HELP! Our puppy chews on our kids...

[DMikeM]

@Bethanevisser I hope you didn't think my reply was harsh. I thought I was just being direct.

 

[cayeesmom]

Just a few suggestions that helped me when I got my first giant breed, although a Newfie also a giant pup with big sharp baby teeth. my daughter was only 2 at the time. First I taught her to tell Arki sit, since she was so little I stood behind her to make her look" bigger" but she said the command/handsignal and gave the treat or praise. No running/ roughhousing, save that for when the pup is napping in his crate, the pup will chase and nip. No sitting on the floor at eye level with the pup unless it is playing with the pup. And ofcourse never left alone unsupervised. Once my pup had basic commands down it was easier to correct him. My son who was 10 at the time use to take Arki in the backyard and play chase, [did not happen on my "watch"] not a good game, all his t-shirts and pants had holes from puppy teeth in them and he was knocked down hard many times. He never chased my daughter , I never gave him the chance. That was just a few things that worked for me. I think it is not only training the dog it is also "training" the kids to live with a giant puppy.

 

[Gregory5]

As a mother of an autistic child, I completely understand what you are going through. Please don't leave the forum, there are many on here who have given wonderful advice even if some of it seems a little blunt. I know what has worked for us in redirecting the puppies behavior is what many are suggesting here. I for one do involve my children in the training, but always supervise them. This was based on my breeders recommendations and what my parents did with us when we were younger with our dogs ((huskies).With patience and consistency things will improve. Vader has does amazing and is learning quickly at only 16 weeks.

 

[Bethanevisser]

I apologize. My previous post was written with full on emotion. I didn't go back and look closely or notice that it was only one person being a bit harsh. @DMikeM, I appreciate your advice - thank you.

Thank you everyone. This evening has been great. We talked about all of your suggestions over dinner and they have been helpful! I am wishing we had left him with litter mates a bit longer too.

I sincerely appreciate all of your help. Axel is smart and eager to please. I think this will work for us. I plan to stay with the forum and spend a great deal of time searching the forum for more help.

God bless you all!

 

[trixie28]

Welcome, very glad you decided to stay around it is a great source of info and support

 

[Kujo]

View attachment 22060

what a cutie! he'll be growing into and out of that bed in no time! enjoy the little stage

 

[DennasMom]

Yea! Glad you stuck it out! There are tons of supportive people here. it is hard to read 'tone' in the written word, and some misunderstandings are bound to happen...

We had good luck with the high-pitched "yipe" and "ouch" to get Denna to stop mouthing us. She still will put her mouth on us, but very, very softly. She also likes to jump - hopefully you won't have to work through that... for us it was an over-excitement issue, which she's now finally grown out of (she's a year old now).

"leave it" and the "its yer choice" youtube video might have some good things for you to work on - helping the puppy learn self-control, and how to take treats gently.

I have hopes of getting Denna into therapy, too - although, not to the level you're taking it. I bought a book which has a bunch of great advice on things to work with for preparing a therapy dog. There are a bunch of books out there if you haven't gotten tham all, already.

Cayeessmon has some great advice, too. Not having kids myself, I'm at a loss on the best way to get kids to slow down for the puppy and not entice them into play... or how best to get the puppy to ignore the excitement of little kids.

I do think the EM is a great choice of breed for your son. Their gentle, calm nature was what attracted us to the EM, also. Their loyalty and smarts are major bonuses that we're learning more about every day.

I wish you well on this challenge!

 

[baybpaulsmom]

I understand your situation. We have a 11 week old EM as well and he is a great pup but he likes to bite and bark at my 5 yr old son. One person on here gave me great advice. She said that he is playing. When he bites, say "ouch" and walk away. Try to direct his attention to something else and show him that by walking away that behavior means "play time is over".

Puppies are just like babies. They take time and positive correction to really teach them correct behavior. Kids and puppies are always hard to deal with bc kids have the tendency to hit as a defense. I have had to discipline my son and tell him that he is to never hit the dog bc it hurts him and makes the puppy sad. These two are supposed to be best buds and they need to develop a positive relationship now that will last a long time.

We had to work with my son on not jumping all around the room like crazy bc the puppy thinks he can play crazy too. It is about balance.

I hope you are able to find a way to foster that relationship safely for your son and your pup. I think if trained properly, they will be best buds in no time.

 

[kristen b.]

I tought my dog's easy for when they are around kids and kittens I have a three year old and just rescued a five week old kitten. I did this by saying easy obviously but i did it when i would see the beginning of my pup getting excited any excitement like when we got the kitten beezle had to be in down position and then i let the kitten walk up to her and sniff when beezle would start to smell back if she opened her mouth or her ears go forward at attention i said "easy" when the ears go back and she relaxes i respond with an ear rub. you just have to know your pups body language. when your son walks in and you see your pups ears go up his tail start to wag say easy axel and go and calm him down maybe a pat on the butt. if he gets to excited give the sit command. I found telling my dogs good job after the easy command was counter productive.the high pitch of my voice and my obvious excitement of her doing good got her all wound up again. Keep it calm say easy and then give a pat on the head. if he continues to get amped give quick correction of his house leash and then relax. maybe have a space for play like the back yard or den and the rest of the house he needs to be in his bed or crate or quietly laying down chewing a bone or soft toy. I have a dog bed in almost every room of my house. my dogs like to be near me but i don't want them all in my legs tripping up the family so if they aren't in the sun room or backyard they dont need to be playing they need to be calm. like telling a child to use their inside voices.

 

[zebraworks]

I wonder what percentage of pups wouldn't PLAY "bite" kids ??? I bet it would be a very very small number.