Puppy just bit my 5 year old - please help me!

[Silentnighttwo]

10 week old working cocker puppy. She’s feisty and has nipped before (I yelp and then turn away and refuse to interact). But generally she’s loving and gentle.

Today she was playing in the garden with my son, running around. I was watching and he wasn’t teasing her. It’s a game they have played lots.

Suddenly she lept up and bit him on the crotch. It’s a proper hard bite, she has left two bloody and bruised teeth marks.

He screamed. I shouted at her, clapped my hands and shouted at her to sit. She kept trying to bite him and I had to pull her off. She’s now in her crate.

Please help! How do I make sure this never ever happens again?

No unsupervised play between them, keep the excitement levels right down when they are together. Switch to training games with you there and avoid her getting so beside herself she jumps and mouths/nips.

She’s a 10 week old puppy...ten weeks, it’s what they do. It’s not a ‘proper hard bite’ if there are only two teeth marks. She’s a baby and they nip and chew...

I’m sorry your son got hurt, but you really can’t blame a 10 week old puppy. There needs to be calm interaction between them, not bouncy games.

Eek .. but puppies do bite 😬.

Your dog bit your child. The dog is not safe. Vet's advice and minimum action is rehome. If anyone will home a dog that has bitten.

A 10 week old puppy is bitey. When coupled with a 5 year old running about they will get over excited and more bitey.

Honestly you need to be supervising play at all time right next to them so you can stop when both DC and puppy start getting over excited.

How do you avoid this happening again. Simply don't let them run about together unsupervised.

The puppy was doing normal puppy things at that age. I have holes in my jeans when mine got too bitey and needed timeouts to calm down.

A 10 week old cocker will be mouthy.

Avoid getting there adrenaline up and don't leave unsupervised with young children until they have learnt

It's a puppy, they can bite. That's why they need to learn bite inhibition as they age.

Sorry to be clear - there are a line of teeth marks - upper and lower jaw. Not just 2 teeth.

SodTheGreenfly if you are not being sarcastic that is the single most ridiculous statement I have read on here today. Pleeeeese tell me you were joking?

It’s not the pup’s fault. Definitely supervise their future interactions.

Puppies are bitey. That’s why they should never be left with small children without close supervision. Child over stimulates puppy, puppy gets bitey. Sounds about right. Your child shouldn’t be playing with the puppy at all until it’s old enough for training.

OP have you read up on puppies and how they have razor sharp baby teeth and mouth? If not do so now and then you will realise why you need to actively supervise in close proximity to any small child and not let them get over excited. If you can't actively supervise then separate them.

Firstly, I assume you do plan on working the dog?
Sorry but I see so many people that buy highly strung, working dogs, that need the correct stimulation and discipline, taken into a regular home where the owners think it's just going to be an ordinary house dog.

Secondly, your child needs to learn how to behave around dogs.

Thirdly, get it trained by a professional before it bites someone and is PTS

Well ignore @SodTheGreenfly for a start 10 week old puppies bite, it's totally normal. Like everyone one else said, don't leave them unsupervised. If she is getting excited and bitey around him calm them both down and redirect attention to a dog toy. Also look into puppy classes OP, not just for this but they are great in general. You sound like a first time puppy owner - puppies need loads of training. Cockers especially can be totally hyper.

All puppies nip. That’s how they learn. You will NEVER get a puppy that NEVER nips. This was an excitable situation between 2 youngsters of different species who are still learning acceptable social and emotional skills and how to deploy effective communication. What the puppy did is on par to rough and tumble between 2 boys in the playground which has got out of hand. Obviously not acceptable, but no need for over the top concern.

You need to teach your son to play calmly and quietly with puppy and teach puppy that nipping is not acceptable.

Good luck and don’t be too dispirited. Accidents happen.

This is in no way comparable to an adult dog, biting a child, out of agression or fear.

I have two 10 week old puppies here, and they bite. You can stop a lot of it by exchanging a toy for your leg/arm/toes, staying very still or occasionally yelping.
For the rest, it's like dealing with an over hyped toddler - there's a fine line between having loads of fun before it descends into crying and lashing out. In puppy terms chasing around after a child is so exciting that they quickly go over the threshold and start biting- it's just what they do and the only way to avoid it is to just not allow this kind of play.

My working cocker (at about 3months or so) got excited and bit my 10 year old nephew when they were running together.

Lesson learned (by me) that excitement levels need to be kept down or the excitement comes too much for them to contain their behaviour, certainly when young.

Cockers are high-drive dogs and can get excited easily if they haven’t yet learned self-control.

My kids play with puppies - retrieving balls and tuggy. They cuddle them when the pups are sleepy. They don't allow the puppies to chase them, wrestle or play rough because they know how it ends :)

Why was your child playing unsupervised with a pup?

The puppy was getting excited and bit ' in play'

Please read something about puppy training

Your dog bit your child. The dog is not safe. Vet's advice and minimum action is rehome. If anyone will home a dog that has bitten.

Fucking ridiculous. Ignore ignore ignore

Plenty of sensible responses

10 weeks is a baby, pups bite, chew and nip, that’s what they do. You obviously weren’t supervising sufficiently, sorry but it’s your own fault op

@Sodthegreenfly. RI-DIC-U-LOUS!!!!! 😂😂😂 it is NOT a dog, it's a pup. It's the age of a toddler at 10 weeks! You wouldn't rehome a child if it bit as a toddler.
I've got a 14 week old pup.....they do bite! She's sweet natured but she's not born with a bloody rule book in her head. She needs teaching and reinforcement and patience. We've had many testicle nips from our girl to the DS and DH. And head butts and nose bites. It's what pups do!

OP - working cockers are sweet but a busy breed requiring chews and toys. My advice is do get your son checked by a GP. YOU must supervise ongoing play and timeout for bites. Have good toys handy to distract.

Training needed for both pup and 5 year old. Pups are bitey and small children like to play wild games. It is a bad combination and one of the reasons many rescues don't rehome puppies to families with young children. More supervision, strong message to 5 year old about gentle play only and a consistent approach with pup and I'm sure you'll all be fine very soon. The bitey stage is difficult for everyone. Puppy teeth are incredibly sharp!

OP, you let a 5yo and a 10 week old puppy wind each other up. Not the dogs fault, not the child's fault. Your fault. Is this your first dog?

And crating her for this is horrid. She's done nothing wrong.

Silentnighttwo

Have you ever owned a puppy before?

What did the research you did before buying tell you about mouthing and learning bite inhibition?

What training and preparation have you done with your 5 year old child in puppy ownership?