Expert: Delores Beck - 9/25/2010

Question
How do we stop our dog Dizzle from barking and nipping my daughters friends.He is normally a calm and a scaredy cat.As soon as company arrives his tail wags and he begins to bark and chasing them.Other times he will nip their ankles never drawing blood.

Answer
I'm assuming Dizzie is quite young?  This isn't aggressive - this is rough play.

Here's what to do.  Buy a few water spray bottles - the plastic type in the supermarket.  Put the control on "spray mist" - not a "stream" of water.

When the kids come in, ask them to ignore Dizzy and when he begins to bark, calmly & firmly say NO and spritz him in the face.  (Again, not a hard stream of water in his eyes...a spray mist.)

Do not let this get to the "chase & nip" part of the game.  The key to training is to anticipate.  You know what he's going to do, so step in at the very first woof !  Be ready!

No yelling - no scolding - stay calm.  If he gives it another try - give him a NO and another spritz.  Conversation over!

And kids tend to be noisy & make sudden moves - ask them to ignore him until he learns to behave - and have them stand still while you're correcting.  Still and quiet...then carry on!

Let me know how that goes.  I have other tricks for rough puppies :).