Nipping

[flutterbye]

It's me again, back for more advice. I know that Corgis are a herding breed and have that nipping and biting at the heals thing. Rocko has started that, and it kind of hurts when he grabs the achiles tendon of my foot. Any advice on how to break this? When he does it, I stop, look at him and tell him "no" in a stearn voice. Most everytime I walk he is up doing it. Any advice or suggestions are greatly welcome!!

Linda

[Peggy]

Originally Posted by flutterbye

It's me again, back for more advice. I know that Corgis are a herding breed and have that nipping and biting at the heals thing. Rocko has started that, and it kind of hurts when he grabs the achiles tendon of my foot. Any advice on how to break this? When he does it, I stop, look at him and tell him "no" in a stearn voice. Most everytime I walk he is up doing it. Any advice or suggestions are greatly welcome!!

It's not a herding thing, it's a puppy play thing. I've raised puppies from a few different breeds and puppies in general like to nip and grab at pants, ankles, shoes, etc.

Herding is directed prey drive and all dogs have prey drive. Herding is the gathering of animals into an area or driving them from one area to another. Some corgis will nip at livestock as a way to get them to move. Not all do this.

Also, a farm dog who did not know the difference between livestock and humans would be of little value to a farmer.

When he does it yelp like you're a littermate he's nipped. Then walk away and stop playing with him for a few minutes. If you have to put him in his crate for a 5 min. time out. He will learn that nipping stops the play and he ends up alone for a tme. The yelping helps him to understand that it hurts you.

Peggy

[Michael Romanos]

Peggy has the right answer though I must say that heel or back of leg nipping is a very common Corgi trait and they of course do this with cattle and sheep to good effect. This kind of action woiud also be common with some other breeds who are working (farm) breeds, but it is not such a common trait among dogs of any description. With one of my Corgis I found it amusing and never did try and stop him from his odd little grab/nip when he objected to me going out and leaving him behind.
Like Peggy says, treat the act as though it really hurts and say a loud, longish OUCH and when your Corgi lets go, stops, runs off etc, give praise. That ought to work after awhile. Report back.

[glencorgi]

Originally Posted by Michael Romanos

... but it is not such a common trait among dogs of any description.

But it IS a puppy thing of any mixture or breed.

Debbie

[Michael Romanos]

Every dog/puppy is capable of nipping just like every human is capable of biting their finger nails. But it has more relevancy and is more characteristic of a few breeds including Corgis.