Hey all,

we have a pup Bull Terrier he's joined our household in the last week and is actually doing really well so far (he's our first Bully, we currently own Collies and have had experience with Boxers) he's usually really calm in the house, we have a little boy (2 years) and he's brilliant with him, doesnt jump up or mouth/playbite 85% of the time and our boy doesnt get the puppy overexcited, he tells him NO and GET DOWN really well and our pup responds really well to that.
We have been practicing techniques to give puppy 'down time' - times where we don't look at, speak to him and just let him play by himself and he's responding really well, he's calm and non demanding of attention. I have been working with him clicker training in the house and he's mastered a fairly reliable 'sit' (he's only 8 weeks old)
I wanted to ask about the 'time out' in the crate we've been trying when pup gets too overexcited and a bit nippy, when we go down to the floor for a play session we try to divert his attention to his toys when he starts getting a little over excited, or pushing him down with a firm 'No' sometimes this works, sometimes it doesnt, this would then be followed by standing up and ending the 'game' (ignoring him) if his nippyness continues, he then sometimes will run along biting the bottom of pants as we're walking away etc, this is when we usually say enough is enough and put him away, in his crate for 5-10 mins. We then bring him out and we can continue from there.
He can also get a little excited with our little one, nipping his hands and jumping around when he's rolling around or sat on the floor, again its a firm NO or if no stopping away for some time out.
Can anyone suggest anything we're doing - or not doing - that can be altered, we dont want to surpress his natural 'bullyness' but also want to nip this in the bud before he's bigger and considerably more painful!
Also, as he has not completed his vax course yet what are some good ways to start his socialisation off - we have 2 other dogs who he is fine with - and we also have visiting people/kids but i'm thinking is it worth carrying him around, say our local small car boot sale, or would it be a bit too much too quickly? any thoughts would be brilliant and thanks in advance.

:-)

I would take him out in your arms as often as possible so he can meet all different people in safety. I had my gsd and my last dog in a baby sling (not the type that straps on you back/front) for a good few weeks untill he was fully vaccinated and took him down to tyhe chool and around the shopping centre and anywhere else that would except dogs.
As far as crating him if he is a little ott rightly or wrongly others will correct me if this was not good advice when my gsd was little I would take him to his crate gently but firmly saying NO then Bed and kept in there for the count of 10. It seemed to work  and at 2 years old he now goes to his bed on command as well as when he wants too.

i think your doing really well so far.
it's fine to take him out with you as long as you carry him so no chance of picking anything up from other dogs if he is a confident pup then every bit of time spent meeting more people and getting used to different places and sounds is good but just do small amounts at a time in case it all gets to much. let people fuss him but make sure people are calm and don't push themselves on him so every time he meets someone it's a positive experience. a lot of this depends on your pup so take things slowly and give him chance to adjust to different situations without over doing things.
take him out when you take your other dogs for a walk, carrying again of course until his jabs are done. this will give him chance to watch the way they behave when out and he will see other dogs without coming into contact with them.
if you want to burn off a little more energy at home do one to one training with him in small bursts so he thinks it's fun and doesn't get bored or over tired. always better to end on a good note rather than him being fed up with what your trying to teach him and reward good behaviour and ignore or distract him when he's being naughty.
practise putting him on the lead in the garden to get him used to it before he starts his walks but don't pull him let him just get used to having it on and if he tries to chew it then used treats to distract again. move away from him a little and call him without pulling the lead then reward so he comes to you saying 'come' this will be the start of teaching him recall and also make being on the lead fun as he gets something nice for coming to you when called.
little things like when you feed him ask him to sit and use the word 'wait' so he learns to wait until you say it's ok for him to eat. you only make him wait a second or so at first then over time as he learns the word you can extend the time.
most of all though remember he's a pup so he needs small amounts of training often and lots of sleep and play. sometimes they get very moody and bite more when their tired even though they look like they've got loads of energy.
i do the time out thing with my youngest if she gets silly but i find distraction is always the best way to stop her. i don't use a crate but have a stair gate on the kitchen.
try keeping a couple of special toys that only come out when you need to distract him,most puppies get bored of toys that are around all the time.
make it fun to play with you not just your other dogs so they get chance for a bit of quiet to and the puppy will respond to you better  and give the pup a lot of one to one time as the training will be a lot easier ie playing, training and walking once he's had his jabs. if you only take him walks with your other dogs he will tend to follow their lead not yours.
your doing really well so far and i'm sure you know most of what i've said as you already have dogs.
i can't give you advice about the breed but most basics are the same.
enjoy your new boy.           

