# Puppy nipping and drawing blood



## Billycourty (Sep 16, 2008)

Ok so i know i proberly sound stupid, but i this is my first puppy and i just want to know what is normal, or if i have to worry about something.

I have young children, and when the puppy mouths them we say tisk, and he stops, he likes to chase them of course and i block him and put him in a sit so the child can get away.

I never leave the puppy and the children ( 2 1/2 twins) alone, so he doesnt nip them very much because i intercept.

But he bite my 9 yo daughters arm, when she was holding his collar for me, and drew blood, i wasnt in the room so i dont know if he was playing and it got out of hand, or he just spun round and grabbed her for holding his collar.


All puppies nip i assume, so he didnt mean to bite and draw blood did he?

i am teaching my daughter to "yelp" if the pup bites her, but she is still learning the right tone and to get her hands out of the way.

The pup is a 9 week old leonberger.

i posted on the training forum about my fear he might be dominate, everyone said he cant be dominate at this age so maybe he is mean?.


he only growls, snarles or bites or trys to bite seriousely if he is doing something and you tell him not to, or prevent him from doing something he wants to do, like moving away from my daughter who was holding his collar.

any wisdom on pups and nipping and how much is to much is greatly recieved.

Jaymee


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## DogsforMe (Mar 11, 2007)

As Dr Ian Dunbar says, ' puppies bite & thank goodness they do.'
http://www.dogstardaily.com/files/PuppyBiting_1.pdf
http://www.dogstardaily.com/training/puppy-biting
http://www.dogstardaily.com/training/teach-your-puppy-and-respect-people
The last one is specific to children.


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## Billycourty (Sep 16, 2008)

Thanks for posting the links, i had already read them before posting but it was kind of you to reply.

I did a search on this subject on this site and i see other people have asked the same question, especially about the drawing blood, and they had no answers either, 

must be an unpopular question.


Jaymee


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## TooneyDogs (Aug 6, 2007)

I think you might have missed the part about the difference between play biting and biting out of defense. Grabbing by the collar and restraining the puppy sets the puppy up for fight or flight....as he can't run, he has no choice but to fight. 
Teaching the puppy to overcome the fear of mild restraint and trusting you and the kids under those circumstances takes time and patience. This is an important life skill that needs to start now as the puppy will be visiting the vet and the groomer. This needs to be a pleasurable experience....holding the collar and giving treats or slow petting and lots of praise.
The usual bite inhibition also needs to be taught and the most important move is catching the potential bite BEFORE it happens...not after. For example while grooming: the instant the puppy turns his head to bite the correction of "UTTT!" or a calm "NO" will usually stop him. The important part is the praise for controlling his impulse to bite.


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## Bailey08 (Aug 12, 2008)

I posted a very, very similar question a couple of months ago. I was worried that I had an aggressive or dominant dog because he seemed to love to nip at me (and would sometimes draw blood). I got the same responses -- calm down D), he's just a puppy, that's what puppies do, etc. It made me feel so, so much better.

Honestly, my guy has stopped. He'll sometimes still try to get ahold of my sweater if the mood strikes, but he doesn't nip at _me_ anymore. Also, I've noticed that he'll sometimes still mouth (not nip) strangers' hands even though he doesn't with mine -- I'm tempted to think he thinks he can get away with it, LOL, but it's much more likely that he just hasn't generalized the behavior. So, you should make sure your daughter and other family members, and strangers, also work with you to stop the behavior. I found ignoring him to be more successful than yelping with my guy (yelping seemed to get him more excited).


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

My first dog drew blood on us while playing until she was a year old (badly-bred Lab, very mouthy). She never bit anybody as an adult, it was just a puppy thing. She was incredibly NOT human aggressive---you could have done anything to her, and she adored kids. So rlax...it's just a puppy thing  .


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## DogsforMe (Mar 11, 2007)

Use his dinner to train. Hand feed, & if he bites your hand put the dinner away for a minute, come back try again. Keep putting the food away until he gets the message that he will only get his dinner if he doesn't bite. May be time consuming but worth a try.
How are your children around him? Have you taught them how to approach him? give him quiet time? handle him gently? He's a baby & needs to be able to get away from them & sleep. Puppies spend a lot of time sleeping. Puppies also see young children as their siblings & if they don't abide by puppy rules they will get bitten. Always supervise them around the puppy. Also be calm around him, don't move your hands around quickly, it will only get him excited. Children have high pitched, squeaky voices which encourage puppies to get excited & want to play bite them. At my obedience club we tell ppl to use a high pitched voice to get a puppy/dog to come when called. It's a great attention getter.


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