Nippy Puppy

During my children's lives we have had no less than 2 dogs and/or a cat at any given time. Getting rid of the dog out of hand is ridicuous. As others have said, give the dog a place where he can be alone and safe from playful hands while he sleeps. When he is out with the children, be very VERY watchful as to how the children treat the dog. If he does not like them touching him because their little hands hurt him when they touch him (whether they mean to or not), get down with the children and the dog and teach the children how to pet and be gentle with the dog. My kids learned early that if they did certain things it hurt the pet and the pet would not want to be around them. They learned how to be gentle and caring toward the dog because we spent time teaching them and controling them when they were around the dog when they were little. They learned quickly and never had a problem at all because our pups trusted the kids to be loving and not hurtful.

HI E.,
I am not a puppy expert by no means, I have trained quite a few though.

The nipping part could be from startlying or an attachment issue to you. I would first make sure you are making eye contact with the puppy. Hands on the face and tell her "NO" "NO biting" Straight away. Then remove her.Just like children, they don't like the isolation. When she comes back, will be within a minute or a few seconds. Tell her what a good girl she is. Keep this up. This is a perfect age to start reprimanding also. Any other bad behaviors that you would like to correct also.

We use treats for the younger ones to associate outside "going" to discourage inside "going" if you know what I mean. The reward is the treat and being told what a good boy, girl they are. She sounds well loved and comfortable. Also she may be one that just doesn't like anyone in her face. So maybe if the kids backed off a little, that might help also. It's hard to say without seeing the situation.

Hope this helps.

Puppies are not great for very small children. An adult dog who is proven with children would have been a better pick. The dog does not need to be poked when sleeping. That hurts them, startles them, and annoys them. Buy a crate. After supervised play, put pup in his crate, and let him rest, unprovoked. Work with him a lot, touching, loving etc. But bothering pup is not an option while he sleeps.

Puppys are great! We have raised two. I didn't get the first one though until my kids were all up in grade school. If your puppy growls first, then he is warning your child. It's not unusual for a puppy to nip or become frustrated if the child continues to touch them. With the very young child it will be tricky to teach her to stay away when puppy gives the warning. If the puppy is not showing signs of aggression at other times then she can probably be socialized easy enough. You might want to put her up when she sleeps. A crate is great, if you don't have one then just put puppy behind closed doors. She will get to sleep without being bothered and hopefully be more ready to play when she wakes up. I think it could take some real work to teach baby and puppy both how to respect each other. Shew! good luck! M.

Get rid of the dog. It's not worth the chance of it biting your children!

There are tons of books out there. I know Cesar Milan has one. Any number might help you.
Does the puppy bite when they get near the food? Or at any other time? We have a water bottle that we pray at out Beagle and that seems to work. Our oldest shepherd also bites and the children have had to learn what she will and wont' tolerate.
Be sure to give the Beagle lots of exercise and have the children sit next to her and pet her nicely. 2 year olds and 4 year olds are notorious for being too rough on a dog.
Also you can get her some doggie obedience training for $100. Make sure she is socialized with lots of other dogs and people.

Just some thoughts . . . Beagles are natural hunters, so I don't know if they make good house dogs. They need plenty of chew toys (as do all pups). Anyway, can you keep puppy in a corral or kennel for certain times of the day? And are you sure that your kids don't antagonize the pup while you're not noticing and he's 'gun-shy' of them?

This sounds like the beginning of a serious problem. Definitely should get it under control. I would contact a dog expert in the area to discuss. Also, Cesar Millan has some good books out and he's a pro with this type of thing. Good luck. Our doodle play bites and hurts but this sounds like aggression. Good luck...

Dogs (all breeds) should be left alone while sleeping. You can try taking them to a trainer but just as we're grumpy when someone wakes us from sleep, so are dogs and they are just responding as we would. We have had several dogs in our family over the years and our kids have been taught to leave the dogs alone when they (the dogs) are sleeping. The dogs also have their own space in our bedroom and the kids know not to bother the dogs if they are in our bedroom. If the dogs do not have a space to go where it is quiet and away from the hustle and bustle, they will act out. We have greyhounds, which are a very gentle breed, but we know to say their name before we pet them if they are laying down - in case they are sleeping and so we don't startle them.

Hi E.,
You need to nip this in the butt

a couple of things you can do.
First off I hope you are the Alpha of the dog, and when the puppy nips you tell her ow that hurts and mean it! if it a child that is being nipped train the child to cross their arms and turn away from the puppy and say no it hurts. The puppy will get the message and leave the child alone, the other thing you can do is gently, hence the word gently put your hand around the puppy mouth when she is being nippy and tell her no bite. and when she quit reward her with a treat and say good boy or good girl. the other thing I would highly recommend is get on line and go to www.diamondsintheruff.com and check out some of their helper tips, and check out www.pedigree.com, or even go to petsmart or petco and get the puppy in class. The puppy is looking at the little one as another puppy who wants to play.
You have to be the alpha over the puppy. the other suggestion I would make is supervise the children and the puppy when they are together and if you can't supervise then put the puppy in time out. Until you can supervise.
I hope this has help you.

I am a very strong dog lover, and I have had several dogs over the years. and out of all of the dogs we have had. I had to put down 1 dogdue to severe aggression and that is why I am responding to your request.

B. A

I would find another home for the dog. Your child's safety comes first.