# Why does Daisy only attack our 10yo?



## SPCnut (Apr 25, 2012)

I was hoping someone would have some advice for me. I was hoping to catch the behaviour on video if it would be more helpful.

Daisy has blossomed into a lovely dog. She is gentle and kind to all of us (Bob, Lane and me) except for Anna the 10yo. She is nippy, tugs on her shorts/night gown, growls, ... Why? Is it an attention issue? Is it because she does not play much with her (not to mention Anna is the reason we got the dog!). Anna has a hard time giving her the attention she may be looking for because of her aggression. Any ideas?


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## lady amanda (Nov 26, 2010)

is Daisy only 21 weeks?? if yes...this isn't aggression, just puppy behaviour. likely she is looking at your 10 year old as a puppy. and wants to just play and is excited. getting her to praise her alot when she is sitting for her, and getting the 10 year old to do lots of training with her would help the situation...but likely alot of this will also pass as Daisy gets older...as long as you work at it...but it isn't aggression, just a puppy being a puppy.


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## SPCnut (Apr 25, 2012)

Thank you, Amanda. Yes she is still a puppy and maybe aggression isn't the best choice of words for me to use. It is typical puppy behaviour. We are working with Anna to get past the nipping and help train her so Daisy knows that Anna is part of the disciplinary group as the rest of us. Bob and I have always said that Daisy sees Anna has her sister and just wants to play.


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## wellerfeller (Jul 12, 2011)

Yes as Amanda says puppies tend to regard children as siblings to be bitten, clawed, nipped and chewed on.
Your daughter could try playing games of fetch with your pup and to do some training with her. Also put your daughter in charge of feeding your puppy.
If they are playing and puppy gets OTT see if your daughter is happy to take puppy and remove her for a time out and calm down. If she is scared that puppy will bite her if she tries this then I would buy a lite training line ( pets at home) and that way your daughter can just pick up the line and gain control without having to actually put her hands on Daisy.
If this happens each and every time she starts biting then eventually she will learn not to do it otherwise the game is ended.
Good luck.


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## puppylove (Jul 25, 2011)

Beau behaved the same way towards my 20year old son - jumping up and biting his clothes. I always thought he regarded him as his playmate rather than an authority figure and was not showing Grant much respect. Thankfully it is a behaviour which he just stopped doing one day.


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## 2ndhandgal (Aug 29, 2011)

Children often react very differently to adults and give more rewarding reactions in terms of jumping, moving fast and screeching all of which pups will find fun. That is probably the reason Daisy finds her more rewarding to carry out this behaviour so the solution probably rests more with curbing Annas reactions than Daisys, Get Anna to react the same way as the rest of you do and Daisy will stop her behaviour.


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## Minnie (Jun 8, 2012)

We have the same problem !! We bought our 8 week old puppy mainly for our 15 year old son and he does the same biting and nipping at his trousers and ankles really aggressively and our son has to run and jump on our garden chairs when he takes pup out. He has tried clapping his hands loudly just to frighten him into stopping but to no avail. Hes tried distracting him but he takes no notice. Should he try the squirting of water from a spray bottle ? - my daughter did this with her dog to stop him barking - and it worked. Or is there another solution which will not upset our pup as I don't want to frighten him.


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## Hfd (Aug 19, 2011)

Billy used to be a bit like this with our youngest (8) and after speaking to others about it we realized that he was just trying to find his place in the pack. It seems they go for the weakest link - maybe the youngest and try and assert themselves above them. 
We got our daughter involved with feeding - making her responsible for putting the bowl down at mealtimes and asking Billy to sit / wait and then take it. We also used time out for a while in the downstairs cloak.
It only lasted a couple of months and he is in no way aggressive or snappy / bitey at all. It is normal puppy behaviour and will soon pass.
Good luck
H x


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## Very muddy (Jun 8, 2012)

This is really interesting. Monty, our 13 week old pup, always launches his most boisterous attacks on my 8 year old son. Monty is a bit weary of my 11 year old daughter because she's quite bossy and is trying to train him! ;-) 

We don't have a vast experience but we've found as soon as Monty gets a bit out of hand with my son, we all stop what we're doing, turn our backs on him and ignore him totally. if he still continues then we leave the kitchen and leave Monty for a bit of thinking time. He's normally better when we go back to him and I think the message is getting through - very slowly. isn't it interesting that they go for the smallest?!

X


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## wilfiboy (Sep 18, 2010)

Wilf would do similar with my son when we first got him, my son was also 8 ..... But my son was the one running away, which encouraged the chase,pulling up his feet, which encouraged the jumping, and screeching all so exciting to a young pup, this did delay my son finding the pup a pleasure. Getting him to feed him and just 'trying" to get him to realise that how he was acting was causing the problem. Soon calmed down and obviously they both grew up and are bestest buddies x


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