my kid is not a chew toy....

[DEADhead]

any advice for a 9 week old pup who likes to nip at everything? I realize that's what pups do. I'm most concerned about my 2yo daughter. The pup likes to blindside her and then nip and chew on her.

Reprimands don't work, neither does giving him a rawhide immediately after chewing on something undesireable, like my achilles tendon. I've had him on his back playing the dominant dog thing, but to no avail. Is this just something I have to endure until he matures? thanks.

[caseymcq]

This may sound a little wierd. Tabasco sauce. Put some on your achilles and where ever the pup likes to chew on your daughter.

[Eric Wettschreck]

agreed. It works.

Remember fish gotta swim, bird gotta fly, wife gotta nag, and puppy gotta chew. A little cyane pepper on things the pup isn't allowed to chew on works wonders.

[marine_man]

I've had better luck with Cayenne pepper than Tabasco... I'm pretty sure my dog thinks Tabasco is a treat.. he just licks the stuff up... Cayanne however has made a point.

I had problems with my dog chewing on the siding of our shed... to the point where he chewed a hole through it (not on an edge, on a flat panel). I mixed the Cayenne with a little vegetable oil so it was a paste and pasted it on the spot he was chewing on and no more problems - it's been at least a year since this happened and I haven't had any problems since.

marine_man

[Swamp Scooter]

Are you starting puppy obedience classes soon? If not you should look one up and get enrolled. Use the kennel/crate too. No reason the pup needs to have free reign of the house, all the time. If you start with the boundries now it will be easier to control them later. Just a young pup and in need of time to grow up. I am sure the child wants to play but the pup does too but does not know the strength it has or the ease at which the young kid can go tumbling. Chewing is just part of their life right now and they are just too young to know the difference. You can make the pup bite itself though. When the pup grabs your hand just take the upper lip and press it onto one of the razor sharp teeth it has and make the pup feel what it is doing. This is not a true cure but can help the pup realize that things hurt.

[charliepete2]

Grab the pup on the top of the snout curling the lips into the teeth and pinch the skin into the teeth and give the verbal reprimand 'NO'. My dogs have always picked up on things they don't want in their mouth fairly quicly using this method.

[gonefishin11]

I just went throw the chewing phase with my lab pup. From the time she was 8 weeks until about 4 months, she wanted to chew on everything from hands to feet to couches. Nothing I could say at the time would get her to stop for more than 15 minutes or so. When she got to be about 4 months old, she stopped chewing on people and kept to her toys without too much fuss from myself.

I think its just a stage and the pup will grow out of it.

[ewirz]

I tried the tobassco thing too. She liked it. Pepper worked better

[DEADhead]

thanks for all the replies. The dog sleeps in the kennel at night, so there are boundaries established, and he does not have free reign of the house. I've been doing the lip into the tooth thing, but like everything else it is just temporary. I've also heard about the bitter apple spray which has the same effect as the tabasco. I would hate to put tabasco on anything the dog chews on, because a lot of them are my kids toys and she still sticks them in her mouth from time to time. I have come to the conclusion that there won't be much I can do until he outgrows this phase. I have noticed a slight reduction in his nipping though, and he does seem to respond to "no" now. Thanks again!

[fasternu]

I have a 6 month old Golden who sounds much like your dog. While reading all of the training books, they pretty much say the same thing, when you say no, add a loud growl to it, it helps the dog understand that it has been bad. Another suggestion from the book, it says find a small child and show them some acting lessons. When the dog nips, have them squeal and cry loudly, and really carry on about it. The dog will see it did something bad, and hopefully learn not to do it again (this didn't work on my dog..) Good luck.

[DEADhead]

thanks for the advice from the book. I have doubts about the child acting, because when my daughter is cornered by the dog and cries, it doesn't seem to affect him much.

[Johnny_Namakan]

At what age did you get to take the dog home at? Reason I'm asking is that my dog as a pup sounds a lot like yours. Ripped up the carpet, 2 leather jackets, Lay-Z-Boy, hats, bedspread, pillow, magazines (especially the ones with the grouse cologne samples), ankles, fingers, etc.. I took her home at 6 weeks. I didn't want to, but the breeder said that it was a big litter and that mom wanted nothing to do with the pups anymore. I learned later that this is normal at that age, but from 6-8 weeks of age the pups learn to interact with each other and establish a pecking order. I don't think my pup ever got to do this with her siblings and therefore didn't truly develop those social skills. She was a tough one to train. She has since gotten much better and is a very good dog now. She was close to taking one last hunt with me last fall, but I loved her too much to get "rid" of her. I'm glad I didn't. You're doing the right thing though. Stay persistant but try not to be too tough. I admittedly was, what I believe to be, too tough. She was/is very stubborn and I had a hard time dealing with that. When I would get mad at her for not listening she knew I was mad and would run from me thinking she was getting a rap on the nose. I had to regain her trust slowly. Don't get me wrong, I never kicked her, or abused her, or anything like that. She just didn't take well to getting a rap on the nose/butt for not listening. And since she would never listen she was getting rapped a lot. One thing I read in one of my training books has always stuck with me. At the end of the chapter discussing all the training that needs to be done, the author wrote, "don't forget that sometimes you have to let a puppy be a puppy." VERY TRUE!

[DEADhead]

Quote:

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"don't forget that sometimes you have to let a puppy be a puppy."

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well put. I gave up last week. The pup will come around eventually.

I took the pup home at 7 weeks, after he'd been weaned.

[Dee.M.Zee]

DEADhead,

I believe your dog will grow out of it. We have raised ALOT of puppies and I have never seen one yet that doesn't bite,nip,play the way your describing.Although I hear your worries about the babe,those puppy teeth are sharp!I agree with grabbing the snout and giving him a stern "NO!" when he does bite/nip,eventually he will learn,they're smart dogs.One thing about Labs is they are born chewers! My lab chewed til he was almost 4 years old,I still find the occasional food wrapper,etc. hidden under his mattress in his kennel!!!???:)Good Luck