ouch!

since last post about nikita becoming more nippy since being away we have had drama here. she got hold of my 2 yr old daughters arm and pulled her to the ground. playing hopefully. shes been punished (put in kitchen with door shut and toys in crate). i only hope its a one off

Time outs for dogs don't work.

You need to tell her in a calm assertive voice "no!"
Then roll her on her back tell she submits.(calms fully down and is not making eye contact.)

Keep repeating this over and over.One day it should just click.

Puppys play through biting and jumping if the pup was in a pack of dogs the other dogs would either yelp or bite back.This helps them to learn.

Other things to try are making a yelping sound when she nips or biting her ear until she yelps.

I would never leave a pup alone with kids not even the next room of for a few moments.
Your kids will have to be on board with what you doing and know the rules.
The telling the puppy "no" and rolling them on the back till they calm down is easy for you kids to do with your help.

Staffy wrote:Time outs for dogs don't work.

You need to tell her in a calm assertive voice "no!"
Then roll her on her back tell she submits.(calms fully down and is not making eye contact.)

Keep repeating this over and over.One day it should just click.

Puppys play through biting and jumping if the pup was in a pack of dogs the other dogs would either yelp or bite back.This helps them to learn.

Other things to try are making a yelping sound when she nips or biting her ear until she yelps.

I would never leave a pup alone with kids not even the next room of for a few moments.
Your kids will have to be on board with what you doing and know the rules.
The telling the puppy "no" and rolling them on the back till they calm down is easy for you kids to do with your help.

Agreed but not the part about rolling them onto the back this is un-natural and will cause her to be confused and struggle, by the scruff of the neck rolling her/ your hand like a mothers muzzle on the neck/shoulders not to hard onto her side not back this is a relaxing position for dogs and if she is relax during this she can take more information in like not doing that behaviour.
Always stay calm and assertive while your doing it so she can pick up on your energy and copy it.

best thing i didnt leave her alone. we were in the garden and usually Nikita follows Lexi round just nipping toes and lexi does say no. but this time she just got her arm. i shouted no and she let go. they have been out together in garden and nikita is fine, she still goes to nip clothes but i say no and she stops. ive also bought treats to help. tried to get lexi to give nikita a treat when she stopped nipping after no but lexi decided to eat it herself lol. i do pin nikita down by scruff. next door has a female staffy who is fully grown and she teaches nikita not to nip too as shes very mothering towards her

MissRogue wrote:

Staffy wrote:Time outs for dogs don't work.

You need to tell her in a calm assertive voice "no!"
Then roll her on her back tell she submits.(calms fully down and is not making eye contact.)

Keep repeating this over and over.One day it should just click.

Puppys play through biting and jumping if the pup was in a pack of dogs the other dogs would either yelp or bite back.This helps them to learn.

Other things to try are making a yelping sound when she nips or biting her ear until she yelps.

I would never leave a pup alone with kids not even the next room of for a few moments.
Your kids will have to be on board with what you doing and know the rules.
The telling the puppy "no" and rolling them on the back till they calm down is easy for you kids to do with your help.

Agreed but not the part about rolling them onto the back this is un-natural and will cause her to be confused and struggle, by the scruff of the neck rolling her/ your hand like a mothers muzzle on the neck/shoulders not to hard onto her side not back this is a relaxing position for dogs and if she is relax during this she can take more information in like not doing that behaviour.
Always stay calm and assertive while your doing it so she can pick up on your energy and copy it.

I've found with dominant dog on the back works better.As long as it works that's all that matters.

Staffy wrote:Time outs for dogs don't work.

You need to tell her in a calm assertive voice "no!"
Then roll her on her back tell she submits.(calms fully down and is not making eye contact.)

Keep repeating this over and over.One day it should just click.

Puppys play through biting and jumping if the pup was in a pack of dogs the other dogs would either yelp or bite back.This helps them to learn.

Other things to try are making a yelping sound when she nips or biting her ear until she yelps.

I would never leave a pup alone with kids not even the next room of for a few moments.
Your kids will have to be on board with what you doing and know the rules.
The telling the puppy "no" and rolling them on the back till they calm down is easy for you kids to do with your help.

Please do not roll your dog it in my opinion is not the way to teach your not whats right and wrong and u may even make the situation worse. In my experience time out or more to the point ignoring them works very well. Staffs crave human attention and to be ignored by the people they love most is the worst type of punishment without having to get physical with your dog. Repeation is the key it wont happen over night.....x

Find something that works for you foxy.lee and stick with it.

End of.

Please dont start physically punishing your dog. all very well for those who have had many dogs and understand dog behaviour a bit better to mean well, but I wouldn't recommend people to start rolling their dogs. Especially a puppy at that. Time-outs dont work in the conventional way (ie. the dog thinks about what it has done and why it wont do it again) but they do work in that you are removing the puppy/dog from the source of its excitement, thus allowing it time to calm down and become balanced again.

