HELP! FOZZY BEAR HAS TURNED INTO TAZMANIAN DEVIL!!!

[Chris & Boys]

Fozzy Bear ( 9 weeks old) has started growling at my 8 & 10 year old boys. He has also been nipping at them. This started about two days ago and I want to put an end to it as quickly as possible. Does anyone have any suggestions?

[Denise, Winnie, and AngelAbby]

At 9 weeks, are you sure he is growling? Our Abby is quite the talker and it could be interpreted as a growl if you didn't know her. She is forever making noise when we interact, groans, growls, barks... and the jaw snapping thing... my vet told me "Abby does this because she is frustrated, wound up, or confused at what you want from her." There again, it's not actually snapping. Or at least not in Abby's case. Anytime I play with her, lay with her on the floor, interact with her at all, I first put something in her mouth that she can chew on. She knows she isn't suppose to bite but sometimes she can't control herself. If she has something in her mouth, we are both happy. She is after all a teething puppy. Does Bear snap his jaw at you when you tell him no?? Abby will snap her jaw, groan, and lay down when I tell her no. If he is in fact snapping to actually bite and hurt, then I don't know what to tell you. I can't see a 7 week old puppy being aggressive like that. I'm hoping you are just misreading his body language.

[Chris & Boys]

He snaps all the time when he wants to play. Yes, he sometimes does it when we tell him "no" but that only happens if he is in a nippy mood. I am pretty sure it was a growl. This morning, after my son brought him in from going potty, Zach was picking him up to give him a hug, and he growled, showing teeth, and went for his hands. I think he feels he is above the boys in the pack.

[Denise, Winnie, and AngelAbby]

Oh my!!! That isn't good. I have no experience in that department at all, but I do know that it is something that needs to get remedied - and fast. Hopefully someone with some experience here can help. I think you are probably right about the pack order thing tho.

[Sherree]

We have 12wk old and the trainer told us that "play bitting" should not be accepted in any form. We are suppose to pick her up with our arm restraining the full length of her body and hold her mouth shut. Clam and sooth her and when she is relaxed let go of her mouth but keep her body restrained, when she stays relaxed release her body. It's an alph dog thing and they have to know YOU are the boss. Remember our puppies only have a 2sec,span of retention so you need to act right away to unwanted behaivors. This has worked for us, we will also so do this when the energy levels get TO high as the 2 dogs are playing to rough. Piper (12wk) vs Pierre (14mo) and 17# vs 78#
Good Luck and Happy Doodling

[Chris & Boys]

Do you think this will work with a 8 &10 year old boys doing it? He give me absolutely no problems. Do you think it would work if I had them roll him on the ground and do this rather than holding him?? (Fozzy Bear was originally named Piper).

[Sherree]

the trainer suggest to another with small(er) childern that the kids offer food while standing up right and only giving it AFTER the dog has prefomed the task requested. ie Piper sit......with food in hand in front of her nose, draw back the food until Piper (Bear) is clam and quite..This takes time We have a 14mo also, he learned VERY quick Piper on the other hand was younger when we brought her home and the road has been a bit longer and harder....Just stick to what ever plan you have and make sure EVERYONE in the house does the same

Enjoy your DOODLES

[Chris & Boys]

Thanks, we'll give that a try.

[Chris & Boys]

We started with the training last night. My youngest was afraid to actually give him the food, so he would drop it in front of him. Do you think that is ok until my son becomes more confident?

[Adina P]

I wouldn't consider this anything more than just normal puppy behavior and normal puppy nipping--still annoying, and we'll still need to be managed..BUT NOT aggression. If he's like the average puppy, it'll go away on its own in a few weeks maybe a couple months. Redirect puppy to a toy that's acceptable to chew on, but don't get into any sort of battle of wills -- if he's really driving you crazy see if you can engage in a game of fetch or chase the toy ... And if all that fails plop him in his crate for little while until he calms down.
In the meantime teach your kids to "be a tree" -- check out this past discussion and look for my long response that outlines how to be a treat: http://www.doodlekisses.com/forum/topics/2065244:Topic:56092

[Chris & Boys]

LOL - I tried your "tree" suggestion last night. My sons looked at me like I was crazy and stated that they are not "babies"... so now they will "cop an attitude" and stick their noses in the air, cross their arms across thier chest and ignore FB until he calms down.

[Renee]

I agree with Adina this is normal puppy behavior. Taffy is 5months old and from the time we brought her home she has nipped at us. It is slowly getting better as she is losing her baby teeth. Our trainer also has us put a thin layer of peanut butter on your palm of hand and let him lick it off and while she is licking use a soft mouth word like gentle or easy, this way she learns to lick when you use that word. Taffy also growls and our trainer also said that growling doesn't always mean something bad, some dogs just growl.

[Sine]

I haven't tried this but always meant to when Joey was around kids. That is, rub frozen butter sticks on your kids' hands when handling Fozzy Bear to promote "kisses only." I also tell kids to "look at the rain," while crossing their arms when Joey jumps up on them - just to comletely ignore. Definitely have them part of training sessions and the feeding process. It sounds like a sorting-of-the-pecking-system thing but he's so young. He might just be really confused with little kids around and not know how to act. Joey was a terrible, awful nipper when he was a small pup. I remember getting so frustrated. He would nip at our noses, ears, hair, chest (that one would really hurt since I'm a girl)... Usually, just ignoring and ending any attention or redirecting with a chew toy worked. Occasionally when he got really nuts (and only then), we would restrain his entire body (kind of getting him into a sit/stand position with his back towards us, facing forward), while gently holding his mouth together and would continue to do so until he stopped protesting (that would never take long). Then we would release his mouth slowly while still holding onto his body until he was very calm. If, he started mouthing again, back to mouth holding. Finally, when calm, we would let go and reward him with a treat. Now, he is much better and know what are the appropriate items to chew. I doubt your kids could do this however but if you choose to, if could be helpful for you.