New Puppy Incessantly Bites People/Nips Hard
Stellabee
10 years ago
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10 years agospedigrees z4VT
10 years agoRelated Discussions
New puppy-help!
Comments (19)Meghane is a vet and gives excellent training advice. Our trainer said the very same things and stressed the importance of the socialization by 14 weeks. I think this is something many folks don't think about or realize. Remove his toys and give back to him. Remove his food and give it back or add a piece to it while he is eating so he doesnt learn to guard his toys or food. Take your dog everywhere you can,especially in crowds and around noise.Introduce him to people of all ages and ask people to meet your dog and pet him. We even took our guys to track meets ( starter pistols)and field hockey games ( girls running with sticks after fun looking ball)where ever our lives took us. We were advised to avoid popular dog spots on the ground on our walks and adventures until they had all of their shots- fire hydrants, the floor of pet stores, where others walk their dogs, dog parks etc. Get a harness right away for walking your dog until you get him trained in loose leash walking. That was the best thing we did! My understanding from our trainer is that pulling behavior is reinforced if they are allowed to pull on the leash when wearing a collar. But when wearing a harness, the pressure is on their chest and not the neck and thus not reinforcing the need to pull. We walk our dogs on harnesses for fun and if the leash is on the collar, they must loose leash walk. If you get the harness before training you wont inadvertantly train your dog to pull. Trust me on this one- Cooper is 100+ lbs and Bailey is 75. And I can walk both of them at once and have control. And we keep training on this. Don't necessarily dismiss the Petsmart trainers. We lucked into a wonderful trainer at our local Petsmart when we stopped in for somthing- one that had a college degree in animal behavior and was also a volunteer primate trainer at the local zoo. She also was involved in service dog training. We took both of our dogs up through the advanced and clicker trainer with her. Or should I say, we were trained! She recommended a book Culture Clash( i think) that we bought when Bailey was too little for class- it is an amazing book. Have fun! The more training you do the more fun you and your dog will have!...See MoreBig puppy + Little puppy
Comments (6)It is tricky - on one hand, you do want to be very careful. My mom's Westie suffered a broken leg while playing with the neighbor dog (a very nice, but rambunctious Lab). On the other hand, I agree with everyone who said that Bella is teaching the new pup valuable lessons about how to behave around other dogs. My terrier puppy's "best friend" is a Doberman mix shelter rescue, Violet, who was surrendered for being aggressive with other dogs. So I was very nervous about letting them play together, especially when my puppy was very young, but so far they have played together for months with no problems whatsoever. What helps, I think, is that Violet is much, much faster than my puppy, and it seems to me that when she tires of rough play, she either races around, knowing my puppy will never catch her, or comes to the door to be let in. I don't let them play inside, just in case my puppy might be able to corner Violet, and I think having her play with an older dog has been a really good experience for her. So let them play, just be careful!...See More'Flea-biting', nibbles, baby bites, whatever you call it.
Comments (24)I have a 2 year old pit bull that does this when we play. I think it's funny, and adorable. He doesn't do it to anyone else though. Just me, when we're playing. I get on all fours and headbutt his shoulder, and he spins in circles chewing on me, and pulls on my shirt, and sometimes tries to pull my shirt off. He likes nibbling my chin too....See MoreDD afraid of our new puppy.....
Comments (10)My little neighbor girl was five when we got one of our dogs as a puppy a couple years ago. Whenever I am out in my yard, the neighbor kids from either side come over to play, and this was a bit of an issue when I was in the yard with a rambunctious, untrained puppy. At first, the neighbor girl was afraid and behaved accordingly. I definitely didn't want to give my dog negative kid experiences (or the kid negative dog experiences) and all of their initial interactions ended badly. Then the girl told me she wanted to either be a zoo owner or a lion tamer when she grew up... maybe both. That knowledge powered the proverbial lightbulb above my head! I told her the best practice to be a lion tamer was to start out as a wild puppy tamer, and that if she could help me tame my crazy puppy, lions would be a piece of cake later on. She was hooked. First I watched her instincts. They were awful! She ran screaming across the yard, and when the puppy chased her, she turned around and made an "X" with her index fingers and got upset that the puppy didn't understand that X was the universal symbol for "no." Hmmm. Interesting. We talked about how puppies didn't understand words, how they "speak" with their bodies, kind of like a secret dog dance language. I showed her how the "secret" to taming was "dancing" the commands to the dog. To illustrate, I put her out of harm's way in a chair and demonstrated how, without words, I could move my body to make my dog sit calmly, lie down, or roll on her back. I also showed her that when I ran from the dog and flailed, I was screaming "chase me!" in dog dance language, and it wasn't my dog's fault for listening to what I was telling it to do in dog dance language. When she saw she had the power to influence the dog's behavior with her body language, she got much better much faster. She also taught her little friends how to approach my dogs (who are in the yard on Invisible Fence). She and her friends would ask me how to give a command in dog dance language. I would demonstrate, and they would try it out. If the dog got excited, she'd ask "OK, what did I just say in dog language to make her do that?" and I'd translate and demonstrate as best I could. Our lessons helped all three of us---the dog, the girl, and me---tremendously. None of us are perfect, but we all learned a LOT in the process. When my dog greets kids, she does so sitting down and doesn't jump on them... (however, I need to be more diligent about keeping her from licking their faces). I've been impressed with my neighbor's interactions with puppies she's met subsequent to our taming sessions, and just love to hear her coach her friends. To answer your question, no, you shouldn't keep the dog and hope for the best. You should keep the dog and actively work for the best. Take an active leadership role with both the dog and the kid. Their interactions need to be controlled and supervised for her safety, and the safety of your pup. Empower the kid to control the dog with her body language. Teach her to not run away from it and why. Ideally, you should be helping the dog understand bite aversion by practicing exaggerated yelps and ignoring it when it mouths anything (even the hem of your skirt). I don't advocate allowing your daughter to be used as a chew toy, so I think it's important that a young kid with a puppy in the house knows how to correctly address possible nipping in advance. Sit down with the kid when the dog isn't there and practice the "almighty yelp." Tell her that puppies don't automatically know they can't use their mouths on people and it is her job to help teach the puppy manners because she's the "big sister." Teach if the puppy ever puts its mouth on her body or her clothes, she is to do the "almighty yelp" as loud as she can, cross her arms, and ignore the puppy. This empowers her to address the inevitable when the puppy experiments with mouthing, and it will nip the nipping in the bud. The more you can empower your girl in her interactions with your new dog, the happier everyone will be. You have a HUGE job ahead of you. And a wonderful opportunity to teach a little girl how to succeed....See Morerobertz6
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