# My pup is a buttface to my family!



## AndreaLS687 (Feb 22, 2014)

Otto is 11 weeks old now and we have had him for 3 weeks. He is pretty decent with me. He never snaps at me and is more willing to listen to me and very rarely goes to the bathroom inside the house when I am in charge. He has really bonded. But I have a husband and 2 kids (5 years old and 14 months) and a cat and an english bulldog and he doesnt do well with any of them. He is always snapping at my oldest kid and pinning down my youngest and he always snaps at my husband. He is constantly after my cat. Thankfully my cat is long haired so he has some protection. My bully is super lazy and doesnt want to play...ever...but otto constantly wants to play and it turns into a dominance contest or something. I keep otto on a leash at all times so I can correct this behavior ASAP. How can I stop these issues? If it goes on for much longer it is going to be a problem and im feeling like a failure right now...

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## ZoeD1217 (Feb 7, 2014)

Right there with ya. Except Zoe is not decent to me. She bites me and my 3 older kids like it's her job! She goes pretty easy on my younger girls and doesn't bite as much as she knocks them over and pushes them into walls. I wish I had the answer. I just continue to tell her NO and give her something to chew on. When it gets really bad she goes in the crate...and 9 times out of 10 she passes out. It's very frustrating and I definitely have moments when I too feel like a huge failure. 

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## sourdough44 (Oct 26, 2013)

Hopefully the pup gets a good amount of exercise outside? If you have a safe area off leash walks are great.

He will grow out of much of the nippiness, not that you can sit by just waiting. He also needs to learn the word 'NO'. For smaller kids I'd step in and correct the pup if he's to rough or aggressive.


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## Chip18 (Jan 11, 2014)

Well this is a puppy that is well on his way to killing the cat, attacking the bulldog in a year or so and possibly biting the kids! 
Dogs should "never" chase a cat ever!
http://www.germanshepherds.com/foru...g/424978-extremely-cat-reactive-how-stop.html
Leerburg | Introducing Dogs or Puppies into Homes with Cats
You have enough problems you don't need more so see below
Leerburg | Dog Parks: Why They Are A Bad Idea
Puppy stuff





This is a good way to get started on leash training:





Your going to be busy!


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## Baillif (Jun 26, 2013)

Its 11 weeks old


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## ApselBear (Feb 10, 2014)

Baillif said:


> Its 11 weeks old


The first sentence and it seems to be missed by everyone lol

Time for some misinformation yet?


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## Nigel (Jul 10, 2012)

Redirect with toys and be consistent. Make the toys you use interesting, the toy needs have value to them. Use the site search bar and look up "leave it" command, lots of good threads on it. The biting does stop eventually, consistency is key.


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## Msmaria (Mar 2, 2013)

When my puppy was close to this age , I was close to giving him away because I thought he was going to hurt my smaller dogs when he got older. This forum told me hes just a puppy, but I felt he was really being dominant with the other dogs etc. Looking back, I can see they were right, its a puppy thing at this age. At 14 months hes the best dog Ive owned. he plays so gentle with the other dogs and kids. We did alot of work with leave it, I made sure to always have treats in my pockets. Everytime he was going after something I wanted him to leave alone, Id say leave it and then treat him, when he did. That worked wonders for me, as I could say leave it for all kind of things.

This guy has some great training videos
How to train a dog to "Leave it" - YouTube


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## AndreaLS687 (Feb 22, 2014)

Thank you everyone! Since I posted this he has made great progress with my other dog. They still go at it often but they now have times where they leave each other alone which reassures me. My main concern is the cat. Otto knows what 'no' means but when the cat is near its like he can't hear me. More work to be done! Thats okay. He does really well with redirection when I catch him on time. My cat loves to bait otto. He will get as close as he can until otto just can't help himself!

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## SunCzarina (Nov 24, 2000)

Otto the little buttface, meet Sir Otto Big Head extraordinaire. 









I had to laugh because they have the same name and Otto was such a little twerp. He's still a boss dog but he's stopped chewing on children. 

Get a leash for the cat work. Cats will do what they want, I have one of those too and she's a piece of work, all 6.6 lbs of her thinking she's going to beat up a german shepherd. If Otto's not biting the cat, they'll work it out. My 14 month old loves to chase the cat. When she catches the cat, she just licks her. If Otto's not doing THAT, you need to just step on the leash and say NO firmly. Sometimes time out and shaming works. 

Little times out for being bad puppy. Sometimes they're just bad because they're ramped up and need a nap. I used to put my Otto in the kitchen for TO and come back 5 minutes later to him sound asleep. You have a human toddler, you know the tired tirade.

Just NO to tackling the baby. TO and shame. 

