Feet, Feet, Feet. Wonderful, Wonderful Feet.

Feet, Feet, Feet, Feet! Wonderful Wonderful Feet!

Why do dogs nip at your feet?

All dog breeds nip at your feet and heels for just about the same reason. “Get going!” they say. “This way, not that way. You, you, I’m talking to you. Go!”

Nipping at feet and heels is a natural canine communication that can be disruptive to the harmony of the household. If canine teeth make hard contact with soft human skin the behavior needs to be stopped.

House rules: no doggie teeth on human skin.

Now, most of us allow our dogs to touch us with their faces and mouths. Teeth are in those mouths but we expect soft lips, sloppy tongues, and wet noses. Dogs understand the difference between affection and injury and that is why we can build a conversation with them that clearly identifies what is unacceptable. Don’t bite me.

All domestic dogs have a natural instinct to chase and hunt. They circle, bark and bite. They have a natural instinct for defense. Humans have bred dogs with specialized and controllable pursuit and defense temperaments. We have bred them to live with us and to help us. We love them for this. We love them with all our hearts. And what is the one thing that we must have in an animal that sleeps in our beds and follows us around? That they do not hurt us.

So let’s first understand how breeding and temperament influence natural nipping behavior. It is a combination of high prey drive and high play temperament. It's a conversation that they initiate. It means "GO" and if you were to hear them speak in human language, it would be said in a slightly bossy voice.

All dogs can bite. Some dog breeds are more prone to biting than others. Fear biting is a serious and unacceptable dog behavior. Attack biting is the most serious and the most unacceptable of all.

But we are not talking about that kind of biting which is based on danger signals gone awry. We’re wondering about nipping out of exuberance and impatience, dominance and submission.

There are three breed groups that nip a lot. Herding and shepherding breeds (especially heelers), terriers and harriers, and many toy breeds. Why? Prey drive instinct coupled with play behavior.

Herding breeds have been bred to move livestock. All shepherds love to herd things. Anything will do. Sheep, ducks, cattle, leaves, young children, a bunch of puppies, toys, kibble on the floor, dust bunnies, anything that can move. “Go there,” they say and – now this is important – they are very satisfied when they herd things from one spot to another. The shepherds that nip a lot are the ‘heelers’ like the Australian Blue Heeler and the Welsh Corgi (as opposed to the ‘headers’ like Border Collies). A good ‘heeler’ will get behind and force movement forward. Natural herding instinct is prized in a breeding program and it is managed and reinforced with training. What is most prized? A soft mouth. Do not hurt the livestock.

If you have a shepherd, expect to be herded, because shepherds love the feeling. Work is play to them. It comes from a controlled prey drive instinct wedded to a soft mouth. A nip is after all a soft bite.

Shepherds are insensitive to touch and very sensitive to voice. This is a hallmark of all field and working dogs. Their prey drive must be controlled by the hunter from a distance so with training voice commands can start or stop them immediately. But they are often working in tough physical conditions and must not be detoured by scrapes and bruises.

Terriers and harriers have a specialized hunting instinct that is closer to the wolf than any other breed. You might think that the domestic dog which looks most like a wolf, the Siberian Husky, is most wolf-like. The Husky indeed has strong pack instincts but the hunting instinct has been bred out. They are not good hunters. They have low prey drive.

Terriers and harriers have been selected and bred to intensify prey drive. Harriers will run down and isolate their prey and then nip and bark until the farmer comes. Harriers hold the prey for the owner to manage. Why? Because harriers were usually sent after animals with valuable fur and the farmer wanted to sell the pelt, not pieces of fur. Also, the animal flesh could be used to feed the family usually in a stew or soup. Harriers are like herding dogs on steroids. Shepherds with hard mouths. That’s a delicate balance to achieve and therefore you don’t see many harriers in pet situations. You have probably not ever met a harrier.

Terriers on the other hand were sent after vermin, those rodents and animals which were a threat to the family, either because they spread diseases or because they attacked the family’s food source. Terriers run their prey to ground, follow the vermin into the hole and kill it. Terriers are very much like cats in this. If it is small, quick, furry and ugly, they kill it. No regrets. And I am sorry to tell you but terriers like to do this, just like cats. They are watchful and intelligent. They get excited. They get impatient.

Terriers often get hurt in the fight down that dark hole against a rodent fighting for its life. When they are escalated, terriers toughen up, don’t feel pain, and don’t hear voice commands.

Terriers also have a high play temperament. It is a hallmark of the breed. I always get concerned if a terrier doesn’t play and I look for environmental clues to tease out the answer. Their play is ‘mouthy’ because of the high prey drive. They enjoy chasing and running and killing toys. They are happy. They are communicative. They are engaged. Their mouths get the better of them. When they play, they are sensitive to touch and voice.

Many toy breeds nip a lot. Toy breeds are miniaturized on purpose. Two strains of canine genetics that lend to small individuals are the terriers and the spaniels. To get a small dog, breeders used one of these two (or both, oddly enough) to get little dogs. Terriers are terriers no matter the size. Toys with a lot of terrier behind them have the mental brightness of a high prey drive and very high play temperaments and that is so engaging. Spaniels are spaniels, soft and compliant. Viola. (Toy breeds are also fear biters but that’s another story.)

Now after we have talked about instincts and temperament, let us consider size. Dogs are smaller than we are. Dogs experience us through our feet. Our feet smell like us. Dogs like that. Feet can step on them. Dogs don’t like that. Feet go places. Dogs like that. Another appendage that gets nipped a lot is a hand. Dogs experience us through our hands. Hands feed, stroke, control and discipline.

And don’t forget eyesight. Dogs have very poor close up acuity. If they nip our hand or heel it is often because they do not know where their teeth end and our flesh begins. It’s an accident. They need to learn a soft mouth and good boundaries but sometimes their mouths get the better of them.