9wk old puppy and scared 4yr old!

[3kidsNapup]

We have had our 9wk old puppy (border terrier) for about a wk and a half and my 4yr old DS is pretty scared of her. He visibly relaxes when she is out of the garden and he can play safely. She is tending to bite him and other DS(2) on their ankles and calfs, he said he is afraid of her teeth.

We have been using the phrase 'no bite' every time she snaps at them, works sometimes but others shes not bothered. Any one had experience it can offer some tips? I don't want him to be scared of her.

Thanks x

my pup is 12wks, had her 3wks and my DD (2yrs old) doesnt like the ankle/calf nipping thing. she will cry and run towards the sofa to get up away from her.

I call pup over to me and give her a chew toy, i try to get DD to offer her a toy to distract her instead of running. at the moment im letting DD give pup treats from her hands so she knows the pup doesnt mean any harm when her teeth make contact with her skin (hand)

she is still wary of pup around her feet but im hoping it will get better with training and time.

Congrats. I love border terriers - busy little things.
Every time my pups mouthed I said no and gave them their chew, saying happy clappy stuff when they took it. It doesn't take long.

I had the same problem when my Mini Schnauzer was a puppy and DD was 4.

Do you have a crate? I found it invaluable for when the puppy was over excited and needed to calm down. She was so hyper that the minute the kids paid her any attention she would get silly and be likely to nip, I really did wonder if I'd made a big mistake. Fortunately with training and age she got better and now has really good bite inhibition.

I also used to explain the situation to DD by saying that when the puppy was over-excited she would forget how to be a good dog and she wasn't biting them because she didn't like them, she was just being silly - they could relate to this! Meanwhile promoting calm bonding like sit training and no excitable play. In this regard it was harder to train DH than dog or kids!

Thanks, I think I must be doing things right. She is a little biter tho, has biten the boys's legs a few times and even tried giving the kids treats to give her but she has biten their fingers. Just hope she grows out of it, think i might have to invest in a few more toys.

So you think I havent made a big mistake then ?

Try telling the kids to turn around when she goes to bite. Withdrawal of attention is the most powerful tool. I used to say 'no' very sternly and then 'this is what you chew' in a sing song type voice when giving the chew. Also, when she bites you could say 'OW' in a very shocked voice and then nurse wherever she bit completely ignoring her.
I don't think you made a mistake at all. They have a great character.

Ah thanks, she is great and im sure they'll all be great friends - eventually!

I second the 'ouch!' and ignore method, i said NO over & over with no effect. i read that you say ow then ignore, if they dont stop, you walk away/or out the room and ignore.

it works a treat for me, then i get puppy eyes from her to play :) .....then do it all over again when she nips....

i also told the kids - if she mouths them to say 'ouch' and turn away.

Invest lots of time in training, you need to teach her how to accept treats gently so then she knows how to take them nicely from the kids. Then the kids can help with her training and build a positive relationship with her.

You also need to work hard on a 'leave' as this is really useful in so many situations and will help so much when you need to get her to give up something she shouldn't have, or something you've dropped or a small child!

If you and your kids do say 'ow' make sure it isn't too high pitched as that can be stimulating, especially to a terrier.

Hi, just wanted to reassure you that our pup was a terrible ankle-botherer when he was little, he's now 8 months and those days seem long gone . I too thought I'd made a terrible mistake as the DCs got very upset about it and I remember not being able to go past him without him grabbing my trouser legs! They adore him now that he's grown out of it - he has moved on to chewing chair legs now (that probably doesn't make you feel better does it ).

My three year old did a good line in standing up, turning away from the puppy, and folding his arms. We called it 'stand like a tree', and I kind of drilled him to do it by not 'rescuing' him when the puppy started being silly around him, but verbally talking him through what he needed to do.

I was thinking just the other day that he hasn't had to 'stand like a tree' for ages. Our pup is about 17 weeks now.

The older children added in an 'OUCH', although that was one too many instructions for the three year old to follow.

I think it's been pretty effective.

Our pup was a bugger for munching on the DC when he was tiny. On one memorable occassion, DS2 was looking under the sofa for something and the little sod bit his head. I too had the 'Oh sweet Lord what have I done?' moment. We yelped if he nipped, withdrew attention and sometimes if he was very snappy (think over sugared baby crocodile) I'd crate him for five minutes to calm down. Once his baby teeth were gone, we found that he was much less likely to mouth, and now at a year old he only ever touches skin with his teeth in error, and is very quick to spit out stray fingers etc.