# Sticky  Puppy BITING!!! Teaching Bite Inhibition



## JeanKBBMMMAAN

I see a lot of posts about puppies nipping, which is what puppies do. I think the goal is not so much to stop them from biting, but to teach them good bite inhibition/having a soft mouth. You can do the stopping biting quickly using negative reinforcement, or teach it slowly and as positively as possible where the dog actually LEARNS bite inhibition. And a result of this will be less and eventually no biting.

That is a huge thing for a dog to learn. I have a pack o' dogs, I get foster puppies and I never have to teach it because they do it for me. Mario will in fact lick my arm in apology if he makes a mistake and mouths me.

Since most people don't have that luck there are some articles on teaching it-that is the goal, really, bite inhibition, not stopping nipping. So yeah, can you scruff or smack a puppy and get them to stop? Yes, but can you create other problems in the process? Yes. And you want them to learn to do this as they grow.

Bite Inhibition Article The first part is the best.
ClickerSolutions Training Articles --
The other thing to remember is that you are replacing the playmates and mom that he knows and unless they had people spending a lot of time with the puppies at the breeder, they really don't know much about interacting with people. I think you'll all be fine! And as soon as shots are done, sign up for a positive based obedience class for fun!

I figured after people checked those articles out, they could post other things, or reinforce things read, that they did to help their dogs learn that bite inhibition. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/13_puppy.gif


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## JeanKBBMMMAAN

*Re: Teaching Bite Inhibition*

Have seen a lot of new puppy biting posts-bumping!


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## SuzyE

*Re: Teaching Bite Inhibition*

Thank you for the articles. I am going to call a client and see if Cesar can start playdates with his female Lab pup THIS weekend. Cesar has four adult dogs to play with daily but I need to find him a puppymate.


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## Tacoma123

*Re: Teaching Bite Inhibition*

bump... praying this stuff works...


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## tracyc

*Re: Teaching Bite Inhibition*

This topic has been made "sticky" so it will continue to be at the top of the threads in the puppy behavior forum. Thanks Jean for these great links. 

New posters: please continue to add additional links, resources, bite inhibition ideas and techniques, etc. to this thread.


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## borzoimom

*Re: Teaching Bite Inhibition*

How I teach bite inhibition is "game over". If you do not want the puppy to bite in play or mouth- as soon as they do- get up- or stand up- and leave the room... You do not see the dog following you or react. Remember- they only continue to do something if they realize a reaction.. 
" game Over..". Say nothing - walk out.. And its hard because you have to be consistant- that includes resting on the couch watching a movie you waited all week to see..


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## RussUK

*Re: Teaching Bite Inhibition*

im with borzoimon, when were playing, she can bite me, she does it soft, but as they game goes on, she can get a little rogher, usualy "no" calms it down but if not, i say "ow no" and walk away.


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## wrenny

*Re: Teaching Bite Inhibition*

Yeah. **** puppies.!!!R$Q#R#@#@! r5T


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## aaron.whitney

*Re: Teaching Bite Inhibition*

I am also currently going through the little pains of teaching bite inhibition. The methodology of teaching this has been covered very well in this forum. 
Odin's progress seems to be going good at times and then he gets me with a good one. I have noticed a direct relation between unacceptable bites and his need for a bathroom break. Anyone else experienced this? The little guy seems to have a way of bringing out the kid in me and making me loose track of time. My wife just informed me "It was the same with our last GSD puppy."


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## KTM450SX

*Re: Teaching Bite Inhibition*

I'm trying to teach my new pup this stuff too.

a loud NO! from me usually gets him to stop whatever he is doing, exept biting. NO! seems to have no effect...I cant get him to stop biting me. he got ahold of my hand today and bit hard started growling and then tried to tug my hand off I said NO NO a bunch tried yelping...he would not stop I finally had to grab him with my other hand and pin him on the floor, then I walked out of the room and left him there for a few minutes.


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## maxismom

*Re: Teaching Bite Inhibition*

Well this is timely...Max has become a terrorist lol. We are all having to keep our feet off the floor so he can't bite them! I will try these suggestions and hope it works. Either that or we are all soon to become pin cushions!


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## xwildman138x

*Re: Teaching Bite Inhibition*

Thanks everybody I was starting to get so frustrated with Baron because of the endless biting. It generally seems to happen right after I bring him back in the house from going potty. His bite is so strong that I couldnt get him off my hand today and tried to get my fingers in his mouth to get him to loosen up a little so I could get my hand back while yelling in pain. I use no in the hopes that someday it will sink in cause right now it just amps him up. Mostly I subsititute what I don't want chewed aka hands feet back of your calf, with his chew bone and rope. That works about 70 percent of the time. I'm dissapointed in myself because he is just a baby and I find myself getting mad at what he's doing. I've started using the walk out of the room technique and that seems to work. Hopefully it works totally for him but its definitely working for me so I get a minute to get my head on straight so I don't yell too loud or start having a yelling conversation with him. I catch myself saying outloud "you idiot he doesn't understand english why are you yelling at him in sentences." He's the best though cause when I'm doing that he just sits there looking at me like "whats this crazy guy doing?"


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## Clare

*Re: Teaching Bite Inhibition*

Thanks for this link - I'm definitely going to try this... JAWS is getting out of control! How come I dont remember Sasha being this bad??? LOL!


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## STINGER-LRSD

*Re: Teaching Bite Inhibition*

Great advise!! It seems to be working well. The only issue we are having is that the cat "which he loves to chew on so, so much" cant yell ouch and leave the room. Would this be a good opportunity to introduce the pup to a squirt bottle of water?


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## Maryn

*Re: Teaching Bite Inhibition*



> Originally Posted By: STINGER-LRSDGreat advise!! It seems to be working well. The only issue we are having is that the cat "which he loves to chew on so, so much" cant yell ouch and leave the room. Would this be a good opportunity to introduce the pup to a squirt bottle of water?


What I do when my cat is an issue...and although it is a PITA....is keep the pup on lead in the house. 

Going at the cat gets ignored or if the pup is super determined, a little tug and a 'NO'.

Ignoring the cat gets praise, and a treat if that's what you do.

I very well can let them chase and corner the cat when they are pups if I chose to. She's very good at teaching them just how bad of an idea it is LOL


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## Jennifer McClellan

*Re: Teaching Bite Inhibition*

I have tried the loud no which stops him from clamping but he still bites. I have tried the walking away and usually trip over him as he is weaving between my legs. Now I am trying a yelp like a sibling which I took from advice on this site. It seems to work although it scares my husband each time I do it. He said I sound exactly like a puppy (does that mean I am really a b**** at heart LOL). Which is better than the sound he makes which sounds like a seal and CJ just looks at him with a tilted head. I guess it is just trying different things until you find something that works for you and your puppy. And works for this puppy may not work for another one.


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## DarkEquine

*Re: Teaching Bite Inhibition*

It was the last straw today with my little aligator...he bit so hard that he tore my JEANS and went through to skin. I was bleeding and absolutely furious as I was already late for work (at 6am) and just in the process of putting him back in his crate. 
We went to puppy preschool that night and the vet nurse suggested we get some spray bottles. A quick, sharp squirt on his head or in his face will distract him from biting long enough to praise him as soon as he stops. We only had to do it twice and he's already reduced his behaviour to gentle mouthing, which we can tolerate for now.


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## LedZep

*Re: Teaching Bite Inhibition*



> Originally Posted By: AaronW
> I have noticed a direct relation between unacceptable bites and his need for a bathroom break.


I have noticed this with our pup as well, from an early age. He gets particularly bitey when he needs to go #2.


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## Doug P.

*Re: Teaching Bite Inhibition*

we have a 2 month old GSD....and he does like to nip...got my nipple the other day, I was carrying him to the back door for his early morning break,,,had no shirt on,,,gezzzzz,,,little turd reached up and grabbed ahold of my nipple and clamped down,,,,holly sore skin batman.....my wife thought it was so funny,,,can't wait till she gets it,,,,hahaha Yeager starts puppy kindergarden class here at home Monday,,,,hope the instructor has some helpful hints....


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## doggiedad

*Re: Teaching Bite Inhibition*

i taught my puppy not to nip by giving him my hand or fingers. when he nipped i would hold by the scruff of the neck and say "no biting". i would give him my hand or fingers again if he licked me i would praise him and give a good rubbies. it either worked or he grew out of the nipping stage. i was sitting on the edge of the bed a few weeks ago and my now 14 month old boy walked over to me and put his open mouth around my knee. he didn't apply any pressure he just put my knee is mouth.


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## GSDOwner2008

*Re: Teaching Bite Inhibition*

We do what borzoimom does. Game over. If they bite, I get up and walk away. Now that Apollo is older, with all of his adult teeth present, he still chews on toys, but if I'm chillin' on the sofa, or the floor, Apollo will come up, lick my face, and plop down by my side. Zeus hardly bites at all either. It could be the method, or it could be that he saves it for his brother when they play... lol.


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## Keegan62

*Re: Teaching Bite Inhibition*

what great info

am doing this right now saying owwwww it does work he turns his head from side to side and stops lol

thanks for the info


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## rucker105

*Re: Teaching Bite Inhibition*

I got Zeke last Tuesday!! He is almost 9wks old and has been great.....

But his bite is becoming increasingly painful! If you are in a ten foot radius of him, your feet are in danger! And my hand was nearly punctured this morning! This thread has been very helpful, especially as a reminder that I am not alone! I wish "ow" would work with him, because I'm not faking it when I say it anymore. He just looks at me for a second then bites me harder. And carrying him is asking for it! He loves to nip the face when I take him downstairs at 6am, half asleep. 

Shall I just stay consistent with redirecting and the "gentle"/"no"/ignore combo and pray that he will shape-up? I don't want to be too forceful with the little guy but I have grabbed his muzzle and pinned him a few times when he gets wild and starts growling/barking. That seems to make him bite even more like its a game. 

He just doesnt take me seriously does he?! I'm about to resort to bitter apple spray on my hands (in addition to the already doused house). Could he be showing signs of "alpha" tendancies at this young age? My last dog was a lab, and as a puppy he was so gentle with his nipping. He seemed to listen and became rather submissive when he was older. I know these things can be unrelated, but Zeke has a lot of attitude!!


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## MaggieRoseLee

*Re: Teaching Bite Inhibition*

MLou, the biggest help for me was to really tire my pup out in ways not including my body parts. Car rides, hikes in woods, meeting friends with GOOD and healthy dogs for puppy play dates (make sure you trust the dogs to be friendly and up to date on shots).

A tired puppy listens better, learns better, behaves better and BITES less!


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## canucme278

*Re: Teaching Bite Inhibition*

I add this article to all my puppy packets
"No bite!"
Angel days and devil days: teaching bite inhibition to puppies

Q: My Dalmatian puppy is almost nine weeks old. I got him when he was five weeks. He's playful and fun but I can't get him to stop biting me. That seems to be the only way he likes to play anymore — rough! I've been telling him No!, holding his mouth shut while saying “No bite!” and even shoving my hand back in his mouth like a trainer told me to do. Nothing seems to work. In fact, he thinks I'm playing a game with him and gets more excited the more I try to stop him. Sometimes he walks right up and attacks me! What can I do? Is he vicious?
A: No, he's not vicious, he's just being a normal, rambunctious, and sometimes obnoxious puppy. To get control of your pup's biting, it helps to understand why puppies bite in the first place.
Biting and mouthing are normal behaviors for puppies. Dogs don't have hands so they investigate objects and their environment with their mouths. To a curious puppy, everything about this big world is brand new and exciting. He learns as he goes along. You can almost hear his thought processes as he discovers something he's never seen before: "Hmmm...what's this? [chomping on it] Something to eat? No? [tossing it around] Can I play with it? Maybe. Can I make it squeak?"
Playing is also a normal learning behavior for puppies, especially play-fighting. Play-fighting with littermates and other animals develops reflexes, coordination and physical skill. It also helps them develop social skills and teaches them how to interact positively within their canine society, their "pack." And it's great fun for them. Sometimes their fighting and "attacks" on us appear frighteningly fierce but to them, it's just a game. Much like a group of kids playing make-believe games and pretending to be grown-ups, puppies have their own games and pretend to be "grown-ups," too!
A dog's ability to control the force of his biting is called "bite inhibition." It's a critically important skill that every puppy needs to learn, the earlier the better. At first, they don't know their own strength nor how sharp their little teeth really are. Puppies learn to control the force of their biting from the reactions of their mothers and littermates during play and especially play-fighting.
We can teach puppies about bite inhibition, too, but some of the methods most often recommended aren't effective. Mother dogs' methods, however, are very effective, often more so than ours. I believe this is because they're speaking to their pups in the language they understand best -- dog language! A baby puppy is much too busy learning how to be a dog to take time to understand our human words and ways. That takes time and maturity. Puppies respond to dog language in a very powerful, instinctive way. We can take advantage of that by copying a mother dog's actions and using them for ourselves.
The idea of using mother dog's natural training techniques isn't new. Respected trainers like Carol Lea Benjamin have been using them for years. To understand these methods, let's take a look at a typical mother dog disciplining her brood. We'll use my Heather (Chow) and her four rowdy puppies as an example.
When a playful puppy bites Heather hard enough to hurt, she squeals in shocked indignation. The puppy, surprised at her reaction, usually hesitates a moment, unsure of himself, then tries to bite again. Heather yelps even louder this time and whirls on the puppy, growling, showing her teeth and scowling at him fiercely. Then she turns her back on him and storms away, completely ignoring him and any further attempts to get her to play. A smart puppy picks up her clear message quickly: "if you can't play nice, I won't play with you at all!"
If the puppy persists or doesn't take the hint, Heather doesn't fool around. With a menacing growl and using her teeth, she grabs him by the scruff of his neck and gives him a shake. If he sasses back, she gives him another little shake, tougher this time. She doesn't let go of the pup till he's acknowledged her authority (in dog language) by relaxing his body, laying his ears back and keeping still for a moment. Heather disciplines especially obnoxious puppies by knocking them over with her paw and pinning them to the ground, growling angrily and pinching them with her teeth. The puppies shriek but they're not really hurt. She doesn't let them up again untill they relax and lie still. After the correction, the puppy shakes his fur back into place and goes off in search of a playmate with a better sense of humor.
We don't have to growl at our puppies or shake them with our teeth, but we can modify Heather's technique for ourselves. The next time your puppy bites you, scream "OW!" in a high-pitched voice. Exaggerate a little. Then refuse to play with him or pay attention to him for a few minutes. If he doesn't get the message, give him a little scruff shake and scold him in a low-toned, threatening voice. You can exaggerate a little on that, too! Sound meaner than you really are. For puppies that just won't quit or seem to get wilder with every correction, flip them over on their backs, scold them in that same low, scary voice (growling) and gently but firmly, hold them in that position until they stop struggling.
We sometimes give puppies the wrong message about biting by some of the games we play with them. Wrestling and tug of war can encourage a puppy to bite and make it hard for him to distinguish when it's okay to use his teeth and when it's not. To make it easier for your puppy to learn good manners, it's a good idea to avoid these games.
Puppies seem to learn a great deal about bite inhibition and authority between five and eight weeks of age through play with their mothers and littermates. This is an especially good reason not to buy very young puppies. Puppies that were acquired earlier need to be taught these important things by their owners. They might require a little more intense use of Heather's methods than puppies that stayed with their litters longer. Puppies that receive little or no training in bite inhibition, either from their mothers or their people, may grow up to develop behavior problems.
I noticed that Heather picked out certain puppies for a little "extra" correction two or three times a day. She'd roll them over, pin them down for no apparent reason, growling at them if they didn't lie quietly. I noticed, too, that the puppies she chose were the most outgoing and dominant in the litter. She gave them regular reminders of her authority and the behavior she expected from them. I've found that using her technique myself works very well on puppies that've become too big for their britches!
Even with their mothers, puppies act a lot like kids -- they're always testing and pushing their limits. They have angel days and devil days. With patience, persistence and a few hints from your puppy's mother, you'll be able to tip the balance toward the angel's side!
More on kids and dogs is available in the article: Kids And Dogs: Safety first and Vicki DeGruy's award-winning column: Kids and Dogs: A common sense approach.
Vicki DeGruy


