Stop my dog from jumping and nipping people?

Question

I took my dog, who is a resident of a retirement center for veterans, to obedience classes when he was 4 months old. He did quite well. He is now 1 year old, and has started to act out again. He is jumping and nipping at people. He also occasionally growls at particular residents, that have had no contact with him in the past. I am concerned that he is developing aggressive behavior. We have also had some issues when, small children are visiting, he gets upset, growls, barks and his hackles go up. For the most part he is a very well behaved dog, I am just getting concerned with his recent behavior. He is part lab and part blue healer,was neutered at 5 months, and his sibling died at 6 months.

Answer 1

My first goal would be to define one handler who can control your guy, I would select a resident of the facility that is physically and mentally capable of handling him in his worse moments, the resident would hopefully really love this guy and would be willing to spend the majority of the day with him. Then I would get the guy back to obedience classes, hopefully with an instructor that is familiar with these behaviors and working the dogs through the behaviors, I would actually try to get your recruit to the classes because they will be the primary handler while he is working through this typical cattle dog stubborn time. The new handler would keep the dog with him during the day during the typical movement periods of the day when he is most prone to try to herd the flock, cattle dogs typically try to herd via nipping heels and jumping. The way our school manages this behavior are hidden spray bottles with a 2/3 mix of bitter apple to water in it and aim at the mouth during jumping and nipping times, your trainer will probally have their own method.

Answer 2

It sounds like it's time to get him into another obedience class. Your local humane society should have specialists who can work with you one-on-one to curb these potentially dangerous behaviors before they worsten.

Good luck!

Answer 3

smack him on the nose or on the butt. you don't have to smack him hard. just a love tap. and tell them no. and another thing, i want to thank you for getting a mutt. he's still a puppy. you'll have that.