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Hi all, new puppy owner here

Beefy

Beefy

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Hi everyone

Me and my family became the proud owner of Molly, an 8 week old Staff Spaniel cross this weekend. She's a rescue from the local dogs trust and joins a mad house consisting of me, Missus Beefy, 4 YO son, 18 month old Daughter and 2 cats. She's settling in nicely so far and her training is going well apart from the biting which were working on. I've joined up for advice where I may be clueless and to share lots of doggo pics :).

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Welcome - what a cutie she is!
 
Welcome! She’s lovely :)
 
Hi Beefy and welcome. What a sweet pup!

I’m new as well but you’ll find the guys here very helpful and encouraging with the challenges ahead.

How old is Molly? My bot Diesel is 9 weeks today and very much in the nipping phase! Don’t worry, it’s normal but try to get it under control.

DD
 
Thanks DD, she's 8 weeks so a very similar age.

She's fine with me, I think it's just a bit worrying when she's trying to nip the kids - she'll jump up in their face and try to nip. I'm obviously not leaving them together alone and stopping her jumping up when she does, I'm just hoping she doesn't keep that up when she's bigger and can hurt the kids. I'm ignoring her jumping up where I can and rewarding her when she's on all fours, as well as giving her a toy soon as she tries to nip so hopefully she'll learn soon.
 
Shalista said:
talk to @JudyN !!! she's the queen of big jumpy nippy dogs!
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Been there, got the t shirt, got holes in the t shirt :D

It sounds like you're doing the right things. The best thing the children can do is not shriek and wave their limbs around, but turn their backs, ignore, and stop the fun, straight away. Physically stopping the dog from jumping up can get him more wound up and/or excited, thus making him even bitier. Remaining calm is easier said than done, even for adults, but things like wearing thick clothes that you don't mind getting damaged can help.

'Ending the fun' can be harder in the garden. Hanging around near the back door can help make it easier to slip inside but what really helped me a lot was always to carry something like a watering can, or plastic trug - holding it in front of me to block my dog's attempts to jump up was very successful. You need to make sure the children (or you!) aren't going to try to swing the trug at the dog in annoyance - it really is just a matter of blocking.
 
Thanks for that Judy, trying to get the kids to stop is just as difficult however Espcially the 1YO :D. Soon as they're in bed the training goes very well, so I'm hoping that will take the greater effect. She's not overly bitey until the kids get her worked up, which they tend to do by accident just by their reactions to her playing.
 
Oh my she is a beauty... the nippy stage is awful and I speak as the personal favorite chew toy of Murphy.

As @JudyN mentions training the children is as important as training the dog esp with ones so young. We always told the children if you wouldnt like it nor does the dog ie being poked while youre asleep or having someone put their hands on your food. I did once have to take drastic action with a neighbours child who insisted on nastily pullling my border collies tail. Her mother knew she did it and ignored it so one day as she pulled the dogs tail I leaned across and pulled her hair (not brutal or anything) but as she shreaked in protest I offered an apology saying 'Im sorry you kept doing it to Oscar so I thought you must like it' many people wont like what I did but I dont care, because that child never teased my dog again and she never got bitten.. If I had ignored her behaviour like her mother did Im sure both things would have happened and it might have had tragic results for my dog. So nip any bad behaviour from children or dog in the bud and keep all your loved ones safe.

PS looking forward to more photos :)
 
Beautiful puppy! It's going to be hard work with a puppy and such young children but you're being totally responsible by never leaving them alone together. Neither children nor pups have impulse control! Your puppy will nip because puppies get 80 per cent of their information via their mouths. I think the really vital thing is never to use the human hand to tap the puppy's nose when it does this. It teaches that the hand is a weapon and so many bad incidents stem from this. But it's so hard for children because 80 per cent of their interaction with the world uses hands! Best of luck. As long as your puppy has somewhere safe and quiet to retire to and be left alone when it needs it- they are like babies and get suddenly exhausted- I'm sure you'll all make it through! ;)
 
This is why I like having two pups together. They chew on each other instead of chewing me to bits. Mind you,I have to up my game when they get to the fruit loop stage.

Enjoy...she looks wonderful.
 
Hi. Just wanted to say how gorgeous your dog is. We've just got 2 dogs similar to yours but ours also have a labrador mixed in too.
Gorgeous dog
 
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