Help my 6 week old puppy bit my 2 year old

[Lauri & The Gang]

Originally Posted by LaRen616

Lauri & The Gang


I'm sorry to confuse you : ) I was talking based on the story I posted about my puppy. My puppy was very aggressive..

I understood that. I still would be very hard pressed to label a 12 week old puppy as aggressive.

[LaRen616]

You did not know this puppy, he was a complete nightmare and way out of control. I wonder if the breeder has had that happen to her before because she was unwilling to try to train him, she insisted that he be put down. Her dogs were outside dogs and not allowed inside. I met the father, who was a big loveable but not very well trained beautiful dog, but I did not meet the mother. I spoke to a lady who was a judge at the WestMinster (most likely spelt wrong, I do appologize) Kennel Club show and also breeds Great Danes and she has 5 Danes that are in the top whatever of their breed and she said usually that temperment skips a generation. She said his parents could be well behaved but the grandkids would have the issues. SHE recommended he be put to sleep! I couldn't let that happen

[Vinnie]

LaRen616, sorry, I know I'm not Lauri but I'm getting just a tad bit confused by your posts myself. From earlier in this same thread you said;

Originally Posted by LaRen616

I had the SAME problem! We got a Siberian Husky puppy, he was 8 weeks old when we got him. We had him for almost 4 weeks and had to get rid of him.

It kind of sounded to me like you were telling the OP that you had been in the "same" boat and you had to return your puppy that was like her's is now. Based on your post I told the OP the following;

Originally Posted by Vinnie

I just want to say that puppy biting is normal. I even find what the OP is describing to be NORMAL puppy behavior. This is NO reason to get rid of a puppy or return it to a breeder.

I even question returning a 12 week old puppy for biting & what you've labeled as aggressive behavior but that's probably best discussed in a different thread. This one should probably be geared towards helping the OP and maybe LaRen616 could start a new topic to help answer your questions.

[LaRen616]

Vinnie......... I was just saying that my puppy was also biting but my case was more severe. Puppy is gone so I dont have a issue that needs to be started on a new thread thank you. I also trust my Vet's opinion over yours. Thanks for your input.

[akittrell]

Originally Posted by Lauri & The Gang

I see nothing wrong with what the puppy did.

Right now your puppy sees the 2 yr old as a littermate and is reacting the same way he would if another puppy grabbed hold of his hair and pulled.

THAT is why puppies need to stay with their littermates AND Mom until at least 7-8 weeks of age. That is the time they learn about bite inhibition. It doesn't matter if Mom has stopped feeding them - they NEED that extra time to learn very important lessons.

If the pup had reacted to his Mom like that she would have corrected him.

Now I'll give my standard chant:

We are Humans.
We are NOT dogs.
We do NOT speak Dog.
We CANNOT speak Dog.

Dogs communicate primarily with their physical being - the way they walk, the way their ears look, the way their mouths act, their fur, their eyes ... all in ways we humans could NEVER imitate.

The best we can do is imitate SOME dog verbal language.

When puppies play and one gets too rough the other will let out a loud YIPE and move away. This lets the other pup know that they got too rough.

So, when you are playing with your puppy and they get too rough, give a loud YIPE (stress the I sound) and walk away. It won't take many of these instances for the pup to learn that too rough = no more play.

But there-in lies the problem - you can't teach a TWO year old human to do that.

The best course of action in your case is to only allow highly supervised interactions between the pup and the child. Any grabbing should be IMMEDIATELY stopped by you and the child removed from the puppy.

Remember - the puppy did NOTHING wrong.

As for your vet not commenting on the age - most vets have little (if any) training or knowledge in canine behavior.

Thank you for the information is was very helpful, I did not think about it in that manor.

[akittrell]

I want to thank everyone for their input some of it helped and some hurt my feelings. I have read everything carefully and I do not think Gauge is agressive it makes more sense to me now. Today he has started playing with my two schnauzers and I have noticed my 5 year old female displining(sp) Gauge when he gets to rough with her, next I will introduce him to my black mouth cur outside.

[crs996]

Thats great that you have another dog that is "showing her the ropes", this will help tremendously. Some other suggestions to research for a new puppy are:

Crate training - if not already done this will help tremendously with housetraining and give your pup a place to cool off and have his own space.

Bite inhibition - Some links have already been posted.

Basic obedience - You can start having your puppy learn basic obedience with treats very soon. There is a wealth of information here on how to do it, but you can start by giving him a treat when he sits on his own and mark it by saying "sit" just as his butt hits the ground. You can also have him drag a leash around (supervised!) to get him used to that. There are lots of fun interactive things you can do with young puppies that will help shape their future behavior. Good luck!

[onyx'girl]

Originally Posted by akittrell

I want to thank everyone for their input some of it helped and some hurt my feelings. I have read everything carefully and I do not think Gauge is agressive it makes more sense to me now. Today he has started playing with my two schnauzers and I have noticed my 5 year old female displining(sp) Gauge when he gets to rough with her, next I will introduce him to my black mouth cur outside.

I would be very careful~your puppy is very young, you want the puppy to have confidence and not feel bullied. A correction from an older dog is ok, as long as it is fair. Supervise constantly and remove the pup if you feel things are getting too ramped up.

[SunCzarina]

Something else I haven't seen anyone else mention is tug toys. When Otto (Mighty McBitey Mite) was a baby, my kids (then 5 y/o boy and 3 1/5 y/o boy girl twins) all had a tug toy they would play with him with. He learned quick, bite the toy, not the kid. My boys it was harder becuase they don't have the ear peircing shriek my daughter has! So if your 2 year old is a girl, you should be golden by just letting her shriek when the puppy nips her. No puppy wants to hear that!

Good job to your other dog for teaching him a bit of bite inhibition. My female GS was 7 when Otto was a little mite, he's 21 months now, has 20lbs on her but he still jumps back 10 feet if she snarks at him (for being a pesky puppy becuase he still is a bit and likes to mess with her sometimes)

[SunCzarina]

Originally Posted by onyx'girl

I would be very careful~your puppy is very young, you want the puppy to have confidence and not feel bullied. A correction from an older dog is ok, as long as it is fair. Supervise constantly and remove the pup if you feel things are getting too ramped up.

and yes to what Jane said.