Mouthy puppy

[ThisMorningWentBadly]

Our puppy has taken to mouthing my younger son. Pup is 5 months old - never really nipped at all (so never had to teach her to stop doing it before). But at 5 months is quite strong so this needs to stop.

I get him to stand still, and say no. But when you are 8 with a dog round your ankle this is hard. She only does it to him, no one else. She isn’t really biting, just playing with him like he’s another puppy.

Anyone got any more ideas? He loves the dog and is very good with her. She was bought party because of his sustained campaign to have one! But it is really beginning to upset him that he is only one she does this too.

When my puppy was bitey the only really thing that made any difference was time-outs. So I would remove him or myself each time so he understood that fun stopped.

Making a noise or standing still did not work for us and as you said standing still when they are nipping and hurting isn't fun and mine would just continue.

You could have a code word that your DS could say when it starts so you know instantly you need to remove your pup to calm down or you could try and divert with a toy if you want to continue with the standing still approach (so he stands still and you try and get pup to bite something else).

My pup is 14 weeks and does this to my 8 year old too and sometimes to me. It is to get us to play. I do what @BiteyShark say (because she told me too on a different thread ) and when pup comes back in he doesn't bite anymore. So far hasn't completely stopped but he is young and getting the point slowly

Puppies do that. Saying no doesn't do much. They don't know what that means.
Every time it happens give the dog something it can chew. Walk away if necessary.

When my rottweiler Alex was a puppy she did the same we were adviced by a behaviouralist to buy a kong with the centre missing, stuff it with wet food and treats and freeze it overnight. It helps with distraction another one he advised us to do when she goes to bite things she shouldn't, an empty coke can fill with little pebbles halfway and seal it. When she goes to bit or grab something she shouldn't throw it next to her the sound alone will startle her enough to not go near it again. It really did work.

“When she goes to bit or grab something she shouldn't throw it next to her the sound alone will startle her enough to not go near it again.”

That is horrible advice, I can’t believe you paid somebody to tell you to scare your rottie when they’re so trainable, it took all of 2 days to teach mine a leave command as a puppy.

“She isn’t really biting, just playing with him like he’s another puppy.”

That’s exactly what she’s doing and she’ll be doing it to him because he’s the one she’s excited about playing with, so while it’s not fun, it’s a compliment.

You just need to make it not rewarding, so time out or a complete withdrawal or attention and fun only happens when she’s not doing it.

Only let your dog and child interact when the child is holding a toy. Puppies do mouth, and they will grow out of it.

A knotted T towel is great. Your DC holds the T towel and the puppy will chase or tug the towel.

This also helps to teach impulse control for the puppy as he is only allowed to have the toy when told. So introduce a "get it" command and then offer the towel to the puppy. Introduce a "that'll do command" and offer the puppy a treat on the floor to stop the play.

No biting of DC, still fun games with puppy and over time the puppy will stop the mouthing

Some great ideas, operation do not bite DS2 starts today. She is very quick to learn, and eager to please (apart from pigeongate) so hopefully she’ll cotton on quickly. If nothing else it might encourage ds2 to wear trousers more often!

He also needs to let out a very loud Yelp whenever she makes contact with him with her teeth. Enough for her to stop and look at him. Then he moves away and ignores her. Game over.

If its any consolation, they do grow out of it. Ours used to nip the back of your ankle, right on the narrow bit by the tendon, and boy did it hurt. Squealing in pain (and it was genuine pain!) never worked for us, but distraction with a favourite toy did.Then one day she just stopped.

Don't yelp. That's bad advice. Can overexcite a pup. Puppies explore the world through mouthing. Just direct them to what they can chew.

It is a tough one this. I've got the same prob with our 13 week old pup bitch. Really annoying snapping at trouser legs feet etc and my 15 YO son is taking a lot of nips ...I do think that's a pack mentality thing and the pup seeing the youngest as 'fair game' or a lesser litter mate.
We do time out, but pup's smart and sees it coming now and legs it at high speed around the garden .....so the game continues! I'm trying out the red spray pet corrector very sparingly for serious misdemeanours which emits a shock hiss sound. However, my pup doesn't seem overly shocked.
I do have a friend whose lab was traumatised by the spray thing for a long time ....so just go easy.
I'd appreciate any pearls on this one too!! !

Tinkobell to avoid the dog racing around the garden and becoming a 'game' think about investing in a slip lead. You can make the loop very large and your son could keep it on him so when biting starts he could quickly loop it over the head which allows you to then guide pup to timeout place before she has the chance to race off.

Squealing definately doesn’t help. Ds2 is a gentle soul and she does think he’s fair game. She only steals his clothes as well -though the plus side of this is he is now much tidier with his stuff.

Dogs aren't't pack animals and no pack species will form a pack with another animal.

Pet corrector spray is evil. It's only goo use i blowing dust out of keyboards (away from dogs).

Haven't RTFT but I'd give your son a toy to play with the pup as at the moment puppy is using him as a pup.

It’s going really well, he hasn’t been nipped for a week now. Having watched it more closely she tends to nip him when he has finished playing, and she still wants to. So being a bit more on it when the game is ending has really helped.

She still steals his stuff though (school tie this morning).

Stealing his stuff is a compliment! Annoying, but flattering. If she is anything like mine, she enjoys the game where someone tries to get it back again