Hi, we have a 13 week old springer spaniel pup, Harvey, we have had him for 41/2 weeks. He has settled in really well, is crated trained, although mainly only sleeps in his crate and spends the odd hour or two in it some days. The problem we have is his biting, he nips us when we come home or first thing in the morning when he is excited, although this is lessening and not really a problem. However, Harvey tends to bite my 6 year old daughter, Jessica quite often, especially when she plays with him. If another member of the family throws a toy for Harvey he will retrieve it bring it back, have a tug of war and then let the toy go so it can be thrown. With Jessica however, Harvey loses interest in the toy and starts to jump up and bite her, this morning he bit her just below her eye and actually broke the skin. We were not able to tell Harvey off as Jess did not tell us about the bite because she did not want to get Harvey into trouble, in fact she rarely complains when he bites her. I know he does not bite her because she is constantly mauling him because firstly she is at school all day and secondly Harvey goes into his crate when he wants to be left alone (we leave the door open for him) and the children have been told to leave him alone when he goes into his crate, which they do. I am sure Harvey does not mean to hurt my daughter and is only playing, but am concerned that this will get out of hand if we do not stop it. He has not been out for a proper walk yet as he has only just had his final vaccination and cannot go out for a week and although we have a large garden i know this is not a substitute so maybe he will calm down a bit when he gets more excercise. I would be less concerned if he behaved this way towards us all, but it is really only jess and to a less extent my 10 yr old son. I do not think Jess is forceful enough at shouting no when he bi1tes. I would be really grateful for any advice from anyone.
Loraine

I feel the reason that he finds Jess most exciting is that, naturally, her voice will be higher in pitch to the rest of you, and dogs find high-pitched noises thrilling - much like other puppies' yips. When she shouts "no",this difference could be emphasised even more, especially if she pushes him away at the same time (pups think this is a marvellous game!)

As you say this behaviour is lessening, I would think that he will grow out of it, especially once he starts getting out and about more.

In the meantime, I would make sure Jess doesn't play rough-and-tumble games that could get out of hand, and keep the games she plays with him as calm as possible for a while.

Hi Loraine
we had the same problem with our Youngest and our dobe when we got him ,He sees the youngest as a littermate and so will try to dominate and therefore rise above her in the pecking order in the 'pack'.
its very hard for the little ones to be forcefull when they have a bouncy puppy jumping up at them .
we made the dog totally dependant on Joe for food and water and treats ,he had to sit and wait untill Joe 'allowed' him to eat and Joe always ate first -even if it was only a biscuit ,we would prepare the food ,put it on the table and then Joe would have a biscuit ( seemingly out of the dogs bowl )
we put the toys away and only Joe would bring them out and Joe would end the game and put the toys away again .
it doesn't take long for the penny to drop and although he does try it on now and again on the whole he listens to Joe and they do have a very good relationship :)
HTH
Liz :)
I've just looked at the post above and I remembered about the games -no rough and tumble and no tugging games ,nothing where your daughter could 'loose'

Hi Liz

Would you like to add a version of your mail above to the Advice to New Puppy Owners - Mouthing thread please?

Christine

Oh Lordy !!!-you mean I've actually said something sensible ;)
liz

Well I thought so :) Thanks Liz

Christine

Thanks for the advice, we will get Jess to take over Harvey's feeding and the other suggestions you made. I have also told her to try to be very calm with him and not run around and get him excited.
Loraine

Hi, I have a Belgian Shepherd (Malinoise), Tess, she is almost 7 months old and we used to have the same problem with her biting my 6 year old son. Eventually we were so worried that we bought her a muzzle. Every time she bit and woudn't stop we put the muzzle on her and took it off when she calmed down. After just a few days of this she realised what would happen if she bit and didn't like it and it worked, she stopped biting. Now she never bites. She seemed to have the need to have something in her mouth and that's what she does now, every time she gets excited, when we come down in the morning or come in from school, she automatically picks something up, usually one of her cuddly toys or a sock if there is one handy, and continues to greet us as excitedly as ever but is unable to bite as she has her mouth full. She and my son now get on so much better. Hope this is some help.