Snipping while playing??

My friend as a 4month old staff pup and it is very people friendly but i realised twice now he has tired to bite my fingers while we were playing both times he has been very hyper and "over friendly" he loves 2 jump up on people also when he is playing.. i was ok with his little play bites untill yesterday he was laying on the grass and my friend (his owner) was next to him and when he bent down 2put him on his lead the dog snipped at his fingers! is this normal? the dog didnt seem like he was mad seemed like he was doing it out off playing not aggerssion

From what you've said, sounds to me like he's pushing his luck to see what he can get away with. It might be that he's accidentally found out he can get away with nipping (as most puppies do) and now will try it on by nipping when he doesn't want something to happen. Satch got 'funny' about his collar from being 'escorted' to isolation - for a week or so as a puppy he thought it great fun to try to chew wrists when his collar or lead were being put on.

What was your response when he nipped? What did your friend do? Has your friend been doing bite inhibition or isolation etc to stop mouthing and nipping?

Does he associate fingers round his face with play?

It all sounds totally normal, but he does need to be stopped when he does it. They need to know that teeth on skin is a definite no-no

Becs

well my friend is very harsh he will tap his dog very hard on his nose or shake him and shout NO! I have told him 2be firm and make sure this does not become a habit im pretty sure he does it beacuse he doesnot want something to happen (ie be put back on the lead etc) his dog is still very small still has puppy teeth so its not 2dangrous just i tought this might be a sign of dog/human aggro

Others may disagree, but I don't believe a 4 month old puppy can be aggressive. Whatever his reasons for nipping, he must learn it's not acceptable (which you've said your friend is doing).

If the puppy's very confident and full of himself, physical correction may seem just like playing - Satchmo was like this when little and any shouting did, and still does, make him go silly and wag his tail - he loves it, he thinks it's playing rough.

I found the only way to get through that mouthing and nipping was unacceptable was to use isolation. Pick one boring, empty room if possible, and confine him in there immediately when he nips. Make sure it's a safe room for him and only leave him there for a minute at a time.

If isolation isn't possible, the moment he nips in play immediately get up and walk away and ignore him - he nips, game over.

IMO don't walk away and ignore him if he nips cos he doesn't want something to happen - this may lead to him associating the two things and thinking it's a good way of stopping something from happening. Once he thinks he can bite or nip to stop something, it's very hard to stop cos he'll just try to nip harder and harder to achieve what he knows works.

You could also try a tin with stones in it and shake it at him, or squirt him with water - this works best if he can't see where the water/noise is coming from otherwise he'll nip when he knows you can't squirt him.

Hope this helps.

Becs

Thanku for a great reply i will try to tell my friend 2use isolation as i did this with my pup who is 6months old now when he would pull on the lead id stop turn around and take him back and put him inside and ive been doing this for about the last 1month his pulling has come down by about 90%!! he only pulls now when he needs 2 answer the call of nature really bad lol and want 2hurry where it is ok.. or he will pull when he gets his eyes on another dog but we are working on his dog aggeresion