Puppy biting children's feet?

[Pufflemum]

Help please, the new pup has become obsessed with the children's feet and socks. Every time they go past she nips and can get quite a hold on them, they are now terrified. Apart from buying steel capped boots what can I do? It's spoiling their new relationship.

Welcome to puppies ,that's what they do ,ensure your children always have shoes or slippers on until she grows out of it . In the meantime whenever she grabs something she shouldn't have swop it for a toy / chew she can have .

Good to know. That's what we've been doing as suffering the same

We still have this and our puppy is 6 months. We always wear slippers which helps. Also we spray with bitter apple spray from pet shops and that stops it temporarily. But you need loads of the spray each time - been through 2 bottles already!

We seem to have inadvertently taught our puppy to stop by saying 'no or you'll go out' - if I say it sternly enough he backs away and stops. But starts again 2 mins later!

Thanks, off to buy apple spray and slippers today!

What are you spraying with the butter apple ?

one of ours as a terrible ankle and trouser and foot biter.....

we walked more slowly....the pups think it's a game
and we'd take a prized toy to hold and get the pup to focus on that or we'd clap and say the pup's name to get his attention away from ankles Keep chatting and keep their focus and use it as an opportunity to practise a close walk or heel.

any deviation of attention back to the feet means you stop dead and say no or we found a low long "aaah!" was effective in checking the giddiness!

Bitter apple floral! We spray our slippers, dressing gowns, everything. It leaves no mark at all on even light fabrics, just looks wet then fades.

I really feel for you. I will never ever forget this nightmare. You all need slippers - fast! My poor ds's feet were ripped to shreds. He was frequently in tears. We didn't find a solution I'm afraid but it did settle around 5ish months.

Is it a herding breed?

Get your kids to do a high pitched shriek or yelp every time she does this or is about to. This is how other dogs teach puppies that their behavior isn't acceptable.

I have found a strong white vinegar/water solution also can put dogs off, I was always too cheap to buy the apple spray.

Amy - why d'you ask about whether it is a herding breed? Are they worse for this than other types of dogs?

We have an old English sheepdog, obviously a herding breed and he will still chew on feet if they aren't treated with bitter apple - he's 6 months so feels as though he should have grown out of it by now! Maybe it's a breed characteristic?!

Thanks everyone, the slippers have reduced the pain but the anti chew spray I bought seems to send her wild. Mint what is the bitter apple floral spray? A specific dog thing that I can eager in a pet shop? Meanwhile I'll make up a vinegar spray.
We do offer a toy instead and that helps 8 times out of 10.

Copy and paste coming up

Biting is a normal puppy behaviour. Puppies investigate the world through their mouths. If it is within reach, it will probably be picked up and chewed! If it is exciting and moves fast it will definitely get bitten. Dogs play by using their mouths because they don’t have hands.

Puppies need to bite and they need to play. What he is doing is simply trying to elicit play. Play is by far the best way to bond with your pup and is a great way to reward him during training.

Use tug toys that he can bite. Old knotted towels or a favourite toy with string attached. Unwanted dressing gown cords are ideal. You need to encourage him to bite one end of the toy whilst you hold the other end. Then you can have a great game together without getting bitten.

Ensure your tug toys are long enough and soft enough for your puppy to happily bite. Your toy should touch the floor whilst you are holding the other end. This allows you to animate the toy and keep the game low to the ground and not encourage jumping up. It also puts distance between teeth and hands.

Keep these interactive toys out of your pups reach whilst they are not being played with. It will keep them more novel which means the pup is more likely to want to bite and play with them when given the opportunity. Plant toys around the house and garden (out of puppies reach) so you have them easily accessible and as much as possible, take the game outside.

Rotate chew items that you leave on the floor to also keep them interesting.

Do not play with your puppy unless you have a toy for him to grab. Don't let anyone in the house roughhouse with him or roll about on the floor with him.

Start by animating the toy on the floor and saying 'getit' every time your pup grabs the toy. You hold on to the toy and let him grab it and shake it. Let go of the toy sometimes so that puppy is encouraged to come back to you to get you to start the game again.

Also teach a word for letting go. To do this you simply stop the game by putting a finger in pup's collar and keeping hold of the toy, release the pressure on the toy so that it becomes boring. As soon as pup lets go say 'thankyou' and immediately invite him to grab it again with a 'getit'. He will quickly learn to let go when you stop playing in order for the game to start again and eventually the word 'thankyou' (or your word of choice) will become his cue to let go.

Once your pup is getting the idea of the game then you can start to add in a 'sit' 'are you ready' before the 'getit' and before you know it you have a dog sitting and waiting patiently for the game to start.