New here, and 1st Fila owner

[KROW]

How to get my 16 week puppy Fila to stop going after my 7 yr old son and 9 yr old daughter. She will run behind them and nip the back of their legs. They have cried a couple of times. I'm trying to teach the commands leave it & NO. IS SHE ACTING AS A HEARDING DOG ???? Or is this normal Fila puppy behavior??

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[Iulicris88]

I would say it is normal puppy behaviour, no mather its breed. She will get over it, with some training. Also, you should work with your kids, teach them how to interact with her. Considering her age and lack of training, if your kids run, she's going to chase them. Show them how to correct her, if necessary.

 

[tmricciuto]

I agree, that's just how dogs interact with each other. My girls both go after each other's legs, but not any one in the family. I would say it might be time to restrict her roam of the house. Don't let her just roam free when they are around until she can learn that this is not acceptable behavior. Do you notice this only happens certain times of the day? I know in the am and pm my girls get the zoomies and are much less capable of shutting off their puppy brains. When this happens they either get sent outside to play or they get put in their crate to calm down.

 

[Hiraeth]

It's normal puppy behavior.

I'd highly recommend that you don't yell "no" at her for wanting to interact with your kids. She's trying to play with them, she's just not playing the way you want her to because she doesn't know HOW to play yet. If you yell "no" every time she tries to play with them, she's going to think interacting with them is a bad thing and it's going to destroy her bond with them.

Instead, you need to manage the situation. Your children and puppy should never be together without you around. Your kids need to be taught not to run away from her, because that's only going to get her more excited and more likely to nip. And you need to be ready to quickly intervene and to *calmly* put your puppy in her crate, or outside, when she begins becoming overly excited, before she can cause any damage to your children.

"Leave it" is a good command, depending on how you teach it. If you're just yelling "leave it" at her without actually doing any training, that's useless. You're actually poisoning the command and making it less likely to be effective by using it when she's clearly not going to respond to you.

Separation and management are your two best friends.

 

[Murphy's Master]

I would highly suggest ready Ian Dunbar books on puppy training. There are several chapters to biting and teaching bite inhibition.

 

[DennasMom]

Seems like normally puppy behavior to me, too.

1. Having the puppy on a leash will allow you to put an end to that quickly.

2. Teach the puppy to redirect to a toy and not kid's ankles... as soon as you see the puppy LOOK at the kids and start to bunch into a chase... yell "BALL" (or rope, or any other toy name) and then YOU run after the ball, and get the puppy to chase YOU... and then grab the ball for a game of fetch with the ball. Once the puppy is focused on the ball, you can have the kids join you with teaching the puppy 'fetch', 'release' (or 'drop') or any other game commands you want to teach her.

3. Teach the kids that if the puppy comes after them, to herd them or nip at their ankles, that they need to STOP and NOT MOVE... moving is excitement. To stop the puppy's excitement, the kids must be BORING. They should just stand still with their arms crossed, not even looking at the puppy. This is teaching the puppy that inappropriate play = game is OVER. You'll need to be there to redirect the puppy again, as needed, too.

Aren't Puppies FUN!!?!! The work you put in now will really pay off later, though. Be calm, consistent and generous. Catch your puppy doing good things with LOTS of random rewards (treats, praise, love, etc.), and they will do more of what you like. "Yelp" (or "ouch!") and redirect away from unwanted behavior to teach your puppy what not to do in a reaffirming manner. This is a baby, don't forget, still testing and learning about the world around her. Help her explore with confidence and love - and it will come back to you in multiples!

 

[PippatheMastiff]

What Dennasmom said. Pippa knows the word "ouch" and if I or one of the kids say it, she stops what she's doing to consider what is making us say it. Very handy word when she's stepping on toes or whacking someone with her tail, inadvertently of course. Lol


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[Elana P]

How to get my 16 week puppy Fila to stop going after my 7 yr old son and 9 yr old daughter. She will run behind them and nip the back of their legs. They have cried a couple of times. I'm trying to teach the commands leave it & NO. IS SHE ACTING AS A HEARDING DOG ???? Or is this normal Fila puppy behavior??

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[Elana P]

Running away from puppies, and dogs in general, is not a good idea (they will always run faster than you). Just like chasing after dogs to try and catch them, is never a good idea.

The nipping at the heels of someone who's running away, is generally more of a herding dog issue, but puppies of different breeds do tend to engage in the behavior occasionally. To them it's all a game, and kids running and squealing in high pitched voices is very exciting and enticing.

As was mentioned above, teaching the kids to stop the minute the playing gets out of hand is a good idea.

I happen to like a good strong "NO BITE!" command, which in my opinion should be taught very early on.

 

[Jakob]

My 8 week old fila pup that we've had only 2 days got aggressive with my 7 year old boy today.

I told my son no more running in the house and no jumping at him. This is the 4th Brazilian fila I've owned and I can tell he's a hard, hard one. Yesterday he was great with my mom, today he dodged her and growled and barked at her That's young for temp kicking in. He's on me and my wife like glue 24/7 and loves my boy too but he sees him as more of an equal.

Im a firm believer that when a fila shows any aggression "which may not be the case with yours" to hammer down on them hard. These are really tuff dogs. Im not saying beat the dog just grab him and a deep loud no!!! The problem is knowing when it's ruff playing or a show of dominance. Today with my son it was definitely dominance.

Once there a little older though you will trust these dogs more with your children than your closest family member. It sounds crazy but this is by far the most loyal creature on planet earth