I have a 9 week old Weimeraner that I have had a week.  She is a great dog!  However she is quite nippy.  I also have 4 year old Autistic sons who don't understand that her nippiness is not inteded to hurt them. 

I keep a close eye on her and when she nips I redirect her to an appropirate toy. 

With the nippiness decrease with age or is this a breed trait?

Any suggestions on how to break her of this habit now in a loving way?

Most Sincerely,

Maria

Maria,

  You have a little pup there. They use their mouths in the litter for 7 , 8 weeks, so when you bring them home that's what they do. I would not recommend ANY negitive enforcement to discourage the nipping. i.e. grabbing the muzzle. or causing any pain to the pup. It only widens the bond that you need to create at this point. Use a substitute. The greatest puppy toy in the world is an empty water bottle! Just remove the cap and label, and monitor the bottle for any sharp edges.Toss it after is gets " ugly". The dog isn't even teething yet ( about 4 months) Keep him a bit tired, and occupied. Teach him to sit. This will diminish with time.

   As for your child. The limited experience I have with dogs and autistic children is that sometimes a child can get a bit aggressive with dogs ( grabbing, pinching etc) which ofcourse will only be tolerated so much by any dog. So, I can only say to keep the pup safe and supervised.

        Frank

I agree with frank all my pups wnt through the nipping stage, for a while and I thought it was going to be a problem as well but it stopped as quickly as it started so I don't think you really have much to worry about.

I have had plenty of experience with Weimaraners (3 plus two litters of 18 total puppies), and they are like most puppies, they all nip. I heard somewhere that puppies first open there mouths, then their ears, then their eyes. For puppies, they learn and experience things just as much with their mouths as they do with their other senses. They feel and taste, and yes they teeth (which can be a trying stage, especially for furniture and shoes, lol). I have always been around dogs and puppies my entire life, and some Weimaraners can be a lil "hard headed" in their puppy stages. There are so many abandoned Weimaraners out there, because busy owners can't get through the puppy stages. The best treatment for them is exercise! They are a high energy breed by nature, and a tired puppy is alot less likely to be interested in chewing and nipping. Some experts told me that two 20 minute walks a day were needed for young Weimaraners to drain some of that energy. I think it is dependent on the animal, but daily walks really do help. And let me tell you, once this difficult stage passes, you'll be left with a wonderful companion for your whole family. I have never have such a loving and compassionate and protective pet as my Weimaraner Daisy. She is emotional, and loves to give and receive love. Picture in a year or so, your son with his head laying on the dog, and she won't even move because she doesn't want to disturb him. That's the kind of experiences  I  have had, and I hope you do too. If it's any consolation, I have a 17 week old handful right now, so I do feel your pain. I have have found that verbal cues have been effective with me. I use "no bite", and after repetition it helps. You have to use corrections right when the dog is doing the behavior though. Otherwise they don't make the connection. I agree that grabbing the jaw and really negative corrections do more harm than they help. Redirection is a good tool as well, like you are doing with the toys. Try ading the verbal corrections, and be patient. She'll learn what you want soon enough.

Weimamama26