10 week English Springer keeps biting my 7 year old daughter

Hi Everyone,
I am new to this Puppy stuff. we have had a our English Springer Spaniel for 3 weeks now, and he is adorable and we have fallen head over heals in love with him, the only problem is he nips alot at my daughter, he gets over excited and then dives at her, she tries to be brave but ends up getting very upset because she thinks he does not like her. Please can someone help, we say NO in aloud voice but this does not seem to work, if anything he comes back for more. I would appreciate any help, advice and someone please tell me this will stop.

Children have to be taught to be dog savvy and their initial reactions to a dog being over excited is to flap their hands, squeal, try to run away or whatever. What they generally dont do is remain calm! I'd say your pup thinks your daughter wants to play and is getting a bit too excited.

You dont actually say how your daughter is reacting to your pup so I apologise if i'm jumping to conclusions.

Your puppy doesn`t know what No means - he might even think you`re cheering him on. I would use a safety gate to separate them and calmly put him in another room when he starts so he can calm down (not as a punishment).
What is happening to get him so excited?

She is just playing with one of his toys with him, asking him to sit and then rolling his ball along the floor and he usually goes and fetches it, he plays this for a while with her and then when she moves he goes for socks, jeans, She is really calm and does not flap about but continues to be firm with him, but unfortunately with no sucess, it was mentioned to us that we should leave the room when he does this...sort of thing that his mother would have done and sust ignore him. What do you guys think to this.

Training class fast! Where are you in the country, it might help to have a visit from someone, if the situation escalates he will not be easy later on.

It can be sorted relatively easily now.

He knows he gets attention when he nips your daughter----how old is she BTW?

Lots of things you can do to occupy him 'legally'. Stued kongs, biscuits in holey balls, bottles he has to get his food out of etc. My springer doesn't have any food in a bowl, she either works for it or has it ina pyramid or a bottle.

What is he fed on, springers are bad for food allergies which can show up as hyperactivity.

They are harder work than most pups! Where did yours come from?

rune

we got our Springer from a breeder in Essex, we are in chingford. My daughter is 7. We have been giving him Wagg which the breeders were feeding them and also have been usin the kongs and filling them with mash potato and beef cutting and pate. He eats at regular times.
We were warned that Springers were full on and this is not a problem for us I just don't want him thinking he can do this to her, We have just started letting our daughter put his food down and we do not give it to him all at once, this is so he knows that she is higher than him in the pack and she has control over his food, we have all done this.

Check for colourings or 'eec permitted additives etc' If I were you I'd change gradually to a better quality food. I looked it up and it has 'EC' additive---I don't know what that is, might be worth asking them.

I wouldn't feed him from a bowl at all.Your daughter putting the food down can be changed to her doing some training with him for food rewards, a good training class will enjoy her joining in and helping to train him.

If he takes anything he shouldn't have do a swop for food, don't get angry with him as that is very confusing for a springer. They love to have something in their mouths so make sure he has plenty of soft things he can have rather than socks or knockers.

If he hides under anything with something he shouldn't have just be nice to him and treat him when he comes out.

Full on is one way of describing them (G)!

Have you looked into training classes at all?

Was he farm or home bred----is he going to be a larger type or a diddy one?

rune

Your puppy knows nothing about psychology and has never been in a pack (No offence meant)
I suggest you feed your puppy. When he`s older maybe your daughter can help train him?
A dog knows no commands until you teach him them. Maybe she could teach him to sit for a treat? That would stop him jumping up. He`s just trying to get his dinner, not take over your house.
Is there not a good puppy class you could go to? That will help. Springers are intelligent, active little dogs and love to learn.

If he is only 10 weeks old, he will just be playing!

He has to learn how to 'play' properly - he is playing with your daughter as if she is another puppy, rather than a human.

You need to teach him that play-biting and mouthing (including clothes and skin) is not acceptable.

This article: http://www.dogsey.com/dog-articles.php?t=14526 should help with some basic training points.

This one is about interaction between dogs and children http://www.dogsey.com/dog-articles.php?t=10261

Hi, just a quick post to say you are not alone! I think your daughters reaction is key. We have a 7 month old puppy and 3 kids. It gets better I promise I think it is over excitement with puppy and although your daughter is good with the pup I don't think they see when to end the game because it is getting wild. When Dizzy was smaller the kids all had an old fleece to wear when playing with her. We did this because when they tried to end the game she would jump up and want more. As soon as she was silly they turned their back on her and the game stopped but we found she would still try to get hold of their hands etc. So the fleece was to protect them so they could tuck their hands away so they didn't end up squealing and wriggling when the game was supposed to have ended. The other thing I did was to have a kong ready filled in the fridge so when I could see that things were getting wild or just too much for them I could quickly intervene or the kids could end the game with the kong and chill out time in her crate.

Do you have a crate for your pup?

Sorry for the bit of a rambling post just trying to give you a few ideas of things that have worked for us.

Ali xx