thanks for the brilliant advice people, we're taking our little guy out tomorrow to our local shops and see how he goes, they have some benches there we can sit on with him on our knee to watch passers by etc as he gets really wriggly when excited.
We had a bit of trouble earlier with him when an unexpected visitor turned up and he just went crazy! wiggling, jumping up and nipping like mad, he'd never met him before and you'd think it was his long lost friend... we had to intervene and crate him again, to protests and barks for a little bit before he'd calmed down enough to say hello properly!
Do you think it may be worth getting hold of a dog gate for the kitchen? - our kitchen directly faces the outside door so he could see visitors but not get close enough to go mad before they've even set foot in the door.
It seems at the minute we're correcting him more times than not at the moment - bless him - but with a small child around and a big chunky breed we need to make sure we put the effort in from day one, he's lined up for puppy classes soon so hopefully will burn off some excess energy there. :-)

As i said i have a gate on the kitchen, a dog gate as their taller and it works well for me.
when people come to your house try not to tell him off too much when he gets silly but use treats and try and get him to sit for it until your visitors are in the house so he stays a little calmer. also ask anyone who comes in to give him no eye contact and don't speak to him until he calms down. if he jumps up ask them to look away and fold their arms, turning their back on him hence ignoring the bad behaviour.
in time he will realise that he gets no reward for jumping up but if he sits and waits then he will get attention. most dogs only carry on jumping up at people if they get attention from it and it can be very hard for people to ignore a puppy but this method does work if you can make people do as you ask. you also have to be consistant with this as he'll get confused if some people let him jump up and give him attention and others don't.
if someone comes to my door i take my time and make my dogs sit, only when their calm will i open the door. people will understand why and want mind waiting.this makes a huge difference as they don't get over excited before someone comes in and stops things getting silly.
glad your going to go to training classes soon, this will enable you to teach a lot of commands that you will be able to use to control him and calm situations down.
try not to be constantly telling him off as distraction is a lot better and if he's told off a lot then he will more than likely ignore you in the end.   
i only put my youngest out to calm down on odd occasions and fine by using treats (which i carry in my pocket at all times) and distraction by throwing a ball etc in the house usually is enough to take her mind off doing the naughty things. hence she doesn't get told off very often. At training classes one of the best commands she's learnt is ' leave it ' and now she's a little older this can be used inside the house and out on walks. it's something you can used when you pup bits to but don't forget to reward with a treat when he does.

thank you. cant wait till his jabs are done and puppy classes can commence to give us a bit more direction. We never used them for our collies as they're both very foody and were really good from the off really (from what i can remember!)

we took him out today and it seemed to go very well, he sat on the benches outside the shops and watched the world go by, was happy to be fussed by a few passing children and a lovely lady saying how lovely he was :-) he only seemed a bit agitated by a huge plastic bag blowing around - we ignored it/him, and a lady wearing really high heels which clicked really loudly, he barked a little.

I think we definitely need to work on the greeting of visitors so thanks for the tips! he's not really reliable enough at sitting just yet but will concentrate on me if he knows i have cheese, so i think i'll put a little note on the door just telling people to be patient and not to excite him/fuss him just yet as he's in training.

How would you suggest we work on distraction with him with his nipping? at the moment i'm trying to keep him interested in his toys, replacing where he's trying to nip on me with his toy so he's biting that instead - with a sharp 'no', a walk away if it continues (he's got a really hard bite for a little one!?) and then the crate if it still continues.

He's pulled up - as in told 'no' and pushed away from my son or a sharp 'ah-ah' if he's getting even a little mouthy with him - normally he doesnt bother with him as my son isnt really bothered about the pup and does his own thing but on occasion when my son is playing on the floor he can get overexcited and try and play too rough, but i feel as again i'm constantly badgering him and saying 'no' /correcting all the time, can i call the pup away and reward with food instead if he does try to nip/jump up at my little one, will this be effective as a reward based motivation for him and will he then start to stop doing this (i dont want him thinking jumping up and nipping my son means a treat is coming lol) ? 

I'm really happy with him though as i did think he'd be WAY more OTT than he is actually and he has a relaxed calm attitude most of the time, so far so good.

Thanks for the replies, they're really informative. :-)

>How would you suggest we work on distraction with him with his nipping?

The best advice to control the puppy mouthing is in The Bite Stops Here. It really works!

ETA: Link is playing up at the moment. Typical!

if you call the pup away when he bites or jumps up and he comes to you say the word 'come' as he moves towards you then make him sit and give him a treat. this way you are not rewarding him biting but for coming to you on command. he will soon learn this word if you use it on every chance you get ie carry treats round with you and for no reason call him and when he comes say the word then reward. if your in another room or just sat down and he comes to you even though you havn't called him still say the word when you see him coming and reward.
do the same in the garden etc. it's a great way for him to learn the word that gets his attention and makes him come straight to you, as this is the start of doing good recall when he goes off the lead. if he can obey it at home then you can start using it when walking with a long line and call him and reward then when he does go off the lead you've got some control of him.