Advice please - 12 week old ESS Behaviour

Jack has been with us for nearly 1 week now. We have 3 kids aged 5 8 and 12 and everythings been going fine. Just took him for a walk in garden and my 5 year old came towards us and he turned on him. He bit onto his shirt first , then into his leg and wouldnt let go. I had to pull him off - by this point my son was screaming. I picked him up and took him back to his basket and ignored him for 1/2 hr but now I am really worried. I thought they were a breed well suited to kids and now I am worried that this may happen again. Any advice really appreciated - I am really upset.

Hi
Your pup is a pup...biting is what they do. They are investigating the world and playing, they don't have hands so they find out about things through their mouths.
Whe you say your son came over, what did he do, how did he approach, was he carrying anything?
The thing is, children have to learn what they can and can't do around puppies. My son has had several pups through the house now and know what he can and can't do...I have found it has been more important to educate him , than the dog.
I hope your son is okay.
Dogsey is a great place to come to learn more and ask questions. There are lots of people here who can reassure and help you.

What sort of contact do you allow with the pup and your children?
How are you teaching the pup to not bite? There are some interesting articles on here about it that should help.

Sending your pup off for half an hour will be ineffective. He won't know why he's there to be honest...they have a short attention span and you could be teaching him to be nervous around you which could create all sorts of problems.

So sorry this has happened, please be assured that 12 week old pups are just learning and need help and patience to learn the right lessons.
Hope you are all okay

Thanks for that - but what I need to understand is what set him off and what I was supposed to do! My son was running towards him (not carrying anything). When Jack initially bit him he started screaming/crying and thats when I told Jack no but he just continued. How was I supposed to discipline the dog and what do I tell Dylan to do in future? At the moment all 3 kids are allowed to play with him when ever - except when jack is having his quite time.


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Hello

Sorry to hear this has happened- you need to teach the pup some bite inhibition and what he is allowed/not allowed to do.

this is an excellent article
http://www.dogsey.com/dog-articles.php?t=14526

i think it might also be useful to get your kids to learn to teach jack things like Leave and Sit etc and involve them in the training - they are all old enough to understand and to be able to leanr with you and Jack !

good luck hope the article helps

Could it be that a game of chase got a bit out of hand? I know sometimes if we run around my boy will chase after and a puppy might have got over-excited and not realise biting is wrong.

Try not to worry, was your son hurt badly? Did the pup break the skin? You'll get a lot of good advice here

Hi, its sounds to me like the dog saw your child running and thought Yeah play time and started rough playing with your son.

If it was another dog running to play he would have done the exact same thing, jumping and biting and a bit of rough and tumble.

You need to lay some rules down to the dog as to what is exceptable behaviour. If he is mouthing (biting) at you and the kids in the house playing, i would squeel loudly to stop him in his tracks, if he continues turn your back and give him no attention what so ever until he is calm and then lots of fuss. He will soon learn.

Hi.
One of my puppy ground rules is no running around the puppy, until the puppy has learnt his manners.
Sounds like what happened is the pup saw your son run and thought it was a game so held him...he only has a mouth and not hands. Your son starts screaming...more of a game. Another rule we have is no screaming around the pup until he's learnt manners. Mad play generally isn't allowed until the pup is about 6/7 months and is more steady.

If you teach your children that the pup needs to learn his manners they will really respond to that. Set some ground rules for them all pup and children....it's normally easier to teach the pup to be honest!!!!!! The bite inhibition articel is a good one. If your pup mouths it is a good idea to give him something else to chew or carry. Our pups all responfd to 'go get a toy' by the time they are 4 months and by the time they are 6 months if things get a bit mad they go get a toy, they self regulate. This is particularly important with gundog pups. Your dog has every bone in his body shouting 'I need to carry something in my mouth' as that is what he has been bred to do, so encourage it. If he gets silly and over excited mouthing, stop the game, give him something to chew.
Hope this helps.
Does you pup have a bed he can go to to escape the children? A place of his own where they are not allowed to disturb him???
Ax

I would just like to add that my children did not spring from the womb knowing how to behave unfortunately- and neither did my dogs It does take time and hard work to train and socialise both pup and child - and it may be easier if you separate the two when they are overtired or over-excited. These dogs are gentle as a rule, but they are working dogs and need to use their own talent and to be trained how to behave. Do you go to puppy training at all?

thanks everyone - puppy training including my kids starts next week ! I have told the children not to run around now or indeed scream while hes around. He is currently in a basket in the kitchen (am considering a crate) and we are constructing an outside run/kennel so he can have a good amount of safe space when we are out during the day.

Separate issue on toilet training (sorry I am a newbie!) Jack was reared in outside Kennels on a working gundog farm. Consequently he goes to the loo whereever! Newspaper has been ripped to shreds in the kitchen and puppy training mats are used as blankets? I am taking him outside every hour or so and he is going (and I am rewarding him on the spot) but then we come back in and 5 mins later he will just wee on the kitchen floor in front of me. He has been with us for 1 week and I have just been saying no Jack and placing him outside to finish the business. Is it just a matter of time - am I doing anything fundamentally wrong?

I'd say do away with the papers & the mats, and just have him go outside. You're doing right by going out every hour, but if you're coming in and 5 minutes later he's going for a wee, maybe take him out again 5 minutes after you've brought him in. Puppies need to go after playing, eating, sleeping, and basically doing anything! Watch out for the signs, sniffing or going around in a circle, and quickly take him outside.

Crates are good because dogs are reluctant to wee in their sleeping area. Also, if you're busy around the house, an idea might be to have him tied to you so you can still keep an eye on him.

Every hour is not enough, it shoudl be around every 20 minutes when he's learning. If you find an accident ignore it and praise lloads when he does it outside, reward him with a treat or a bit of his food. Perhaps think of giving a word to associate it with when he does it ...we use busy...the choice is yours though. When he does it in the right place, say 'busy' or your word and reward him, he'll soon get the idea.


Have you any books? Gwen Baileys' books are a really good starting point, I also got my son Sarah Whitehead's Puppy Training For Kids, it's really informative and if you are new to it all you'll learn loads too.
Don't be afraid to post new threads about specific problems, there are plenty of people on here who can and will help as much as they can. x