10 week old pup lunging at our kids.. HELP

[Peter.]

Hello, I'm have a serious problem with our 10 week old pup lunging at our children. I took a week and a half off of work to be home with the new pup, and while things were difficult we managed to avoid any incident of our pup seriously biting of of our boys. We have a 6 year and a 3 year old.

This pup is seriously smart, he was potty trained in about a day (obviously we still have to watch him though).. he knows the commands Sit & Down.. and has done very well with all the level I games put forth in the book "My smart puppy"

He does not seem to understand though, that he is not allowed to treat our kids as his toys, chasing, nipping and biting.

Now, I'm back to work, and it's day 2 and my wife is overwhelmed.. When she pushed the pup away from the kids and tells him off, he lunges at her, growls (probably play growl..) and if she tries to pick him up to place him in a timeout area, he nips at her face and or hair.

I exercise him in the morning, work on training him, get him all worn out.. and he goes and lays down.. then this morning, he gets up.. all tired like, and just goes for one of the boys..

I want to know how to correct the dog so he will quickly understand.. or any help or suggestions.. seeing as he's only 10 weeks old, he's not even to his snotty adolescence stage yet.. so I fear things are going to get way worse, before they get better..

please help!

[Kyleigh]

Peter,

If your dog was 10 months I would agree that you have a serious issue.

Your pup is 10 WEEKS ... this isn't really a SERIOUS issue. He's a puppy, this is what puppies do. Now, I'm not saying what he is doing is acceptable, because it's not, but he sees your kids as his playmates. Have you ever watched puppies play? Especially GSD puppies? They are not all marshmallows and roses let me tell you. Kyleigh sounds like a baby lion when she's playing with her best buds (dog friends).

I haven't a clue how to link other threads in here, but there are TONS of threads, information, advice and suggestions in the puppy forum.

Every dog is different, so you'll need to weed out the ones that work for your puppy and the ones that don't. AND, it will take some time to figure out which one works and which one doesn't, and you always need a back up. Kyleigh figured out that if I did "a" she couldn't jump, so she'd try something else, and I needed to have "b" in my "back pocket so to speak" to let her know that THAT won't work either.

And I'm sure your wife is very overwhelmed, a puppy and two kids ... that's a LOT of work for one person all day. Do you have a crate for the puppy? There is absolutely nothing wrong with your wife putting the puppy in the crate for an hour or so while she gets the "important" things done, and then bring the puppy back out to play.

The time out area ... are you expecting a 10 week old puppy to sit / stay in an area for a long period of time? If you are, your expectations are WAY TOO high. Your puppy can likely sit / stay in one area and not move for about ohh ... 10 seconds ... and then his attention span is on to something else. This is NORMAL.

Please go through the puppy threads ... you'll discover a whole wealth of information.

And good luck, and have fun with your puppy! Before you know it he'll be a year old and you'll wonder where the time went!

[Peter.]

Yeah, I've read through pretty much everything I can find on here, and I guess I'm looking for a magic solution.. obviously there is none.

As far as the timeout goes, it's a whole room that is gated off, so he is separated from the family, but can still see the family.. he's not expected to sit in a corner and not move

The other thing we've noticed, he seems to be most unruly right before, and right after he poops.. am I crazy or has anyone else noticed this?

[robk]

GSD pups go through what is referred to as the "land shark" stage. Its normal. Be prepared for some sore hands and torn pant legs. Here is a video of my daughter and my dog ruger as a pup;

German Shepherd puppies and Wii Fit don't Mix - YouTube

German Shepherd puppies and Wii Fit don't Mix - YouTube

What helped us was too have toys, ropes and tugs in easy reach around the house. We learned to redirect the biting on to a play object.

[x0emiroxy0x]

My arms and legs had so many cuts from Rocky that people thought i was cutting myself and I had to wear long sleeves at work (waitressing) because people complained.

Normal behavior

[Kyleigh]

LOL Nope, there is no magic solution ...just time, patience, consistency, training, patience, training, patience, consistency (get the idea ha ha)

The whole room? Too much space!!! Would you have let your 10 month baby when they were learning to crawl have the whole first floor? Same idea with your puppy ... too much space for that young pup! Pop it in the crate for a quick time out - NOT as punishment, but a time out - put a toy / kong with peanut butter or something in the crate with him.

Punishing him at this age is useless, he's too young to get it ... just keep him exercised, played with, sleeping IN HIS CRATE and repeat until his brain cells start connecting for longer than 10-15 seconds!

Ky was the same right before and after she pooped ... it was hilarious ... a couple of times she pooped and then turned around and barked at it - I almost fell off the deck laughing at her!

[PatchonGSD]

They dont call them land sharks for nothing. Sounds like you have a nice puppy.

[Peter.]

Originally Posted by PatchonGSD

They dont call them land sharks for nothing. Sounds like you have a nice puppy.

At 10 weeks is he in the land shark phase? or has it yet to even come?

[Capone22]

Originally Posted by x0emiroxy0x

My arms and legs had so many cuts from Rocky that people thought i was cutting myself and I had to wear long sleeves at work (waitressing) because people complained.

Normal behavior

Omg lol!!! I feel your pain. My hands are tore up.


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[Capone22]

I have 2 kids and 2 dogs. One being a 4 month old GSD. Lots of separation needed!! Get an x pen and put it in the kitchen with lots of toys and things to chew. When the kids are napping have her to a couple short obedience exercises and tug games to tire him out. Crate time is ok too. It's all just management until the puppy is older. It is a lot of work for your wife so hopefully she wanted this puppy as much as you did. The puppy I have is MY dog so I knew exactly what I was getting myself into. My husband does help when he's home. But care is 98% my responsibility.


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