nibbling on clothes

[alphawannabe]

I have a lab mix that will be two in December. He has one habit I cannot get him to stop and was wondering if anyone has any suggestions. When you come home or anyone comes over the house, he goes right for your clothes and will pull on them. We've had a dog trainer who suggested we use bitter apple. We've tried everything we can think of and nothing works. Lots of people think it's cute, but it's getting old. Any ideas?

[kjd]

Do you ignore him when you first come home? Have others ignore him? Give him a time out as soon as he starts niblbling?

At 2, he has formed a very bad habit and it will probably take some time to break it.

[alphawannabe]

we've tried ignoring, but he then will jump on your back or do whatever he can to get your attention.

[kjd]

Since attention is what he seems to want, time-out in another room, away from people, might help. Just walk him to the room quietly, ignoring all nibbling or attempts for attention. Start with a short time-out (3 minutes?). If there is no improvement in a week, increase the time to 5 minutes. However, if he is nibbling for attention, I suspect even a short time-out may teach him. Note: when you let him out in the beginning, he is going to escalate the demand for attention. You have to be quiet and consistent. Might take ten or twenty times in the time-out room the first time before he figures out the need to be quiet. Then, the next time, he is going to act as if the previous time never happened.

He learned this over two years, so don't expect an overnight conversion. Just keep in mind what a fantastic companion he is going to be once he gets over this little hurdle.

Good luck.
kjd