Hi,
I'm picking up my puppy on Saturday and would like some tips on how to correct her from doing certain things should they arise. If she nips for some reason how do I stop it without making her feel punished and threatened?  Also, her first jab will be done 4 days after I get her (her breeder recommened she settled in a few days first). Should I not let her in the garden until her jab? Will she be alright to go to the toilet outside in between her first and second jab (8 and 10 week jabs)? Many thanks for any advice................Jade

Not sure about the jabs, but we trained our dog not to nip/nibble/chew people by tapping him on the snout when he got our fingers - not hard, just enough to say "Don't do that!"  He quickly learned that biting = nose tap and stopped nibbling fingers.

We didn't tap him hard enough to hurt, just literally a light tap with one finger on his snout, accompanied by a "No."  It worked for ours, but he was an older dog when we got him, as he was bought from a rescue home, so it may not work on a puppy.

If you tap your puppy on the nose, however gently it is likely to become hand shy - cover away when you go to stroke it.  There are lots of other techniques and some good web site links on this board already.  Hopefully someone will come along and point that out in a minute.

As for toileting.  As long as you don't have any other dogs come into your garden and you keep your general outdoor shoes separate from the ones you use to take your puppy out in the garden, I know that sounds like being too careful but better safe than sorry. you will limit the risk of infection.  I always try to get puppies used to toileting outside on grass.

I literally meant a light tap, and we would always give him a treat for playing nicely afterwards, which he would take from our hand.  I think if you do it right, it can work, but I guess it's finding that balance.

Also, our dog was a rescue dog who was already hand shy, and in doing this it actually seemed to break this habit - I think it depends on the dog as well, really.

This article is very helpful about teaching bite inhibition. Don't ever slap at her face or nose - a dog must believe that hands only ever do nice things to it. :)

As for taking your pup into the garden - as long as the garden's secure (puppies can slip through the tiniest of spaces) and not frequented by other dogs, she'll be fine there. It would be a huge mistake to keep her indoors for weeks. Good luck with her!

When my pup nips me- i make a loud squeeky sound, similar to the sound that pups make when hurt, that stops her instantly. realising that what she is doing is having a negative effect..