we have a biting puppy

[kieran]

We have had are bitch puppy for 2 weeks (10 wks old) she is pretty good but does jump and bite my two kids who are 5 & 8 she has given them some bruises and seems to thrive on their panic,will this continue and is there a way to stop this?

[Linda]

There have been some other posts about this behavior (in Boxer Ring forum). It is very normal and usual for a puppy to do this. But it is also important to teach her that it is unacceptable.
I think the most important thing is to teach your kids to say "no" and calmly walk away from the puppy and ignore her when she does this.
We went through the exact same thing with my kids (4 and 8) and our puppy, Bailey. My youngest daughter would run and scream, and Bailey would chase her and nip at her heels. Bailey thought it was a wonderful game! It was very difficult to get my daughter to not run away from Baily and yell.


Here is another thread about biting. http://boxerworld.com/ubb/Forum4/HTML/000231.html

Good luck! It will get better. Soon your puppy will be your kids' best friend.

[Krikkit]

As Linda mentioned, the more excited the children get, the more hyper puppies tend to be

This is prefectly normal doggy behaviour but she needs to learn that it is not all that acceptable. Can you get the children to 'be trees' when she starts? Get them to cross their arms in front of them and stand completely still looking at the sky - this way they will be very boring for your puppy and she should rapidly loose interest in them.

Here are a few more tips on controlling puppy biting (longish, from the Boxerbytes site )
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Biting and chewing are perfectly normal behaviours for a puppy. Pups bite in play as it is all part of the learning process - they need to bite in order to learn bite inhibition. They also bite as they lack the self control of an older dog and get very excited when playing. Puppies chew as they are teething and chewing eases the pain of the new teeth coming through.
When your puppy bites you there are several ways you can handle this. Many people have success with giving a little 'yelp' or 'ouch' when a puppy nips them, pulling their hand away. You can also immediately stop playing with the pup when he or she bites you, do not scold your pup or say anything, just walk away and ignore them for a couple of minutes. It does not take them long to learn that if they bite the game stops. Pressing down very gently on your puppies tongue when they bite and also be used. This is very unpleasant for a pup, but totally harmless. Folding their jowls in on their teeth, so they actually bite themselves is also effective.
Do not worry too much about puppy biting, they will grow out of it (they will, we promise) and with sensible training your pup will learn self control and bite inhibition. Never, under any circumstances, hit or strike out at your puppy when she bites, this sort of punishment is not understood by your dog at all.
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[Tulsa-Dan]

Kieran,

I too have a 9 week old pup who loves to nip and bite and chew on most anything, daddy included. I am using the firm "NO" and then walk away (she's quite stubborn already). Sometimes when I say "NO" she fusses and barks at me. But I do NOT fall for her "cute" tricks. She must learn that if she bites daddy, we don't play anymore. I then give her the proper toy to chew on and praise her lavishly when she starts playing with it.

She attempts to "test" daddy, especially when we play with her toys and she gets overly excited. I am trying not to get her too excited when we play, to discourage nipping from the start. However, she is beginning to stop when I say no. I can tell she knows something's not right. I'm trying to be as patient as I possibly can with her since as a pup, there is so much for her to learn and it must be very hard for her.

But no matter how much she tests me, I remain firm, knowing in time she will understand and respond to the praised activities rather than fuss at me and bark when she's told "no." It is frustrating to have to be so repetitive with your puppy, but it is essential that you respond the same way each time she exhibits unacceptable behaviour.

Good luck. I know it is hard. I hate having to say no to the little cutie, but in the long run, I know she'll be happier since I won't be fussing and angry and frustrated with her all the time for bad behavior, and so will I.

Dan


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Dan from Brooklyn
Proud Pappa to Maggie Mae
Born 6/16/00
Flashy Fawn, docked tail, natural ears.
Pictures: http://www.d-batt.com/Maggie.html

[Alisha Mobley]

I also went through the same thing. Our 1 year old female started doing this to the kids (3 & 6) when we brought her home at 6 weeks. I thought it was cute at first (she weighed 3 lbs at the time), but as she started to get bigger it scared the kids. I also would tell her "NO" and try to get the kids to not run from her (Good luck. I've learned a scared kid will always run). With our second female (7 months now) I started teaching her at 6 weeks. The one thing that helped the most was the dogs are only allowed in the kitchen and living room. When they started to play to rough the kids learned they could run to the hall way and the dogs would do a nose dive trying to get stopped before any paws were out of bounds. My girls are much bigger now so they don't have to jump, they can lick the kids faces while standing on the ground but every once in a while the kids will get them going and they will get a little rough, but thats when I tell the kids to leave the dogs alone.