Hi, Bella is now 12 weeks old. She has now settled into family life very well but the only thing that is causing problems is that she will not stop nipping my grandchildren aged 12, 8 and 3. My 3 year old grandson is never left with her on his own but my 12 year old granddaughter lives with me and is in tears most days because Bella nips at her legs when she walks or regularly umps up at her trying to nip her face. We have tried spraying a jet of water at her with no affect. Any advice would be greatly appreciated as my daughter isn't visiting very much because of Bella. I have tried keeping her behind the baby gate until my grandchildren come in and then bring her in when they have got their coats etc off and it is calmer but she makes a beeline for their legs.
I am an inexperienced puppy owner of 20 week old Jessie. I have two small children aged 4 and 6. We had this problem for a while - so many tears! She was a real biter. The knack is to teach the children not to reward her for nippy behaviour. I got my kids to stand up straight and turn their backs and keep still the minute she started biting. This worked wonders. Also important to make sure you don't let her bite adults either. We also have a stair gate. I taught her to sit and then ask her to sit before visitors come in, which immediately calms her down. Things have improved massively, so hang on in there! She has the odd nip now, but nowhere near as bad as it was. Good luck!
Nipping is a very common puppy problem, so you're not alone! I'm sure it's very unpleasant and a bit scary for your grandchildren. No doubt you've explained that Bella is just playing, but it's not a nice game from their perspective. A lot of puppies/dogs find a spray of water to be very exciting and more often than not it riles them up more and they get even more bouncy and nippy. So I'd abandon the water spray. You haven't described what your grandchildren are doing before and during nipping, but any movement or noise or emotional reaction is going to be very exciting for Bella. So it's important that they stay quiet and calm. I know that's not easy, but it's important. The major part of the solution is going to be to train Bella to do something else that is not compatible with jumping and nipping. Sitting or lying down are two good options. First of all, you can work on training a really good, fast response to your sit and down cues, on your own. Then, with your grandkids present but on the other side of the baby gate train the sit and down again. Train your grandchildren to get her to sit and down from the other side of the baby gate. Then do it with Bella on lead and everyone on the same side of the baby gate. Then off lead. All of the above must involve high value treats (like warm roast chicken or sausage). This might take multiple sessions over different visits for the younger ones. Maybe for the next few visits puppy and children should stay on opposite sides of the baby gate. Ultimately you want to give both the grandkids and Bella a range of alternative behaviours, so that when Bella approaches the kids they can ask her to sit or lie down for a pat. As she gets older the nipping will reduce but don't just rely on that happening. You are right to want to proactively break the association between kids and nipping/jumping at faces.
I'm sure a wiser owner than me will be along to offer some advice, but I do understand your problem. We have four grandchildren aged 7,4,2 and 9 months. None of them are terribly happy being around Saba, who like your youngster, likes to greet them with licks and sometimes nips. He's not as bad now at 8 months old as he was at 4 months, but there's still a way to go in teaching him the nice way to be with the children. I did seriously consider asking his breeder to take him back as his behaviour was having a detrimental impact on our relationship with the children and their parents. We have explained to the oldest two that they must not call him and then run away screaming, nor should they take his toys and tease him with them, so there's learning to do on both sides. Oddly, our eldest girl likes to come for walks, and is absolutely fine with Saba when she's on her own, playing ball, treating for simple commands, and occasionally, holding his lead! The four-year old is practically hysterical from the moment she arrives, so often Saba and I head out just to avoid any conflict or upset for him. Not an ideal solution, but manageable for all concerned. Our two year-old grandson is the least bothered by the dog, and I think that to some extent, the girls feed off each other. We use a baby gate to separate Saba from the children, and the children understand that if he's in his bed or his crate, then they must not bother him at all. It's hard work, but Rome wasn't built in a day!
Hi Trish, you are hitting the most challenging age for biting about now, so hang on in there, things will start to get better soon. You've had some great tips here, and you may also find it helpful to read this guide to biting (and how to stop it). Let us know how you get on
Thanks For the advice. My 12 year old granddaughter has turned her back on Bella but she still bites her legs. I will get her to stand up straight and tense her legs to see if that helps. It worked. While I was writing this reply Bella launched herself at my granddaughter's leg. I told her to turn her back and stand straight. What does Jessie do when you're children are playing as Bella is at her worst when she gets excited?
Thanks for the advice. My 8 year old granddaughter is so frightened of Bella she gets almost hysterical on coming into the house which in turn makes Bella even more excited. Bella is very good at the sit/down commands so I will try and get my 8 year old to get involved with the training and taking her out for a walk with us. My 3 year old grandson thinks it's great fun when she starts nipping him until her nips really hurt him. More difficult with him because he doesn't speak or understand too much of what is said to him. I will carry on with the training and hope things settle down as Bella is an absolute joy to have around.