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## rucker105

*Re: Teaching Bite Inhibition*

Thanks MaggieRoseLee and cancucme, I took Zeke to the park and played for two hours last night! We met a couple of really nice labs, and he was chasing them and playing in no time! He was actually more gentle with the dogs than he is with me...go figure!

After the park he was very hungry (FINALLY!), and then was so tired he didnt even mind laying down in his kennel while I watched tv. 

I have been playing tug with him in the house as a way to get out a bit of his energy. Plus it is one of his favorite games. I have been making sure to touch him while he's tugging, and if he nips my hand or body I say "ow" and end the game. Is this confusing him and potentially making it harder for him to understand what is and isnt' ok?


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## Lauri & The Gang

*Re: Teaching Bite Inhibition*



> Quote:For puppies that just won't quit or seem to get wilder with every correction, flip them over on their backs, scold them in that same low, scary voice (growling) and gently but firmly, hold them in that position until they stop struggling.


This can *cause* more problems than it fixes.

Have you ever heard a dog make the sound "ow"? It just isn't a normal dog verbalization.

What I use is IPE - that's the word 'ripe' without the R. And you need to make it a strong/loud/high enough sound that it will startle the dog and cause them to stop biting for a moment. Then give calm praise and continue the game.

If they do keep up the biting even after the IPE, get up and leave the dog. If they won't play nice then they don't get to play at all.


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## JeanKBBMMMAAN

*Re: Teaching Bite Inhibition*

To go along with what Lauri is saying-I think we go waaaaaaaaaaaaaay overboard when we think we are correcting dogs/puppies like other dogs do. 

Unless a dog is old, cranky, not feeling well they are really tolerant and take a long time to build up to a physical correction. At least that is what I have seen in a non-related dog pack, particularly with a puppy under 4 months. 

Funny-that example is a Chow. I have a bunch of females, some with some Chow and a male with Chow in the mix and maybe for a group of puppies still in a litter, to maintain order they would do that roll or pin? But never have my dogs flipped or pinned a biting puppy of any age. I mean, a scruffing is a MAJOR correction-and flipping or pinning is life threatening. 

They ipe. They give them something else to bite. They get up and ignore them. It takes forever to get them to do anything else (a little tiny neck nip-not a shake and the nip is using teeth tips only)-and by that point the puppy is generally getting the message. If the puppy is overtired (which would be my fault for not removing them) they have a harder time understanding and may end up with the tiny, QUICK nip. Again, my fault for not reading the puppy as too tired to understand that they need a little time out and a chew on something like some ice. 

I just don't see these big bad punitive actions with my group, and they, in the past, have raised a number of puppies with me. And Kramer-a true alpha-just needs to give a look.









MLou-cute that the puppy is easier on the other dogs-I think that it's because they speak the same language, with no confusion. We have a harder time because we "bastardize" their language with our intepretations.


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## rucker105

*Re: Teaching Bite Inhibition*

Thanks guys! I have been making a high pitch "ow" sound, but I'll also try "ipe"! I know he is just being a puppy and testing out that mouth of his. 

Do you guys use a "gentle" command, or just a "no bite"?


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## doggiedad

*Re: Teaching Bite Inhibition*

when my puppy went through the nipping stage iwould hold him by the scruff of the neck and say "no biting". then i would put my hand on his mouth or rub his lips. if he didn't nip i would pet him and treat him and let him lick my hand/fingers. if he nipped (which he always did) i would repeat said action. personally i think he grew out of that stage more so than me teaching him not to nip. i think nipping is a part of their developement. i think they have to nip. i don't know why they have to do it but i truly think it's an important part of being a puppy. not to long ago i was sitting on the side of the bed putting on my shoes. my now 15 month old boy just walked over and put my knee in his mouth. there was no pressure applied. then sometime before that i was sitting at the computer with my hand hanging over the chair and he walked by and put my hold hand in his mouth. again, no pressure applied. he just did it and kept walking. when he put my hand in his mouth he had plenty of room to pass by without making contact. he actually had to move over towards me to get to my hand. when we return home and he meets us at the door he's all excited. you know, tail wagging, walking circles around us, going in and out of our legs. sometimes when i reach down to pet him while saying hello he'll often lick our hands and put them in his mouth. i think that's adult nipping but he's learned not to apply any pressure. he puts my or my GF's hand in his mouth but his mouth is open. so, do they really stop doing it or do they do it in a manner where we don't complain about it or correct it?


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## doggiedad

*Re: Teaching Bite Inhibition*

when Loki jumps on the sofa with me he gets really excited. he licks and he'll put whatever part of your body neareset him in his mouth. it's not really a nip because he doesn't apply any pressure. sometimes his mouth is open and my hand or fingers are just in his mouth. sometimes i reach in his mouth and tickle the roof of his mouth. he makes this great face when i do that. most of the time when my dog puts my hand in his mouth i don't correct him because it's so slight. that nipping is something in their developement, i think. i wonder if Shep's nip more than other dogs???


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## GSDOwner2008

*Re: Teaching Bite Inhibition*

I think they do it because they are teething and it hurts. I have braces, and when they get tightened, there's a lot of pressure on my teeth, but they gave me this plastic piece to bite down on and it feels so good because it relieves the pressure. Sounds weird, but just a thought.


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## nitetrane98

*Re: Teaching Bite Inhibition*

That's where I am with Mack right now. His way of showing/returning affection is to put some part of my body in his mouth. Never any pressure any more and I really seem to be the only one he wants to do it to. When I say, "No biting," he's quick to stop but usually has to get a lick or two in, "Hey, you said no biting, nothing about licking." It seems to be a really strong urge for him. He can't seem to receive any affection without returning it with a big slobbery mouthing. Even a pat on the head. I really can't complain about it too much because I have allowed it, especially when he developed such a soft mouth. I had always let him chew on me but the yelping and ignoring when he bit too hard seemed to work very well on him. He was absolutely crushed if he thought he had hurt me. 
But sometimes it becomes such a slobbery PITA. I'm hoping he'll outgrow it before I have to resort to correction for mouthing altogether.


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## doggiedad

*Re: Teaching Bite Inhibition*

What does slobbery PITA mean???


> Originally Posted By: Chris08That's where I am with Mack right now. His way of showing/returning affection is to put some part of my body in his mouth. Never any pressure any more and I really seem to be the only one he wants to do it to. When I say, "No biting," he's quick to stop but usually has to get a lick or two in, "Hey, you said no biting, nothing about licking." It seems to be a really strong urge for him. He can't seem to receive any affection without returning it with a big slobbery mouthing. Even a pat on the head. I really can't complain about it too much because I have allowed it, especially when he developed such a soft mouth. I had always let him chew on me but the yelping and ignoring when he bit too hard seemed to work very well on him. He was absolutely crushed if he thought he had hurt me.
> But sometimes it becomes such a slobbery PITA. I'm hoping he'll outgrow it before I have to resort to correction for mouthing altogether.


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## GSDOwner2008

*Re: Teaching Bite Inhibition*

Pain in the ---


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## Goofy

*Re: Teaching Bite Inhibition*

very good find ^^^


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## Bitework

*Re: Teaching Bite Inhibition*

MY GSD puppy is a biter and as I'm going to someday train him in Schutzhund I wondered what would be the best way to get him to stop biting everyone in sight. I joined the Ivan Balabanov Yahoo group and asked Ivan the question about biting, here's what he responded. It seems to work and my puppy is biting less and less.

"it is very common that puppies will do this, the funny things is that they do it simply because of what most puppies of any breed do, it doesn't mean much about how the puppy will develop as it grows.
I would definately correct the "random attacks" so to speak. The way I 
would correct it though might bedifferent depending on the level of 
them etc. Some of the ways to correct, make sure you do not reward te 
puppy by screaming or pulling away, wear boots around the house for 
couple fo days if you have to, bite your tounge and accept few "real" 
bites form the puppy, .... it will not get what he wanted from the 
bites and will give it up. Make sure it has some cool toys for the 
puppy needles to have fun with, rubber toy with some peanut biutter, 
some small hand towel soaked with water and then refrigerated will be 
also fun to play with as well as cooling of all the pain from theeting. 
channeling all the energy towards a toy instead fo your body parts, 
using a string attached to the toy, if you have to use a barrier 
between you and the puppy in the begining so it can only interact with 
the toy, finally stopping everything and grabbing the puppy and make it 
behave is also a must if goes way out of control ( will NOT ruin it as 
a SchH prospect I guarantee you) Controlling the house environment, kids 
runing screaming, other dogs playing crazy etc will also add to the 
lack of control/respect etc in a puppy, begining some puppy obedience 
will also build the common language, ... what else well it will all get 
better in couple of months 
have fun while it lasts
Ivan


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## MattinAustin

*Re: Teaching Bite Inhibition*

This thread has been a life saver. After reading a few of the articles posted I am seeing a change in one day.

I couldn't figure out how to get Louie to stop biting legs when walking or biting arms and whatever else when playing.

Simply holding him by his collar when he tries to bite pant legs and not looking at him drives him crazy and after a few times today he isn't doing it anymore. And simply standing up when he bites when playing is starting to catch on. Hopefully we can nip this in the bud in the next couple of weeks.


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## KohleePiper

*Re: Teaching Bite Inhibition*



> Originally Posted By: Count Brunowhat great info
> 
> am doing this right now saying owwwww it does work he turns his head from side to side and stops lol
> 
> thanks for the info


exactly what I'm doing and it works.... then I try not to laugh at his little head moving side to side!


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## kafreeman

*Re: Teaching Bite Inhibition*

The little guy still trys to knaw my foot off, and then goes after my hands. It seems like he gets more persistent the more I tell him no. I tried ignoring him... but that hurts. Shoving a toy in his face works, but I dont know if I am reinforcing his biting. I cant get high pitched enough for him to react. 

Any other suggestions... or is going to be a wait it out kind of deal...


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## GSDOwner2008

*Re: Teaching Bite Inhibition*

Have you tried yelping when he bites in a really high pitched tone? How about getting up and walking away?

If redirecting him to a toy works, go for it! Sticking a toy in his mouth is teaching him that he can't bite you, but he can certainly bite his toy.


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## MaggieRoseLee

*Re: Teaching Bite Inhibition*

Just found two more excellent sites about how this painful biting is normal, and the best way to teach (not PUNISH) our puppies a new less painful way to play!

Bite Inhibition One 

Bite Inhibition Two


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## kafreeman

*Re: Teaching Bite Inhibition*



> Originally Posted By: GSDOwner2008Have you tried yelping when he bites in a really high pitched tone? How about getting up and walking away?
> 
> If redirecting him to a toy works, go for it! Sticking a toy in his mouth is teaching him that he can't bite you, but he can certainly bite his toy.


You have no idea. This little guy has nerves of steel.

I have yelped as high as I can get, my wife emits ear piercing screams that only bother me, and he's still knawing away.

The can with pennies trick worked for a day. He doesnt care about that anymore. I'll have to check out the two above links. 

So far the toy trick seems to be best... but even that doesnt work often. He'll chew the toy for a couple of minutes and think the foot was way more enjoyable. He also likes to run between your legs attacking your feet.


----------



## kafreeman

*Re: Teaching Bite Inhibition*

After reviewing the above links, I'm going to have to find a few more chew toys for him, and when he gets really bad I'll have to pick him up and put him in his crate.

