Q: My dog is a heel nipper. She’s not aggressive, and only makes minimal contact with her mouth, but she reacts to movement, especially kids running. What can I do?A: This behavior is unlikely to stop on its own; unless you intervene, it will become a habit. To put a stop to the nipping, it is important to avoid any situations where your dog would normally chase while also teaching her alternative behaviors to perform instead.
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Why does my dog bite my feet when I walk?
Some dogs will develop a fascination for human feet and ankles at an early age. As they start to teethe, they develop a liking for using their mouth instead of their paws to pick and move objects.
This might be cute at first but may grow into an aggressive and harmful behavior as they develop into adults.
As I also described earlier, dogs have been used to herd animals and livestock, and this was how they used to herd animals around. Some people believe this is still buried deep within their psyche, and a hereditary trait from earlier times.
Why Do Dogs Chase Pant Legs And Bite Ankles?
An owner of a recently rescued Maltese once contacted me, desperately in need of help. Her newly acquired one-year-old dog was lunging and nipping at innocent passersby, terrorizing them as they went about their errands. She, therefore, started to go the avoidance route—walking on secluded streets in the early morning and late evening.
We discussed a variety of causes for such behavior and came to the conclusion that, regardless of the cause, it was evident that her yelling and repeated leash corrections were not only not working, but perhaps even making the behavior worse. I recommended that she use a harness to protect this dogs delicate trachea, which was at risk of collapsing every time he lunged and pulled against the collar in an attempt to attack and nip.