How Do I Get Wolfie to Stop Nipping My Pants

It is always so annoying to be walking down a hallway and all of s sudden have Wolfie pulling on your pants or nipping your shoes.  Just shaking him off only seems to make him want to do it more!  I dont want to kick him.  What can I do?

We need to understand why Wolfie is doing this and what we must do to let him know that it is wrong.  

Wolfie is always trying to understand what we want from him and what the rules for the group are.  The main way that he accomplishes this is through body language.  Wolfie does not have words and sentences, so his main form of communication are the nuances of stance and movement from body language.  With this in mind, lets see what we are telling Wolfie when we pass him and walk down the hall.

As we approach Wolfie, we are facing him.  Facing another animal is a natural act of dominance.  We are telling Wolfie "I am the boss.  I am in charge.  Obey me."  This is all fine and dandy until we pass him.  

Now we are walking away and Wolfie sees our back.  The back is always the submissive or weak side.  (When wolves attack other animals, they always try and come at them from behind.)  We have now changed our language from "I am the boss" to "I dont care, everything is fine with me, do what ever you want".  This now puts Wolfie in charge and he just might want to play "tag" with us.  We all know what happens next.

So, what can we do about this?  The answer is that we must use our body language in the appropriate way to send a clear signal to Wolfie that he can not take charge and play tag with us.  Here is what you do:

• As you approach Wolfie, give him a low, stern "No" just before you pass him.  
• As you pass, turn so that you continue to face him and repeat your low, stern "No" several more times.
• Continue to walk backwards so that you continue to face him.
• If Wolfie ever starts to get up and move towards you, repeat the low, stern "No".
• As you move away, you become less of a "playful" distraction and Wolfie should quickly loose focus.
• You can now turn around and keep walking, always looking back slightly to make sure that Wolfie has not reengaged.

You will need to repeat this every time you pass Wolfie for the next few days.  Through your consistent and repeated acts of clearly explaining to Wolfie (through body language) that you wont accept his nipping, he will learn that it is not right and will stop.  For more information, please contact us at The Best Dog Trainers in South Florida.

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