This is the only thing he is bad about. Neither of our other two pups were this bad with biting. His potty training has been exceptional, he runs to the door when he is ready to go out, and his crate training has been stellar as well.


----------



## allieg

*Re: Teaching Bite Inhibition*

I guess I'm lucky here too Athena did this for a month or 2 after we got her home but has stopped.All I did was a firm NO and a soft tap on her muzzle.She's 6 months now.She ripped a few pairs of PJs from our AM pee breaks. It was mostly an excited thing in the mornings or if we had been away.
Allie


----------



## lac

*Re: Teaching Bite Inhibition*

hmmm...someone was thinking of me today.
I a was ready to post on this exact topic!!
My 15wkr is making me nuts with the biting. My son has bruises on him from it!! oy!
thanks a mil...


----------



## Smith3

*Re: Teaching Bite Inhibition*

I may have stumbled on to something that might help others last night.

Koch was gnawing on my arm in her playful way, but it is painful, and "yelping" doesn't seem to do much. So last night i switched it up, at first i would yelp and if she persisted i would start whinning like a dog that was hurt and that *FREAKED *her out like she had done something really bad and she stopped instantly and in a few cases would walk away, lay down, and look at me like she had done something wrong. Hopefully this helps her bite inhibition and soft mouth!


----------



## aubie

*Re: Teaching Bite Inhibition*

The "yelping" worked on Anna for about a day, then she was sooooo over it. We use treats now to reward "no bite" which is also great for when she bites other things, like the couch or a shoe or us when we're walking and she wants to "herd". 

I began by working it into her training time and it's gotten so much better!


----------



## Blacryan

*Re: Teaching Bite Inhibition*

So I am curious guys. My pup seems to like to bite at shoe laces, shoes, slippers and stuff on the ground. Such as cords and stuff. He doesnt chew on them he just nips on them. he has plenty of toys for chewing on and everything else.

Today I started carrying a small water bottle on it and just squirting it anytime he nips at peoples hands or fingers when they are petting him, or when he nips at shoe laces or shoes. It seems to be working AMAZINGLY well. Is there anything wrong with this? I have tried redirecting him to a bully stick or something and it works but only temporarly doesnt seem to keep him from niping at things, hands/wrist being the worst thing so far. 

Is there anything wrong w/ doing this?


----------



## bethandglen

*Re: Teaching Bite Inhibition*

Thanks for this topic! We had a lot of trouble teaching Lexi this, we tried all the "yelping" stuff that people recommend and for a long time it seemed it wasn't working, but it just took her a long time to learn it! Now she seems to understand and very rarely does she bite down too hard. She even knows how to bite the cat "softly" LOL, my husband was concerned that she was mauling the cat but he put his hand on her mouth to check and said she was barely closing it on her, just like with us! So I think sometimes it just takes them a while to learn this, especially as puppies.

Beth


----------



## meisha98

*Re: Teaching Bite Inhibition*

Lainey is six months now and I was hoping this biting thing was almost over LOL! She nips at me when she has to go out and I haven't seen/heard her go to the door (I tried a bell on the door but she ripped it off). Outside lately when playing, she jumps and grabs my arms. I keep her moving in a circle (like how they exercise horses) with the leash over her head. This poops her out and if I time it right, she needs to focus on moving and trying to grab the leash- she can't focus on me at the same time. She tires and will sit after a few minutes. This is new so I'm assuming it's a phase I need to get through. I substitute toys/treats when inside as yelping doesn't work for her. Her biting inside the house is getting less often. She has plenty of bully sticks, bones and toys,


----------



## onyx'girl

*Re: Teaching Bite Inhibition*

Do you play fetch or frisbee with her? If you are putting her leash over her head, it will encourage her to go after it, in prey drive. A ball on a string will teach her to focus on something other than you!
I would re-direct her energy. Maybe lay a track with smelly treats for her to find. 
Start with a small area and work your way to a long trail. If you aren't in a club doing organized tracking this will be fun. If you are in a club, go with their instructions so you don't mess up her foundation for tracking the right way.
Onyx loves frisbee and is getting better at catching it when she anticipates the direction it will be going.
After the adult teeth come in, then tugging will be fun and she can get her bite on. I think the pressure of teething is just too much sometimes.


----------



## Alicia

*Re: Teaching Bite Inhibition*

Thank you, Jean! I am marking this topic for when we get our new puppy this fall. We have a toddler so bite inhibition is especially important.


----------



## sunfluer

*Re: Teaching Bite Inhibition*

I've been teaching my pup "kisses" and rewarding with treats when he licks my hand. However, he nips at the bottom of pants leg when ready to go out the door. I tell him firmly "no bite" but he'll still keep trying to nip at my pants.

I know he nips my Labs hind legs when they're playing but I don't want him doing that to me.

Help - anyone.


----------



## sunfluer

*Re: Teaching Bite Inhibition*



> Originally Posted By: Doug P.we have a 2 month old GSD....and he does like to nip...got my nipple the other day, I was carrying him to the back door for his early morning break,,,had no shirt on,,,gezzzzz,,,little turd reached up and grabbed ahold of my nipple and clamped down,,,,holly sore skin batman.....my wife thought it was so funny,,,can't wait till she gets it,,,,hahaha Yeager starts puppy kindergarden class here at home Monday,,,,hope the instructor has some helpful hints....










This post, the way it's written made me laugh out loud.

Those puppy teeth are razor sharp - no fun, reallyl


----------



## sunfluer

*Re: Teaching Bite Inhibition*

How do handle the nipping at the ankle, pants leg? My pup will do this as we're going out the door and sometimes as we walk along.


----------



## Jessica H

*Re: Teaching Bite Inhibition*

I always say this is a phase they go through and you can't stop it untilt hey outgrow it. Just be consistant, tell him "no" or "no bite" and the "kisses" like you are doing. Ignore him and stop playing with him.

Dozer used to nip at me so bad I would get bruises or rip my clothes or scrape my skin. He jumped up and bit me right on one of my girl lumps (if you know what I mean) and it was bleeding. It hurt so bad. He know mouths me and is very gentle, I do not remember him stopping, I just started noticing he stopped. If he is biting your pants maybe keep a collar on him so youc an correct him and pull him away from your legs.


----------



## alaman

*Re: Teaching Bite Inhibition*



> Originally Posted By: 3dogsHow do handle the nipping at the ankle, pants leg? My pup will do this as we're going out the door and sometimes as we walk along.


I told mine "fooey" when they did it and lightly popped them on the nose. In less than three days they stopped. Same for nipping on arm or hand. At 15 weeks, neither bite the ankle, pants leg, arm, etc. yet follow me everywhere I go


----------



## jodnfletcher

*Re: Teaching Bite Inhibition*



> Originally Posted By: kafreeman
> 
> You have no idea. This little guy has nerves of steel.
> 
> I have yelped as high as I can get, my wife emits ear piercing screams that only bother me, and he's still knawing away.
> 
> The can with pennies trick worked for a day. He doesnt care about that anymore. I'll have to check out the two above links.
> 
> So far the toy trick seems to be best... but even that doesnt work often. He'll chew the toy for a couple of minutes and think the foot was way more enjoyable. He also likes to run between your legs attacking your feet.


Sounds exactly like my 4 month old 'bundle of joy' little girl. She just doesn't seem to respond to anything we do - biting is way more fun. We tried yelping, ignoring, shaking a can of stones, water spray, gentle tap on the nose, holding her mouth shut, walking away and taking her to time out. Time out is the only thing that seems to be working and even then it takes at least 3 time outs each night (and another 3 or 4 during the day - I work from home) before she comes back into the room with her bone in her mouth from her crate and settles down. (When she brings her bone out we know she's not going to bite any more - no idea why but it always works like that!)

The worst is when she grabs your ankles and bites at your trouser legs (shes already ripped one pair of my jeans apart!) - shes so quick and its really hard to grab her collar to drag her out to time out (and removing myself isnt an option as she'd rip my office apart in 2 seconds if I was out of the room!). She thinks its a game and runs off and runs back and jumps up to grab my hand/arm/thigh again! Monkey!

Does it get easier? ) Or is she just a stubborn, testing little madam? I know she's probably started teething now and she's still only really young, but we've had her nearly 3 months now and her biting seems to be getting worse not better. It's so frustrating because shes pretty good with most other things like toilet training, going into her crate, sleeping thru the night, coming back when called at the park etc.

(Note: she's only biting when she's playing or wants to play - she doesn't seem to be biting out of aggression or nastiness)

Anyway, sorry if it's a bit of a rant - it's great to know I'm not alone and this seems like a great place for some info on raising well behaved GS puppies!


----------



## MaggieRoseLee

*Re: Teaching Bite Inhibition*



> Quote:So far the toy trick seems to be best... but even that doesnt work often. *He'll chew the toy for a couple of minutes *and think the foot was way more enjoyable. He also likes to run between your legs attacking your feet.


Not sure how to make it clearer the reason a toy works (or not) isn't because we just hand the pup the toy and then they go off and play BY THEMSELVES with it for the rest of the day. Cause that's not going to happen for most of us with most of our pups.

'The toy' is not supposed to be a chew toy the pup plays with BY THEMSELVES. No way. The reason that all the past play has involved our body parts is because (brace yourself) THEY WANT TO PLAY WITH US!!!!!!!!

Interact, hear our voices, tug with us, get praise, chase us, BOND with us!!!!! 

So the reason 'the toy' works is because we WANT all that. We WANT our dogs to WANT to play and bond with us (which is why all the


> Quote: We tried yelping, ignoring, shaking a can of stones, water spray, gentle tap on the nose, holding her mouth shut, walking away and taking her to time out.


 is generally not recommended except as a stop gap while we step it up and start to do what we SHOULD be doing.

Because what we should be doing is TEACHING our pup a new way to play. Not punishing them for the only way they know how to play.

We WANT THEM TO PLAY! With us. 

But we do NOT want our body parts to be involved. So when we get out the toys, it's an interactive game that involves us for the entire time. Running thru the house. Tugging thru the house. Playing hide and seek. Throwing the ball. You can even start mixing in some teeny bouts of 'obedience' with 'the toy' as the instant reward for the behavior.

So instead of punishing our pups into good behavior. Most of us have discovered that the teaching and learning process works best in the long run. To develope a bond with our pups that will last a lifetime.


----------



## jodnfletcher

*Re: Teaching Bite Inhibition*

OK I totally understand the playing with them idea, and we DO play with her with her toys (her playtime can last for hours until she tires, even after long walks/runs in the park!). But - how do we get her to learn that biting us just isn't right? When she bites while she's playing we stop the play and walk away, but she comes right back at us and bites again so we have to put her in time out until she calms down because surely if we start playing again she's learning that if she bites she gets to play?

Also how do you end playtime? ) As much as we would love to spend every waking hour playing with her, there are times when we can only play for 10/15 mins or so and then have to get back to work or whatever we're doing. She is still in the same room as us and then starts getting aggro, barking at us and biting our legs/ankles...


----------



## MaggieRoseLee

*Re: Teaching Bite Inhibition*



> Originally Posted By: jodnfletcherOK I totally understand the playing with them idea, and we DO play with her with her toys (her playtime can last for hours until she tires, even after long walks/runs in the park!). But - how do we get her to learn that biting us just isn't right? When she bites while she's playing we stop the play and walk away, but she comes right back at us and bites again so we have to put her in time out until she calms down because surely if we start playing again she's learning that if she bites she gets to play?
> 
> Also how do you end playtime? ) As much as we would love to spend every waking hour playing with her, there are times when we can only play for 10/15 mins or so and then have to get back to work or whatever we're doing. She is still in the same room as us and then starts getting aggro, barking at us and biting our legs/ankles...


I have to say, that it really would appear that if you can find another/better way to really wear your pup out exercising, you'll be better able to get a handle on this. 

Though I really believe you are taking your pup out and exercising it, probably more than enough for many puppies, the truth is that SOME of our GSD pups need more. Really. Alot more. Finding out what that is can be OUR challenge. 

For me, I have to get the puppy in the car, drive (as long as I have to) to somewhere we can REALLY have the pup off leash, in the woods, creeks, ponds, lakes, rivers and have the go go go go go. Better still if I make this a playdate included other friendly dogs and people. Better if its a NEW place. Better if we keep moving moving moving. 

If I can do this about every other day, I take home a different puppy. An obedient puppy. A puppy who crates herself and puts herself to naptime. Who only wants to play for about 10 minutes cause she's worn out.

Sometimes it's going to friends homes with huge yards and dogs that will play with them for an hour or so. Sometimes it taking the puppy on a shopping trip and either before or after the shopping I walk the puppy around town for meet and greets. Or sit in front of the stores for meet and greets. 

Puppy classes/kindergarden are FANTASTIC with the new sights, smells, learning, people, places, car rides, mental and physical stimulation to wear that puppy out.

I know for me, if I can't tire my puppies out and get off that 'edge' life is a misery for me in the home and my puppy is pretty much a 'bad dog' all day. Causing me anger and frustration. She won't listen. She is constantly under my feet. And if she's not being 'bad' at my feet then she's off in another room destroying something she KNOWS she's not supposed to be into!

But when I find out the proper mix that DOES tire her out, oh, then what a practically perfect puppy I have. With that edge off her, then she will listen, focus and learn to be that puppy I know she can be. All the training techniques and suggestions people make suddenly start to work! 

Not saying there aren't times I have to just quietly pick her up and put her in the crate for a time out. But it's not from me being frustrated and angry. More just for me to take a breath, her to take a breath, and when I let her out for us to start again from a calmer place or LEARNING not cause she's been a 'bad dog'.

