# Getting puppy to respect kids



## Gingerbread (Apr 20, 2010)

Respect is not exactly the word I am looking for... but it fit in the title. 

This is my first post and I wanted to thank everyone for the wonderful tips and information I have gotten from this forum in just a week of lurking. 

We have had an 8 week old cocker spaniel, Ginger, for almost a week now. I am very pleased with her progress thus far, housebreaking is coming along nicely and she is adjusting very well to her crate and the new routine. 

My question has to do with my children and Ginger. She recognizes that I am in charge and listens to me when I tell her to stop a behaviour or call her. But I have a 6yo and 11yo that she pretty much ignores commands from. The biggest problem is her nipping at their feet. She does at mine too, but when I tell her no she stops. With the kids she keeps at it until I tell her no. I have told them to stand still and not give her any attention when she does it, without success thus far. I plan to buy some bitter apple spray this weekend so hopefully that will discourage her further. 

But that issue is part of a larger one- if they catch her with something that she shouldn't have and tell her to drop it, she continues. Same with other things she shouldn't do. I want her to listen to all members of the family, not just me for times when I am not there. I would love to hear suggestions on accomplishing this. 

We have already established command words that we will all use so that she doesn't get confused.


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## TxRider (Apr 22, 2009)

Teach the kids to help train her and teach them to get her to do commands for treats?


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## Mudra (Nov 1, 2007)

I agree with TxRider.  Encouraging the kids to help with the training will make the puppy understand that she needs to listen to them as well.


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## doxiemommy (Dec 18, 2009)

Yes, especially if your pup is really motivated by food!  If your kids are also in charge of handing out those yummy treats when he does something good, it could change her attitude!
And, as a side note, sometimes kids are hard to be "believable" as authority figures if they giggle or squirm, even a bit, when the puppy is doing something they shouldn't, like your example of asking your kids to stand still and ignore when she nips. If, even once or twice, they have a hard time standing still, or not engaging in play when your puppy nips or does something else wrong your pup might see her as a playmate only!
And, kids, especially little ones, just want to love puppies and play!


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## Gingerbread (Apr 20, 2010)

Thank you for the replies. We will work on group training some more this weekend. My 11yo did practice teaching "sit" with Ginger using treats, and it seems like his voice or attitude do lack the authority to get her to obey. I was able to get her to sit after just a few tries but she still won't do it for him. I've told him to deepen his voice lol and he's practicing his "stern" voice. It does seem like I have twice the training job. The kids and the dog!


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## DJEtzel (Dec 28, 2009)

If your dog doesn't know the command, you can't expect her to do it for a ton of people. It sounds like she needs work if you can't even get her to sit every time. You need to train the commands, and then teach your kids to help enforce them and show them how. 

Do a search for Kikopup on youtube and you can find great videos about luring and fading the lure, and then adding a verbal command.


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## NRB (Sep 19, 2009)

Ok people lets stop and realize that we are talking about an 8 week old puppy. That you got as a 7 week old puppy. Expecting her to know and do commands with every member of the family is sort of like expecting my 3yo daughter to play Rachmaninoff on the piano. It ain't going to happen. Today. But give the pup and your children time and consistant training and it will happen. But really an 8 week old pup has the training capacities of a 2yo child. Or thereabouts. So just lower your expectations a little bit, understand that you are going to go through the "puppy phase" for some time, and know that if you remain calm and consistent in your training your pup will come out just fine. And accept commands from every member of your family. Just not tomorrow.

Congrats on the new family member!

