Puppy trying to kill 5 year old

[Lau123lau]

My 17 week old pup has finally realised humans are not chew toys (for the most part anyway) but seems to think my 5 year old is still fair game. We have tried everything from shutting him in another room, yelping and distraction with toys/commands etc but he isn’t getting the message. He full on lunges at her so standing still isn’t an option as he is drawing blood on her arms and legs. They’re not left alone together but he can be asleep on the sofa one minute and she will move and within a split second he’s clamped to her leg (he’s a whippet so very quick). When we’re out walking him off lead, he will be running round the field one minute and next minute he’s after her again. We do put him back on lead as soon as this happens. I really need a solution as she’s becoming frightened of him. Is it possible he still thinks he’s above her in the ranks and if so, how do we put the little blighter back in his rightful place?

I will fully ignore advice to ‘get rid of it’. Thank you for people who have offered useful advice and can relate 😊

Small children move fast, can have higher and shriller voices and are generally more fun than old folks like me! That could be why it’s aimed at the 5 year old. Plus they run. And chasing is FUN!!
My dog was a bloody nightmare as a pup. Like many pups. She drew blood (little bit!) and put holes in clothes.
She’s now a calm and impeccably behaved 2 year old. It takes consistency and gin/wine. Not for the pup you daft thing. For you!!! Honestly it was hard. Giant breed and first dog. But we love her to bits.

She is a hugely shouty, high pitched whirlwind that is rarely still and insists on her (puppy tempting) bottom length hair being down all the time and pup just can’t resist. I have told her she isn’t helping matters.

And I have lots of gin, thankfully!

You'll be fine OP - one day you'll look and realise he's stopped biting completely. Ours is eight months now and starting to calm down a bit. He walks better on lead, he listens to me when I ask him to sit, stop or wait - he's by no means perfect and we have a lot we need to work on but he's SO much easier than he was at 17 weeks.

I started to read that post and it took me a moment to realise you weren’t describing the pup.
Gin is good.

Can you give her a job? Throw the toy or teach a sit?

Puppies are like toddlers - there's a very fine line between "I am having so much fun!!" and " that much fun was so tiring I don't know what I'm doing but biting might work ".

I think the trick is in spotting what's happening before they get really tired, and getting them to a safe place for a sleep. At 17wks a pup will still sleep loads, given the chance but I've known the sweetest, softest pups turn into tasmanian devils when overtired/ over stimulated.

You're being a little unreasonable OP, such a provocative title, then no response from you for ages. When you do bother to come back, it's to say clearly you were being light hearted. It wasn't clear at all.

I ended up using a houseline with mine around DD, she was older than yours, but apparently equally as exciting... it was the easiest way to make sure the reaction was consistent and fast enough.

Wearing wellies in the house which will protect the legs. It does get better, I promise.

Okay so read your latest respond OP and get that you weren't serious about the dog trying to kill your DD!
My over excited lab used to nip a lot in the first two weeks she came to us. We had done a lot of research about it though and made sure that when she did it we just turned our backs and left the room. We didn't shout or yelp but just withdrew all attention so she knew it wasn't a game.
She somehow never nipped the small children (I generally didn't encourage them to put their hands near her) but eldest ds (15 at the time) and I both got a few nasty nips.
I really recommend joining a puppy party (your vet can probably recommend some) and spending as much time with other dogs playing as possible.
And training. Lots of it, every day without fail.

This thread is like going back to the 1950's

Puppies nip, puppies nip first moving high pitched things or little people.
The pup is picking on your daughter for those reasons.

Have a house lead on at home attached to a harness - prevent and side track will be the best options at this point.

Allow the puppy interaction with your DD when the situation is calm and quiet eg reading books , quiet play etc. Any excitement from the puppy remove puppy no word, no reprimand.

Do encourage activities to calm the puppy eg scavenge for food, kongs etc

re Ellapaella Do not go to puppy parties that have a free play for all with the puppies - that just ramps up the excitement - not what you need just now

Spent months getting my dog to focus on me and only doing very controlled (and quite brief) greetings with other dogs.
Training is good.
A free for all of bitey puppies of different sizes and ages who all lack the necessary social skills? Much less good.

I cannot believe that people still come on threads like this and advise dominance and pack theory.

@MsAdorabelleDearheartVonLipwig
Could be worse. I spoke to someone today who said their vet told them humping was a dominant behaviour and they’d had their dog neutered based on that advice.
Funnily enough it didn’t work.

Oh Christ.

Makes you wonder who else spouts that shit in real life.

Positive association is the way forward. Try letting your DD feed pup (with you watching) make him sit and wait then get DD to fill the bowl and set it down. I'm guessing you are still training him so try to involve DD in this as much as possible.
My 6 year old DN can have my Alaskan malamute sitting, giving a paw and lying down on comand (I supervise obv) She would ask him to do something and then set a treat infront of him as a reward.
Make sure pup is well exercised and if he gets over excited, stop all contact and ask him to sit and wait until calm x

We did a puppy training class. Afterwards the pups were allowed the play with each other if they wanted to outside In the yard. This is what I mean by a puppy party.
Also we were told to let her play with other dogs on the beach to socialise.
My dog is fine - she stopped nipping and biting within two weeks of us getting her. We turned our backs and walked away without saying anything each time she nipped or bit. Can you say what we did wrong then please? Are you not meant to let dogs socialise and if not why?
I'm intrigued rob know because We has no problems with our dog at all after he initial two weeks.

I think I will try and get her to do more. Feeding him would be a good idea. She does try to get him to sit/lie down etc but he only listens to me and partner. she also adores wellies and would be more than happy to wear them at home (probably less enticing to pub than her over sized unicorn slippers). We will keep trying with this too. He attends puppy classes and is well socialised as I mentioned before and gets two walks a day plus plenty of playtime when at work with partner. Can I ask what I would attach a house line to? The pup at one end obviously!

And I have a job, a house, two children and a puppy so I am not sat constantly on my phone waiting for replies, hence the gap in replies. Just to clear that up 😉

House line is to attach pup to you.

It’s scary how many people still believe the whole dominance crap and how you need to put the dog in it’s place. If that’s how you truly think you shouldn’t have dogs!!

I certainly wouldn’t rehome. Puppies have razor sharp teeth and I’ve never met a puppy who hadn’t drew blood

I definitely recommend a trainer. My dog is almost 2 (German shepherd) and nothing actually worked with her puppy biting. She just gradually stopped doing it. I remember being in tears because of it. Id place toys in her mouth if she started biting but as I say she just gradually stopped doing it.

We have just been here with our puppy, he’s now 6 months and let’s the children run without trying to chase them.

We had a clear “cease and desist” command of “leave it”. Whenever we said leave it he got a treat. Then if one of the kids started running and he went after them, we said leave it and he immediately returned to me for a treat and ignored the kids. We had to be consistent, treats at hand at all times and it worked.

It’s normal puppy behaviour, completely. They like chasing and mouthing. You cannot re home because the puppy is bathing like a puppy.

Also if the puppy is getting too excited with the kids running everywhere he was put into the kitchen with a king to calm him down.

Good luck x

Sorry, behaving not bathing and Kong not King!

Oh my god what happened to this thread I thought I was in AIBU there for a minute. We have a giant dog and he loved to chew on my 8 year old and for the first while the 8 year old just kept out of his way as soon as he started rough play. They are fine now the puppy is 7 months and still likes to put the DC’s are in his mouth but with no pressure and generally to get him to play. We just say “at at” to the dog and he herumphs and stops. Puppies chew at least if he is chewing your DD he’s not chewing your furniture