Hi all,

We have had our pup for 2 weeks now, she is 10 weeks old, she is really good and is learning quickly, however i need help with her nipping and mouthing.

Everytime she is touched or being stroked she mouthes and uses her teeth, constantly nipping. its like she doesnt know what else to do, she very rarely licks anything.

I have 2 kids, 5 and 2, they have both grown up with our sadly departed dog Storm, so they have an idea of how to behave around dogs but i have to remind them that this is not our old dog every now and again! 
She constantly mouthes them even when they are paying her not attention and are playing happily, she also grabs at the bottom of their trousers and socks and tugs. She hasn't hurt them yet but today she actually put her whole mouth round the upper of my daughters arm, she didnt bite as i clapped my hands and she instantly let go and ran into the kitchen. I told my daughter today that when her and her brother are playing then the pup would have to stay behind the babygate, which i really dont want to do as she is a family dog.

We have tried the high pitched yelp then folding our arms and ignoring her, Making a loud noise to startle her, saying no when she does it, taking her out of the room. and when she picks up a toy of her own we get really excited with her and play with her toy with her which she loves. when she chews something she shouldnt we simply remove it without a fuss and give her one of her toys.

I know we havn't had her for that long but she has made NO improvement at all on this front and as she is going to be a big dog when she is older i want to sort this. my old dog never even barked let alone nipped or bit, i dont think she knew how!! LOL
Some one has mentioned a book on here about bite inhibition (written by a man i think), if someone could let me know the name of it again or give me some advice i would greatly appreciate it.

thanks x

>a book on here about bite inhibition (written by a man i think), if someone could let me know the name of it again or give me some advice i would greatly appreciate it.

You're talking about the excellent article The Bite Stops Here by Ian Dunbar.

My Daisy was, I swear, half crocodile when she was very young - I've never known a puppy quite as mouthy and nippy (or else my memory's playing me tricks!). But by calmly and consistently removing her from the scene when she became too OTT, and watching her to try not to let her get over-excited in the first place, she slowly improved, and by the time she changed her tetth she was very much better. Now, at 10 months old, she's incredibly gentle. :-)

Does your pup have squeaky toys to play with? Those definitely make the mouthing worse because the whole point is that they should be bitten hard to make a noise. If you also make a squeal when you're bitten hard you're just behaving like a squeaky toy!

>I told my daughter today that when her and her brother are playing then the pup would have to stay behind the babygate, which i really dont want to do as she is a family dog.

That's the best idea till the pup's older. The fewer opportunities she has to play too rough and get too excited, the sooner she'll be gentler.

The bite stops here by Dr Ian Dunbar

I think putting a pup behind a gate whilst your kids are playing is great advice and won't stop this pup from becoming the family dog you hope for - in fact I'd say this helps not hinders that process.  My children were much older than yours and I still only ever allowed both together when pup was droopy and kids were calm (unless we were all together).  As a consequence my 3 dogs always follow the kids (now 16 and 15) if they have a DVD in their hands as it means TV time with a blanket and a smooch! :)

You say she's made no improvement at all.  Do not expect her to - it's her age, this is a normal process and she'll get worse before she gets better.  You just need to be clear about what you want and 100% consistent with your rules and your approach.  She will learn but don't expect it just yet

When she gets mouthy you must tell your kids to STOP and FREEZE.  Do nothing say nothing, hands off her, or stop walking, or stand up, or press their hands flat against their sides.  She's obviously very stimulated by them and any reaction simply prolongs the event.  Once they are still you can quietly intervene and call your dog away to do something more interesting.   I'd suggest you don't ask your children to learn any other techniques just yet - they're a bit young and it's too easy for both dog and child to get confused about how to behave.

What breed is she?

thanks for the ian dunbar info i am going to look it up straight away,
great advice about the kids, i was worried that by excluding pup it would make her less likely to intract better with them.

Its not just excitment though, the kids were laid on the floor colouring when the arm in mouth thing happened. when she is laid down and i or my husband stroke her calmly she responds with her teeth, giving her any attention means we get teeth, if im sat on the forward on the egde of the sofa with my hands together arms rested on my legs (if you know what i mean) she will nip/mouth me, in fact the only time she dosnt is when she is eating and i stroke her to show we are not after her food. all other times its the teeth, she had one squeeky toy for a day but it annoyed me so it has been thrown away! so she has rope toys and balls etc, I dont think she does it to hurt or intentionally bite as she doesnt actually 'bite' but its like lying on a bed of nails!!

She is a X breed of working group, sled dog descent! She was not bought to be a designer breed or anything other than our pet, we saw her and knew she was to be our dog, like the post the other day it was love at first sight and we picked each other!

not sure i like the idea of it getting worse though!! LOL,

>the kids were laid on the floor colouring when the arm in mouth thing happened. when she is laid down and i or my husband stroke her calmly she responds with her teeth, giving her any attention means we get teeth,

I bet your children touch with their hands, don't they? ;-) Remember that pups don't have hands, and can only use their mouths when they want to examine or hold something. They just need to learn to do it gently, which is very difficult when they still have the needle-sharp baby teeth. Even the same amount of pressure with the blunter adult teeth is far less painful.

>thanks for the ian dunbar info i am going to look it up straight away,

Just click on the link. :-)

Human babies put things in their mouth and feel the shape and texture with their tongue and so do puppies, the mouthing and nipping will be how she played with her litter mates,dam and any other dogs at the breeder, if it became painful then the game came to an abrupt end so the pup soon learnt to not bite so hard, you need to teach the pup that light mouthing is OK as that is how they pick up and carry things,I must have been very lucky with pups because I have never had dogs who did this as pups, either ones I have bought in or ones I have bred, the latter had at least 3 adults to teach them good manners.

Teething will be on the horizon, get 3 old tea towels, roll them up length ways and put 2 or 3 knots depending on how long the tea towel is, dampen them under the tap,wring out and pop into freezer till stiff, offer to pup one at a time and allow to chew, cooling the gums  and stopping them chewing on something they shouldn't, when they have gone limp, swap for a fresh one and dampen and pop back in the freezer, 3 allows you to always have one ready for use.

They are not puppies for long so enjoy this time.