Hello Brian,
I am not an expert and I only share my experiences and advice from my own perspective. So what I do may or may not work with your dog … but I hope it will help. I owned 3 dogs before the one we just got, and I’ve been with lots of other dogs, cats, and animals in my half century.
On April 14, 2020 we received a 1 year old Red Heeler named Copper. He likes to be on our heels while walking or running and seems to be intentionally trying to trip us. He also likes to nibble on our hands all the time. He doesn’t bite to injure himself, but rather nibbles and nibbles very playfully. Overall, I understand that for him, it’s playful and fun. I read that this is in the breed.
One thing I’ve read to stop the nibbling on my hands, and one thing I’ve worked on with Copper, is, whenever he gets into that playful playfulness, gently slipping the appropriate chew toy, rawhide, into your mouth stuck. or whatever you want him to chew on every time he starts nibbling on my hands. In this way he learns what to / cannot chew on. Then give them plenty of positive praise and rewards for chewing on the right thing.
I keep him on a leash so he doesn’t rush on my grandchildren or suffocate them as they run away from him. I’ll slow him down enough so that he just runs behind or next to them so he can keep up with them. He is very playful and excited so I give him lots of positive praise and answers for behaving the way I want him to. And firmly tell him STOP or NO when I see him doing things that are undesirable.
Another friend of mine had a border collie and said if he didn’t walk his dog daily, his dog would start chewing on everything. But when he took her for walks, she looked great all over the house. So what I’ve done with Copper is take him on walks and frequent long walks several blocks along the river or on the local canyon trails so he can burn off all that energy before it builds up. I see that when he’s cooped up and doesn’t burn that energy, he gets caught up in things and even tears small pieces out of his memory foam mattress when we took off the cover to wash. As Sandy said in her comment, “A tired dog is a good dog.” There is a lot of truth in that. Let your dog wind up, get worn out and burn off that energy.
The positive praise that directs his attention to suitable chew toys, firmly commands him to stop and especially to burn that energy, seems to work with copper. I also talk to him a lot as if he were human and explain to him what I do with him. He learns from repetition to recognize words and commands. He also knows now that he has to run away from me when I tell him it’s time for a bath, haha.
Copper came from a negligent and potentially abusive home. When we got it, it didn’t even respond to a tennis ball or a squeaky toy. His jaws were weak and he could barely chew the rawhide. He had mange and smelled of the uncleaned dog kennel. Her other dog was a pit bull who was missing half of his hair around his neck / chest and back due to mange. Now that the mange is gone, we are in the process of getting the yeast infection under control that is causing his skin to be red and itchy. Three weeks later, Copper is playing Fetch, is house trained and a really great dog. I attribute this to the intelligence of his breed and do a lot of research online or watch YouTube videos. I can’t remember ever seeing a dog pick things up so quickly.
All the best to you and good luck to you and your heels.
