Training a puppy

[Leapers]

Hi
my cousin has just got a border collie puppy, adorable little thing, but she keeps biting quite hard whilst playing and my cousin has three young children which don't like to play rough as much as the puppy and have had a few nips and scratches but the puppy doesnt seem to respond to being told off, she is just very excitable any tips on teaching her not to bite so hard as it is expected that teeth are used in play but not this tough? thanks

[rsvp]

have to say that in my humble opinion small children and border collie pups don't go well together. you will get lots of tips from the dog experts on here and I hope it goes well for everyone concerned. :-))

[bednobs]

it shouldn't be expected that teeth will be used in play. When the puppy is with her litter mates it's expected and ok, but she needs to learn that we have now changed the rules and it isn't ok when she's playing with humans. You don't need to teach her to bite less hard, but rather not bite at all!
has she considered puppy classes?
We also have a BC puppy, who is now 5 months old, and was bitey when we first got her Puppies don't learn very well by being told off, rather they need to be rewarded for the behaviour you want. One technique you could use is to let one of the adults play with her (with a toy for example) Let her bite but ask her to stop when she does. When she stops, reward her with a treat, so she knows stopping biting is the good behaviour, or if she bites just stop playing with her and completely ignore her. Then she learns that if she bites she gets no more playtime. Neither of these worked too well with our pup so instead we used another technique which was to emit a high pitched yelp (as the litter mates would have done) when she bit. Then rewarded her when she stopped. This did work. my husband (and i think men in general owing to their vocal cords) didn't do the high pitched yelp very well though!

[ganesh]

Yeah,puppy teeth can be very sharp and painful.My dog was quite bitey when playing and we trained her by doing a mixture of the above suggestion.We did the 'Ouch that hurt cry' and turning away and ignoring her to show we were upset and weren't going to play any more.Also told her off with a tap on the nose on occasion when she really did hurt. I think the first method does work but it's difficult to train young kids to do it.If it's any consolation,when the big teeth come in they are not so sharp and they seem to get the message by then!

[jules77]

BC's have oodles of energy and need mental exercise, as well as physical. I would first of all recommend they go along to a dog training class. Border Collies have a strong herding and circling instinct. A child is a sheep without wool, and they will often 'round them up' and if the child wont co operate they will 'bite ankles'.

A quote from a BC breed rescue page.....'Unless you are prepared to teach each and every child in the neighborhood and every child that enters your home how to cope with the dog's instinct, the dog must be locked away in the presence of non-family members. Border Collies tend not to be the kind of dog that you can let loose to run with your kids around the neighborhood. It is often the "perfect" dog that everyone felt they could trust that ends up biting a child - generally because they are trusted and thereby exposed to many more of the potentially dangerous situations.'

[Leapers]

Thanks for your help everyone i will pass the info on! I was not sure that a puppy of any kind was a good idea for her family especially not one which needs so much attention such as a border collie but hopefully it will work out well in the end! thanks!

[RATTER15]

I have been bitten by more Border Collies than any other dog, I wouldn't trust them any further than I could throw one.

They are working dogs and whilst often taken as a family pet, they really aren't terribly suited to that position without a lot of training and a lot of work fulfilling the requirements of that breed.

[slinkycat]

They can be brilliant with children. My parents got a border collie when my kids were very young and she was fantastic with them. She would watch over them attentively while they were playing, and out on walks would try to round them, and us, up as if we were her flock.
She was never,ever aggressive towards anyone, so if you follow the advice on here about puppy biting it should be fine Leapers.

[ganesh]

There is such a huge difference between playful puppy biting and aggressive behaviour.My dog has been 'attacked' by coliies in the past and I'm always wary of them.But I also know a couple who are really lovely and trustworthy and are great pets-do need a lot of brain activity and exercise though.Same with staffies.Probably depends on how you bring them up as well as a bit of genetics.However,nearly all puppies go through that bitey stage and most end up being lovely and gentle.I have a retriever and although she doesn't herd us,she'll still try and 'keep the pack together' on walks-get's agitated if one of us lags behind -that's just doggy behaviour.surely.

[momac]

We got a collie puppy when our youngest was five...Iv'e always trained puppies with word NO...it's the tone of your voice that does the trick though.