Nipping Children (and adults)

[lizzy_troy]

Tips for getting out 12 week puppy to stop nipping and biting on our children and us would be greatly appreciated!!

Mayzee just walks up to my one year old and nips her, occasionally hard enough to leave marks and bumps. She also will follow my around the house, biting my calves. If I didn't know for sure that she's 100% Bordeaux, I would think she had herding dog blood in her....

If we can't get her behavoir corrected, we will have to rehome her. i really really don't want to have to do that...

 

[Doggyhelpplease]

She is only 12 weeks, that is normal. Try to high pitch yelp and redirecting.

 

[jsarra]

That is normal puppy behaviour. You need to reinforce the behaviour you want from her. A high pitch yelp only worked for a while with our EM. every time he nipped(which seemed like ALL the time) we yelled "ouch no" and directed him to one of his toys. If he continued we would put him in a time out behind a baby gate. Mastiffs hate being alone. for the time being I would not leave him unsupervised around your kids. Our boy is now 10 months and has a very gentle mouth. This will pass. Lots of patients and chew toys she loves.

 

[musicdeb]

This is normal puppy behavior. There are a number of posts about puppies nipping. Do a forum search.

People fail to realize that this is normal puppy behavior. Puppies played with their siblings and they learned to play by biting and barking with each other. I've seen so members post freaking out because they young pup is biting. Folks, it's NORMAL behavior! It's up to you to train them to do what you want them to do. Folks, it's NORMAL!

 

[Sadies Mom]

Ha! I wanted to do a DNA test on Sadie to see if she was part crocodile. Leash her in the house so you can correct her. What teething toys do you have available to her? The yelping, "NO" etc did not work on Sadie. She had to drag a leash around for a long time or she got a time out in her crate.

 

[lizzy_troy]

I know I might get blasted for this, but the welfare of my children comes first. I know they are not in danger now, as this is just a puppy phase, but in a few months, if I can't train her not to nip at them, it could become a dangerous thing.

I am going to try just about everything to make this work out! I know that I have to pour into her for the first year or two before I get the laid back adult dog I want...

We don't leave her alone with the children. We can all be on the same rug and she'll go after them. She redirects pretty well, but I don't want her to become used to nipping as a way to tell us she wants a toy. The yelping and saying "ouch no" doesn't work for Mayzee either.

Tell me more about this time out thing...

Oh, and she has lots of various toys.

 

[Lukasdad]

My boy stopped being as intense about 14-16wks so stick in there to have a pond for every "no" you say we'd be rich lol and time out is exactly what u think either into their cage or out of the room
Be patient I do believe in the next few wks you will notice a great improvement and once those wee puppy teeth are away u'll laugh everytime you read a post on puppy's biting as most members have said its just the norm

 

[Sadies Mom]

If she redirects well, I would keep at it. I would put Sadie in her crate for a time out, or leave the room. She finally realized that biting = being removed from her people. They are stubborn and it will take lots of patience and it will test you. Do you see a pattern to nipping? With Sadie it got worse if she was tired and needed a napp, but she wanted to be with us at all time and she was afraid she would miss something. Believe me, I tried everything and she just grew out of it. It was so bad that I was asked if I was cutting my self. My arms were a disaster. It does get better. Just be be consistant with it.

 

[musicdeb]

Keep her leashed while in the house. Crate her when the kids are playing on the floor. Kids on the floor means playmates to the pup.

Of course, the kids come first.

 

[DDBsR4Me]

This is normal puppy behavior. There are a number of posts about puppies nipping. Do a forum search.

People fail to realize that this is normal puppy behavior. Puppies played with their siblings and they learned to play by biting and barking with each other. I've seen so members post freaking out because they young pup is biting. Folks, it's NORMAL behavior! It's up to you to train them to do what you want them to do. Folks, it's NORMAL!

Yes it is normal.

She's not being aggressive, she's playing! It took Fhalyn what seemed like forever to stop biting, she's 5 months and will still occasionally try to mouth my hands.

Getting her energy out will go a long way in stopping the behavior, as well as what others have recommended above.

 

[taraann81]

Sully, 16 weeka was really bad. Its has no slowed down alot. We just redirected witg toys now when he wants to play he carries a toy around and chomps on that wgile playing. It seema he needs something in his mouth and has learbes to bite the toys not the children.

 

[kristen b.]

A sleeping dog is a good dog. Lots of redirection. When she bites give a firm no turn your back on her. When she picks up a toy instead of biting. LOTS OF PRAISE. Lots of excersice. And brief training sessions. Go through a workout routine. Potty, play, training, sleep. Repeat. Really work on leave it in trainig that will help also.

 

[lizzy_troy]

We're still working on the biting. She redircts from the mouthing, but the biting is so random and sudden, then she takes off before I can correct her.

Time outs don't work. She HAS to be with us, or she will bark and howl and carry on until she falls asleep. We had the inlaws over last night and we couldn't put her in her pen, outside, or on her tether inside. She just kept on and on. I had her on a leash that I held for a bit, and she didn't whine, but she would still randomly bite and try to take off...

