# How to stop my dog nipping legs/ankle when out walking



## vanessaw200 (Apr 24, 2013)

My dog is a rescue dog and still undergoing training but whilst out walking and especially crossing roads, he always jumps up and also nips your ankles and legs, today it got worse as I tried to stop him, he jumped up and tried to bite me or my arms all whilst crossing a major busy road.

It's getting to a point that I won't go out with him because of the fear of him nipping me

Any help please !

Thanks


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## egroeg (Apr 17, 2013)

Clicker training is an excellent way to teach loose lead walking. Once your dog has been conditioned to the click, life will be much easier.

Free Video List | Dogmantics Dog Training

Kikopups tutorials are excellent.

Crossing roads, especially to somewhere exciting like a park can be difficult. Turning around and going back if the dog pulls or jumps isn't a good option.  With clicker training, you can reinforce each nice step with a click and treat, (C&T) whilst still moving. Initially click the first nice step, eventually you should be able to get 1/2 way across the road before clicking and treating once you get to the other side. With lots of practice C&T when you get all the way across.

Nicky


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## vanessaw200 (Apr 24, 2013)

Thanks egroeg

Will have a look at this


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## Hayley22 (May 12, 2013)

How old is the dog? 

What do you do when he does this behaviour?


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

vanessaw200 said:


> My [adopted] rescue dog [is] still undergoing training, but whilst out walking & especially crossing roads,
> he always jumps-up, & also nips your ankles & legs - today it got worse: as I tried to stop [his jumping-up
> & nipping], he jumped up & tried to bite me or my arms, all whilst crossing a major busy road.
> 
> I [dread going] out with him, because of the fear of him nipping me.


rather than the POV on what U *don't* want, i'd suggest U focus on what U'd prefer - 
What --Should-- the dog do, in preference to jump-up & nip? ... Then let's find a way to teach that, 
make it very very rewarding, & eliminate the rewards for jumping-up & nipping. :001_smile:

that may sound simplistic, but that's the best way i know of to get the behavior we want:
avoid framing it as "stop X" & think instead of what to teach, how to make that highly rewarding, 
& then practice that preferred behavior till it becomes automatic.

So... U're at the curbside, what do U want him to do? 
- Sit on cue?
- Sit automatically? 
- Stand / stay till U begin to cross & cue him? 
- Something else?...

Choose what U'd like, & we'll find a way to make that easy to teach & very worthwhile for the dog.
:yesnod:

personally, i suspect that he is or was a car-chaser, OR he loves car-rides; in either case, he's excited 
by the presence of passing / running cars, which may be standing at the light, but the engines are on.
Purely speculation, but i've seen former car-chasers become snappy or bark when around running cars, 
& i think it might be frustration: their former chasing-behavior is gone, but the quieter behaviors taught 
in place of CATCH THE CAR are not as exciting or fun --- ppl forget to continue rewarding "good", 
once the 'bad' behavior has stopped or become rare. They get complacent, & the dog gets bored - instead 
of rewards [tug-games, happy praise, a ball or treat to chase, etc].

There's no way to play fetch in the middle of the street, of course, but U can get the dog's mind on it:
reach into a pocket, pull out a special toy, ask the dog to walk on while U hold that toy aloft, 
REWARD the dog as soon as U reach the curb on the far-side of the street. 

There are loads of variations - what works for U & Ur dog?... What does he like? 
Do some brainstorming, write down ANYthing & EVERYthing he likes - really enjoys.
U can post the list here - we can fiddle with possible ways & means.


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## Skandi (May 4, 2012)

I would try a distraction, like a toy or a treat, hold it till the otherside, however if he's jumping you might need to teach him to keep his feet on the floor in order to get the treat/toy first.

Or if it happens at all roads, find a nice quiet one (residential etc or an odd time) and yes stop in the middle and turn away if he tries anything, don't move untill he stops. I did this to Jess when she decided that WALK meant Charge across at 100 mph. can't really make her wait when there's cars coming after all!


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## vanessaw200 (Apr 24, 2013)

My dog is we think (according to the RSPCA) about a year old tho a lot of people comment that he seems to be quite puppy like.

Today, I went out with treats and made him sit at kerbs (as I usually do) and waited for a clear road and crossed the road holding the treats whilst praising him, I held them down at his level (did look like a loon). He still kept wanting to jump up but I tried to keep him down.

Will try again tomorrow


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

vanessaw200 said:


> ...we think [he's] about 12-MO, tho a lot of people comment... he seems... quite puppy-like.
> 
> Today, I went out with treats & made him sit at kerbs (as I usually do) & waited for a clear road
> and crossed the road holding the treats whilst praising him, *I held them down at his level*
> (did look like a loon). He still kept wanting to jump up but I tried to keep him down.


How about something lickable, that U cannot drop?

a long-handled wood or plastic spoon [i prefer S/S myself] with PB mixed half-&-half with low-fat 
cream-cheese [Neufchatel] is a good, thick, sticky texture. The long handle lets U put it at the dog's 
mouth / nose level without too much bending. An extra-long BBQ or grill spoon works nicely.


Neufchatel mixed 3 parts crm-chz to 1 part drained cold-water fish [tuna, anchovy, salmon,
mackerel...] is another nice stinky, tasty, cheap lickable treat.  Yum! [also good on toasted bagels.]

Simply lift the spoon out of reach when U're not 'rewarding', & offer it when he's behaving nicely, 
OR use it as a lure to GET him to behave nicely - both work very well. :thumbsup:


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## Shadowrat (Jan 30, 2011)

Dresden used to do this when crossing roads, funnily enough. Crossing a road just seemed to make him go silly. And yet he had zero interest in cars or the road at any other time, never had a car or traffic issue.

I thought at first it was because when he was a really young puppy, he used to dawdle across roads, sometimes even squat for a pee! So I wanted to instil in him that we don't mess about while crossing roads, and we cross asap so I began crossing the road with lots of encouragement and excitement to get him focused on me, and I *think* I inadvertently taught him that roads were OMG SO EXCITING!
So from then on, whenever we crossed a road, even a quiet road with no traffic, he'd go silly and begain biting his lead, or jumping up, or nipping me.

Perhaps it is partly my own fear of roads? I was almost hit by a car once, and have this anxiety about crossing roads still, but its fairly mild, Im just very over cautious. Maybe they pick up on our slight apprehension about crossing a road?

What I did was start to 'lure' him across the road with a treat, treating him the whole way across as long as he wasn't jumping or nipping and was walking nice.
Over time, I'd withhold the treat until we were half way across, then built it up so he didn't get treated until we were safely on the other side, and he has mostly gotten over that now. It kinda broke the habit and taught him to walk nice and he'd get rewarded. Might be worth a try?


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