Starting to playfully nip at kids

[lv4dogs]

Kaige is starting to nip at kids since this past weekend. Not too bad but I don't want it to get worse, I don't want that behavior at all.

I have been trying to socialize him as much as I can with kids, and seeing as I don't have kids myself I'm doing pretty good at it. He is around at least 1-2 kids at least every other day. I am trying to get him around kids everyday but that is mighty hard to do.

I can fully tell, 100% that his only intentions are to play but even that is unacceptable. I don't want him nipping anyone, especially kids, that is a big no-no in my book.

It is hard to tell kids how to react to Kaige when he bites, having the kids remember & be consistant is even harder. And some kids are too young to really understand anyways. So I assume that this problem can only be resolved by me.

I'm not sure what approach is right for this behavior.

What I have been doing is giving him a firm correction (pulling on the lead) while saying "NO BITE" in a stern voice. Then making him obey a command (sit or down). I then praise (for him obeying the command as it is the last thing I asked of him).
This doesn't seem to be working. I know it's only been a week, and he's only been around kids every other day during this last week, but he's not showing one bit of improvement at all.

Should I give it more time?

Should I not give him a command afterwards, and just wait & see if he does obey the no bite command on his own & then praise if he does? If so then I worry about him not listening & biting the kid again. Or should I pull on his lead while saying no bite, then praise without making him obey a second command?

This is not a situation where I can just do only positive training, as I can not jepordize the safety of the children, I have to correct his behavior. Or at least so I think.
Yes he only bites out of fun so it's not like he'd do a lot of damage, to an adult anyways but puppy teeth are sharp & childrens skin is thin. I'm afraid a tiny nip to an adult might puncture the skin to a child.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

He is 15 weeks old, still in puppy mode & doing this only as play so I know there is still a ton of hope for us.

[beeniesmom]

OK! This is a good one. Frankie was doing the same thing and I fixed it in just a few days.

When Kaige NIPS the child MUST pull back and say OUCH or, even better, AAAIIIAAA in a loud tone. It worked for Frankie man. He doesn't do it anymore.

[HollywoodNVegas]

This is common among almost all of my clients. What you need to do is several things....it is obvious that when a dog nips, natural reaction is to pull away. If it is not serious, the best thing to do is to either push your hand/arm into the mouth, causing them to release OR make a loud "OUCH" or yip noise that gets them to let go. By pulling your arm back, you are taking an almost submissive position and the dog has won, probably going to try it again. What probably got one dog to stop is the high-pitch noise.

Make sure your children do not play with your dogs face - like batting it around. You also want to avoid playing near their mouth with your hands - always use toys. This will help resolve nipping. If you play with them with your hands, all your puppy knows is that your hand IS a toy sometimes.

Make sure you have plenty of toys and always redirect his nippy behavior with them. Rubber type toys are the best as they are basically shred-resistant.

Any questions or further advice, let me know.

[lv4dogs]

Originally posted by HollywoodNVegas
This is common among almost all of my clients. What you need to do is several things....it is obvious that when a dog nips, natural reaction is to pull away. If it is not serious, the best thing to do is to either push your hand/arm into the mouth, causing them to release OR make a loud "OUCH" or yip noise that gets them to let go. By pulling your arm back, you are taking an almost submissive position and the dog has won, probably going to try it again. What probably got one dog to stop is the high-pitch noise.

Make sure your children do not play with your dogs face - like batting it around. You also want to avoid playing near their mouth with your hands - always use toys. This will help resolve nipping. If you play with them with your hands, all your puppy knows is that your hand IS a toy sometimes.

Make sure you have plenty of toys and always redirect his nippy behavior with them. Rubber type toys are the best as they are basically shred-resistant.

Any questions or further advice, let me know.

Thats what I did & yes it works, he no longer even tries to nip at adults. I don't have any questions or concerns regarding that.
My only concern here is children. And as I stated I do not have any children of my own so I've been socializing him with other peoples children. That makees it a little difficult.

[lv4dogs]

Originally posted by beeniesmom
OK! This is a good one. Frankie was doing the same thing and I fixed it in just a few days.

When Kaige NIPS the child MUST pull back and say OUCH or, even better, AAAIIIAAA in a loud tone. It worked for Frankie man. He doesn't do it anymore.

Thanks for the advice, I've been trying to get everyone elses kids to do that but not all will, & not all remember to be consistant.


I think what I need to do is train the kids not the dog. LOL