What Is An Unpleasant Taste For Pups But Ok For Kids

[frenzied1]

I have a new pup and at 8 weeks he is obviously mouthing, all my kids are doing the right thing apart from my 18 month old who thinks it is funny when he gets chewed. Someone suggested putting something on my son's hand that my pup thinks is unpleasant but it won't be harmful if my son puts his hands in his mouth.

Anyway any ideas?

[Flying Penguin]

I have a new pup and at 8 weeks he is obviously mouthing, all my kids are doing the right thing apart from my 18 month old who thinks it is funny when he gets chewed. Someone suggested putting something on my son's hand that my pup thinks is unpleasant but it won't be harmful if my son puts his hands in his mouth.

Anyway any ideas?

Im sure when the pup gets sharper teath he wont think its funny.

I read somewere tea tree oil but im not sure it is good or bad for the dog and if it would be effective.

[bikle]

Anything that you put onto your sons hand has a larger chance of going into your son's mouth than the dog.

Last thing you want is the deterant that was aimed for the pup getting into your bubs mouth.

I would just supervise them.

Also - Tea tree oil is poisonous... I would not be using it.

[caffiend42]

The stuff you put on fingernails to stop biting them? OK for hoomans, no idea if ok for pups.

[vanessa0305]

What about the bitter apple spray? I am not sure how safe it is for humans but I would think that if its ok for dogs to get into their mouths then it would be fine for your sons arms.

[blacklabrador]

The gel out of an aloe vera plant is extremely bitter but very gentle on skin.

[skwo2]

Aloe Vera is poison to dogs, so I won't recommend using it

Train the dog not to go near the baby, like they did in the last show of "It is me or the dog" (week 5?)

[wombatoutofhell]

We used to have a cairn/lab/staff X that had a thing for shoe laces as a puppy. so we rubbed some tobasco sauce on the laces-he didn't like that and soon stopped! Same would go for any hot spices i'd imagine-but I doubt your kid would be impressed. So maybe not a good solution for this problem!

[frenzied1]

Thank you for your ideas.

We are currently giving the pup something he is allowed to chew. I beleive he is doing what pups do. I need to teach my son.

[blacklabrador]

Aloe Vera is poison to dogs, so I won't recommend using it

Train the dog not to go near the baby, like they did in the last show of "It is me or the dog" (week 5?)

A vet recommended it to me to cure a lick granuloma on a rescue lab I had.

[sugar]

DEALING WITH NORMAL PUPPY BEHAVIOR: NIPPING AND ROUGH PLAY

When puppies play with each other, they use their mouths. Therefore, puppies usually want to bite or "mouth" hands during play or when being petted. With puppies, this is rarely aggressive behavior in which the intent is to do harm. Because puppies are highly motivated to exhibit this type of behavior, attempts to suppress it or stop it are unlikely to be successful unless you give your puppy an alternative behavior. The goals of working with this normal puppy behavior are to redirect your puppy's desire to put something in her mouth onto acceptable chew toys and to teach her to be gentle when a hand is in her mouth.

Encourage Acceptable Behavior

Redirect your puppy’s chewing onto acceptable objects by offering her a small rawhide chew bone or other type of chew toy whenever you pet her. This technique can be especially effective when children want to pet her. As you or the child reach out to scratch her behind the ears (not over the head) with one hand, offer the chew bone with the other. This will not only help your puppy learn that people and petting are wonderful, but will also keep her mouth busy while she’s being petted. Alternate which hand does the petting and which one has the chew bone. At first, you may need to pet or scratch your puppy for short periods of time, since the longer she’s petted, the more likely she is to get excited and start to nip.

Discourage Unacceptable Behavior

• You must also teach your puppy to be gentle with hands, and that nipping results in unpleasant consequences for her. Teach your puppy that nipping "turns off" any attention and social interaction with you. After a nip, look your puppy right in the eye, and yell "OUCH" as though you’ve been mortally wounded, then ignore her. Leave the room if you must, but ignore her until she’s calm, then try the chew bone and petting method again. It’s even better if you can coax your puppy into a sitting position using food. It may take many repetitions for her to understand what’s expected.

