HELP! Training a New Puppy with Little Kids

eeeeEEEEeeeeeeEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeEEEEEEeeeeeeeeEEEEEE!!!!!
puppies and small children!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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:X
khairete
S.

Try filling a can with pennies and when she is biting or jumping on the kids have them shake the can at her and say a command like no or down. Generally dogs don't like that noise. It will startle her, get attention and she will quickly learn the voice command.

Puppies view kids as their litter-mates. We have three dogs, and all three view our kids differently than they view us (my husband & I). They are more playful with our kids, they don't necessarily listen to them if they try to boss them around. And yes, they do grow out of that biting. When you see puppies interact with each other, they bite each other. So your puppy thinks he's playing with his litter-mates.

A dog trainer one time told me that when dealing with puppies and biting, you have to think about how they learn from each other (other puppies) in a social setting. If a puppy bites another puppy and it hurts, the puppy will YELP! So with all three of our dogs, if ever they bit one of us and it hurt, we let out a really loud 'YELP!' They would look at us curiously, but they got the point.

I would keep some distance between the dog and your children until she is trained. I am also surprised that you got her so young. We just got a 10 week old Boston terrier puppy and I keep plenty of toys handy. Dogs get excited with children and don't understand that they are doing wrong.

I tell my puppy that is mine (as in fingers, clothes etc.) and I am teaching my daughter to say the same and then give the puppy one of her toys. Praise her when she chews on her own toy and keep saying no and giving her a dog toy. She needs to learn that it is not ok to bite, nip etc. and you need to teach her.

This should be a consistent training process like house breaking. Good luck and don’t leave your children alone with her until she is trained and a little older.

She will grow out of it. We have 2 dogs and got a puppy with our small kids too.
1. Teach the kids to be careful as much as possible.
2. When the puppy bites you have to always say "Ouch!!!" really loud and even whimper like you are very hurt.
The problem is that puppies are supposed to learn proper mouthing from their mothers but breeders take them from their mothers too early. You should not have gotten a 6 week old puppy - 8 weeks should be absolutely the minimum age a puppy is taken from its mother.

Also the bites will hurt less when her baby teeth come out. The baby teeth are very razor sharp but their adult teeth not so much.

Keep working at it, be very careful with your little ones and her right now. As much as little kids and puppies are super cute, they're not the best mix. We did it anyways, our kids did get a few painful nips at first but we worked hard on it, and both the puppy and the kids improved!

Yikes I agree with Suz LOL We just got a puppy. I waited till my youngest was almost 3 and I got an older puppy (5 months). I am also surprised that you got her so early. They should only be taken from the moms at the earliest 9 weeks.

You may have to get gates, crate train and keep the kids away while you are working on this.

You are crazy LOL :)

This is litter mate thinking and I am going to say it - your dog was weaned too early if you have had since 6 weeks. Make sure that when this is happening you crate the dog and give a toy that she CAN bite in the crate. With kids if you are not crate training you will find you are making a huge mistake. Puppies play with their mouths, just like infants do and I would also help re direct some of the puppies play to mostly you and not with the kids. Dogs mostly do not listen to children so please do not expect that to happen much/well. So, make sure you have TONS of chew toys that vary in shape/size/texture, you are crate training and USE it, and that the kids do not play with the puppy unsupervised.

I read somewhere that there's a stage with puppies, prior to 8 weeks, that they learn - from their mama who corrects them - not to bite too hard when playing. I'm suprised you got her before she turned 8 weeks (usually they won't let you have them before then).

I have also read to say "OWWW!!" very loudly when a nip happens. We do that with our puppy and she seems to respond by backing off.

I also would seriously consider (before this puppy gets any older) whether she is the right puppy for you family at this stage in your lives. My younger son got turned off to dogs completely for awhile due to a bad situation with a lab when son was very small. It really scared him. Now, at age 14, he's taken to our schnoodle puppy (8 months). I did a TON of research prior to committing to her . . . and even then we had a allergy issues at first (with a low allergy breed). But she's wonderful with all of us, and I'm so glad he can finally enjoy a dog. It's helped his confidence with animals.

Good luck and I hope you can work this out for everyone's best (including the sweet puppy).

You need to learn how to train your puppy before your puppy runs the house and makes you miserable. You can't just yell "no." You have your hands full. Yikes.

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One thing that works, at least somewhat, is to practice with the kids, especially the 3yo, to use his "mad" or "mean angry" voice----what I mean is to use a deep, "no nonsense" and really teach the kids not to make high pitched noises. Dogs take the deeper tone more serious. The high pitched noises remind a lot of dogs of the squeeky toys, and/or squeeks/high pitch noises of (prey) animals and tend to get them more excited.

Frankly, I would really limit the kids interactions with the puppy as much as you can, though that's probably next to impossible.

I realize the horse is out of the barn on this, so to speak, but frankly, I don't think I would consider getting a young puppy (under 1 year, really) with little ones in the house. That's just too much work, imo! :)

You can also try implementing the NILIF (Nothing In Life Is Free - google it to find out more) training with the dog, and have the older child do it (as much as he can) as well as you and your husband. The puppy is young and will have a short attention span, but you should still be able to do it, and will definitely help when the dog is older.