You see what I have to do with my puppy? This is a video of her at 11 weeks and she can't hardly get over some of the trees on the walk (sorry it's blurry). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zk7Y-oVClnI

And this is her at 4 months (see I still have to do this!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dc3pNhDOuwU


----------



## jodnfletcher

*Re: Teaching Bite Inhibition*

Ahhh cute videos!! I would love it for Fletchie to be able to walk calmly like that with us but whenever we take her out she's flying around at literally a million miles an hour! hehe! She would be bugging all the other dogs to play all the time - she just never lets up (we have to leash her when we're around friend's dogs after an hour cos they want a break and she still wants to play!) She got snarled at and scared by another dog at the park last night when she just wouldn't give up trying to get him to play even after 20 minutes of tearing round in circles at a hundred miles an hour! The other dog was tired out but Fletcher was still raring to go. 

I guess we just have one very active GSD pup on our hands! We take her to the park for 45 mins/1 hour most nights and throw tennis balls and frisbees (my hubby can throw them miles!) and hubby plays football/hide and seek with her, she gets home and looks like she's worn out - has a power nap for 1/2 hour while we eat dinner then it's all on again! Hopefully she'll grow out of it a bit and calm down a tad - she's 4 1/2 months now so we still have a while to go!

Thanks for all the advice - will keep at it with the exercise and toys and keep our fingers crossed (and shin/ankle guards on!)


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## MaggieRoseLee

*Re: Teaching Bite Inhibition*



> Quote:I would love it for Fletchie to be able to walk calmly like that with us but whenever we take her out she's flying around at literally a million miles an hour! hehe! She would be bugging all the other dogs to play all the time -


jodnfletcher, if I had my pup in a confined area (huge yard or playground) and the other dogs couldn't get away, then Glory wouldn't be looking so good and calm.

There as SO many reason to hike in a NEW place. Because a distracting as other dogs are, and as much as Glory wants to play with them, there are also OTHER distractions pulling at her. That running squirrel. The smells, oh the smells, of the turkeys, deer, foxes, other dogs, dead things............... And the fact we humans are moving moving moving can not be underestimated. When I stand still and all the dogs start hovering and mingling around is when there CAN be problems. But when we are all walking (humans are as vital to the walking as the dogs) it's much more motivating to keep moving.

Likewise, the older dogs can run and escape the puppies until they are about 6 months old. So the annoying distraction the puppies CAN be is moderated by the fact all the older dogs just run off which causes the puppy to just stop or run back to the humans for a pat and a moving on again. 

So this isn't just about being outdoors for a few hours with the dogs. It's actually about actively covering some distance (I can really just be walking though) while the dogs go miles and miles further with the constant running back and forth and forays into the woods and back and forth and swimming and back and forth.....


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## Megan

*Re: Teaching Bite Inhibition*

This thread is absolutely wonderful. 

I have a 12 week old GS and we haven't been able to stop the nipping at the pants yet. It's so reassuring to know I'm not the only one going through this.
And now I have some different tactics to try out I'm sure that one of them is bound to work for us









Thanks everyone.


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## Panda

Can someone please tell me what I am doing wrong? My puppy is now 4 months old and we have been trying to teach him bite inhibition by walking away or turning away when he bites and encouraging him to bite his toys but it doesnt seem to be working. He bites all the time and VERY hard. I have scars all over my arms and he has broken the skin many times. 

He also jumps up at me and I turn away and cross my arms but as soon as I turn back he jumps up again. 

Also, If I bend over to pick something up off the floor I have to be supr quick or he will lunge at my face (not in an aggressive way just playing I guess). 

When I do training and he does the right thing and I click and give him a treat he snaps my whole hand up with it (my thumb is currently bleeding from this)

What am I doing wrong? When my fiance plays with him he says "NO" in a gruff voice and Storm stops biting him but when I try this it seems to encourage him to bite me harder and more often.

Please help.. Will he grow out of this or is it something I have to get to the bottom of asap. He goes to puppy preschool but the instructor just tells us to redirect the biting to toy but this doesnt work as he seems to prefer biting skin to toys.

Any tips would be great thanks  (sorry about the long post)


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## rackfocus

I read this thread about once a day to remind myself that it's normal. Spock doesn't randomly nip feet or anything (yet), but he's a big fan of biting hands. Those freaking teeth are so sharp. He whipped his head around and lacerated my middle finger. Probably a millimeter away from needing a stitch. 

Saying no, pinning (only when he's REALLY out of control), walking away, etc... doesn't really work. It seems we are just going to have to wait it out and try our hardest not to pin him or take out our anger on him. On a related note, my finger really hurts, and he's in his kennel.


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## MaggieRoseLee

rackfocus said:


> ......
> Saying no, pinning (only when he's REALLY out of control), walking away, etc... doesn't really work. It seems we are just going to have to wait it out and try our hardest not to pin him or take out our anger on him. On a related note, my finger really hurts, and he's in his kennel.


I know for me, I just couldn't EVER have a body part in my puppies mouth. Ever. So tons of toys in every room. Me stopping everything else in my life to play with my puppies USING the toys when they wanted to play. Time and patience turned the corner for me. 

BTW, I really still can't play with Bretta's mouth, and she's 6 years old. My 1 year old, Glory, is now so much better I can... each dog is different! :wild:


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## rackfocus

MaggieRoseLee said:


> I know for me, I just couldn't EVER have a body part in my puppies mouth. Ever. So tons of toys in every room. Me stopping everything else in my life to play with my puppies USING the toys when they wanted to play. Time and patience turned the corner for me.
> 
> BTW, I really still can't play with Bretta's mouth, and she's 6 years old. My 1 year old, Glory, is now so much better I can... each dog is different! :wild:


He was getting better. He's really at his worst with my mom (and she has thin skin). I've never really gotten bitten hard enough to make me bleed. But man my middle finger bled for about 10 minutes. It was like getting cut with a serrated knife.

We definitely have to shove a toy in his mouth when he bites. Just pulling our hands away makes it seem like a game.


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## MaggieRoseLee

> We definitely have to shove a toy in his mouth when he bites. *Just pulling our hands away makes it seem like a game.*


Sounds like you really are getting what's happening! Good luck and just keep being consistant! :wub:


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## doggiedad

when my boy was nipping i use to
pull him back (gently) by some neck
fur and say "no biting". then i thought
since i'm a dog whisperer once i pull
him back i would place my hand/fingers
near his mouth. if he nipped i would pull
him back, if he didn't nip i would pet
him on or near his mouth.

well, i don't think this method worked.
if anything it made him nip more, .

i think we can try to curb the nipping but
they grow out of it at some point.


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## Runswithdogs

Okay, help! We've had our rescue 1 yr old GSD for about 2 weeks now and she's starting to feel more comfortable and frisky. She's also started being a lot more mouthy.
Two things happened in the past day that I didn't know how to handle.
One- last night, when I was sitting on the couch, she tried to jump up on the couch next to me. I moved to block access to the couch and she jumped up on ME and nipped me. This happened several times- each time I would turn my back and leave the room. Finally I took her outside because I was frustrated and didn't want to react to her...brought her back in after 2-3 minutes. 

This morning on her walk, she jumped up and nipped my arm. She's done this a couple of times when we are running, but never when walking. I stopped, and asked her to sit. Instead she jumped and nipped me again. I couldn't leave the situation (we were on the sidewalk and we had to get home, obviously) but she was just jumping and nipping and when I moved to shorten her leash, she nipped my hand.

I don't believe in aversives or punishment, but how do I extinguish this behavior? It's making me worried to take her on her next walk (she gets 2-3 a day). It would have looked to an outsider like my own dog was attacking me. I completely ignored her on the rest of the walk and when we got home as well.


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## MaggieRoseLee

This is my puppy Ike at 3 months old. As you can see, he was a pain in the butt at that age. Biting, growling, snapping at my face, you name it, he did it and then he did it some more. 

*This is completely normal.* *Your puppy is not crazy, aggressive, mean, angry, insane, etc. etc. And no, he will not be doing this when he is 90lbs* 

Your puppy is just being a puppy and the biting is one of the many "silly puppy crap" (along with others like eating your shoe, pooping the house, barking in the crate, chasing cats and kids) that he will outgrow with the right kind of guidance and training. Enjoy your pups. They are only this stupid once


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## Ares2010

When we are playing with him and he nips we just say easy and he won't do it for a while. I don't really interfere when he is playing with the other dog because I got bit one time so I learned my lesson.


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## paulag1955

One thing I've noticed about Shasta is that when she's nipping and mouthing the hardest, and the demon puppy completely takes over, she never complains when you put her in her kennel for a time out. In fact, she usually lays down and goes to sleep. Like an over-tired toddler, if you can get them to be still for a few minutes.


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## Sir_Henry

:help: PROMISE me that the biting stops! We never get a soft mouth...it hard and harder. I look like I've been pruning roses or bougainvilla without gloves...it's awful... There is no tiring this pup...ugh! BTW...he's 12 weeks old today.


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## jakeandrenee

Are you giving him fresh frozen bones to chew? Bully sticks? Kong frozen stuffed with ground beef?


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## MaggieRoseLee

Sir_Henry said:


> :help: PROMISE me that the biting stops! We never get a soft mouth...it hard and harder. *I look like I've been pruning roses or bougainvilla without gloves...it's awful...* There is no tiring this pup...ugh! BTW...he's 12 weeks old today.


Do not let those teeth touch your flesh. You are TEACHING him that his favorite way to play (his teeth your flesh) is ok and fun.

INSTEAD you have to teach him a new way to play. NO HUMAN FLESH. You have to start replacing your hands with one of the many many many toys all over your house. You want him to play. You want him to play with you. And the only way many of our GSD pups can do that is to replace your flesh with a toy. TUG TOY.


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## Sir_Henry

jakeandrenee said:


> Are you giving him fresh frozen bones to chew? Bully sticks? Kong frozen stuffed with ground beef?


 Haven't tried fresh frozen bones - he's not too young for that?

Kongs with frozen meat, etc. work for a little while but once they roll under the couch it becomes another game....roll it under the couch and make mommy and daddy go under there.


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## Sir_Henry

MaggieRoseLee said:


> Do not let those teeth touch your flesh. You are TEACHING him that his favorite way to play (his teeth your flesh) is ok and fun.
> 
> INSTEAD you have to teach him a new way to play. NO HUMAN FLESH. You have to start replacing your hands with one of the many many many toys all over your house. You want him to play. You want him to play with you. And the only way many of our GSD pups can do that is to replace your flesh with a toy. TUG TOY.


Okay...we get conflicting advice on this one. Some trainers say you should teach them to "mouth" you and not bite. Then I also hear comments like yours - NO HUMAN FLESH. Honestly, I do try to avoid letting him get my hands but it is difficult. He goes for our hands when we put the collar on him, when we hand him toys, when he's calm and we're petting him, when we're playing with him with other toys....it becomes his mission to bite our hands, arms, feet, any part of us that's accessible.


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## Sir_Henry

jakeandrenee said:


> Are you giving him fresh frozen bones to chew? Bully sticks? Kong frozen stuffed with ground beef?


 
What is a "bully stick"?


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## Relayer

Sir_Henry said:


> What is a "bully stick"?


Bullysticks are something to be worshipped. Bullysticks are salvation. They are the perfect chew thing for the perfect chewing machine. Google them. Buy a lot of them. Keep a couple in every room. And keep one in your hand!!! You'll thank me.


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## Sir_Henry

Relayer said:


> Bullysticks are something to be worshipped. Bullysticks are salvation. They are the perfect chew thing for the perfect chewing machine. Google them. Buy a lot of them. Keep a couple in every room. And keep one in your hand!!! You'll thank me.


I believe you! I'll keep you posted.....:laugh:


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## Relayer

Sir_Henry said:


> I believe you! I'll keep you posted.....:laugh:


Pleeeze do. Bully sticks rule! I can't tell you how many movies we've actually been able to watch while Max is busy chewing a bully stick within an inch of its life... me holding the **** thing for him the entire time.


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## paulag1955

So is a bully stick a rawhide chew toy? I thought they were bad for dogs.


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## sagelfn

paulag1955 said:


> So is a bully stick a rawhide chew toy? I thought they were bad for dogs.


A bully stick is digestable unlike a rawhide

Bully Sticks for Dogs, Natural Wholesale, Bulk Bully Sticks

Bully Sticks News Articles - article benefit of bully sticks for dogs


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## paulag1955

sagelfn said:


> A bully stick is digestable unlike a rawhide
> 
> Bully Sticks for Dogs, Natural Wholesale, Bulk Bully Sticks
> 
> Bully Sticks News Articles - article benefit of bully sticks for dogs


But what are they made of? And is bully stick a brand or generic name?


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## sagelfn

paulag1955 said:


> But what are they made of? And is bully stick a brand or generic name?


bully sticks are made of bull penis :crazy: What Bully Sticks dog treats are made from, product analysis

Its a name not a brand


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## paulag1955

sagelfn said:


> bully sticks are made of bull penis :crazy: What Bully Sticks dog treats are made from, product analysis
> 
> Its a name not a brand


Um...eeeew! Maybe I shouldn't have asked. (And I see there's no appropriate smiley.)


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## jakeandrenee

No he isn't too young for a fresh marrow bone or knuckle bone...if your order bully sticks go ahead and get the jumbo 12" size...you will need them.
Giving them things they enjoy to chew helps strengthen his muscles AND tire him out. Of course all the other wonderful advice rings very true but adding some things he loves to chew on as he teethes will really help. Good Luck!


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## Sir_Henry

:happyboogie:Many thanks to all of you!