Jessie is also at her worse when they are playing. She forgot herself this morning and nipped. If it gets too mad we stop play dead. Today she had 5 minutes time out in her crate and she calmed down. It seems at its worse when the kids get down to her level on the floor. I tend to stop this type of play and try and redirect them to tug of war with a rope toy or fetch with a ball. Jessie is also confined to the kitchen,so the kids can go and play elsewhere if it all gets too much. I hope things get better, they certainly have here. Nipping is much rarer! I also give praise and treats for nice calm behaviour.
It does get better, honestly, the nipping and biting does all stop. If the human child is really hysterical this won't be helping. I'd consider just separating them until the human child can behave, and the puppy is a little older (or vice versa or both!).
I think separation is also a good plan. My six year old was terrified to start with, so we just let them be together for very short periods with me heavily supervising until my daughter got braver and Jessie got calmer. We used to sit down together with Jessie on my knee with me holding a rawhide chew so the kids could pet and stroke Jessie whilst her teeth were occupied! Also much harder with the 3 year old! But worth keeping explaining the rules to him, as he may well understand more than you think. We had six, 3 and 4 year old come to the house when she was v little. I explained the rules of being around the dog and supervised them very closely when they met her (I sat holding her with a chew toy at hand) and let them stroke her. They were all remarkably good! She then went in her crate with a Kong for most of their visit. I think small, very heavily supervised interactions are probably best whilst she is nippy! Honestly, it won't last forever, hang in there. Then maybe when this phase is over you could work with the 8 year old on teaching Bella some cool tricks. We are working on high five here!
Whilst I have supervised all visits I don't think I have had as much control over Bella and will definitely take on board your suggestions of sitting with Bella on my knee while I am sitting next to my 8 year old granddaughter.
@trish65 I am so sorry to hear this. It WILL get better, as everyone says. It's a bit like colicky babies, it seems like forever at the time, but really is over pretty quickly in the whole scheme of things. I hope you are managing to see your little ones without "gnasher" temporarily. x
Ah this won't be forever..... We don't have children but I do have a neice and nephew that visit nearly every day they were 18 months and 2 1/2 when Dexter arrived on the scene ..He was 5 months old and wasn't a terrible mouther but he was jumping up of course.My Sister isn't very 'doggie' and it was quite a strain....I had specific areas in the house were they could be separate and then they were closely supervised when they were together....Even being so young we tried ( and pretty successfully to be honest) to teach them not to run, to put their things up on the breakfast bar not the floor , obviously this needed to be supervised but by showing them and reminding them,they and the brightly coloured plastic human toys mostly survived ...... George and Sophie are 5 and 7 now...they have recently come off a 'treating ban' because I wasn't happy with their handling of Dexter.....separately they are fine asking him for simple behaviours and then rewarding him but together they were getting giddy and it was confusing for him.They weren't listening to me either when I was asking the, to calm it down so all treat privileges were off for them for a little while until they remembered the rules we've always taught them ! Much to Dexter's chagrin!
My cousins two girls are now 8 and 10 and cone to stay over school holidays from time to time. When homer was a puppy a tonight them to stand upright and still with their arm folded to their chest like a tree trunk when he got too much for them. Four years ago the younger girl was just 4 and got really good with him. She had a slight seech defect and used our hand commands for wit wait and still plays endless find it games with him. The older one is a nightmare. On their last visit she went statight upstarts and closed the door. When I insisted she came down for dinner, she hovered whimsically in the hall, with encouraged homer to bound up and bark. It was a tiresome week. I'd have the younger to stay any day but not the older until she can be more confident with Homer. My baby niece is being introduced to homer from an early age and he tries to teach her how to play ball. He's older and more calm now.
Oh dear, I can completely imagine it makes you sad. I really feel for you. It will get better. My little girl was really scared and she adores Jessie now. You will get there. Xxxx
I'm mildly obsessed with baby gates. They've saved my sanity and my nerves not so much with my daughter and dogs but mostly when people were visiting with their young children who had no idea how to behave around dogs. You've had some great advice about training alternative behaviour in both pup and children. I wish you lots of luck and many, many visits to come
Thank you for all the advice which has been really helpful. My 12 year old granddaughter is now getting on a bit better with Bella. The second Bella starts to nip she stops playing with her and turns her back on her which seems to be working. This morning I resorted to putting Bella behind the baby gate with a kong to chew as my other grandchildren visited. My 8 year old had listened to what I had told her and came in very quietly but the 3 year old got over excited and started squealing which in turn made Bella excited. As he doesn't talk I am going to try hand commands with him. I keep thinking Rome wasn't built in a day when I am chasing Bella around the garden with dirty washing in her mouth or she is gnawing on my dining chair and looks at me as much as to say 'what is your problem'.
It really does get better over time. Until Harley was 1 she would get very excited by screaming children and those running around waving their hands. I work with children, and lots of them have additional needs. My dog, Harley, is now 2.5 years old and I have taken her to work with me on the odd occasion for the past year. This afternoon we went on a beach walk with a young 7 year old girl with ADHD who struggles with too many instructions and can't sit still. It went brilliantly. I gave her a few dos and donts and it was great to watch they run around playing together for over an hour. Keep going, it will improve
