landshark puppy and kids.....how do I deal with this?

[boiseno]

First off this site has been a great source of info for me as this is my first puppy since i was a kid. Let me start this by stating the i've got a 14 week old female GSD.

I've got a 5yo girl and 9 and 12yo boys. The 12yo handles himself quite well with the puppy but my 5 and 9yo get frustrated with her. She gets wound up and can't calm down very easily and i'm not always right there to stop her behavior. She is biting ankles, pantlegs, sleeves, etc. She has pretty much stopped this with me but with my wife and kids she still does it.

This weekend i was doing dishes and happened to look out the window into the backyard to see the puppy pulling the 5yo around the backyard by the sleeve of her sweater i of course ran out to intervien but this is fairly normal behavior.

I can't really tell the smaller kids to ignore her when she does this as she is just to big for the smaller kids to ignore. How do i deal with this part of her development? I am tempted to smack her on the butt for this but i dont want my dog to fear me in any way.

Any suggestions? Thanks in advance

[mysweetkaos]

Don't leave them out together without you being present. My kids thought I was horrible because until our pup was about 7 months old, they were not allowed all out free roaming in the house or backyard with out me there. Their time together is still heavily supervised.Until they grow out of this phase which I think requires equal parts time/training a lot of supervision is necessary so the puppy doesn't think it is appropriate and so the kids don't become scared of the pup. Not too mention any physical harm threat. I wouldn't hit the dog, that will only teach them to become handshy, which can cause a bigger problem if your dog doesn't trust your hands coming near him and may feel the need to defend himself.

[BR870]

Ummmm, yeah don't let them be alone together unsupervised... Bad idea all around. I don't let my son and my dog interact without my or my wife's direct supervision.

[mwiacek10]

I have a 6yo niece and 4yo nephew. What I've done is taught them to work with Gunny doing sit, lay & stay with treats. They get to feel as if they are "training" him and he gets practice and treats. Distracts the dog from biting and keeps the kids busy and less afraid of him. We've also picked up a book on dog tricks and taught him "shack" and other fun stuff. The kids love it.

[W.Oliver]

Proud father of five, with two GSDs that train in SchH...one 12 months and the other 4 years. Youngest child is 5 years old.

Avoid leaving the puppy unsupervised with the kids. If you have to leave the room/yard, crate the dog.

Avoid allowing the children to rough-house with the dog...we don't want the dog to learn rough play is acceptable with the lambs.

Teach the children about redirection and not to run when the dog is biting pant legs or other such activity...it stimulates prey drive and make the situation worse.

To work the redirection, have dog toys everywhere. When the dog starts in on the land shark activity, grab a toy and make that more interesting than the pant leg. When the dog leaves the pant leg and goes for the toy...praise, praise, praise...and keep it interesting.

In my house, everyone is involved in raising the pup in this regard. Consistency is the key to success...and when done correctly, no punishment for the dog should ever be required.

Best of luck.

[bocron]

I NEVER allow my kids to be alone with a puppy if I'm not right there in a supervisory role. Basically it's a powder keg waiting to blow. The puppy WILL chase and bite, and the kids WILL run and tease. Even if you convince the kids to sit perfectly still in a chair, most puppies will try to engage whoever is there. No way around it. Until my pups are able to be entertained by the kids with some sort of activity then the pup gets crated. Generally this is the norm until the pup is around 6-8 months old, depending on the pup's trainability.