As to the stern voice. I teach sit by hand signal. First I hold the treat over her nose so that she has to look up to see it, and her butt naturally hits the ground. I praise her the moment her butt hits floor and give her the treat. After some time I can hold my hand in a fist above her head and she sits for that. (I do not speak a command for any of this, I say her name to get her attention and that's all the voice that I use) Then I just hold my hand in a fist at my belly button and she sits from that.... thumb up. After all that and I have a sit every time with just the hand motion I can all a verbal cue. "Sit" then fade the hand signal. OR in your case keep it. THEN proof the behavior in different locations. Sit in the kitchen, the dining room, in the yard, at the door going out, at the door going in, at the car and etc. remember that dogs Do Not Generalize Commands. So you taught the dog to sit in the kitchen and your dogs knows sit in the kitchen. Not sit in the garage and etc. So you need to teach the command in each new location for a while.


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## PiedmontMom (Apr 12, 2010)

When in the house I would keep the pup tethered to me or in its crate until I feel it is reliable around my kids and possessions. Yes, my kids should learn how to interact and command the pup, but the pup needs a good leader and only one leader. And that is me.


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## LazyGRanch713 (Jul 22, 2009)

Gingerbread said:


> Thank you for the replies. We will work on group training some more this weekend. My 11yo did practice teaching "sit" with Ginger using treats, and it seems like his voice or attitude do lack the authority to get her to obey. I was able to get her to sit after just a few tries but she still won't do it for him. I've told him to deepen his voice lol and he's practicing his "stern" voice. It does seem like I have twice the training job. The kids and the dog!


I wouldn't make the "sit" command TOO stern, unless you're planning to be growling "SIT" for the rest of the dogs' life. Like DJ said, dogs (puppies in particular) don't generalize things very well. Sit from you in the kitchen is a whole nother thing to the puppy than sit in the living room for your 11 year old. She's 8 weeks old, you've had her for less than a week, so try not to expect too much out of her. She's still a baby. Have you checked into signing her up for puppy classes? They are REALLY fun, and puppies and kids seem to like the classes a lot because they (should be) focused around using lots of treats, toys, and praise. It's something the kids can be a part of, and learn in the process. 
You might try a restrained recall. It helps teach a fast and immediate "come when you're called". Hold the puppy and have one of your kids show the puppy that they have a treat. Have the kid(s) encourage her and get her excited. When you feel your puppy pushing against you to get to them, let her go. I wouldn't encourage the kids to run away from her during this (it could lead to more feet chasing), but have them toss her a treat when she arrives. We did this game in puppy class with Tag, it was SO much fun, and it really REALLY helped build him into a dog who comes the instant I call him no matter what. Good luck!


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## NRB (Sep 19, 2009)

PiedmontMom said:


> When in the house I would keep the pup tethered to me or in its crate until I feel it is reliable around my kids and possessions. Yes, my kids should learn how to interact and command the pup, but the pup needs a good leader and only one leader. And that is me.


I use baby gates to seperate baby and puppy. My daughter is 3yo now, was 2 when we got the puppy. I set up one room as the puppy room, and set up crates on every floor of the house (I had lots of old oversized crates left over from previous dogs) the Crates and dog room was and still is a Baby Free Zone. My daughter is not allowed to mess with the crates or go inside the dog's room . That gave the puppy an escape plan, and is a great way to basicly prevent a bite.... The dog never gets cornered or picked on... Not that my dog would ever bite Not that your dog would ever bite.... 

I would NEVER tie a dog and leave it tied when a kid in on the ground near the dog. EVER. It makes the dog feel extra vunerable and can set you up for a bite. I did tie my pup to a chair in the dining room for meals... but always release the dog BEFORE the toddler got out of her chair. Leashing the pup to you is a great idea, and one I used frequently. 

I never had a problem teaching my puppy to respect my DD, it was just never an issue that ever came up. I suspect that is due to the dogs personality (and breeding somewhat). The pup allowed DD to take bones out of her mouth (a time out offense for sure) Never chased my daughter. Never nibbled on DD. Nada, Nothing. Only thing was puppy and toddler exeberance at the same time resulted in dd getting knocked over 2x. But baby gates prevented that, and now the dog is mature so no more puppy zoomies. And I never left the pup with the toddler unsupervised.


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