MILs Dog nipping DC

[secretnutter]

Arghhh I need to rant, my (otherwise amazing) MIL rescued a dog from Romania, he was a young pup when she got him, he's a nice dog, very well socialised with other dogs. But he keeps nipping, he's nearly a year old, he nips my DC, my Nephews and strangers my MIL is not taking it seriously, thinks it's fine because he's "not an aggressive dog".
He does it when the kids are playing and rough housing, they don't need to be doing it near the dog though, yesterday my eldest DC was wrestling my BIL (who lives with PIL still) on the floor, the dog was watching from across the room, then leapt up and ran over to nip at my DCs arm, there wasn't a mark and I realise it was a warning, to "protect" my BIL. The trouble is they won't tell him off, and get seriously miffed when I tell him off and shut the dog out the room I'm worried this behaviour will get worse and I'm seriously pissed off im seen as being unreasonable.....any advice? DH is going to have a word but AIBU to be so concerned?!!

YANBU 'nipping' is biting. The dog should not be biting anyone, especially children. It doesn't matter if he is doing it out of agression or fear, it is still biting and still unacceptable.

IME 'telling off' doesn't work with dogs, but there are various training techniques they could use to stop the behaviour if they wanted to. As they are not interested in stopping the behaviour, keeping the dog away from the children is a reasonable alternative.

Thank you!! I don't really know what to suggest they do tbh, I'm always present when my DC are there, and i'm confident I can recognise the 'warning' signs, I couldn't get there in time yesterday to stop him though, my concern is for my nephews as they go there every week while SIL is at work they aren't as dog savvy as my two and I just keep thinking about them getting bitten

"I realise it was a warning, to "protect" my BIL."

Doubt it, protective behaviour is pretty rare.

It sounds more like a young dog who hasn't learnt to not mouth when excited and is trying to join in when they play.

"The trouble is they won't tell him off, and get seriously miffed when I tell him off and shut the dog out the room "

Well, yes, at best telling off a dog is pointless at worst it can make issues worse.

If it's overexcitement it's not desirable, but it's not going to escalate either, they just need to do some work on calming the dog down, impulse control and appropriate play and in the meantime don't let roughhousing happen round the dog.

JoyfulDog is a rescue who is terrified of children, having been living on the streets of inner London and, presumably, much tormented and hurt by groups of children. She will go for them if they come anywhere near her so we just steer clear of children completely. I suspect that people who are a source of fear to your MIL's Romanian dog include strangers and children, so perhaps understandable that he thinks he should nip them to keep them from behaving in an (as he sees it) aggressive manner or away from himself. That said, your MIL should either try to train him not to do it (by rewarding good behaviour and showing strong verbal disapproval of nipping behaviour and immediately removing him from the area until he gets the message) or, if not possible, keep him well out of reach of children and strangers (we cross the road to avoid children and don't have any visiting but, if we did, my dog would be on a lead and kept away from them or closed in another room.

Tabulah it's not over excitement, the dog isn't involved in playing, and doesn't play with the children, and I suspect is protective or "resource protection" as BIL is very doting on Dog and feeds treats a lot (whole other issue!) he is not mouthy Dog in play and is overall pretty calm, which is why the behaviour concerns me, I do however agree he could be nervous of the children....

I have a collie who does similar. He is also not aggressive and generally calm, great around other dogs and very tolerant of the kids. However if there is rough and tumble, or like if my dd picks me up off the ground (her new trick, she is almost as tall as me!) then collie barks and will very gently mouth or gently nip at us. Its like he is telling us off. He does it with our older labx too if he is misbehaving! Does it when kids are rushing around to get out door in the morning too!
It's not a behaviour I encourage but i see it as one if his typical collie quirks and avoid situations where it might scare/worry people (visitors mainly), our family are used to him and we love him quirks and all!

Don't let the kids wrestle. It clearly winds the dog up.
Stairgates or room dividers. The dog can see but can't nip. Or it stays on a lead.
Telling a dog off isn't great. Training is more effective when you reward the behaviour you do want.

Yes I think stair gates are a good idea too, it's difficult because it's not my dog, all I can do myself is "tell him off" when I see it happening, but I realise it's training he needs and not to be put in situations that are likely to lead to him nipping, I just don't know how to convince her that this behaviours not good!!!

My dog (7) is not remotely aggressive but if people start play fighting he is in like a shot trying to join in and may well catch someone with his teeth or claws as he tends to try to grab people , I would say that is fairly normal dog behaviour for lots of dogs and there is nothing really worrying about it . Just tell your children not to do anything that may wind the dog up .