We have a nipper on our hands

Morning everyone!

Just after a little advice here. We've had our staffy Tia for just over 3 weeks and overall she has been fantastic. She was a rescue dog which didn't have the greatest of starts. When she arrived she didn't know her name or any commands, even the most basic ones. Since we've had her she has learnt so much. From sit to paw and even wait. Knows her name now and leave it and no. I'm very much proud of how far she has come.

My only concern which is proving to be a huge one is she has a terrible problem with nipping. I can see its only in a playful way but she's nipped my eldest boy yesterday and caused a nasty bruise and this morning on greeting us all when we woke has jumped a nipped my daughter and made her cry and has left another nasty nip bruse. Compared to my son my daughter is a tough little cookie and has her fair share of nips and scratches from our cat and isn't easily hurt. So this must have been a sufficient nip to cause an instant bruise.

I'm worried as I really don't know what to do to make Tia less nippy, or any commands or actions I should be using. I guess it comes with her age? As she is now around 5 months old. I'd never dream of rehoming her as she's perfect in every sense of the word and I'm a very patient man. I just worry she'll do harm in the form of a nip to my youngest who is only one.

Any advice would be hugely appreciated.

Thanks in advance you lot! Much appreciated!

Unfortunately they do go through a nipping stage, we had a couple of months where we had to keep something on our feet as Katy always went for them. Always have one of her toys to hand so when she goes to nip distract her with a toy instead. Some say to yelp when they bite like their littermates would do, I personally found that made Katy worse. Stick with it & she'll soon come out of it

Jenc wrote:Unfortunately they do go through a nipping stage, we had a couple of months where we had to keep something on our feet as Katy always went for them. Always have one of her toys to hand so when she goes to nip distract her with a toy instead. Some say to yelp when they bite like their littermates would do, I personally found that made Katy worse. Stick with it & she'll soon come out of it

Thanks for the reply. Hopefully nothing more too dramatic will happen. She's playfully had me a couple of times but I'm quick to be firm with her and it usually corrects that given situation. My daughter screamed into tears which made Tia run into the kitchen so it must have startled her too.

Besides the nipping she's fantastic. Great with our indoor cat, great with other dogs and people. But if anyone comes to visit she greets them playfully with her teeth lol.

As well as working as Jen suggests, I'd be looking at keeping interactions between Tia and your kids calm as nipping is often linked to excitement and wanting to play. Playing rough or exciting games can encourage them to see that person as super fun and they will more likely be a target for the 'play now!' nipping.

You can also teach your children how to help training Tia by understanding how their responses can affect her. Screaming or shouting, running around, getting cross, anything that's a high energy/high sound response will be stimulating and will encourage her to nip more. I know you just said your daughter's scream scared her but I wouldn't count on that always being the case. Hard though it might be for them, learning to give a very flat uninteresting response and stopping any interaction the second Tia nips will be more effective. As she's trying to get the kids to play or is responding to what she sees as fun, taking that play and fun away the second she first nips will help her understand that nipping is in fact counter productive. Explain to them that they have to be consistent, and each time Tia nips they should get up and walk away from her quietly, regardless of what they are doing. If they want to do something undisturbed, then close the door so she can't come in for a while.

At the same time, it's important to recognise when she's not nipping. That's harder to spot, the not doing something, but if you can see times when she's interacting nicely, make sure you praise her and reward.

And it does get better as they grow up, honest!

frozen vegetables frozen teatowel and puppy kong will help your dogs sore gums rope toys are good too or you can make your own using old rags. can't add to. good advice given

excellent advice from Liz!

I have had this same problem with jango.
he has nipped my children and left some marks on my daughter thigh and the back of our eldest knee and my wife's arm hasn't done it with me unless I was playing with his toys with him but that's not his fault I was wondering if there is anything I can do and was about to post on here and saw this.
Jango is about 12 weeks old but looks like it has already been answered as my daughter does scream a little sometimes and they love running around too what child doesn't

Thanks for the tips of advice everyone. Fortunately it only seems to be when my kids first come in from school and in the mornings when we all first get up. Other than that Tia is fairly calm and rather plasid for a pup. I've got some work to do with the kids and trying to get them to understand the dos and donts around Tia. My son it very jumpy and always anticipates the worse from everything. He was our first born and has an overly protective mother thato has turned him into a worrier lol. Whereas my daughter is much more willing to learn and hardy. We breed snakes for a part time living more so a hobby and she's always been amazing with all our animals. So I'm currently working on including my boy into the evening walks after school and the basic training commands.

Will keep you all posted on how things progress

In that case, Fran, think about creating little routines/sessions that the kids, especially your son, can do with Tia at those times. Try not to focus on 'don'ts' as that makes you think more about them and keeps them in the front of the mind. Instead, by setting up things to do instead, but things that are incompatible with nipping, you should be able to get the same messages across in a positive manner.

Clicker training might be a good idea as you can teach tricks, which are fun for kids, and you all have to concentrate. There's a thread here with info on how to get started:

https://staffy-bull-terrier.niceboard.com/t64911-clicker-training

One thought might be to use the clicker to teach Tia to bring a specific toy first thing in the morning. That will give her something to do with her mouth (the incompatible with nipping bit).

Just be careful not to let training sessions go on too long. At 5 months she's plenty old enough to do 15 minutes or so but will get bored quite quickly, and will also get frustrated if she's not rewarded for trying, even if it's something tiny.

It sounds from what you're saying that you have a fairly good base to work from and with just a bit of thought and planning I'm sure you'll be able to turn the situation around and let your kids and Tia have fun at the same time. Just quieter fun at those key times!

And if it doesn't work, blame the mother!

Hi, my kids were very young when my Daisy was a pup and I have been through exactly this, my youngest was a year old. It is so hard to get children to do the right thing as the kids are as excitable as the dog.

I am in a puppy class at the Essex Dog Training Centre at the moment and they have been saying to remove the dog the instant they do it and shut the door. Keep repeating this every time the dog does it and they should get the message, they are quick learners. We tried yelping this can get them even more excited so that might be worth a try. I used to be a nervous wreck, my 1 year old used to dive on Daisy and wrestle on the floor with her pushing her arm into her mouth to play. We got through it and they were the best of friends. xx

The problem with removing the dog is that it can be perceived as rewarding, because you are picking the dog up and giving it attention. That's why I'd say you need to leave so that you can do it without interacting with the dog at all.

Good to hear that you've got through it with a trainer you trust though.

Thank you again for the advice everyone.  It appears over these past few days to have calmed down some in regards to my children. For one Tia is fantastic around my almost one year old and has always remained a much calmer pup in her presence. And the walking away immediately seems to be doing the trick. But when we have visitors there's no helping her greeting them on arrival with a good old tail wag and a cheeky chew lol.

For example today was my birthday and my household was by far the busiest it has ever been since Tias arrival. Everyone that arrived was greeted by her puppy teeth, but it's a tricky one as I can't solely blame her for doing so as I feel it's more of a human error as nobody seemed to listen to my advice when I was trying to explain on what to do.

So all in all I think we're winning lol.