• Nipping and mouthing hands can also be discouraged by loosely holding your puppy's lower jaw between your thumb and forefinger after she’s taken your hand in her mouth. Don't hurt her by squeezing too hard, just gently hang on so that wherever her mouth goes, your hand hangs on. This will quickly become tiresome and she’ll eventually pull away. After several seconds, release her jaw, but continue to offer her your hand. If she licks or ignores it, praise, pet and offer a tidbit. If she closes her mouth on your hand again, repeat the procedure.

• A third alternative is to wear cotton gloves coated with a substance with an unpleasant taste such as "Bitter Apple." In this way, your puppy will learn that "hands in mouth taste bad." For this method to work, every time she nips your hand she must experience this bad taste. The possible disadvantage to this method is that your puppy may learn "hands with gloves taste bad and those without gloves don’t.

• Remember that any of these three methods will probably not be effective unless you work hard to teach your puppy the right behavior by offering her an acceptable chew toy.

Jumping Up

When your puppy jumps up on you, she wants attention. Whether you push her away, knee her in the chest or step on her hind legs, she’s being rewarded for jumping up (even though it’s negative attention, she’s still getting what she wants).

When Your PuppyJumps Up:

• Fold your arms in front of you, turn away from her and say "off."

• Continue to turn away from her until all four of her feet are on the ground, then quietly praise her and give her a treat. If she knows the "sit" command, give the command when all four of her feet are on the ground, then quietly praise her and give her a treat her while she’s in the sitting position.

• When you begin to praise her, if she begins to jump up again, simply turn away and repeat step two, above. Remember to keep your praise low-key.

• When your puppy realizes that she gets no attention from you while she’s jumping up, but does get attention when she stops jumping up and sits, she’ll stop jumping up. Remember, once you’ve taught her to come and sit quietly for attention, you must reward her behavior. Be careful not to ignore her when she comes and sits politely, waiting for your attention.

What Not To Do

Attempts to tap, slap or hit your puppy in the face for nipping or jumping up are almost guaranteed to backfire. Several things may happen, depending on your puppy's temperament and the severity of the correction:

• She could become "hand-shy" and cringe or cower whenever a hand comes toward her face.

• She could become afraid of you and refuse to come to you or approach you at all.

• She could respond in a defensive manner and attempt to bite you to defend herself.

• She could interpret a mild slap as an invitation to play, causing her to become more excited and even more likely to nip.

Never play "tug-of-war" or wrestling games with your puppy if you’re having a nipping problem. These types of games encourage out-of-control behavior, grabbing, lunging and competion with you. These aren’t behaviors you want her to learn.

A Note About Children And Puppies

It’s very difficult for children under eight or nine years old to practice the kind of behavior modification outlined here.

. A child’s first reaction to being nipped or mouthed by a puppy is to push the puppy away with their hands and arms. This will be interpreted by the puppy as play and will probably cause the puppy to nip and mouth even more. Dogs should never be left alone with children under ten and parents should monitor closely all interactions between their children and dogs.

[caffiend42]

Aloe Vera is poison to dogs, so I won't recommend using it

Skwo2 - can I ask where you got that info from? As I understand it 100% certified aloe vera juice is actually very good for improving the immune system in dogs. There have been numerous threads here about the benefits of aloe vera juice, so I'm curious as to the adverse effects.

[frenzied1]

Thank you for that Sugar We are giving him something to chew on that he is allowed as oppose to our hands and feet, but there were a few things in that which I can try.

[catzatsea]

The stuff you put on fingernails to stop biting them? OK for hoomans, no idea if ok for pups.

That was my suggestion as well, Vet has quite happily sent us home with some for Spud to use on his bandages when he happens to ignore everything else.

[skwo2]

I found out that aloe vera is a toxic plant in this website

http://www.sniksnak.com/plants-toxic.html

It also lists all the other plants that are toxic.

I am not sure about the aloe vera juice.

[frenzied1]

A friend suggested perfume, I have put a little squirt on the top of my son's feet and back of his hands. Murdock doesn't like that much but the baby smells lovely

[caffiend42]

Thanks skwo2. Maybe the plant in its natural state (sap) is problematic, but the juice is ok. It's what we gave our little guy (10ml at a time) on breeder's advice to help get over tummy rash. They don't like the taste, but it's good for them. Perhaps the sap is too concentrated, I don't know.