How long does mouthing last?

Hi,

I have a nine week basset hound puppy called Elvis, he is a lovely puppy and so far very well behaved ( for a puppy!!) and loves to be with us all.
The only problem is our two children (3yrs and 5yrs) are all of sudden frightened of him, they were not frightened around other puppies we knew.
They run away from him when he comes near them and wont get of the back of the sofa half when Elvis is in the room! I know this will probably take time, and they need to get used to him, however the mouthing that elvis has started is not helping- how long do this stage go on for? He only only mouths softly and I try to say No and give him his own toys.

any suggestions on the mouthing and has anyone eles had this problem with children and a new puppy?

thanks

Claire

Unfortunately your children are encouraging the pup to chase and nip by this behaviour. However - both dog and puppy will grow up fast so why not separate them for now with babygates until the children can be trusted to be calm round him while you get on with socialising and training the puppy?
I would imagine the children are looking at `being afraid of the dog` as a new, exciting game so hopefully by preventing it, they will learn to be more steady round the dog.

It will go on years unless you take steps to train him out of it. It is fairly easy to teach children to withdraw their attention when bit. It sounds like they are already doing it. What they must never do is wave their hands in front of its face.

Young Labs, which I know best, and other puppies tend to very bad about biting. You see a litter of them, and all the ones that are awake are biting another one or themselves. I am not even sure they realize that when they are alone, if they quit biting, they would quit being bitten. At 3 to 4 months they are getting their adult teeth, and it seems they spend every waking moment biting or chewing. One thing you can do at that stage is to knot and wet a piece of cloth. Then freeze it. The cooling will soothe the gums. Only let the puppy have it when you are there to watch it. I maintain a Lab's favorite chew toy is another Lab. Otherwise they settle for any person they can. They keep hoping to find one that won't yelp, jerk their hand away, and leave.

You just have to keep on correcting them, hundreds of times, not dozens. Provide sturdy, safe toys such as Kongs and Nylabones. Avoid things they can chew pieces off and choke on them. Keep them away from electrical cords. Crates are essential for most young Labs and other dogs.

The pet stores are full of toys that many dogs will quickly chew up into pieces they could choke on or cause intestinal blockages. If you are not there to watch, stick to sturdy stuff such as Nylabones and Kongs. Keep a close eye on chew toys and quickly discard anything that is coming apart in pieces. Rawhide is especially bad because it swells after being swallowed. I don't trust any of the consumable chews. The dogs just gnaw them down to a dangerous size too quickly. These problems are the worst with, but not limited to, large, aggressive chewers such as Labs.

Tolerating gentle biting is counter productive.

Hi Claire here is a thread on the same subject posted just yesterday. You may find it of interest..

http://www.dogsey.com/showthread.php?t=118647

thanks for all your advice, have begun postive training and Elvis seems to be responding!!
I'll know it'll be a long road, but hopefully Elvis will become a well behaved pup who'll fit into family live.