# Puppy and young children



## Emily's mommy (Aug 8, 2011)

Hi! I just joined a few minutes ago! Emily is 13 weeks old and I have a three year old son and an eight year old son. The problem is that Emily thinks the 3 year old is another puppy and nips and chases him and he doesn't care, and the 8 year old is scared of her! They can't have their feet dangling over the edge of the couch at all or she goes for their socks and won't let go! Other than her nipping when she is excited and in a playful mood (which is often around the kids!), she is doing well with training, but I need help with this issue. I am afraid she will do this to all little kids and it will make her aggressive. Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks.


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## Sezra (May 20, 2011)

Hi.

I have Daisy who is 5 months but she only joined our family last week. As a childminder it was really important to me to know how to work with the dog and the children together. I was reccomended this book by a great trainer and I found it brilliant. It is easy to read, gives you practical advice on how to involve the children in the training and covers children of all ages. 

Daisy gets very excited when Henry my 5 year old comes down in the morning, I think she sees him as a litter mate! We have been getting Henry to stand like a tree. He turns away from Daisy and stands firm with his arms folded. This is slowly working. If she is mouthing you or the children make an exaggerated 'Yelp' sound. This lets her know that she has mouthed/nipped to hard and will help to teach her bite inhibition.The other thing to do is all leave the room including the adults. Emily wont mind losing the children but she wont want to lose the adults aswell. By leaving the room and depriving her of attention she will know that this is not acceptable. 

I hope this helps but I thoroughly reccomend the book! 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Living-Kids...Z950/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1312782310&sr=8-1


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## Emma (Apr 29, 2011)

Awww don't worry she won't be aggressive it's just a phase that every puppy goes thru. I don't have any kids but lots come to visit and when maggie was at that stage I instructed them on what to do before they came in the house, don't run, if she's rough stop what u are doing turn ur back and fold ur arms etc. My friend had a lab puppy who terrorised their wee girl and they found a big difference when they put her in charge of feeding (supervised of course!). Main thing to remember is that they all go thru this and most will grow out of it pretty quickly. Time outs are another thing that can help. Emma x


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## Emily's mommy (Aug 8, 2011)

Thank you! I will definitely get that book!


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## Emily's mommy (Aug 8, 2011)

Thank you for the advice! Yesterday I actually did start having to two younger kids feed her which I hope will help!


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## calli.h (Aug 29, 2011)

Hi, I know what your going through I have 2 girls 5 & 2 who Arthur thinks are puppies and chases them!! Even when my eldest says no and stands up he still thinks its a game as her voice is quite high pitched - we have told her that she has to practice a big deep voice so he knows that she isnt playing.... my youngest doesnt have this problem as she shouts all the time!! He is starting puppy class next week so im hoping for some ideas and techniques to help! The thing we found has worked is the standing up and turning away from him with our arms folded, also the replacing the clothes nipping for a a chew toy! Good Luck x


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## DONNA (Jan 7, 2011)

Hi Sheryl I have Buddy and have gone through excatly the same as you (it is getting better) I do everything Sarah said and also ive been getting my youngest to help train Buddy by playing games with him Buddy then forgets about nipping her and they both have a fun time.


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## robbob2811 (Sep 22, 2011)

Hi I was wondering does your puppy growl as well when you move him from where he is happy? our puppy is and I'm finding it quite worrying


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## Emily's mommy (Aug 8, 2011)

Yes, actually she does. The nipping has actually improved overall but when she is in her favorite place which is behind a couch, she growls at times if we try to move her, especially if she brought a " treasure" to chew on there, like a kids toy or sock. She growls and nips at our hands, and I too find it very disturbing. Any suggestions anyone?


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## Laura(L)Izzie (Sep 9, 2011)

I wouldn'y worry about the growling, Izzie is one now and she still does it but I wouldn't call it aggression, it's just her way of telling us that she is comfy and doesn't want to be moved, but if you do move her she won't do anything about it. Izzie growls at me all the time when I disturb her (generally because she has been sleeping), last night is a good example, I needed to let her out for a wee before she went to bed but she was sleeping on the floor, she's very clever (she wouldn't let me pick her up, she pushed her paw against my arm so that I couldn't!) So we didn't bother making her go out as she obviously didn't want to, she was fine  I think it's just your dogs way of telling you they'd rather not be disturbed, and even though Izzie will try and bite (which doesn't hurt & she doesn't seem like she's trying to hurt us either) as soon as you leave her alone again she is fine.
If it is really bad, or gets really bad then you may need some way to train her, but if it isn't actually an aggressive problem I wouldn't worry 
Good luck both of you!
Laura xx


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