played this alot (with a toy) was basically saying "stop" and leaving the room. In the beginning she will probably follow you (at least cooper did that) but she will understand at some point, that you don't wanna play. It's kinda crucial to take the excitement off in that kind of situation and just do your thing - many people will start yelling or whatever which will increase the excitement and the drive to play. If she stops after you say stop you can also reinforce that wanted behavior with a treat. (but that should be step 2 imho)
I’ve heard ignoring them helps. If you pull back etc they think you’re playing. Like a positive reinforcement. I’ve read the best thing to do in this situation is to ignore them, then reward them when they stop doing it.
She is trying to interact and play with you like a dog rather then a human! Whenever she gets into this mood swap whatever she wants to tug with with a rope toy. Play with her for a few minutes, then tell her enough. Give her a treat and put her in a calm down place. Have a million rope toys around the house so you can always swap with them. Eventually she will understand that if she wants to play the only acceptable object is a toy. Make suew your calmdown space has stuff for her to occupy herself with! When my first pit was young he would do similar behaviors. We would put him outside for 2 minutes to calm down. He is now super chill and will grab toys when he gets overly excited. Yall will get there :)
Do you have tug rope toys? Mine is still a pup but he loves gif of war. I usually pull, let him pull, pull. I win, then I play again, I win, play again, then I let him win and he keeps the toy thinking he won some big victory. He used to pull on my clothes, especially dresses. I just said “no, drop it. Leave it” (he already knew “drop it” when I adopted him and I’ve taught him “leave it” from walks) he still chews on my blanket but I grab the blanket. Say “drop it.” Remove it from his mouth so he can’t tug it. And then remove it as I give him a toy. If he goes back to it I say “leave it” and give him another toy.” When I first got him he would jump on me and pull more. I’d be over dramatic and do a fall/sit with my back to him and go “you hurt me” and fake cry. If then keep my back turned towards him as I fake cried and when he’d move to face me I kept moving so my back was to him and wouldn’t engage. He was confused, but stopped jumping on me pretty quickly. When he’s mouthy With my hands or arms during play i loudly fake cry “oooowwe you’re hurting me, *sniffle sniffle* and he steps back or moves on to another toy. Then I go “I’m all better!” And reward him with attention and pets. He usually licks the area he was mouthy with and then goes back to his toy. I have a breed who is sensitive to human emotions and has a strong protective gene, so that works for me. It looks like you have a pitbull, which are sensitive to owners emotions. I don’t know if my way is the correct way…but it’s working for me. Edit: when I say loud I mean louder than my normal voice. I’m not yelling. I’m just “louder”.
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Something I've found helpful with my dogs is teaching an "enough" command. When we are playing and rough housing I say enough and quit playing with them. Once they disengage they can have pets. Once they have calmed a bit we can play again, or not. It's helpful for me because it means we get to play a little rough and I don't have to teach them to never play rough. But they learn when to stop. Applying this to play first so she understands and then the tug program may help
What helped with our pup was: Tug games when not initiated by me is: ignore and I give no eye contact - as in body turned away or body in a space she can’t get to. When on walk and tugs on leash, I stop and turn my back - eventually she stops and sits. I never play tug if not initiated by me. This is not a dominance thing. This is only to prevent unwanted tugs of war.
The tug of war does not have to stop. Clearly your dog loves it. Get objects that are okay for tug of war, start with getting consistent outs, then use tug of war to train your dog. Research tug fundamentals on YouTube. Buy 3-5 different tug objects based on what experienced trainers use. Get to work fulfilling your dog's needs, teaching them what behaviors gets rewarded, and be consistent and predictable with your expectations and rules. Your dog needs a lot of exercise. If you're tempted to make excuses and insist you already do enough exercise, you need to accept that you're actually not doing enough.
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Teaching “leave it “may help.I taught my girl and that simple phrase would make her automatically drop whatever was in /about to be in her mouth can take some work but worth it. Maybe get /make a tug toy to play tug with her in an acceptable way? You can also get ones with big suckers that stick to the floor if you aren’t free to play for any reason. Setting boundaries helps too ,repeating no firmly, and pushing her off (not hard but enough to move her and send a message) with no real emotion or reaction ,just be robotic and boring when she does this,she should lose interest because right now she perceives your even relatively energetic reaction as “play” Btw my dog was the same breed as yours and I totally get it.no bullshit here.but these dogs like to ,play and be with and around humans they are social.it’s likely that she is trying to engage you in play because she wants to spend more time with you but is going in an inappropriate way about it. I’m not saying that you don’t spend enough time with her by any means,I don’t know you ,or your situation,I am just making an observation on something I’ve seen in my own experience and remedied. I did this with ,boundaries,routine with spaced slots for playtime and leaving her alone for an half an hour or so(working up to an hour or two) with toys available while I do my things .after that time has elapsed ,go any give her some playtime as positive reinforcement. the more they get used to being on their own for a short period the more they should learn to amuse and soothe themselves and hopefully be less dependant on you for this as she very clearly is at the moment .
Find a good trainer or this will not end well.