New mastiff owner with a question..

[Lyn1Lyn]

Hi All,
I am a new mom to my "little" guy Zeus. He is an EM and is almost 12 weeks now. He is such a sweet little guy and is growing nicely. He is working diligently on housetraining/crate training. I have had him for about 2 weeks and have a concern that I would like to work on. I have 4 children ages 13, 7, 4 and 2. He does really well with the 13 and 7 year old. But the 4 year old is a bit fearful of him and therefore when he becomes active and starts to play with her she gets nervous and I believe he senses that and tries to dominate. Usually using his mouth/teeth to pull at her clothes and such.
I also see a problem with the 2 year old. I almost feel like he thinks my son is his equal (a puppy) and therefore tries to dominate and nip him as well as bark and growl sometimes while playing and sometimes when my son is minding his own business and not playing the puppy will come at him and try to nip him. Now i know he is teething as I often have to stop him from gnawing on my hand/feet with his sharp teeth. But due to his size (he's about 22 lbs right now if not a bit bigger) and the fact that he is still a puppy and can tend to play rough I want to nip these things in the bud. I don't want him to accidently bite one of the kids while playing to rough. I am very watchful while they are playing too, and ensure that no one is playing rough with him. As well as telling him "no bite" and redirecting him with a toy if he goes after one of the kids with his mouth. He will be going to Obedience school but his vet feels he should wait til he finishes his vaccination schedule. Is there anything I can do in the meantime to stop this behavior?
Thanks for the input...

Lyn

 

[Lyn1Lyn]

Any suggestions...

 

[Arkitek]

I would just constantly reenforce that what he's doing isn't acceptable. With my em when he was younger , he'd always try pushing the limits to see what he could get away with. I always yelled no to him, or hit him lightly in his nose and quickly put him in his cage. I know many say not to do that because then they won't feel comfortable in the Krate, but he quickly learned and stopped (unless noone is looking, ems are so smart) and he goes straight to his cage whenever he wants to be alone or take a nap so he didn't get any bad side effects to the training...

 

[Lyn1Lyn]

I noticed this morning that Zeus wasn't nipping at the kids as much.. I think he's starting to get it. So I decided that in order to reinforce pack rank with him I would make it obvious to him that he is lower than the kids. So for the Lunch and Dinner meals I made my 2 year old serve him his dinner.. (with my help and me very close by of course).. With my coaching he did it just as I would and told Zeus to sit then wait a little before putting down his bowl and telling him to go ahead. Zeus was very receptive. At dinner I also allowed him to hand feed Zeus a little food. It was very obvious that Zeus was being careful while taking the food from him so not to bite his hand.. I will continue to do this with all the kids taking turns (under my watch) and enforce my "no bite" if and when he does attempt to nip. I am sure it will work out as he starts to get older as I keep a close watch on him.

 

[Cody]

I would do the same as what you are doing.
My son feeds our dogs and participates in their training, all the dogs listen and respect him.
He sounds like he is looking for them to play with, and since that is the only way he knows how to play...
teach him to play fetch with the kids, or another game that doesn't involve biting so he can bond with them and still get out his energy.
Good luck, oh and we love pictures

 

[PuppyPaws]

He is still so much a puppy, so I don't think he is trying to hurt at this point. He is probably just confused but I think you are doing the right thing. He needs to learn nipping is NOT acceptable.
Also, just a word of warning, from personal experience. I have a rescued pitt mix. My vet told me the same thing about waiting to train her until her vaccination schedule was completed. I followed his advice and now I really wish I hadn't. I missed some critical socialization training with her that she desperately needed. I was less educated then and thought a Vet knows all (or at least a great deal more than me) even in the area of behavior. Most often that is NOT the case with Vets. They have little experience with training and socialization. If I had it to do over, I would definately get her out there and start socializing her. Yes, there is a risk of exposure, but that just means you have to be a little more selective about where you go and how much "interaction time" you give her with other dogs. You can always do your best to steer clear of "strange dogs" and stick to ones you know have been vaccinated. Socialization is huge, I think especially with Mastiff and Pitts. I think I could have saved myself a lot of frustration and anxiety, if I had better socialized her on the front end. I still feel guilty about it and have promised to do differently with any future puppies. This is just my experience and food for thought.
Good Luck!

 

[Lyn1Lyn]

I agree with you, I decided that he will start puppy daycare 1-2 days a week next week.. its required that the dogs are up to date on all their shots and the woman is really great.. I figured he is getting too big too fast to let it go.. He will also start puppy kindergarten in August..