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That herding/nipping behavior can be a hard one to overcome.
My Border Collie mix Gusto still sometimes defaults to it when there are visitors in our house, especially those who move in odd ways such as a shuffling gait.
In the past, we’ve done a whole lot of the Open Bar/Closed Bar method (and starting at a distance from the moving person and with the person moving is a slow predictable way to start with) I would feed Gus tasty treats while the person was in motion and stop feeding when the person stopped moving.
We also use the Engage/Disengage Game where I mark and reinforce first his looking at the person in motion and then, as he becomes more comfortable, I shift to marking and reinforcing when he looks at the person in motion and looks back at me. It is a relaxing*, pattern game to play that also has a Classical Conditioning component as the dog connects seeing the person moving to getting treats.
I’m thinking teaching a solid and joyful Sit to Greet might be helpful too?
Living with herding dogs of my own, I’m always looking for new tips and tricks to help them. Can Any other herding dog geeks out there chime in?
*Despite his big brain and active body – Gusto does know how to relax too!