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Why does my dog nip at me?

This is a question that we often get from sitters and owners who work with Rover. Help the community out by answering them in our forum!

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There could be various reasons why your pup is choosing to nip. Some herding breeds (border collie, corgi, cattle dog, etc) nip at their owner's heels due to their herding instincts. Other times, your pup could be nipping your hands to play with you. Either way you can work with your pup to reinforce positive behaviors to minimize the amount of nipping.

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Nipping and biting can be aggressive or non-aggressive, and it can be hard to tell the difference. However, dogs who nip and bite are usually just playing. But because they are playing in a way that hurts, it’s likely that these dogs haven’t yet learned bite inhibition. Teaching a dog that the behavior is annoying and painful and reinforcing impulse control can put an end it.