I feel a faliure! Max seems to be getting worserather than better. He is really rough with the kids and they are finding it hard to be firm with him and are infact letting him dominate them. They are all at school in the day and they come out all excited to play with him but within minutes they are upset cos they are just getting hurt. He doesnt take no for an answer so I am at a loss. I refuse to give up and as soon as he has had his jabs we are going to a training class but till then I am stuck in this situation. I am shattered and have 8yr old off school with sickness bug so  really struggling. He is beautiful though!! I must be mad to fall for this terror!!!

The best thing (though it's very difficult to do!) is to make sure that the children are calm and quiet when they around the puppy. If they get excited, so will he - after all, they're all young together!

Hello, I have been reading your posts, don't despair it takes time to mould your baby boy into a well mannered lad. I have a 12week old pup, and you just need to be consistent in your 'moulding'. He doesn't understand No just yet, but he will in time.. I find having two other dogs, and three children that I have to be with him on a one to one, quitely to get him to focus. I do this several times a day. With the children we have got house rules that if he plays rough the children silently walk away, he soon gets the message, after a minute time out he seems quiet and gentle. With the other dogs however he gets limited access but has great fun when he is allowed to play, their games are rough. Bearing this in mind, he sees you all as puppy playmates at the moment.
If he continues to be hyper even after a few weeks consistent moulding, I might change his diet, like kids certain foods cause hyperactivity.
This is a great board, and there is always someone on hand to offer friendly advice.
All the best, post your progress.
Michelle.

How old is Max?

If your children come home all excited to play with Max, that could be a part of the problem. Of course they are excited, :) they wouldn't be normal if they weren't, but Max will realise this and get excited too!! If possible for a few weeks try to keep your children very calm and sensible when they play with him and get them involved in his feeding and training.
A helpful book may be Puppy Training for Kids by Sarah Whitehead from Pets at Home; if you can get a routine going and get the kids involved in structured play and training it may be very helpful :)

Lindsay
X

max is 8 and a half weeks and he thinks he is the biggest bravest cleverest boy in the world. He also thinks we are weedy with all the yelping when he chews us! I am just hoping the kids will grow in confidence with him and also at the moment i think they all just want to be mega nice to him so he likes them but as the novelty wears off which I am sure it will they will be firmer because they will be sick of all the little teeth marks on their arms and legs. Lets just hope this happens before I get social services on my doorstep!!!!

Max is just a very tiny baby......he has loads of time to improve (you cant have had him very long). I strongly recommend booking him in to puppy class as soon as he is jabbed.
Read lots of books that have been recommended to you, and when the kids are at school, you can practise the ways of managing his nippy behaviour. I personally would not allow him unsupervised pay with the kids...if you are with them then you can control the way they react to him. Keep his time with the kids short to stop him getting too wound up. Please dont give up, it is very early days. try to teach him to sit and lie down for a treat, then you can use this command if he gets overly boisterous.

Think I would be inclined to put the pup into a cage or separate room when the children first come in and wait till they have calmed down before letting the pup in to see them. At the moment do not allow play just petting and calm companionship, remove the pup the moment there is any rough play. It should show the pup that it is not allowed and help teach the children that the pup is not to be overexcited. It is fine for the pup to rush around the room and play with his own toys but the children should not be involved with this sort of play until the pup, and the children, have learned where the boundaries are.

When I had my first dog of a very exciteable reactive breed it was never allowed to play with the children.  As soon as children (mine or others) were up on their feet pup had to come and lie down by me.  She was only allowed to have quiet petting sessions with mine or any other child.  I decided on this course of behaviour when on the first day of having her my daughter ran up the garden path with pup following, and it grabbed her trousers and pulled them down knocking her over.

The coming to Mum when there was any running about by chi9ldren became so ingrained that she would do it of her own accord when in the park, and we would sit quietly together while my daughter played with soem other children or went on the swings.

My second dog (first of my current breed, who adore children aned can be very in your face affectionate) came along when my son was 14 months and daughter was 4 1/2.  Evne sitting she could knock him flying, so she was taught that shw would only get attention whenlying down. 

My dogs have never been allowed to actively 'play' with children.  Kids are for getting treats and strokes from, other dogs are for rough housing with,a nd never the two can be confused in my Opinion.  This way your pup.dog will never make the mistake of trying to play with other peoples kids leading to all sorts of problems if the child gets frightened or accidentally hurt.  Mine do have an awful habit of sitting on kids though.:D

That's great advice :)

ditto :)

And double ditto!! :)

I had to smile too at your mention of that reactive breed Barbara.....;)  so like my girl.

Lindsay
X

She was anutter, but5 around kids she had it just right.  She would find them overwhelming at times, and would then come to me, and I would let her go upstairs out of the way to chill out.  It is very sad that she dies so young at only 3 1/2 years old :(

Brainless - that is sad, i'm sorry xx
Katyb - i'm not sure whether this would work as I dont have children but might it be a good idea to have them visit him one at a time, following the advice given by everybody else who knows what they're talking about? Leon used to get so excited with children around but the more there were, the more boisterous he got. Obviously not sure how many you have...