I am just about at my wit's end, and my kids are getting nervous around her. All I can think of that I haven't tried is a shock collar..... I know those are controversial, but if it came down to using one or getting rid of the dog, I would give it a try. I really want to keep this pup...

(Just FYI, if I did get a shock collar, I would be responsible with it. We used one to train our AmStaff not to be rough with kids. It took two low intensity zaps, with the buzzer sound. Never had to zap her again. The beep alone was enough to redirect her after that, and it didn't take long for us to be able to stop and calm her with the word "easy" or "gentle," once she associated that with the beep.)

 

[mountainfila]

Im old school when it comes to pups biting humans, if the pup bites you and wont stop i place my hand on top of the muzzle and roll the top lip into the mouth so its under their teeth and squeeze just enough to get them to yelp and say in the gruffest voice possible NO BITE. It only take a couple of times and they get the picture, but you have to be quick with the correction, or else they wont correlate the correction to the action they did.

 

[Rugers-Kris]

Whoa! A shock collar for a puppy her age is NOT the answer. I am not a fan of them at all but NO WAY for a tiny puppy! Every puppy goes through this stage and you just have to try one of the things mentioned that works and keep at it. This is totally normal behavior and not at all aggressive. Ruger was a very bitey pup and it took a lot of time and patiene but he was over it 16 weeks or so. Magnum is now 13 weeks (tomorrow) and has been called the little white alligator since we brought him home. He was horrible and although he is getting much better, he is still a baby and still tries it. She needs to be taught "No", "Leave it", Stop.......This is just a natural part of raising a puppy. I will say again that your pup is way to young for a shock collar and it could cause very negative effects.

 

[Primehns]

She's 12 weeks! It won't carry on to Adulthood. My puppy was nasty at that age, but he eventually stopped once i started sticking a toy in his mouth every time he did. A puppy nipping is not dangerous, of course your kids will come first, but it won't carry on and become a dangerous thing ever... It's a puppy. It's common and happens. Just teach him/her NO. Do not use a shock collar, it's a puppy!

 

[lizzy_troy]

I am not using a shock collar, so no worries. I won't get into the shock collar debate here, I only mentioned that I hadn't used it and it was the only thing left, short of getting rid of the puppy. I am a responsible dog owner and tool user, so Mayzee will be safe.

I really do appreciate the input, but I don't think I have made the situation clear. I understand that nipping and mouthing is puppy behavior. That I can deal with. The biting issue goes beyond normal puppy behavior and if I don't address it, it will be a big problem later in life. This is not something that will go away on its own.

I am going to try to exercise her more, and I will try to get my 15 year old brother to come over and wear her out once or twice a week. We've been to my mom's house twice this week, and she's come home completely drained and slept like a baby each time. She loves going over there to play; there are 15 kids (including my own) that she's the center of attention with and four grouchy little adult dogs that keep her in her place.

 

[sissie20]

ive never met a puppy that didnt bite lol......what do you mean the biting goes beyong normal puppy behavior?.....my 7 month old male EM gave me puncture wounds and drew blood from me and did that to my daughter one time but i knew that was normal and he wasnt trying to intentionally harm her. any kind of biting in a puppy is normal no matter what kind it is. my boy actually grew out of his there was nothing i could do to stop him from biting because he was so damned stubburn and now my kids both under the age of 3 can lay on the floor with him and play and he wont even open his mouth towards them unless hes licking them and somtimes grooming thier hair

 

[mcarrel]

We're still working on the biting. She redircts from the mouthing, but the biting is so random and sudden, then she takes off before I can correct her.

Time outs don't work. She HAS to be with us, or she will bark and howl and carry on until she falls asleep.

Put her crate in a room where she can carry on all she wants until she falls asleep. If you go to her while she is carrying on you reinforce that behavior ie:she gets attention for doing it

I am just about at my wit's end, and my kids are getting nervous around her.

It's a puppy this is what they do. Both dogues I have had are very mouthy. There's a post I made for someone asking about Ddb before where I said even at 9months Kronos was mouthy and now he is 16 months and still gets mouthy at times but knows soft and it doesn't hurt. As they get older both I have had do a chuffing,growling sometimes combined with a charge which many that are new to the breed take as aggression are you prepared for that?

I can't speak for others but for myself no puppy I have ever had gets free roam. From the time they come home they are leashed to me in the house and aren't given the opportunity to wander off chasing kids or the cat. For myself I find this effective at 2 things: 1. I know what the puppy is doing at all times and 2.if they are going to do something that is inappropriate I am right there to step in with redirection. As they get older they get less time tethered to me once they get to know the rules. For Kronos this period was from 8 to 16 weeks at that point he was left off the tether bc he knew enough to pay attention to the redirection.

 

[mcarrel]

Also I find the tethering is a good way to start teaching leash manners