BULLY STICKS RULE!! He's actually crying while he's chewing on it he's so happy! :laugh:


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## Cassidy's Mom

Yes they do! :thumbup: My hubby was so grossed out by the very idea of them, but I placed an order with some online company for dog supplies and got a couple of free samples of something referred to as a "pizzle". I had no idea that that was the same thing as a bully stick, and it turned out the puppy LOVED them! So I went to order more and that's when I found out that they were bully sticks by another name. After Tom saw how well it occupied a puppy in the evening, giving us some time to chill and watch TV rather than chasing puppy around the house, he became a convert.  They've been a staple at our house ever since.


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## kidkhmer

Doug P. said:


> we have a 2 month old GSD....and he does like to nip...got my nipple the other day, I was carrying him to the back door for his early morning break,,,had no shirt on,,,gezzzzz,,,little turd reached up and grabbed ahold of my nipple and clamped down,,..


*HAHHAHAHAHHAHHAHAH THAT IMAGE IS WAAAAAY TO MUCH.*

:laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:

If my puppy isn't biting my nipples my wife is tweaking them.It is a Khmer sign of affection. Even my mother in law does it.

I swear some weeks I need a jumbo tub of Bepanthen.


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## kidkhmer

sagelfn said:


> bully sticks are made of bull penis :crazy: http://www.bullysticks4dogs.com/bully_sticks_made.htm


YUMMMMY We eat fried bull's penis over here.Its delicous with cold beer. It is called S'aich Lung'n goh.....

And no....I am not joking......


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## Castlemaid

kidkhmer said:


> I swear some weeks I need a jumbo tub of Bepanthen.


Oh to me loved this much!!! :wild: Too funny!


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## Jacek

So, which teeth are usually falling out first? I've noticed that the front ones are gone for Bella now, she's at 4.5m old. When does the biting/nipping totally stop? When they're completely done teething?


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## mroutdoorsman

LedZep said:


> I have noticed this with our pup as well, from an early age. He gets particularly bitey when he needs to go #2.


Ze'eva tells me she needs to go out by grabbing a hold of me and tugging for a few seconds and then barking softly. 100% of the time it is when she needs to use the bathroom... As for her biting hard she sometimes bites a little too hard but usually it isn't bad.


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## Deuce

This is a great sticky.


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## momtoshadow

I am learning so much from this thread. My puppy is teething, and biting everything and everyone. My kids are starting to become scared of her, because she is biting their hands pretty hard. I will have to try some of the tips I found here, and hopefully it will get better.


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## bruiser

*Hand protection...*

I went out and bought some garden gloves to wear in the morning when his little teeth are really active and in case I need to try and put him in his crate for a couple minutes of time out. My hands look like I've been abused...oops I have been.:crazy:


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## RussiansOwner_MszPoochie

So is there a time when it stops altogether?


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## bruiser

With other pups I've had it seems to really slow down after they get their adult teeth in. That and a lot of redirection, training, and toys it seems to stop altogether. I don't do a lot of really rough play either.  That's my 2 cents.


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## RussiansOwner_MszPoochie

okay thank you =)
cawz this puppy tore like 2 of my sweat pants and a jeans already biting after my feet -sigh-


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## Twisted

Hi all, I have a 10 week old GSD and he really likes to bite/mouth. I have been redirecting him to a toy and that will work for a little while and then he gets back at me. Should I just keep this up?


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## Cassidy's Mom

Please read the links at the beginning of this thread - there are lots of suggestions for teaching bite inhibition.


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## Twisted

I should have added to my post that I have looked at those links and so far, they aren't working. I am planning on enrolling into an obedience class soon. Im just looking for the best one to go to. Thank you for the reply!


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## Castlemaid

Bite inhibition takes time. It's not like you try something a few times and bingo presto puppy stops biting. It takes weeks and months of consistent work. You are re-programming basic instincts. 

Good for the obedience classes. Hope you find a good one and have fun!


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## Cassidy's Mom

Castlemaid said:


> Bite inhibition takes time. It's not like you try something a few times and bingo presto puppy stops biting. It takes weeks and months of consistent work. You are re-programming basic instincts.


Exactly. At 10 weeks old it's WAY too early to say that you've tried all the suggestions and that they're not working. Teaching bite inhibition is a process, it's not realistic to expect major progress this soon.


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## Twisted

Alright, I will keep at it. I was just frustrated last night because he kept biting really hard and I couldnt get him to stop. It was right before I was going to bed so I just put him in his crate and he whined for a minute or two and then fell asleep. So I think I just needed a little reassurance that it will work. I thank both of you.


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## SamTheDog

Cassidy's Mom said:


> Please read the links at the beginning of this thread - there are lots of suggestions for teaching bite inhibition.


One of the links tells me I need to say ouch when he bites, but every bite is full force and very painful. Calmly saying ouch as his front teeth break the skin on my arm seems ridiculous.


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## s14roller

I've also tried all the suggestions, and maybe I just don't know enough about dog behavior, but I have a feeling that it's just something that we will have to wait out for it to be 100%. 

The best solution right now seems to be to start her training again (so her attention is focused on listening and getting food). Redirecting her to a toy doesn't do much when she wants to play with you. Crating her calms her down, but she just wants to continue when she comes out. Getting a tasty treat because it's time for training? Now that sounds more interesting.


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## SamTheDog

If i put my dog in the crate and dont leave the house immediately he goes insane, i feel like he is going to hurt himself.


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## Cassidy's Mom

SamTheDog said:


> One of the links tells me I need to say ouch when he bites, but every bite is full force and very painful. *Calmly saying ouch as his front teeth break the skin on my arm seems ridiculous*.


I agree - the idea is not to calmly say ouch, it's to shriek it *LOUDLY* and *SHARPLY*! You want to startle the pup, causing him to stop what he's doing immediately and look at you, and then you can praise him for stopping. There are a variety of suggestions in the various links, and this one may not work as well on some puppies as on others. It could ramp up the puppy even further causing them to bite even harder, in which case I'd try something else. But I have used it successfully and I've seen it used successfully in the many puppy classes I've taken over the years. It was not the best method for Dena, however.

A combo approach to this method (if the shriek causes your puppy to stop biting for even a millisecond) is to immediately stuff his mouth with a more appropriate chew toy than your body parts. Whatever you do, it will take some time and patience. But eventually your puppy will learn that biting you will be the end of fun, and appropriate play means the fun will continue. Once puppy goes over the edge and is totally out of control to the point where nothing helps, your best bet is to put him away in his crate for a little timeout. Puppies get overtired and cranky like toddlers do, and sometimes the best thing for that is a nap.


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## Cassidy's Mom

s14roller said:


> I've also tried all the suggestions, and maybe I just don't know enough about dog behavior, but I have a feeling that it's just something that we will have to wait out for it to be 100%.


I checked your previous posts to see how old your puppy is, and she's still very young. At this age you may start to see some progress, but it's a gradual process that can take weeks or months. It may happen so slowly sometimes that you're not really seeing a difference until one day you suddenly realize she hasn't bit you in some time.


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## SamTheDog

Cassidy's Mom said:


> I agree - the idea is not to calmly say ouch, it's to shriek it *LOUDLY* and *SHARPLY*! You want to startle the pup, causing him to stop what he's doing immediately and look at you, and then you can praise him for stopping. There are a variety of suggestions in the various links, and this one may not work as well on some puppies as on others. It could ramp up the puppy even further causing them to bite even harder, in which case I'd try something else. But I have used it successfully and I've seen it used successfully in the many puppy classes I've taken over the years. It was not the best method for Dena, however.
> 
> A combo approach to this method (if the shriek causes your puppy to stop biting for even a millisecond) is to immediately stuff his mouth with a more appropriate chew toy than your body parts. Whatever you do, it will take some time and patience. But eventually your puppy will learn that biting you will be the end of fun, and appropriate play means the fun will continue. Once puppy goes over the edge and is totally out of control to the point where nothing helps, your best bet is to put him away in his crate for a little timeout. Puppies get overtired and cranky like toddlers do, and sometimes the best thing for that is a nap.


I found out last night that if I make myself sound like a little girl and yell oww with a really high pitched voice he seems to back off the biting. Progress!


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## Cassidy's Mom

SamTheDog said:


> I found out last night that if I make myself sound like a little girl and yell oww with a really high pitched voice he seems to back off the biting. Progress!


:rofl: There you go!


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## s14roller

Cassidy's Mom said:


> I checked your previous posts to see how old your puppy is, and she's still very young. At this age you may start to see some progress, but it's a gradual process that can take weeks or months. It may happen so slowly sometimes that you're not really seeing a difference until one day you suddenly realize she hasn't bit you in some time.


Yes - I'm basically going in with the understanding that she wants to play and needs to learn that she can't be biting people. I make sure I wear long sleeve shirts, socks, and jeans around the house for now!

The "IPE!" noise worked at first, but she doesn't quite listen to it anymore. If we ignore her (can be a bit painful) it normally works but it's not really viable long-term. I have been basically trying to tell her that it hurts, and we don't like it, so instead let's work on something we both like. That seems to work as she's very motivated by food. Her attention span for training seems to be very good. I've had her for 2 weeks and with about 10 minute total sessions a day, she now knows sit, leave it, down, and crate. It's still inconsistent without food lures, but I'd expect as she matures and with more practice, she will be more disiplined.


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## SuzanneK

I just wanted to say a big THANK YOU!!!!!! to everyone in this thread. It has been 14 years since we had a puppy in the house and we'd forgotten about the amount of biting that goes on with a pup.....after a particularly bad day, I found this forum and this thread and it gave me information. But, even more important, it gave me HOPE. And our now-6mo boy is fine. So, xoxoxoxoxoxo to you all......


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## KDH

Super helpful thread! Now I'm seeing Hayden's mouthing as normal - at 6 months she has all of her adult teeth (even if they're not fully in yet), and holy cow, those are some big, impressive looking teeth. I don't like them touching me at all. However, it also helps so much to see that her behavior is common, and the approach to dealing with it. Someone asked earlier if this mouthing is more typical of GSDs than other breeds, and I wonder the same thing... I've had several dogs before, and don't recall ever raising a puppy with such an oral focus.

Thanks also for the info on the bully sticks. I have hesitated buying any because the labels would never explain what they were. Now I know, and have no problem with it (I won't tell DH what it is for a while, though, lol). I do have some questions, though - is it only bull penis, or is it steer as well? Doesn't most male beef come from steers? And if it's only from bulls, why (is there a hormonal influence that appeals to the dogs)? Are testicles available with a trade name and as popular as bully sticks? And are there equivalents from pork (you see pig ears, etc., all the time)?


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## LaceyBug

Lacey is 9 months old and her biting/mouthing has not seem to go away. I have tried yelping, saying no, muzzling, bitter-apple spray, get up and walk away, and crating.. nothing is working. Oliver gets the worse of it she is always hanging off of his ears or when he walks by her she grabs his feet or tail, is there anything else I can do or should I contact a behaviorist? It's not aggression(at least I don't think it is) there is no growling, no fur raised... By all means I'm not going to get rid of her either way.. she has a great temperment with the kids and never EVER puts her mouth on the kids.. it's just getting frustrating seeing her bite all over Oliver and since he is such a laid back breed he just gets up and walks away and doesnt seem to mind until she actually clamps down on him.


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## MaggieRoseLee

LaceyBug said:


> Lacey is 9 months old and her biting/mouthing has not seem to go away. I have tried yelping, saying no, muzzling, bitter-apple spray, get up and walk away, and crating.. nothing is working. Oliver gets the worse of it she is always hanging off of his ears or when he walks by her she grabs his feet or tail, is there anything else I can do or should I contact a behaviorist? It's not aggression(at least I don't think it is) there is no growling, no fur raised... By all means I'm not going to get rid of her either way.. she has a great temperment with the kids and never EVER puts her mouth on the kids.. it's just getting frustrating seeing her bite all over Oliver and since he is such a laid back breed he just gets up and walks away and doesnt seem to mind until she actually clamps down on him.


Lacey bug, if you read thru the threads and did what was generally recommended, this would be getting better.

I don't think it was EVER recommended to 'allow puppy alligator to use and abuse the other dog in the house' even if it IS play.

What IS recommended is the following:

EXERCISE

And you know it's enough when the pup comes back in the house and goes immediately to it's bed to crash for hours. This will guarantee Oliver some relief. 

Exercise is NOT letting my dog out in the yard alone. It is NOT having my other dog entertain my puppy. It's ME putting the puppy in the car and training, hiking, canoeing, swimming, until that pup is exhausted.

The other part of this is 

TRAINING/TEACHING

Means we have to interact and TEACH our puppy to WANT TO PLAY WITH US................and in an APPROPRIATE WAY. We know WE are doing it right when the puppy starts bringing a toy to us and we know to STOP IN OUR TRACKS to play with them for a while. Cause they will learn that toy=play and biting does NOT = play. And all the puppy wants is TO PLAY.

How many hours a week are you doing 'engagement' training like this:


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## DharmasMom

I am going to admit something. Before I found this forum, when Dharma was a puppy, this was one of the things I was doing WRONG. I didn't realize that I needed to actively engage her repeatedly several times a day and EXERCISE the crap out her to make the biting stop. 

I did figure out on my own that training worked wonders. I taught her to sit, down and stay all by myself (well with a book). First, I found the park and daycare- YAY for exercise. There were days I picked her up from daycare and went straight to the park. I wore her butt out. Then we came home and worked on training. Then I found this forum and got even more great advice. I was FINALLY doing everything right. 

You need to exercise, exercise, exercise. I don't always have the time to the physical activities with my dog and actually with my back and knees right now I physically wouldn't be able to wear them out. But daycare and the park sure can. I can throw that ball for her with the chuck it until she wants to drop. Plus stimulating them mentally is even MORE tiring then physical exercise. 

Like MLR said, she is TRYING to get you to play. That is what she wants. You need to engage her and wear her out. Tired puppies are good puppies. Keep that in mind. Always.