Goodluck. Thats the kind of dog (catahoula)that at 8 weeks old caused my daughter who was then 3 to get stitches on her face when she was 3 They have VERY sharp teeth and can climb trees and have webbed feet. Not the best for 3 year olds. I learned after the incident about the breed. I realize all dogs aren;t the same BUT all animal care places reccomend no puppies with kids under 6, some won't even let you get one if you have little ones.. Its not that the dog is bad its that nips can turn serious, hence my daughters lip almost falling off.

Again I'm not saying the dog is bad, I'm J. saying learn from my mistake and keep the dog seperate from the kids until its done its nipping phase and is trained if you can. (No floor play and no in their laps...until its learned not to bite) We monitored the pup at all times with my daughter and I helped her friend find the bathroom for 1 second when the bite happened.

Goodluck. They sure are a cute breed

I will just re-iterate to keep the dogs seperated/away from your child for awhile.

Definitely buy the chew toys for them.

Watch & research which trainer you choose. My sister's trainer RUINED her dog. His methods were terrible. How we know the difference? Dog's sibling was never trained & that dog has none of the same issues. We know his owner very well (a friend). You can do a better job of training if you just have the patience while rearing your youngsters. I know it's hard but that dog can later in life be your greatest companion & protector.

I adopted a dog that seemed skittish when I got her later turned out to be so loving & protective of baby and me.

It does just take time. Soon enough, your pup will lose her puppy teeth (those razor sharp baby teeth) and those puppy nails. I think one of the best things you can do for children is to let them grow up with animals. This is just a stage your puppy is in. The "mini attack mode" is just her playing!! Don't worry about it. Bring the puppy up with love and consistency. She will be a great dog and a great addition to your family!

We had a rottwieler/australian cattle dog mix. These are herdng dogs. I looked up the type you have and both breeds are hunting and herding dogs. These dogs do tend to herd the family as well. It is very important that one person in the family--most likely you--shows as the "alpha" or boss. My daughter was never bitten or nipped but quite a few of her pants were torn due to the nipping. Also, find a trainer that can help establish some type of routine for the dog. One of the reasons we had to get rid of our dog (and I do soetimes really regret it) is that my 4 yr old would have her running through the house like a wild animal. It was just too much for our family, esp with a newborn, and small space. My older daughter was working with her and doing well, but just did not worok out. Talk to someone that knows the breed and get tips for training since all breeds are different and you have to work with their traits.

i dont want to scare you but my yellow lab is almost ten and theres still times when the only one he will listen to is my father.. he sees him as the alpha male.. hes gotten better with time... take him to training classes if you can! (worked wonders with my cousins pitbull puppy) and whatever you do you must be consistant..and use positivve reinforcement whenever shes being a good girl.. tech her to sit give paw and give her tons of praise and treats when she does it right .. i know this because we did basically everythign wrong with my dog.. he was in that puppy crazyness phaze until he was about 4 n then gradually calmed down.. however last night he got hold of a dishtowel and decided to shred it up and run laps full speed around the dining room table my mom me and fiance were all yelling him n chasing him around- he thinks its a game he gets enjoyment out of it.. and then my dad came upstairs took one look at him and yelled drop it and immediatley he dropped it and ran into the kitchen and rap a few laps around that table ... hes huge once he gets running full speed theres really no stopping him .. -get your puppy undercontrol while shes small so u dont have to deal with a giant dog doing the things shes doign now
oh and if shes really biting alot and no isnt working our vet suggested that u grab the bottom jaw with your thumb in their mouth-not hard, just hold it once u have the bottom jaw they cant bite ..they really dont like that ... oh and if anyone tells u to bite them back dont do it .. we had a trainer come to our house 3 or 4 times and he told my dad o wen he bites u grab his paw and gently bite him back hell understand it hurts... well ten years later my dog will not allow anyone to touch his front feet, they need 3 vet techs to hold him down when they cut his nails - btw the trainer stopped coming cuz my dog bit him so many times and ate his jacket and just wanted nothing to do with him
oh and one more thing.. do not give her food when shes being bad/annoying to distract her or make her stop - it only teaches her that if she continues this behavior she will get something good (i no this from experience) lol just thought of something else.. tell your boys if they can when she jumps they need to turn their backs to her and ignore her until she stops

Your dog is herding your son. Like she would do for sheep. Correct this by letting your son run and then when she starts the behavior say "No!" then put her down. Meaning make her lay down on her side. Put your hand on her neck (not forcefully but firmly) and make her submit to you and your son by laying there in that position until she calms down. Repeat this every.single.time until she gets it. When she is biting/nipping while not running around respond with a squeal. If she doesn't respond then put her into submissive position (on side) and wait for her to calm/relax and then step away and allow her to get up.

Consistency is the key.

Make sure she's getting walked and has a crate where she can relax and chew on her toys.

Good luck!