Caley vs 8 Year old Son

Everything is going amazing with Caley except one thing, her stand off with my 8 year old son.

They play amazing together, play football together loads, they snuggle up. The only problem is Caley, who is 4 months now, does not listen to him at all, they start of well but then Caley gets overexcited and will then start trying to nip his feet, my son tries telling her no and walking away but she just chases him down, 9 times out of 10 one of them has to be removed from the room. If myself, my OH or older son stop her, she stops immediately and listens.

Does anyone have any advice on how my 8 year old can handle her without us intervening, I don't want Caley thinking she can dominant him, he was extremely nervous of dogs before we had Caley but she has really brought him out of his shell and he loves her to pieces, I don't want that to change and I worry it will if she keeps trying to nip him, he has already asked why does she always do it to him, our response is she thinks your her play buddy. I know she is only playing as she seems to only pretend to nip she doesn't actually make contact unless he has trousers on and then its his trousers she grabs.

Any ideas would be great.

You have almost answered your own question. I think it may be a combination of your boy's nervousness and that she sees him as a playmate. She does not see your son in the leadership role and it will take building up your son's confidence to show her that when he says stop he means it.

What about puppy classes and novice training classes? I would let your son partake of these class as Caley's primary handler. Some areas may even have handler classes for kids.

I agree with lynne, give your son more role in training and she will soon learn that he is the boss as well as a play mate

Have your son feed her and do training sessions with her everyday. He needs to be doing exactly the same as the adults in the house with her (apart from walking of course) so that she sees him in the same way as she sees the rest of you. Good luck

Many thanks for your answers. I will start that tonight, he can start feeding her as well, he does do alot of sit and stay with her and hiding her treats for her to find, she just gets really overexcited when he is playing with her and his squeaky voice sounds more like fun than discipline

I take her puppy school every Sunday, so I might have a word to see if they can do a little session between them both.

She is turing into such a lovely dog, with us the nipping as virtually stopped or you can see she is trying so hard not to nip, especially as she is teething and she is so affectionate, we all adore her, just need to get this right with my younger boy

Involving him with the routines should really help. It can be a hassle when they're young but honestly, you'll look back in a few months time and wonder what all the fuss was about!

It sounds like she's settled really well into your family and once you get over this little bump in the road, you'll all be very happy with her. Good luck and let us know how it goes

This is exactly our experience with my Callie and my 12 yo daughter. Callie loves her--follows her around, always wants to play with her, will whine to get into her room--but Caroline is the only one she still nips--not me and my husband, not our almost 17 yo son.

I agree that Caley needs to learn that your son is also an "alpha" in the family. Any training he could do with her would be great. I don't think younger kids are as good at projecting authority so maybe get the advice of your trainer as to whether he's doing things right?

She's a lovely dog and it sounds like you are all very happy together

I agree with the others above, let you son be involved in Caleys training, if you are there to back up your son Caley will soon get the idea that he is to be listenend to.

I agree with the feeding idea. Get your son to feed her, get him to tell her to sit and only give her the bowl when she is calm! She just sees your son as one of her litter mates/play mates.

Agree with all the advice above. You may want to start of training after one of her walks so that she is more calm at the begining of the session.

jstaff wrote:Agree with all the advice above. You may want to start of training after one of her walks so that she is more calm at the begining of the session.