I think there are some key points that should be made. You need to break him of playing by your feet as much as biting. One is painful and rude. The other could be dangerous to your dog.
Next time you play with him put him on a short leash. When he gets out of hand tell him no. And give the leash a small tug to get his attention. Maybe words at this point are not enough for your puppy.
At this point you should also start to work with the words "no" and "sit". When he gets over excited and starts to nip tell him "no" then put him into a "sit" and reward when he calms down.
Restraint in my option should only be used as a last resort. Because at this age he may see it as a game, and may only feed the behavior. I have found that rewarding at this age is much more effective then discipline.
I also think having tons of toys on hand is a huge plus. Chew toys, squeaky toys, pull toys, rope toys. Teaching him that those are the items he is allowed to wrestle and chew on is as important to him as it is you. They need an outlet for play and unless they know how to properly play with a toy, you will become it b/c you are currently there main focus.
I found a game (by accident) that Moto (my little guy) loves to play. It's called chase the tail. After letting him out one morning soon after we got him, the belt on my robe had worked itself lose, so he chased me all over the house trying to get to it. This worked out as a great training tool to keep him a few inches away from my feet and safe. Now hes always 2 steps behind me and sits when I stop b/c the toy no longer moved when I stopped. So maybe you can adapt some type of rope to teach him proper distance.
Good luck and keep trying if one training tool doesn't work. |