You need to work constantly for an hour or so with her to make her realise this isnt acceptable, its not a quick fix. Put her on the lead and get a few treats, toys, anything to get her attention. When puppies get nippy and start to jump up is usually when the child does something loud, high pitched or fast moving (e.g. running and screaming). Get you daughter to do something that normally winds nikita up, the minute she goes to chase your little girl tell her 'NO' loudly and firmly. If and when she looks at you say 'watch' and automatically give her a treat. Get your daughter to stand still and say 'watch' again to see if she looks at you, if she does treat her again. If not walk a few steps saying her name really enthusiastically til she looks, then 'watch' and another treat. After a few times of doing this (when it looks as though she has associated the word 'watch' with looking toward you), ask your daughter to start doing something excitable again and use this command to bring in her attention and focus it on you. If you do some sessions of this daily, incorporating sits and stays and some walking on the lead to heel, eventually your daughters excitement will just be background noise to nikita and no reason to get all wound up.

Please dont start rolling your dog, if she is nervous and not dominant this might damage her mental development. a dog is vunerable when laid on its back, its throat is exposed. A dog will only do this in submission, by forcing it you are showing the dog that it cannot put its trust into you since you are making it vunerable. At least thats what I have found, must better to use positive reinforcement. We'll have no old-school bullying methods here thank you! If you have any more questions or if I havnt explained myself properly let me know. Always happy to help!

I have been dealing with the same issue with my 10 week old pup...He has been nipping and pulling on the kids clothes and even growled at my 6yr old son.It only happens when the kids and dog get excited and I have been telling the kids stop and stand still and give him a lift by his scruff like his mother would.This triggers a submissive response and the dog calms down.

Dogs are pack animals and they will learn there place in the pack through small displays of dominance.Pinning the dog i would not recommend as this can trigger an aggressive response in a dominant pup and can make things worse.The humans in the pack must be the dominant ones and the pup will learn to take his place at the bottom rung.

Staffy wrote:

MissRogue wrote:

Staffy wrote:Time outs for dogs don't work.

You need to tell her in a calm assertive voice "no!"
Then roll her on her back tell she submits.(calms fully down and is not making eye contact.)

Keep repeating this over and over.One day it should just click.

Puppys play through biting and jumping if the pup was in a pack of dogs the other dogs would either yelp or bite back.This helps them to learn.

Other things to try are making a yelping sound when she nips or biting her ear until she yelps.

I would never leave a pup alone with kids not even the next room of for a few moments.
Your kids will have to be on board with what you doing and know the rules.
The telling the puppy "no" and rolling them on the back till they calm down is easy for you kids to do with your help.

Agreed but not the part about rolling them onto the back this is un-natural and will cause her to be confused and struggle, by the scruff of the neck rolling her/ your hand like a mothers muzzle on the neck/shoulders not to hard onto her side not back this is a relaxing position for dogs and if she is relax during this she can take more information in like not doing that behaviour.
Always stay calm and assertive while your doing it so she can pick up on your energy and copy it.

I've found with dominant dog on the back works better.As long as it works that's all that matters.

With a dominant dog, rolling it onto its back will just antagonise it (those of you who know about Dempsey will know that I speak from experience here!). It isn't submitting, it's being held down against its will - two very different things. When you let it up it will often be even worse than before, and will avoid close contact to stop it happening again. On its side is sufficient as it's afr more comfortable and less threatening to a dog.

If a dog is nipping through over excitement then you must stop any interaction as soon as the rough stuff starts! Stop the play, clamly stroke your dog (lightly stroking the inside of the top of the back leg usually works wonders) and speak quietly to it. If the behaviour carries on, then a little time out may help with the dog being left in a seperate room for a few minutes.

Nosipho's tips on teaching your daughter how to control the situation are really good!

Ive always told them no stopped play walked away and ignored them. Time out doesnt work with dogs they dont rationalise in the past and with a dominant dog I wouldnt try to dominate but all dogs are different and you have to find a method that suits you and your dogs. Staffords play so hard and are little mini sharks when they are puppies they dont mean to hurt you its just play

gem wrote: Time out doesnt work with dogs they dont rationalise in the past

I agree to a point. I used time out purely as a means of calming a situation down - it gave Dempsey time to settle, and gave me time too!

yea obviously the puppy isnt going to think about what he has done wrong lol but timeout and more to the point separation from you he will not like and there fore be a punishment in itself and the more consistant you are with that the more he will start to realise the behaviour he is displaying ends up with him being away from you x

^^^ This

thank you all for your advice its been very helpful. Nikita is much better now shes home. i shout no and she goes away. the treats are working much better too. as soon as she goes for lexi i only shout no if she goes to nip not if she just runs to her, when she leaves i give her a treat. ive also been playing rough(ish) with her and when im finished i say 'nice' and show her the back of my hand, if she nips/bites i say no and if she stops and sniffs/licks and lets me stroke her she gets a treat and its working so well. My 5 yr old shouts no to nikita too and ive told her to give her a treat if shes good. thank you all again xx