Need Advice: Dog nipping at our 2 year old

Rosiedoll

Our Border Collie is being a hellion.. He's done some herding type behavior in the past with me, like lightly nudging my hip, etc. and he started doing it with the baby when he started walking (but we tried to stop it). He now has begun nipping at the baby each time we pick him up. He bites at his arms or legs. It's not in an aggressive nature, but still unacceptable. Our son is never alone with any of our dogs and we don't allow him to climb on them, pull at their hair, etc. He is always very gentle with them..  Any advice on how to stop this? 

mainerocks

Hmm... hopefully someone has some good advice. At the shelter I volunteer at we try to discourage people from adopting herding breeds if they have young children for this very reason, but obviously you cannot give your dog away now that you have both! )

Would you be able to separate them while you are working on the issue and while your toddler is getting the hang of walking? Has the dog been to obedience class? Is he getting enough exercise and stimulation?

doglove

Have you looked into finding a dog behaviorist in your area? You really need to learn how to properly handle your dog and correct him. A dog behaviorist can help you in ways you don't realize by changing things in your routine and how you deal with your dog. Although I'm not really familiar with herding dogs, but I think it'd be worth it to talk to someone who knows what to do in this situation.

jump*tunnel*climb*weave

How much physical and mental exercise is he getting? Herding dogs do that when bored.

alewpanda

We have an Australian Shepherd and he exhibits herding and nipping tendencies as well.  First thing to know is that the general training of the dog is a crucial foundation to dealing with any issues with your son.  Is the Collie normally good about his nipping with you?  When you give a "leave it" command, is he quick to listen?  We don't have children yet, but plan on it in a few years.  Our Aussie is a little older than a year, and we have been careful to expose him little by little to children, noise, and babies, as well as work on basic instructions and commands.  (I work with kids, and have lots of friends with kids -- so this is crucial training anyway.) 

 One of the big issues is that he nips when excited and wanting attention. If there is someone else getting the attention, he may ask for it by nipping or poor behavior.  We have had to teach him that he gets attention when he behaves -- regardless of who else (guests, children, other dogs) might ALSO be getting attention.  Your collie could be asking for attention, and noting that you pay attention to what happens around your son.  This is normal, but he/she needs to be taught that you ignore when poor behavior is exhibited, and given praise and attention when good behavior is exhibited. 

Our Aussie has a strong desire to be in the middle of whatever is going on, especially when their is a "group".  He wants the attention and interaction with the group -- even if it consists of a few people or a family unit. We have taught our dog to ask for attention by sitting at the feet of the person he wants the attention from. We ask friends to ignore him until he sits still waiting, then they are welcome to give him attention. Sometimes he will lay his face or paw next to their feet, on their lap, or on the couch next to them.  Its cute and respectful

  Boredom is the other big culprit.  They want to play.  They play with their mouths -- their mouths have teeth.  He thinks its fun and games -- your son may find it painful or scary.  Teach your collie acceptable ways to play with your son.  Have him lay or sit before he gets attention from your son.  Help him realize that your son is only a playmate under calm and well-behaved circumstances.

Once your collie has a better way to ask for attention, and knows how he is supposed to play with your son, the nipping should go down.  Other issues could cause aggravation to the problem (hunger, excess energy, ect.), but if the problem happens specifically when you pick up and/or pay attention to your son -- those steps should help a lot.

 

P.S.  As your son gets older, your dogs should still know that your son is only a playmate when they are behaving -- they don't get to play with him when they are misbehaving.  We've noticed a lot of trouble with this once young elementary age is reached.  The children get excited and hyper, which gets the dog excited and hyper -- presto!  Nipping and jumping and herding again.  Its as much a child-behavior issue as it is a dog-behavior issue -- but if the dog learns it now and the lesson is continually reinforced, the later issues can be minimized through continued teaching of your son.

strangebird

We have three Border Collies and an Aussie. All three Border Collies exhibit this behavior. They don't nip or herd in the house, except when a cat, small dog, or child is lifted into the air.

We've been able to strongly curb their habit with the "wait" command. We use wait for a variety of things--opening a door we want to pass through first, opening a door to let someone in without them going out, kind of a loose 'stay close by me' command for keeping them on the second floor when no one is downstairs to watch them, etc. Most importantly, we use very strictly each and every time we pick someone up, BEFORE the pick-up.

If your dog doesn't have a strong obedience foundation, you may struggle with this. I would encourage you to work on obedience in all areas, if needed, but we teach the wait command very informally, because our dogs are already trained. We simply began saying, "wait," whenever we expected them to resist whatever behavior they were about to exhibit. We have a hand signal--one finger held up, palm facing the dogs, which differs from our hand signal for stay--and we use them together. The hand signal is important with Border Collies, who often pay more attention to your body language than the sounds you make.

It takes time to build this sort of skill, particularly if, like us, you'd like to use the command in a variety of situations, but it works if you're totally consistent. Before picking up your son, each and every time, preempt the dog's behavior by using the wait command first, pick the baby up, and then praise your dog if he/she resisted nipping. At first, you may need to body block the dog, putting yourself between him/her and the baby as you give the wait command and then picking the baby up.

Good luck. Please work with your dog. Border Collies behave very instinctively, sometimes they're almost unaware of what they're doing, they just know they HAVE to do it. So, please don't blame the dog for "bad" behavior. He/she is only doing what comes naturally.

dusk42

We also have an "off" command that we use when the dogs are sniffing/licking/pursuing DD or putting paws on us (or jumping on the bed, etc.).  Off=get out of my space, and I usually do what pp said and body block them/guide them out of the way by stepping in their space.  Our dogs aren't really smart, so we need to keep it simple.    A border collie can probably learn another command to focus on whenever you pick up a kid (like pp uses wait - I have heard of some people that use a down-stay for similar situations).  Practicing some other basic obedience commands for a few minutes every day (in addition to using your wait/down/etc. command every time you pick up the kid) will help get them used to listening to you.  There are lots of resources online, but some basic beginner commands are watch/look (focus on you), sit, shake, down, stay, wait, etc.  When our dogs were younger, we would feed them their dinner one piece of kibble at a time and they had to do a command for each piece.  

Rosiedoll

Thanks everyone! Great advice! He does well with the "wait command" and I don't know why I hadn't thought of using that. He always nips when we lift the baby in to the air-- that's when 95% of the problems occur. He could be a little bored too.. With the weather being cold, we haven't been out as much as necessary. I need to step up the mental stimulation with him as well. Thanks again.

andreas4dogs

Very well said, ladies. If my son is crazy running outside and my collie is outside with him, Laddie will nip at his butt. I tell my son not to run or Laddie will nip his tush, and explain that is what he does because he sees my son running as a game. Obviously your situation is a bit different, but having an outlet and exercising your pooch  more (with stimulating activities) will help. We used to go to the dog park a lot and go on walks. His arthritis is getting progressively worse so, at this point, it about monitoring and teaching my son to modify his behavior (which he is able to understand more as he gets older).

Kristine Schilling

Much of my experience is in preventing this situation from happening, not from stopping it once it starts. As a dog groomer I cant give you the right advice.

Talk to an animal behaviorist NOW. Herding behavior can turn to dominance behavior. And nipping when you pick up baby is also a strong warning light for dominance concerns.