Puppy dominant - biting youngest child

[pyxigirl]

My 10 week old English Bulldog puppy "Gus" has been with us since he was 7 weeks old, when he first came home, the first week he tried to act dominant with us, sometimes growling or nipping when he didnt want us to pick him up - we corrected this by immediately rolling him onto his back and gently but firmly pinning him on the side of his neck with our fingers like the mothers "bite" (such as Cesar Milan does) this worked for me, my husband, and our 7 year old daughter, and he stopped this behavior with us completely - except for when my other daughter, my 6 year old plays with him, he will act extremely bratty with her and very dominant and if he steals her toy and she tries to take it away by saying "NO Gus" and attempting to take back the toy, he growls/bites her, yesterday he tore her skin and made her bleed. How do I teach him that this is not acceptable?? when he bites her I rush over to them right away and use a firm voice "NO bad!" and I also tried running over and immediately pinning him down while my daughter is right there, and he becomes very submissive to ME, but he seems to know that he can push her around because she is more soft spoken and smaller then any of us. If he keeps up this dominance as he grows larger, I do not know what to do. Any suggestions would be great. thank you.

 

[Cooper11]

He is just a baby so he is just playing. The growling and biting is just puppy play! I totally understand how you are feeling. I picked Cooper out because he was a spunky curious dog and after I bought him a few weeks later I was wondering "what did I do" I was wondering if I chose the right pup! I have a 7 year old and a 2 year old. & yeara old could defend herself pretty well but she did get a few good bites on her. My 2 year old is another story! I felt so bad for him Cooper would bite him so hard and make him bleed. Some of the bites were really deep and bled a lot! I would sometimes put Cooper in his Kennel to defuse the situation. He will grow out of this. Around 4 months old he will start losing his baby teeth and let me tell you his adult teeth are NOT the knives his baby teeth are. Cooper settled down a lot after he started losing his teeth to. He is now 7 months and a lover...he is such a chill relaxed dog and I am so happy I have him. This is just a phase one thing I would suggest is tell you kids not to run from him because it eggs him on more and he thinks they are really playing then he may aready be chasing them when your children run from him! The bigger he gets the worse he gets because he is going to be able to take your kids down. But like I said he will grow out of it. I would put my hand around his mouth closing it shut and say no biting or I would tap him on the nose with 2 fingers say NO NO No biting!!!Just keep up doing what you are doing making sure he knows it is not acceptable behavior. Gracie never went through the biting stage, I mean she would do her randoms playing bites here and there but nothing like Cooper! Coop still will have his days where he will bite or nip the kids but it is just puppy play! He has learned the soft biting play as well but sometimes he will get carried away and bite a little hard. Just keep and eye on your pup and correct him when you need to!

[MENTION=4369]pyxigirl[/MENTION]

 

[EmmittPylate]

My Emmitt does this to my 5 yr old son also I just got a water bottle put some coins in it and he tells Emmitt no and shakes it.. I don't know if its the right thing to do but Emmitt doesn't like it and he stops.. I know he will grow out of it but in the mean time it works.

 

[izstigspunks]

With the toy grabbing, that's puppy play as well. I don't have kids but my 2 bullies (4.5 and 2 years old) grab each others toys even to this day. Half the time I let them play tug with it, the other half I distract one of them by bringing in another toy into the mix.

I'm not sure what the moms here do to control the situation though, they should chime in soon. But I'm assuming it's making sure that the toys are out of reach from their bullies.

Oh and hi! welcome to the forum. Which part of Canada are you from? There are several of us here from all over the country. So glad you found us.

 

[Alice Kable]

Tell your kids that if they run or squeal the puppy will get very excited and think, "this is a fun game". Gus is a baby and the growling and biting is how he played with his littermates. They need to tell him a firm NO and if he doesn't listen give him time out in a crate. He will grow out of the biting.

 

[JAKEISGREAT]

glad you found us! I agree with others..puppies are real biters and a firm no every time..along with a distraction will usually work. It takes time and as the adult, the real training has to come from you. If it persists, I'd use a time out and remove your Gus until he calms own. Jake was so in love with my grandson ...a year later my poor grandson comes into the house saying.."NO JAKE...NOOOOO!". Even though Jake no longer puppy bites! Now it's jut BIG Sloppy Bully Kisses!