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## LaceyBug

We go walking through trails and to the "park" as much as we can... The park is an enclosed baseball field and the second we get there they no longer want to run and jump and play, but to sniff and thats about it. Noone else will bring their dogs in there when Lacey and Oliver are there cuz they are "agressive breeds" I have one friend that comes over with his dog, but him and Oliver don't get along and I really don't appreciate his dog nipping her throat. I'll try the videos ASAP thank you for the help. Also, I'm not sure if this has anything to do with it but her old owner left her in the kitchen from when he got her and put her on CL.


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## LaceyBug

sorry forgot about the other part, we generally go for a walk an hour in the morning and an hour at night. We would go to a trail right over the drawbridge but it seems the walkway has become to hot for them and they burn their paws on it. As for swimming, we have tried it but she is petrified of the water. She knows all her commands shes beyond smart. We bring both the dogs with us everywhere they are allowed to go. Maybe I am not paying close attention to what she needs instead of what she wants. Thank you for all your help and hopefully I can do this right for her.


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## TheVintageAngel

I keep coming back and rereading this thread. Thanks for all for the great links, advice, and most...for making me realize that I don't have a psychotic puppy as I sometimes wonder. It seems that many GSD puppies are like this. If nothing else, misery loves company 

This is Jemma, she is 4 months old today...










I love her, and when she's calm and/or sleepy, she can be a real angel. She doesn't show any food or toy guarding tendencies..and you can handle her all over without her batting an eye. But several times a day, she goes into "landshark mode" which seems to be her way of playing and these are the times where I feel like I'm living with a terrorist. She barks at us (loud), jumps up on us, bites our feet, hands, arms, her milk teeth sink into our clothing and get stuck, we are all scratched up from her tiny teeth, and walking out of the room isn't an option unless we grab her collar to get her off holding her at arms length the whole trip outside the room...otherwise she bites us as we try to leave. 

The only thing that works even somewhat is grabbing her collar, walking her to the back sliding door, and sending her outside into the back yard (we have a large fenced in yard). She then plays by herself for a while, or whines at the back door until we let her in. Most times she realizes she needs to calm down then, or else starts up again just to be sent outside yet again. I honestly don't know what else to do at this point. Yelling an ouch that sounds like a yip makes her go even crazier...so does yelling no....and I have a hard time not getting really annoyed and upset when she's doing this. I knew training a puppy would be difficult...but I wasn't prepared for this aspect of it. :help:

Someone out there with an older GSD that went through this as a puppy, do you remember WHEN they stopped this? I know every dog is different...but this is getting so old, it isn't even funny. I'm counting the seconds until this is over, and hoping this is not some type of indicator that she's going to be an aggressive dog.


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## TheVintageAngel

PS...I also wanted to say that on the days she has Puppy Preschool playtime, or we take her to play with other young dogs...she does not bite us very much, so you are all spot on with the exercise thing. We thought that by playing fetch with her in the yard a few times a day and giving her three long walks a day we were covered on the exercise...but I see from this thread and experience that she needs much more than this. Found a trainer that trains shepherds only nearby and am going to sign her up for play time and obedience there...lots of dogs on site. Thanks again for the awesome advice offered here....I know we'll all make it through the puppy stage one way or the other, and it's good to know I'm not alone with the challenges of raising a high energy GSD


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## Gracie's My Girl

^
I have an eight month old dog and the biting is now pretty much nonexistent. Sometimes, she will forget and go after us...but she has enough training that I can tell her to stop and she instantly responds. It varies from dog to dog, but the light at the end of the tunnel usually begins to appear around six or seven months.


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## sheep

My puppy can bite crazy and it can hurt a lot, I've got wounds and bruises and red wounds too... also, he would bite us whenever he doesn't like what we do to him (like pulling him away from some stuffs or holding him still).

What we've tried:
- yelping and ouch and walking away - he just gets more excited and won't stop;
- redirect - doesn't always work;
- time him out to another room or short leash on the room door - seems to work but we dropped this method as he barks a lot before calming down, and we can't disturb the neighbors;
- hold him still - he takes some time to get tired, and he would try to bite and bite and bite... wouldn't get the message in the end.

So we use "NO" and reinforce the command through correction (lifting the flat collar and even the scruff) whenever we want him to stop.
Of course that we know that he just wants to play, but if he's too rough or if the moment is not appropriate then he needs to stop on command.

But well, on the other hand, we also try to encourage soft ways of interaction. I teach him to lick me instead (praise praise praise, see how happy I am when you kiss mom?  ), and I also praise him and pet and massage him when he calms down after the correction. And if he's not abusing too much when he initiates play mode with me, I grab something and play tug with him 'till he gets tired.
Also, I allow him to bite gently and use my hand as a dog mouth and play with him when he's calmer.

Currently, he's almost 7 months, but we could only take him out for walks lately coz of his health problems. Maybe it helped a bit (a tired puppy is always better lol), although I feel that it's what we've been doing and coz he's growing up that he's getting better and less bitey.

It's important to play with our puppies and encourage them to interact with us in gentler ways, but it's also important for them to learn to respect someone and stop at times.


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## Angelina03

Gracie's My Girl said:


> ^
> I have an eight month old dog and the biting is now pretty much nonexistent. Sometimes, she will forget and go after us...but she has enough training that I can tell her to stop and she instantly responds. It varies from dog to dog, but the light at the end of the tunnel usually begins to appear around six or seven months.


Hello. 
I'm new to this site and I am having a hard time with my puppy and the biting. I know he just wants to play but it really hurts and sometimes even draws blood. I was glad to see your post, but surprised at the time frame: six to seven months?! Wow, he's only 3 months now and its already too much. We do have him in training. Do you have any suggestions for accelerating the process (of him stopping the biting)?
Any suggestions are appreciated.
Thanks


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## sheep

Just wanted to post again to post a more structured and informative post. 

My puppy also used to bite so hard, that my hands and arms had so much bruises and red wounds! And redirection and even pinning him down wouldn't work, coz he would fight back by moving a lot as if we were holding an alligator lol. But well, now he's getting better and better. 

What I would advise is:
- get plenty of exercises - a dog that is too hyped won't listen at all;
- redirect to chew stuffs - and make them interesting, make it hard for your dog, tease him with it before giving them away. If they are not interesting, he will continue to find your hands interesting;
- yelping or "auch!!" dramatically - works for some dogs, and when they aren't too excited, but if it doesn't then stop doing it, or else it would just escalate;
- time out method 1 - go to a room, put a baby gate, and play with him there. If he bites hard, yelp or "auch!" and go away, leaving your dog behind the baby gate in the room. Then come back as if nothing happened. The key here is to simulate a "auch you're biting too hard, I don't want to play with you anymore!" like how litter mates do, and actually being able to go away (since some dogs would still chase and bite our feet and arms). Also, if you don't want to approve over excitement, you can also walk away whenever he's to much, so that he can learn that getting too hyped drives you away;
- use "no" for him to stop, or "sit" - it's important for a dog to stop by command, since there are times you really need him to stop and respect your boundaries;
- time out method 2 - if your dog doesn't listen to "no" or respect your boundaries, then put him in a room and only release when he calms down (at least a min or two);
- teach him that plays with human are only through toys - only play with him with toys, don't get him too excited or play with your hands;
- teach him that interactions with humans should be calm and gentle - don't excite him madly, and often caress and massage him, and be calm and gentle with the tone of voice too - even dogs with good bite inhibition can bite hard if they get too excited. Also, give him lots of gentle attention when he's calm;
- teach him that you like kisses - whenever he licks you and is calm, show your joy and happiness dramatically.  Also, say "aww kisses kisses" so that later when he kisses you more often, you can associate licking with this word, and then ask him for kisses (but d it when he's calm and not excited, or else they might play bite instead! They do it to other dogs, but we are more fragile than dogs).


The key point is, have patience, teach him what you like (gentleness and playing with toys) and not like (crazy excited mode), teach him to stop on command, fulfill his needs (playing/interacting enough and exercise), and hope that he will get better by time. 

My puppy now can bite without hurting at all when he's calm and I allow that (mouthing is a natural way of interaction so I allow him to do it to my hands as long as he's calm, but never the neck and face), but he still bites hard if he gets excited. Whenever I need him to stop by command and respect my boundaries, I would warn him with a "no" first, and if he doesn't listen, then timing him out to another room or lifting him by collar/scurf can help. But usually, I ignore his bites and grab something to play with him instead.

One thing I guess that some might not like, but I do correct my puppy firmly when he goes after my face or neck roughly. That is why I have zero tolerance for this, as it can be dangerous. Once, I was sleeping and my puppy suddenly bit my face, and so I've corrected him right away, to let him know that this is not tolerated at all.


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## pinogirl

*Puppy Biting*

I am having the same problem. Stella is 5 months old and the biting is OUT of control. My arms are bruised, red and bleed. She is in training, I walk her, and she has plenty of things to bite and chew. I have to give her elk & moose bones because she chews through everything else including Nylabone. 

The trainer said she is not agressive but she just has a high prey drive and needs more mind stimulation and exercise. My daughter doesn't like her anymore because everytime she see's her Stella just bites. 
I have on the leash ( has chewed 3 already) so I can control her but when I pull up on it she goes crazy and the teeth and growling starts and then more biting. You really can't pet her because out comes the teeth and more bruies and blood. 

If anyone has any other suggestions I am all ears because it is really bad and I am frustrated.


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## Anthony8858

pinogirl said:


> I am having the same problem. Stella is 5 months old and the biting is OUT of control. My arms are bruised, red and bleed. She is in training, I walk her, and she has plenty of things to bite and chew. I have to give her elk & moose bones because she chews through everything else including Nylabone.
> 
> The trainer said she is not agressive but she just has a high prey drive and needs more mind stimulation and exercise. My daughter doesn't like her anymore because everytime she see's her Stella just bites.
> I have on the leash ( has chewed 3 already) so I can control her but when I pull up on it she goes crazy and the teeth and growling starts and then more biting. You really can't pet her because out comes the teeth and more bruies and blood.
> 
> If anyone has any other suggestions I am all ears because it is really bad and I am frustrated.


question:

Have you done any formal training, such as obedience?
I ask because of my experience with Kira. I interpreted her bite mode, as a need to be stimulated.
As soon as she went into a bite frenzy, I went into a practice session of everything she knows. Whether I worked on stay / down / sit or walking in my kitchen in the heel position, she was so busy doing her exercises, she forgot about the biting.

Have you taught her "leave it", or stay, or down?
She needs to be stimulated.

Just my opinion.


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## pinogirl

Yes, Stella is in obedience training. I do all her basic commands and try to get her focused when she bites. I am thinking about putting her in day care a few days a week to get her around other dogs and hopeully this will help as well.


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## Anthony8858

pinogirl said:


> Yes, Stella is in obedience training. I do all her basic commands and try to get her focused when she bites. I am thinking about putting her in day care a few days a week to get her around other dogs and hopeully this will help as well.


You may want to reconsider a day care.
Most people here dislike them, and my experience with Kira "playing" with other dogs can turn into a nightmare.

I'd suggest to continue to get her focus on YOU. Once they know it's YOU that controls them, then it all boils down to what you want them to do.
If you don't want her to bite, stop her from biting.


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## pinogirl

Thanks, I will reconsider day care.
Yesterday, I put Stella first the whole day. She was not out of my sight for a second as soon as I saw the mouth go towards my daughter or her friend I was right there to correct. Unfortunately, it was very icy and snowy so I was not able to get her out walking so I played ball in the house and kept her focused on her commands throughout the day.


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## Whit223

pinogirl said:


> Thanks, I will reconsider day care.
> Yesterday, I put Stella first the whole day. She was not out of my sight for a second as soon as I saw the mouth go towards my daughter or her friend I was right there to correct. Unfortunately, it was very icy and snowy so I was not able to get her out walking so I played ball in the house and kept her focused on her commands throughout the day.


I do put my GSD in day care occasionally, however, i request only one play session during the day, and I do not put him in day care unless i know for certain I cannot be home to let him out on time. This is maybe a once weekly occasion. However, i am an apprentice trainer at this daycare, so they also know my dog well, and what his temperament is like. They keep an eye on him. As far as what i do for bite inhibition, i simply hold a couple treats in my closed fist and let them paw, bite, scratch, do whatever they want to get the treats...the INSTANT they give up and look elsewhere, realizing they aren't getting what they want my doing this, I say "good dog", then give them a treat from my OTHER hand, NOT the hand they have been trying to pry open. This cool thing about this is you can do it while youre watching TV, reading a book, whatever. Just hold a fist full of treats out, tightly closed fist, and wait until they stop trying to get it. You can then start turning this into a leave it command. Either way, it teaches puppy that they cannot have treats unless they are patient and not being obnoxious. Later on, they will think twice about mouthing people and or chewing items you have clearly marked as a "leave it" item


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## RocketDog

Can you get together with individual adult dogs that are friendly and well-socialized? That will help teach her bite-inhibition as well as appropriate dog behavior.


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## Anthony8858

pinogirl said:


> Thanks, I will reconsider day care.
> Yesterday, I put Stella first the whole day. She was not out of my sight for a second as soon as I saw the mouth go towards my daughter or her friend I was right there to correct. Unfortunately, it was very icy and snowy so I was not able to get her out walking so I played ball in the house and kept her focused on her commands throughout the day.


*Daycare*:
I have an incredible puppy. She's perfect in every way... However, when she was three months old, I entered a park area where dogs were allowed off leash. I was walking, and a GSD attcked out of nowhere, pinned her, and created a fear for larger dogs. She hasn't been the same since.
Only recently has she started showing signs of coming out.

I can only suggest you take the advice of many people here (myself included), and keep your dog away from dog parks and daycare. 
Try to get friends
Yes, as you can see...you refocused her attention.

