[memphis]

Hello,

I am looking to adopt a dog but the first visit consisted of jumping up and nipping at my hand/tugging at my sleeve as well as the volunteer...the dog is a shepard mix, one year old, was found as a stray...my question is can a 1 year old be taught to stop this behavior and how would I go about doing it? I spent a half hour with the dog and it was jumping up and nipping/biting at me most of the time. It's a beautiful dog and I want to give it a good home if I can...

Thanks,
Memphis

[DoggieVogue]

The nipping and jumping can definitely be taken care of. The dog was probably never trained properly since it does not have a home. For the jumping problem, we would turn our backs to the dog if she tried to jump on us and make her sit before she would receive any attention. So before new people were allowed to pet her or acknowledge her, she must sit down. That way she learned she has to be calm and sitting in order to receive attention. As far as the nipping, I would do the sharp "yelping" technique when she nipped at me and refuse to keep playing with her if she was nipping. Also, make sure the dog has plenty of toys to play with so they don't automatically go for your hands. These two issues are pretty simple to solve with a little work and patience! Good luck with the adoption!!