9 week old puppy and 2 year old son

[wesley_west]

I have a little 9 week old puppy. We got her at 6 weeks old and she has been really good up until about a week ago. She is fine around me and my wife, except for the normal nipping, but when my 2 year old son goes to play with her, she growls and barks at him, and tries to bite at his arms and legs as he runs. I was wondering if this was just normal puppy behavior and she will grow out of it. My son doesnt understand why she bites at him and he always tries to hug her and kiss her after she does it. When she does this, we try to calm her down by putting her back in her kennel or putting her outside. We want to spend time with her, but we cant seem to get her to settle down enough for her to be around our son. Any suggestions will help.

 

[Grimmja]

We have a 16 week old puppy, who we got at 7 weeks, and a 1 year old son as well. From day 1, Riley loved to chase our baby around and nip at his ankles, we just said "stop it" and got it the middle each time...also we used the "quiet sit" we learned in puppy class. We kneeled on the ground, and had Riley sit between our legs with 1 hand on his chest and the other hand petting him, putting a little more pressure on his shoulders, I guess that's where other dogs put pressure on each other when 1 of them has gone too far. That technique has always calmed him down and he seems to get the idea that he needs to tone things down a little. He no longer nips at ankles, now just likes to nibble on fingers when our son shoves them in his mouth, can you blame him? Luckily he's always had a very very soft bite, and we try and intervene always...he also knows "Stop it" pretty well now. So that's how we've dealt with that behavior with a little one, I hope that helps a bit?

 

[jaimie]

I have 4 kids ages 9, 7, 4, and 10 months. When we first got Brandy she would nip at the kids, we started having the kids feed & water the dogs. That way the dog realizes that the kids are the boss not littermates. Tulsa-Dan may have some good books you can get to help you out with this process.

Also, your pup is young but when he gets a little older I would definately get him into obedience classes.

Jaimie

 

[entelekia]

If you want to make sure they understand this, you catch them when they're doing it, you pick them up, flip them on their backs, say "NO" pretty loud in your lowest voice (like growling) and bite/nip at their lips.
...

Um, no. I would NOT do this. "Alpha rolls" are an outdated technique, and you definitely do NOT need to bite/nip your puppy's lip.

What I would do, is simply say "no" you don't need to yell it, just say it in a firm voice, and then give the puppy something he *can* bite, like a bone or a toy.
I realize your skinbaby is too young to be taught how to deal with it, but you can certainly teach him to *yelp* whenever the pup bites at him (a loud AW or OUCH would do), and then immediately step away from the pup (or have one parent remove the pup from the skin kid). The yelping sound is what a littermate would do to let the puppy know he's being too hard, and ending the play will be the negative consequence to his nipping.

I would also like to add, while we're on the subject, that children and dogs should never be allowed to play unsupervised (not that you don't supervise them... just throwing it out there).

Also, you might be interested to know, that you should teach your son to *not* "hug and kiss" the puppy. It might be fine now, but when you have an adult dog, hugging (putting your arms around its neck area, while hovering over him) it's a dominance act and can be considered a threat, and might POSSIBLY cause your dog to react accordingly (warning growl or nip). I've heard endless accounts of dogs nipping children, and when questioned their parents would say "he/she was only trying to give the dog a hug..." just not worth the risk IMO.

Hope this helps.

 

[Jan]

Entelekia is correct!

Alpha rolls are no longer acceptable. Aggression begets aggression and you really don't want that. Your son is being treated like a littermate. You must teach him not to run and to yelp when the puppy bites him. You need to distract the puppy and give him something else to do. When the puppy gets out of control, put him in his crate for a timeout. This is not a punishment, it is just meant to give him time to settle down.

Part of the problem is that you got your puppy way too young. No responsible breeder will let their puppies go at 6 weeks, because during the 7th and 8th weeks is when the puppies learn to play with each other and learn that when they bite too hard, no one will play with them. Now that is going to be your job.

Good luck!