I did not allow my children to play with her, UNLESS they were prepared to shove a toy in her mouth, at the first sign of biting. 
If they were outside with her, they had to take a toy with them....

Fast forward to a 6 month old.....

Same concept:
I want her to focus, I have her favorite tug toy. I'll position it under my armpit, and she'll heel as I walk. Every so often, I'll stop, and allow her to play with it. Take it back, and keep that desire and drive high.

Use the same approach with biting.... Give her something real good. Find a highly desirable toy.
Reward her for not biting you. Make her want the toy, not your arm.

Disclaimer:
I am NOT a trainer. Everything I suggest, is based on my own personal experience with my dog, and your results may differ.


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## Anthony8858

Whit223 said:


> I do put my GSD in day care occasionally, however, i request only one play session during the day, and I do not put him in day care unless i know for certain I cannot be home to let him out on time. This is maybe a once weekly occasion. However, i am an apprentice trainer at this daycare, so they also know my dog well, and what his temperament is like. They keep an eye on him.* As far as what i do for bite inhibition, i simply hold a couple treats in my closed fist and let them paw, bite, scratch, do whatever they want to get the treats...the INSTANT they give up and look elsewhere, realizing they aren't getting what they want my doing this, I say "good dog", then give them a treat from my OTHER hand, NOT the hand they have been trying to pry open*. This cool thing about this is you can do it while youre watching TV, reading a book, whatever. Just hold a fist full of treats out, tightly closed fist, and wait until they stop trying to get it. You can then start turning this into a leave it command. Either way, it teaches puppy that they cannot have treats unless they are patient and not being obnoxious. Later on, they will think twice about mouthing people and or chewing items you have clearly marked as a "leave it" item


This is EXCELLENT. I wish I knew this trick sooner.


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## Whit223

Yeah, its super easy. I still do this with my boy, even though after the first time he licks my hand, he instantly remembers the game and looks toward my other hand, lol. He knows treats arent gonna come from my closed fist. and then even when i open my fist and show him the treats, he looks at me like, "Mom, i know i can't have those, so just give me the other stuff". I also alternate hands so he doesnt think he can pry at the other one either. He only gets what i OFFER after marking his behavior as good.


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## JoMichelle

I was just reading through this thread and other websites, desperately searching for a way to stop our puppy hanging onto our clothes when we're walking around, jumping up to nip, air snapping at us. Nothing has worked so far, the penny jar has gotten old, water spray is fun, yelping is fun. 

Now I know what the problem is, she wants to play with us! Not by herself. Poor thing. I guess I should leave the housework until she is tired and wants to sleep - not during her crazy hour! Stupid human


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## Beverly

*I taught the "Leave it" command, then sub'd my boot for food.*

First teach "leave it" and "take it" using a treat. Once he knows "leave it," substitute you shoe, boot, etc., and immediately click/treat when he desists. If you're not using operant conditioning with the clicker, check it out. It's working like a charm with our 9-wk old pup. The yelp helps initially, but if he's biting your fingers, try the "leave it," click/treat, then pull out the tug toy and play, or give him an ice cube, or a frozen carrot. Good luck!


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## AmberGS1Exit

The biting is a huge issue in all German Shepherds as they grow up. It’s not avoidable and must be corrected. Make it known that it hurts and I don’t mean by hitting, simply by a loud sound. They have sharp ears so correct your own level of calm voice and alarm voice and maintain it as that through on out. Rather than bashing/yelling at your puppy replace it with a toy to bite and continue to play with it and let her/him know this is the correct thing to chew/bite. Do not let them bite your own personal belongings still correctable as they get older. Just remember if you wait as they become an adult, it’s a newer game. This will push them to favor or despise you.


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## Kev

Beverly said:


> First teach "leave it" and "take it" using a treat. Once he knows "leave it," substitute you shoe, boot, etc., and immediately click/treat when he desists. If you're not using operant conditioning with the clicker, check it out. It's working like a charm with our 9-wk old pup. The yelp helps initially, but if he's biting your fingers, try the "leave it," click/treat, then pull out the tug toy and play, or give him an ice cube, or a frozen carrot. Good luck!


The thing is, the pup might take it as a game and bite you on purpose to get a treat once you say leave it?


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## [email protected]

I have an 8 week old pup and I swear she is half piranha. Please someone tell me that this is going to get better. She isn't sweet AT ALL. She want's to bite me all over. In the face, on the hands, heels, side, she pulls my hair. Drivin' me CRAZY. I read that if they bite you should pick them up gently by the scruff of their neck until they whine or whimper (the mother's response to biting). I have done this and she loves it. It's like it makes her more aggressive, if that is even possible. DOes this mean that she is gonna be an aggressive dog? I'm a little worried as I am a first time GSD owner and I really want a loyal pet not an attack dog... Any suggestions?


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## Cassidy's Mom

[email protected] said:


> I have an 8 week old pup and I swear she is half piranha. Please someone tell me that this is going to get better. She isn't sweet AT ALL. She want's to bite me all over. In the face, on the hands, heels, side, she pulls my hair. Drivin' me CRAZY. I read that if they bite you should pick them up gently by the scruff of their neck until they whine or whimper (the mother's response to biting). I have done this and she loves it. It's like it makes her more aggressive, if that is even possible. DOes this mean that she is gonna be an aggressive dog? I'm a little worried as I am a first time GSD owner and I really want a loyal pet not an attack dog... Any suggestions?


Read the links at the beginning of this thread. There are lots of tips on teaching bite inhibition.


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## Jeven's Tyde

Lol... those thoughts were running through my head when I first started experiencing Tyde's sharking. He's calmed down some, and isn't quite 9 wks yet, I'm hoping he doesn't ramp back up. He soft bits my son, chomps on my daughter, and I'm somewhere in between.


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## [email protected]

I went back and read the earlier threads, I left the room today after she bit me hard. I just walked into my home/office (just out of her site). She whimpered for maybe 2 seconds and then ran and got her toy fox and started chomping on it and shaking the stuffing out of it. I counted to 60 and when I re-appeared she was like a new dog. I guess she took out all her aggression on the toy. She was much calmer and acted like I had been gone for hours. I love it when she seems to "understand" things. She's a good girl.


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## 1337f0x

I like the clicker solution article, and the part about " When teaching these behaviors, put your hands in your dog's mouth all the time. Get him used to your being there."

My puppy picks up random objects and my hands are always in his mouth. He's used to it, but still uses my hand as a chew toy. lol.


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## Sunflowers

I am considering cut resistant safety gloves... but what to do when he goes for my hair?


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## sheep

I'm not sure if I've posted what I'm going to say in this thread before (this is one big thread lol), but I guess that it won't hurt to post it again. 

My pup is a very active and confident one, and back then he used to leave my arms and hands full of wounds and bruises. He would not stop on command, and it was coz he didn't learn how to interact with others properly (poor bite inhibition due to litter mates having died young and he got separated from his mom around 2 months old due to parvo), and he was also changing teeth. Pinning down for him is like play, he would behave like an alligator trying to roll to escape from my hands and get it again. And you wouldn't want to yell or yelp, coz for him it would be like barking back which is fun for him.

But well, after some months, he did get much better. Encouraging gentle play, proper correction (saying "no" and just holding and distancing him by scurf and collar - if he bites too hard I simulate choke collar effect by lifting his flat collar) when I really need him to stop, and redirection are the key for our case. It doesn't work over night, it takes time, but it worked. He still bites hard and is bitey when he's too excited, but well, at least I can stop him whenever I need.

By the way, I still allow him to mouth my hands if he is gentle. I think that it might help on him biting less and less hard instead of just not biting at all. Learning to bite softer and softer and then stop biting is better than just stop biting without learning to bite softer first.


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## HelloNico

Nico is one more four month old GSD (we brought him home last week) whose parents look like they've been through some medieval torture devices. Our vet says he's too young for dog parks and classes yet, but I was sooo relieved when we met a 2 month old Shepherd/Rott mix and he finally got some decent puppy play.

Yelping, toys, and ignoring work for us sometimes. We've also found that if he's had enough exercise and been out recently, he'll crash right out if we put him in his crate. 

Other than that, I've found two magic bullets: 
1. Ice cube on the floor
2. Bursting into tears. Yep. Last night after I took him out for an hour, and he was still biting HARD on my legs, I genuinely just starting crying. He stopped biting and hey, it was pretty cathartic for me, too.


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## BlazeVonFeurigdrach

HelloNico said:


> Nico is one more four month old GSD (we brought him home last week) whose parents look like they've been through some medieval torture devices. Our vet says he's too young for dog parks and classes yet, but I was sooo relieved when we met a 2 month old Shepherd/Rott mix and he finally got some decent puppy play.
> 
> Yelping, toys, and ignoring work for us sometimes. We've also found that if he's had enough exercise and been out recently, he'll crash right out if we put him in his crate.
> 
> Other than that, I've found two magic bullets:
> 1. Ice cube on the floor
> 2. Bursting into tears. Yep. Last night after I took him out for an hour, and he was still biting HARD on my legs, I genuinely just starting crying. He stopped biting and hey, it was pretty cathartic for me, too.


Hahaha you started crying? sweet! i just have so many scratches and wounds on my hands and legs. everytime i touch her back she tries to bite me!! WHAT TO DO??:crazy:


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## paulag1955

Shasta ha me in tears several times. She was unmoved.


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## breyer08

This thread is like a big therapy session! I can't tell you all how relieved I was to read through many of the posts here and to see that my puppy isn't a psychotic she-devil! :laugh: The landshark phase is very hard to deal with... I'm hoping she will get better with time, and based on many of the replies it seems she will. We are redirecting her with toys and also holding her by the scruff while saying "no bite". Anything else gets her more worked up. (If we yelp, she acts like we're squeaky toys. If we try to leave the room to "ignore" her, she follows us, latched onto our heels by her little vampire teeth!) So, I'm in this with all of you. Big group hug!!


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## jimj

After trying pretty much everything that's been suggested I've come to believe that at some level puppies are different just like people and as such what works for one will not always work for others. Finding what works with your particular puppy is the key (and the hardest thing to do imo) and there really is no wrong way with exception (obviously) to beating them or abusing them.
Some respond to the "alpha roll" some to yelping (ours didn't) redirection (minimal) a tap on the schnozola or grabbing by the scruff of the neck etc.
The biggest thing I keep hearing is it takes time and they mostly have to grow out of it.
Hopefully everyone will survive without too many punctures!


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## meka

Really? You should train him you should!


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## breyer08

BlazeVonFeurigdrach said:


> Hahaha you started crying? sweet! i just have so many scratches and wounds on my hands and legs. everytime i touch her back she tries to bite me!! WHAT TO DO??:crazy:



I tried the crying trick, too. It startled Ava at first, and then she got worried, jumped onto my lap and started licking my face. As soon as she saw I was fine, she bit my leg.


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## Tarsus

ha ha, landshark, that is exactly how to describe Tarsus. I have to have his toy ready to throw in the morning while I make my coffee unless i desire to be eaten alive before I have my first sip:help:


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## tperry1982

OMG you are describing my life perfectly. Our 10 week old GSD is a walking vampire. I have tried bitter apple, but after an initial back away, he comes back with a vengence. I try pushing him away, getting him a toy, redirecting him to no avail. I also try holding his mouth shut, turning away (just gives him the heels as a target), clapping and saying no. Most of this makes him more wound up like it is a big game. Most of the time I crate him for a minute until the manic phase passes. I am so glad I am not alone in this. Thought I was doing something wrong. All other times he is my perfect baby so he is not a bad dog.


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## tperry1982

My 16 year old daughter looked up the German word for "demon" because she is determined to changed our puppy's name from Otto to it. She calls him her "demon dog".


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## kristamb

*Crazy eyes*

OMG! I'm so glad I'm not alone with this problem!! Our almost 10wk old Ryker is such a sweet boy most of the time. But when he gets that "crazy look" in his eyes, WATCH OUT!!! No toy of any sort distracts him from chewing on me or one of my family members. I try to shove toy after toy in his face. If he finally gets one of us bad, I usually grab his scruff. Not sure if I should do that, but it seems to work. Gosh I hope he grows out of this soon!!!


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## reck0n3r

I took some advice as far as the exercise thing goes. It helps a LOT. My boy Rusty (10 weeks) has played twice with the neighbors Daschund puppy...yesterday they played for over an hour and it tired the **** out of him. The only other issue is that he still likes to chew on anything and everything, and then when he knows he has something he shouldnt, he BOLTS away with it because he knows daddys coming for him.  

What I am VERY happy to say though, is that he is SUPER sweet with other people - he gives everyone kisses when they come say hi to him and they all fall in love...inside my head Im always thinking..if you only knew what he did at home haha.

Hes been wonderful so far though, but I have been crating him more than Id like to in order to prevent the entire house from becoming a mulched wasteland. He is dealing with it well and hopefully he will be house broken soon. I stay with him most of the time.


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## Nikitta

I'm sorry but redirection and all that is nor something I'm willing to deal with. Xerxes bites me, I slap his nose. He doesn't bite me hardly ever.


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## reck0n3r

Nikitta said:


> I'm sorry but redirection and all that is nor something I'm willing to deal with. Xerxes bites me, I slap his nose. He doesn't bite me hardly ever.


Ive had to pin Rusty down a few times if he gets too unruly..I think he knows its not a game then. I think if you chuck a toy into their mouth it turns into a game for them. Hes been good with not biting since, I just have issues sometimes with getting his leash on. When I pin him down its not done abusively, when I let go and hes relaxed I give him a lot of praise and he seems to get that. He calms down for a little longer to let me get it on then.