Get Dad and the 5 year old a couple boodah tugs so they can interact in a positive way with the pup (you have to let them win). If you don't have any booda tugs, cut up a piece of fleece blanket. 3 strips of fleece about 2 ft long and braid it together with knots on the ends. Perfect tug.


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## Chip18 (Jan 11, 2014)

Baillif said:


> Its 11 weeks old


Directed at me?? Don't care what age that's how I start a puppy out. Thought I said that but now I have. 

Just gear it down.


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## AndreaLS687 (Feb 22, 2014)

SunCzarina said:


> Otto the little buttface, meet Sir Otto Big Head extraordinaire.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Great minds think alike. Meaning you, my husband, and my oldest kid! Haha thanks for the advice. I do keep Otto on a leash at all times to correct him but I dont always have the leash in hand and I know I should. Sometimes its just hard when im so busy. I am going to start having him by my side on the leash from now on. How do you go about shaming though? I do time outs but that just doesn't seem to work with him. Both my kids actually play tug with Otto. They love it until he accidentally nips them when he is trying to go for the toy and then my youngest cries out of fear (not pain because he has never left marks or anything) and my oldest says she doesnt want a pup anymore...until 5 minutes later. My husband is a different story though. He doesnt do well with dogs. He was a dog handler in the military and they literally teach you to abuse dogs to get them to obey so my husband doesnt get much interaction with him right now unless im right by his side. I dont trust him with discipline or correction.

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## SunCzarina (Nov 24, 2000)

Shaming takes a while with a hard headed dog - it goes like this scold and shun for 5 minutes at his age. When he's older, you might need to rant on how BAD he is. My Otto never wants me to tell him 'BAD!' because it usually involves my ranting on for 5 minutes about how bad is. He's never bad anymore, just a little obnoxious and bossy. Naughty Otti.

I totally get the x-military handler mentality. My sister's married to one of those. I don't even like to be around their snarky little Jack Russells, they're not stable dogs. My sister used to post all these pictures of them as puppies 'oh so cute' little dog with that 'I want to take your face off' look. Not cute. 

Are both your children girls? When my Otto was a pup, my daughter was 3. Jackie has a twin brother and an older brother. Jackie was a natural at playing the dramatic 'I'm not playing with you ANYMORE' turn back and storming off. My Otto stopped biting her before either of the boys...


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## AndreaLS687 (Feb 22, 2014)

SunCzarina said:


> Shaming takes a while with a hard headed dog - it goes like this scold and shun for 5 minutes at his age. When he's older, you might need to rant on how BAD he is. My Otto never wants me to tell him 'BAD!' because it usually involves my ranting on for 5 minutes about how bad is. He's never bad anymore, just a little obnoxious and bossy. Naughty Otti.
> 
> I totally get the x-military handler mentality. My sister's married to one of those. I don't even like to be around their snarky little Jack Russells, they're not stable dogs. My sister used to post all these pictures of them as puppies 'oh so cute' little dog with that 'I want to take your face off' look. Not cute.
> 
> Are both your children girls? When my Otto was a pup, my daughter was 3. Jackie has a twin brother and an older brother. Jackie was a natural at playing the dramatic 'I'm not playing with you ANYMORE' turn back and storming off. My Otto stopped biting her before either of the boys...


My oldest is a girl and my youngest is a boy. My oldest likes to run away when otto nips at her feet. I constantly am telling her not to run because he thinks she's playing. That or her toes are really tasty...

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## ZoeD1217 (Feb 7, 2014)

Well I'm still feeling your pain  and I still have no great advice. I make the kids wear sneakers and jeans outside where Zoe gets the most worked up. My youngest is quite fearless and has no issues telling Zoe NO and calmly walking away. My 5 yr old is the worst with screaming and running. I never leave those 2 alone with her for even a second but it's still frustrating. The older 3 she nips and jumps and they know to redirect and if that doesn't work they walk away. I have to stay on top of them always that there is NO allowing her to bite no matter how much they want to pet her. If she bites after they have given her a toy or chew the must cut her off. 
She still bites me like it's her job. I'm quite convinced she hates me. Lol. 

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## SunCzarina (Nov 24, 2000)

If she's giggling and running away, that needs to stop. Dramatic over the top little girl shrieking works. 

Your boy, I've got nothing beyond stuff a boodah tug in their hand. My older boy thinks he should stick his arm out like a bite sleeve at my 14 month old when she jumps to kiss him. The other one is often heard laughing 'Venus, my feet are not tasty!' I tell him to change his socks more often. The dog will mature faster.


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## Susan_GSD_mom (Jan 7, 2014)

Baillif said:


> Its 11 weeks old


LOL! That's the first thing that hit me, too!


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