 

[ChanelnBrutus]

I do agree also! Brutus used to bite our feet, fingers, ankles, his siter Chanel's legs, paws, ears, nose etc but he eventually stopped after persistance and firm no's! I know its hard and alot of work but it will get better! Good Luck with everything and you should upload some pictures ! lol We love pictures/videos here!

 

[Vince00]

I'm in a hurry to get to work, but the play biting was bad for us at 10 weeks also when we got our pup. Consistency with a "shht" to mark unwanted behavior and then replace with a bone or something he can bite and we seen a major decrease in 2 weeks. He lost 4 teeth now at 4 months old and is starting again but we are consistently correcting and bringing him through it.

Always, always try to keep calm submissive behavior from him and don't pet or reward jumping, excited, unwanted behavior. If he doesn't listen play time stops on your demand not his.

Hope that works for you.

 

[2BullyMama]

My Emmitt does this to my 5 yr old son also I just got a water bottle put some coins in it and he tells Emmitt no and shakes it.. I don't know if its the right thing to do but Emmitt doesn't like it and he stops.. I know he will grow out of it but in the mean time it works.

Great advice. you can also use a spray bottle with water and teach the kids to squirt the puppy in the face with a firm NO when the puppy attempts this behavior with them.

 

[pyxigirl]

Thank you so much everyone for the advice. I am relieved that he will likely outgrow this..I thought I maybe ended up with an aggressive dog, I know he likes the kids and probably sees them as playmates but I do not wanting him biting, he is bad for jumping at their faces and biting when he is playing and trying to be the boss. I will continue to correct this behaviour, and I have also been having the kids put him into his kennel when he bites, for a time out, I try teach the kids not to cry an run when he bites but its hard for them. He is a pretty big brat in the house and a nightmare to house train, so he now wears a 6' leash in the house 24/7.. except for when he is in the yard or in his kennel, I take him with me everywhere in the house and he is not allowed to run free and do as he pleases, I am already finding this is a HUGE help with house training, and he seems more respectful towards me as the boss, since he has to go everywhere I go, and he cant do as he pleases. It sounds harsh to keep him on a leash all the time but I see it as the only way, since he is so dominant. I do love him though, I hope he grows up to be a calm bully. I will post pictures of him soon. I am glad to have found this forum as well and will post more often Thank you.

 

[BrooklynStar]

Hi and welcome!

I thought the same thing when I got my bully. Although I dont have kids and the youngest in the house is 24 (myself)...I found Dozer trying to bite me alot...after research and consulting with the good people on here I discovered it's just puppy play. This is especially true if he does the "play bow" before you engage him. He will bow with his front paws and front part of his body while keeping his butt in the air...this is agood sign and means he just wants to play. Of course if he does try biting you can always try to redirect him. I keep chew toys (deer antlers/nylabones/kong toys only) on hand when he does this, if he starts to hurt us we just say "NO" and put one of the toys near his mouth. He usually goes for that.


Good luck!

 

[Vince00]

Just be carefully with timeout in the kennel. It is supposed to be a positive place, if you make it a bad place you will have kennel problems also. I redirect the excited biting behavior with a good walk to burn him out and slow down.

 

[Vicaroo1000]

I'm in a hurry to get to work, but the play biting was bad for us at 10 weeks also when we got our pup. Consistency with a "shht" to mark unwanted behavior and then replace with a bone or something he can bite and we seen a major decrease in 2 weeks. He lost 4 teeth now at 4 months old and is starting again but we are consistently correcting and bringing him through it.

Always, always try to keep calm submissive behavior from him and don't pet or reward jumping, excited, unwanted behavior. If he doesn't listen play time stops on your demand not his.

Hope that works for you.

**applause***

I would only add that children need to learn how to play with dogs also. I would not encourage the "tug of war" over toys. There are better ways to manage that. As @AliceKable said - the squealing and running around doesn't allow you to control of the dog's excitement which in turn controls the level of play. Over-excitement is not the pup's fault - it's the people's fault - particularly with a puppy who's just learning the rules at your house. The method of control (coins, water bottle, whatever) and the rules around when that control is used should be monitored closely also. Does a toddler, say, have the maturity to know when it's appropriate to squirt a puppy in the face with a water bottle? I doubt it.