I haven't been doing this for long, so I don't know if it works or not really, but I also say "no bite!" when he purposefully nips a finger (or nose, or lips, etc.) and I ignore him for several seconds afterward. When he's playing hard with us and accidentally nicks my hand that's holding a toy, I ease off on the energy of the playing and say "be careful," like in a kind of ominous tone. And when he bites on a finger or anything else he shouldn't be biting on, I give him one of his toys to chew on... when he starts chewing on his good toy, I tell him "oh, good chew!" My reasoning behind this is that he knows "bite" is bad and "chew" is good - I don't want to say "no bite" then give him something else and tell him he's good for "biting" by saying "yes, bite on this!" ya know?
I dunno - it's just a thought I had, and I'm trying it out. lol, I have no idea what I'm doing, just making stuff up as I go, and trying to read as much here on YT as I can for real expert advice to follow as well. Good luck, and definitely work with your pup on the nipping and biting - some will go away on its own, but definitely not all, and you really really don't want an adult dog that bites people - or yourself, lol.
Lauren & Nikko |