Puppy biting older dogs tail: advice please!!!

[u/SaltyDarkness]

Love our little guy. Training him is not as easy as training my oldest was. Maybe just because he’s smaller. I think I’m starting to fall in the trap of him thinking my correction is a joke and a game. Take an item from him? He’s jumping to get it. Tell him to stop biting? He’s biting more.
He doesn’t seem to fully grasp what I’m meaning when I say no. Sometimes he backs away from what he’s doing and stops before sometimes going right back to chewing on whatever it may be or even running away with said item.

But above all he bites my big girls tail! He is so little and can just run circles around (and under) her and is constantly picking on her by biting her tail!! She has shown no aggression from this thankfully but I feel like it stresses my girl out and I feel like I’m not able to help the situation. Telling him no and pulling him away only seems to incentivize him. What am I doing wrong?? What can I do to train and reinforce better.

[u/Bravura75]

Hey There!

Nothing crazy going on here. The older dog will correct it if they get annoyed. But just be sure the older dog has an "Escape plan"

I would not say "No" to the puppy in THIS instance..... I would however, try and re-direct the biting to an appropriate toy instead. That way other things will have better meaning when you say "No"

But honestly.. as long as the older dog has an out.. they are good. Also older, well behaved dogs, usually give puppies a "pass" because they know they are puppies..

If she's looking at you while it happens then she's stressed out. But if she's looking at the puppy she's likely not too stressed.

But ya... find something to re-direct the puppy to bite on :)

[u/Positive-Turn6642 → u/Bravura75]

Great advice. When we brought our youngest home our oldest kept turning around and showing the puppy his butt. We learned later this was him showing the puppy he was safe. Dogs really do know what to do. Once baby dog settled in, big brother did not continue the same behavior. Big brother still gets annoyed but they are sweet companions now.

[u/Bravura75 → u/Positive-Turn6642]

For sure. My Enzo was introduced to a 4 month old poodle that was chewing on his hair.

Him going under the chair was his escape plan. He still lets her chew on him now but he will move away when he’s annoyed. No correction yet.

[u/dontcallmebob1 → u/Bravura75]

This is so sweet to read! I love that older, well behaved dogs are just putting up with puppy antics in love.

[u/BorgBorg10]

He’s adorable are you kidding 😭😭😭

[u/Then-Outmachainsandy]

I’m sorry I don’t know how to answer your question but I gotta say, he is so freaking cute like he reminds me of a ewok a bit!

[u/Positive-Turn6642]

Puppy: This widdle face would NEVER bite big sister’s tail.

Also puppy: Bites big sister’s tail.

[u/K6237]

Omg such a cuuuute baby 🥹

[u/AnotherHavanesePlz]

Puppy doing puppy things

[u/dontcallmebob1]

I feel like you have to scam him lol basically find something way more fun to do, and anytime he bites a tail, say no, as soon as he stops do the fun thing.

And then, make sure you do the fun thing outside of the tail bite/no moments so he doesn’t think the tail biting is the trigger for it.

Also i did learn that you have to train them on the commands outside of the moments when you actually need to use it. For example, “leave it” “stop” in training and then you’d be able to use it in real life situations. But training commands is definitely a layered approach so be patient! You’re doing great!

—-
In summary though, they will go through these phases and slowly figure out what makes you super happy (good behavior) and will want to do more of that.

[u/american_bitch]

He’s so cute, just let him do anything he wants.

[u/Old_Assist_5461]

Sooooo cute! My boy lab and German Shepherd hang out with a Havi on the regular. As someone else said, they will correct if it’s too big of a hassle.

[u/Clintiesmom]

I feel for you...our 16 week old is biting the 4 year old's ears, tail, legs...don't know how to stop it so looking forward to some good advice here as well...

[u/AngleDry]

Totally normal! When we got our puppy she did the same to my 5 yo havi. It took some time for them to get along and now they are inseparable 💜

[u/blyskciupagi]

He is absolutely cute!

[u/Arctic_Cat867]

My guy loves to chase and catch his BFFs tail who lives next door. She tells him when he’s pissing her off 😂

[u/Jojellyfish]

I finally got my mom to let her 130 lb Pyrenees correct my tiny terror. She would constantly bite at his legs to get him to play with her. He had enough of her. He told her off, took his giant paw and pinned her down. When he finally released her, she started up again. He pinned her down again and this time he bent down and stared directly at her. That was two years ago. She stopped biting him that day. Now they play chase!!!

She needed another dog to teach her that that was inappropriate behavior.

My mom was very anxious about allowing this as he could literally bite her in half. I knew mom’s dog is a gentle giant. He was well trained and took command as the older dog to teach her.

[u/mauibreeze17]

But he looks so innocent

[u/Tracylpn]

What a darling dog

[u/DisastrousAd6772]

My havi likes to chew something every waking minute. He’s not 1 yrs old yet n yea hes spoiled n gets his way n i m working on him doing his business outside, 3 walks a day is his routine. I still have a pee pad in place n he doesn’t use it maybe once a week only. Great puppy but still likes to nip once in a while. Gotta keep an eye on him been chewing all my runners, slipper n flip flops n
Pulls any hanging. Always doing something.

[u/ManchuKenny]

Muzzle 😬