We have a 12 week old Basset Hound puppy who nips the children when he is excited as well as barking at them. Any tips on what to do because the children wont come downstairs at the moment!!

Hi Charlie,
Snap. Our Sparky does the same, but has got better over the first week we've had him, there's a really helpful thread on this - try putting "jumping" in the search, and look for the "jumpy bitey choc lab puppy", I found it really useful.
HTH
Tracy

It is a perfectly natural way for puppies to behave - although not very pleasant at times ;)
So please dont think you have an aggresive or problematic pup . Everytime pup bites, you must firmly say "NO" and you must do this EVERY time to remain consisitent . Pups like childrens voices - they are high pitched and exciting and pup thinks they are playing but make sure the children also say "NO" whe pup bites and dont let them turn it into any kind of game .
By the way - It does wear off in time :)
Good luck
lel

I was just about to post a similar message myself. My pup is 11 weeks & gets really excitable round the children. He jumps up & nips but then gets really OTT & starts to growl & bite. Hes had me in tears cause it hurts sooo much, I have to watch him none stop. Its worse because the children are on school hols & I get a house full of under 5s when they all come round to play. Im doing all the things in the Gwen Bailey book but you say NO! to him (the neighbours think I'm always yelling at my hubby I yell so loud!) & he stops but then carries on again. Please help me I want to 'nip' this in the bud. I know its not the dogs fault, it must be me doing something wrong. The puppy was from a wonderful breeder & all the dogs were great big softies.
Penny

Hi Penny,
With all those small children with their high-pitched voices and sudden movements running around, your pup is probably getting over-excited. Nobody's fault, it just happens! When you can see that the pup is starting to get hyper, it is a case of "time out" for everyone. Pup may be put in his bed/crate to wind down a bit, and maybe also get the children to play in another room (Lego or something quieter for a while?). If the breeders dogs were all softies, is very likely yours will be too when he's grown up. It's one of those annoying things pups do - just like children playing noisy games - they all grow out of it in time!
:)

Hiya
Thanx for the reply. The children are the neighbours so they spend the day running between houses, its mainly outside so we can limit the dogs access to them. Yesterday I had to keep him on a lead in the garden it was the only way I could let him out for a wee. It made me feel I had a bit more control over him. I wondered if that was a good thing to do. I let him sit & watch the kids while they played but he couldnt join in. Sounds bad that, I wouldnt let him join in but it gave me peace of mind. I couldnt bear to think of him biting anyone.:-(

Can you fence off a portion of the garden that he can go in so that he will be safe from the children (and vice versa!!)?
:)

I wish I could fence it off it would make life a lot easier. Its quite a big garden so I can take him away from the kids but not completely seperate them. Kids on bikes & push along cars are so tempting for him, hed just chase them all day long.

It shouldn't be too difficult to make a temporary fence out of panels of wood and chicken wire. How good is your husband with a saw, hammer and nails?
:)

ermmm hes hopeless!!! By the time he got it done the dog would be drawing his old age pension :-) I could try doing something myself, knock a few bits of wood together.

Aah, I predict a visit to B[$Q followed by some "quality, together time ]) " this weekend. But don't blame me if it ends in tears!
:)

<~~~~puts workman clothes on in the style of the village people :-D I guess if hubby moans I could always give him some time out in the dog crate! :-)

I have no-one to do DIY for me and am hopeless. I bought 4 foot high Galvanised (10 gauge 2 inch square) Weldmesh panels from a company called Oakenden. The panels were attached to galvanised angle Iron Posts with holes for the bolts to attach the panels. These were just shoved into the ground two feet, and it all stays up fine. I piece includes a gate, and it was worth the price and doesn't look bad as it is silver and see through.

I did that with mine, one to stop my first dog fence barking, and so that the kids could have a poo free zone to play and have their freinds to play without the dog gettibng involved.

Penny,

I feel quite relieved to read your posts as I am having such a horrible day. Our 11 week old yorkie cross has done nothing but try to bite my 3 year olds legs, even if he is taking no notice of her at all, she starts growling, barking and then biting..I've tried shouting a loud NO then ignoring her, tried yelping and ending game and tried time out. But as soon as we go back in with her "calmly" she starts the nipping followed bygrowling and barking..
Its not just the little one she does it with either, I have a ten year old who is becoming more scared of her every day.

And even if I bend down gently and calmly to stroke her she begins the growiling..nipping etc.
I am feeling so miserable about it all as she is sooo gorgeous otherwise..

Hi thanks for your replies, it makes you feel a bit better just knowing that everyone else has the same problems and it isnt just your puppy! We are going to keep on persevering with the "no" when he bites - ironically my youngest, who is 2, is the best with him.

Hi Charlie, I know what you mean I feel like im doing something wrong but everyone seems to go through the same thing with biting & nipping. I was talking to someone today who said to make sure that his teeth werent hurting as they started to come through, they suggested Bonjela to rub on his gums. I hadnt thought of this it might explain why he gets a bit grumpy sometimes.

kids won't come down? sounds like a good idea, could you another dog? to make extra sure?
Sorry just my sick sense of humour!!

hi daisychain,
We have had a mouthing/biting problem with our 8/9mth old rescue pup. Our vet who is also a behavourists advised that when our dog did mouth us we were to yelp like another dog would if it had been hurt, in turn this would teach the dog to stop what it was doing. I have spent the past 2 weeks purposly with my hand in my dogs mouth, yelping every time his mouth/teeth came into contact with my hand with any force. He is now just starting to relise that this must be hurting and is now starting to treat peoples fleshy bits eg. hands/fingers and even toes, a lot more gently, even in some instances spitting them out of his mouth. As a result of this he is even starting to take treats a lot more gently and not snaping at them so much. Try this in combination with saying No, it may work for you it seems to working for me.

Hi Nicholena,

Try a John Rogerson trick and smear hot chillies on your fingers or some other obnoicious taste then you may find that nibbling fingers is not so great. Mind you you could find your dog then loves hot chille fingers.

Knowing our luck he probaly will he eats practically everything else, whether he is spose to or not.

i tried the chilli paste with my pup, so he decided to bit my nose instead, on rubbing my nose chilli paste went in my eye be warned it hurts

I'll let you into a secret I've started to put a bit of chilli powder by the flappy bits at the bottom of the sofa. Dylan loves to chew at them, but this has worked a treat :-D

clove oil is another good idea, Meg loathes it, I'm halfway tempted to make us all bath in the stuff!!!!! :D