Jack Russell Biting/Nipping Ankles!

Please give me any advice on this:
I have a 4 1/2 months old male Jack Russell. He is sweet, but very dominating and has no fear of anything. Since he has been about 10 weeks old, he is terrible about nipping, and it has gotten worse. I cannot even reach down to pet him without him nipping, and anytime I walk, he comes at my ankles and growls. I am most certain he is "aggressive playing", because he is loyal to me. But still, I have 2 small girls and he has sliced their ankles multiple times. I have popped him, yelled no, held him down ( like vet said to). He comes right back for more! I am tired of this and we cant even enjoy him. He has toys, etc. Please help!

Hi Emmy The behaviour you describe nipping /biting is normal behaviour in puppies, if a puppy doesn't bite there is something wrong with it .

Saying ' no' to your puppy is pointless because it probably doesn't know the meaning of the word no, holding your puppy down is an outdated practice which could result in your puppy developing agressive behaviour.

Puppies bite for a number of reasons, to explore the world around them/during play/and when teething. Teething puppies need lots of safe things to chew just as a teething baby does.

Your puppy is attempting to instigate play with you just as it would with its siblings.
Watch any litter of puppies playing, they bite each other in turn/yelp/run away, this is 'play biting' and they soon learn how much they can bite each other without inflicting pain and bringing play to an end.

When we take on a puppy we need to continue the learning process which was interrupted when the puppy left its litter mates . We need to curb and channelled the play biting in the right direction, the puppy should be encouraged to bite ever more gently until no pressure is exerted at all , this is called 'bite inhibition'.

Teaching bite inhibition ensures that as the puppy grows up and develops powerful jaws, should he bite for any reason (say he is in in pain/at the vets being treated /gets accidentally hurt) he will have learnt never to sink his teeth into human skin.

Bite inhibition, learning to developer a 'soft mouth' is one of the most important lessons you can teach your puppy, however teaching it takes time and patience and success won't be achieved in just a few days . Also everyone in the household needs to adopt the same approach.


Link to teaching bite inhibition ..click here

If your puppy jumps up don't reward the unwanted behaviour with your attention instead fold your arms and turn your back, no word or eye contact until your puppy has all four feet on the floor and is calm.Then bend down (so you are not encouraging the puppy to jump up) and calmly praise the wanted behaviour . It is best not to encourage your puppy to jump up at any time or it may get confused also as with bite inhibition everyone in the house needs to adopt the same approach.

Emmy what does this mean?