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## reck0n3r

PS he`s great with giving me kisses on command now. If they get too out of line it seems important once in a while to show them who the Alpha is. I dont yell or anything when I pin him down, I just give him a firm NO, wait until he gives a little yelp and calms down, and then praise. I have a feeling if you scream or yell too much they get desensitized to it and it wont mean anything. The key is to keep your raised voices to mean something (which is what Im also working on)


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## Doctor Mike

Puppies bite, and gsd puppies are expected to bite. Do not over-react. If it hurts, be firm about getting it to stop, ideally without creating a scene that will traumatize him forever. There is plenty of time to push him down the hierarchy later. It is also much easier to push him down later than pull him up out of the gutter -- a risk if you browbeat him as a puppy.


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## Cassidy's Mom

Nikitta said:


> I'm sorry but redirection and all that is nor something I'm willing to deal with. *Xerxes bites me, I slap his nose.* He doesn't bite me hardly ever.


That is a very bad idea. Some potential fallout from that sort of thing is a dog who is hand shy. 

There are going to be times when I need to reach out and grab my dogs by the collar, and I don't want them shying away out of fear that I'm going to smack them in the face. Please rethink this.


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## MaggieRoseLee

Great recommendations in this video..


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## JeanKBBMMMAAN

I can't remember if this article was posted, Pat Miller: Peaceable Paws

*How do I stop my puppy from biting me?*
Biting is a natural puppy behavior. Puppies explore their world with their mouths, and they use their teeth extensively in play. Learning bite inhibition is an important part of a young puppy's education. If he bites his mom or his littermates too hard, they let him know. Mom may reprimand him roundly if his needle sharp puppy teeth close too hard during nursing, and his siblings may yipe and refuse to play with him if he bites too hard. One of the pitfalls of taking a puppy away from his littermates too soon is that he misses out on this important lesson. Pups should stay together with their litters and their moms until they are at least eight weeks of age.

Even then, our pups comes to us with sharp baby-teeth, and we need to continue his bite-inhibition lessons. We can direct his chewing instincts toward appropriate chew toys (a stuffed Kong is ideal for this) as are various soft plush and rope toys. We can also imitate his littermates by giving a sharp, high-pitched "yipe" when he bites too hard, and stopping the play session by getting up and walking away. Our pup will soon learn that his behavior makes a good thing go away (this is called "negative punishment," and involves no physical correction whatsoever), and will learn to soften his bite so we will keep playing with him. After a brief time out of a minute or two, we can go back to playing. If he bites too hard again, give another yipe and do another time out. He'll get it eventually.

Do not use physical force or punishment, such as hitting him, holding his muzzle closed or forcing you hand down his throat. Some puppies will become aggressive when you do this, and others will learn to fear your hands. Neither of these is a good outcome.

_Posted on 12/21/2009 by Peaceable Paws_


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## Castlemaid

Re: Slapping puppy on the nose for biting - 

Everything Debbie said, plus the issue that children and various strangers will think it is okay to reach out to your pup to pet it on the head - slapping a puppy on the head or nose for puppy biting can make the pup act out aggressively when he sees a hand coming towards him. Not good when pup is now an adult, and not afraid to protect him or herself.

Great article Jean, thanks!


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## ZephyrSong

I have to say I got some useful information from these posts. My puppy Jäger was biting the heck out of everyone and I was getting worried about him biting my kids too hard. So I started yelling out when he bit me hard and now he kinda just gnaws on you instead of chomping down.


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## sspellmon15

Noah is 13 weeks an has the same problem with bitting on my hands if my hands are hanging to my side he snaps at them. I started popping him on the nose but he still does it and now he snaps back at me which is a sign of aggression to me therefore I'm trying to figure out the next technique to use.




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## Cassidy's Mom

sspellmon15 said:


> I started popping him on the nose but he still does it and now he snaps back at me which is a sign of aggression to me therefore I'm trying to figure out the next technique to use.


That's not a sign of aggression, he's snapping at you because you're popping him on the nose! If you read through the links on this thread there are much better ways to deal with the biting, which is completely normal for a young puppy.


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## PorkandBeans

My puppy is getting really bad with the biting. She turns on this other "mode" where she starts really snarling and biting hard. She still romps around and wags her tail so I know she's trying to play with me but she's breaking skin and opening old wounds.

I have to laugh at some of the posts on here saying to just get up and walk away. When I do that I get my feet bitten and socks ripped. When I try putting a toy in the way to get her to latch on to that she simply goes right around it and tries to find the nearest area of exposed skin.

When she gets bad I take her to her crate to settle down and she behaves a bit better. But I'm getting a little concerned. We've only had her for a week and we've already tried just about everything. We have a lot of friends and family who want to come see her but I don't want anyone to get injured like we have.


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## Castlemaid

It won't stop for a while. Puppies' brains are hardwired to play this way, and what we are trying to do is to re-program their brain to play in a way that is more appropriate for us. So it takes weeks of consistency, and some pups are just 'harder' wired than others. Best thing to do is to manage the little one and supervise. 
Crazy, really intense behaviour like what you describe can be from two things: pup needs more outlets for their energy - so take the pup out and let them chase a rag, or chase a ball, or chase you around for a while to burn the extra energy off, or conversely, pup is overtired and is acting up, just like an overtired toddler not being able to settle - so putting them in the crate for a nap is exactly what they need. 

If you only had the pup for a week, no need to be concerned. Wait a few months, and if things don't get better, that's when it is time to be concerned. Until then, if you have little kids around, only have short periods of supervised play between the pup and the children, and make sure the puppy had a chance to burn off extra energy before being introduced to the kids.


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## spidermilk

PorkandBeans said:


> I have to laugh at some of the posts on here saying to just get up and walk away. When I do that I get my feet bitten and socks ripped. When I try putting a toy in the way to get her to latch on to that she simply goes right around it and tries to find the nearest area of exposed skin.


Some puppies are worse than other but the 'get up and walk away' method DOES work. I would tether my dog to the couch or another heavy object while we played. That way, when he started biting me I *could* get up and walk away. I also started wearing shoes all the time (esp. rubber boots), thick old jeans, and would even wear leather gloves and long sleeves when I was so tired of the bites opening up the same old wounds! 

I had a co-worker get a GSD pup at about the same time so we would just show each other our battle wounds and laugh it off.. eventually it will end and you will have a sweet little angel who wouldn't dream of hurting you!!


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## NDrugerGSD

At what age do they typically stop being land sharks ? 


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## breyer08

Mine started getting noticeably better around 5 months.


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## NDrugerGSD

Think I can last two more months. He got me on the inside of the nose today. Man did it hurt. ? 


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## NDrugerGSD

I have been using the stand up and turn away to stop the biting. It works good for me. But when my girlfriend tries to stand up and turn her back ruger just goes after her harder. Do you guys think I should try a time out or something else? 


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## breyer08

With Ava, it was impossible for me to leave the room, because she would quite literally sink her teeth into my leg (or just my jeans, when I was lucky) and not let go. We got Bitter Apple spray, and that is what ultimately saved my legs and ankles! We only had to spray her a couple of times before she realized that any time she saw the bottle, she needed to stop. I highly recommend getting a bottle.


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## arby665

breyer08 said:


> With Ava, it was impossible for me to leave the room, because she would quite literally sink her teeth into my leg (or just my jeans, when I was lucky) and not let go. We got Bitter Apple spray, and that is what ultimately saved my legs and ankles! We only had to spray her a couple of times before she realized that any time she saw the bottle, she needed to stop. I highly recommend getting a bottle.


 
So you are spraying it right at the pup? We tried spraying it on our feet and bottoms of our pant legs. It didn't even take Karly a day to figure out that she just had to bite higher to avoid it. :crazy: This girl is something else.


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## Aramis' Mummy

I have been using the bitter apple spray too. now I know he is choosing to bite me cause sometimes he will come up to me, see me holding the bottle, look at it look at my knee,foot hand arm whatever is closet to him and furthest away from the bottle look back and forth a few times .you can see the wheels turning do I have time to nip and run away before the bottle can get me--yup i do i get a nip then he runs up play growls and air snaps the bottle. cutest thing ever just gotta laugh. it does get better he hasnt broken skin in a few weeks now at least on me .hubby on the other well, that is what happens when you play rough .hang in there it does get better, I cant wait for the day I no longer need bitter apple lol
I spray myself and if I can I spray it in his mouth as he bites me . takes some practice in the timing though. I also have to make sure I didnt miss a bathroom signal lol


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## breyer08

Yes, spray it directly into the dog's mouth as she is launching at you.  It tastes very bad, and it shouldn't take her long to associate the bottle with that unpleasant taste.


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## DFrancis1

Starting to see this problem arise with my 7 week old Rex. Tried the yelping...he does stop, but then he starts barking at me and that gets him playing rougher. So tonight I started the getting up and walking away (more like tripping away, since he follows between my legs). Which solves the problem until I sit to play with him again. So far he hasn't caught on. I have a 4 year old Lab that plays very well with him and my MIL that's staying with us has a Dalmatian puppy, do you think those 2 will help with BI? I know he missed out on that with his liter mates and mother since we got him at 6 weeks. Should I encourage even more "puppy play time"? The way the 3 of them play...I may not have a house left!! LOL


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## Anthony8858

I didn't do anything other than redirection. 
Knowing that my pup was capable of puppy biting, I always made it my business to have a toy nearby. 

As soon as my pup would bite, I would say "no bite" and put the toy in her mouth instead and say "good girl". 

Today, she's 18 months, and she still "wants" to play rough. But as soon as she gets the urge, she voluntarily gets a toy. It's clear as day that understands that biting is no allowed, unless it's a toy. 


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## Anthony8858

Anthony8858 said:


> I didn't do anything other than redirection.
> Knowing that my pup was capable of puppy biting, I always made it my business to have a toy nearby.
> 
> As soon as my pup would bite, I would say "no bite" and put the toy in her mouth instead and say "good girl".
> 
> Today, she's 18 months, and she still "wants" to play rough. But as soon as she gets the urge, she voluntarily gets a toy. It's clear as day that understands that biting is no allowed, unless it's a toy.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Petguide.com Free App





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## GSD Snowball

We have tried all of the above with our 9 week old Whisky ("yipe"ing, substituting a toy, putting him in time out, a firm "no!", and a can with pennies in it) most of those worked for maybe a day but then he is unaffected by it. We also have a 3 year old and a 4 year old miniature poodle who he drives nuts by romping with any trying to (often succeeding) bite their ears and back of their necks where their spines begin. Eventually they do have enough of it and snap back at him and at least once or twice a day one will play and rough house with him which he loves.

I think my issues as of yet are consistency with trying so many corrections over a 2 week span of having him in our house and also just keep reminding myself he is a 9 week old puppy and will get better. When he wakes up from a sleep he is extremely gentle and only kisses but when he's wound up, watch out! It's also funny because with new people he is phenominal, he wags his tail and trots up and only gives them kisses as they pet him but when he gets back to the house with his "littermates" he is a wildman. Since he is also in his fear stage until about 12 weeks whenever he hears a bark while in our fenced-in back yard (even one of the poodles who he lives with) he runs to the door scared. He also is one of the most shy at puppy preschool although by the end of each class always seems to liven up and play some.

I think the best advice for someone with a pup in this stage is to remember they are so young and they will learn their mouth is not a tool we want them to use freely just be consistent and give it time. It will more than pay off in the long run!


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## arby665

Ahhhhhhhh! I am so aggravated today with Miss Karly! It was just a few days ago that I was telling everyone how much better she has gotten about biting after going 2 days without being bitten (well, at least not hard). I guess I shouldn't have opened my mouth. She used to bite at our feet and hands. Now she has moved on to biting at the legs and arms. She is not nipping. She is full-mouth biting and often breaking skin. She is not at all aggressive and this is clearly play to her. Everything I've tried just gets her more excited. Redirecting does not work at all. Toy put into mouth-toy dropped-goes after arm or leg. I guess I should be thankful she never goes for the face.


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## Cassidy's Mom

arby665 said:


> Toy put into mouth-toy dropped-goes after arm or leg.


Do you make the toy move? Try a long tug type toy - braided fleece are good for puppies. And don't just shove it into the mouth, play with her with the toy. Like this:


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## arby665

Cassidy's Mom said:


> Do you make the toy move? Try a long tug type toy - braided fleece are good for puppies. And don't just shove it into the mouth, play with her with the toy. Like this:
> 
> Michael Ellis: Tugging with puppies - YouTube


Thanks. I never really thought about it too much but I guess I do have a habit of shoving the toy into her mouth. More like protecting myself with the toy by placing it between her mouth and my arm/leg. I guess it's hard not to do when she's doing the alligator snap. Just trying to save my own skin! I will be looking for the braided fleece tonight!


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## mandiah89

*9 week old puppy*

My 9 (almost 10) week old GSD puppy has the most vicious "alligator" bite, the sound of the snap is crazy! I never had a problem with my other GSD (now passed) biting, but Im finding Im a lot "softer" with my new puppy than I was with my other dog. I often cant stop myself from laughing even when Penny's razor sharp puppy teeth are digging into me! She is so calm with other people, wags her tail, ears back and gives them kisses. But when she is at home, OMG wild animal! She gives me kisses only when she is tired or just woke up lol.... Cant wait till the teething stage is over!


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## Sitz&Platz

Since I started reading Dr. Ian Dunbar's book and reading through the threads here, I now understand how important bite inhibition is. My question is, when do I know that I'm done teaching bite inhibition? When I play with my puppy, I let him mouth my hand gently, and when I say "no bite", he stops. Is that the goal? Or do I have to let him hurt my hand and then throw a fit when he does?


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## Luna1101

*My pup is a lil alligator too*

I have a 11 week old German shepherd husky mix who is biting a lot but really soft biting. We are replacing out own body parts with her favorite toys. We have not tried any other method. Any suggestions?


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## GSD Snowball

Sitz&Platz said:


> Since I started reading Dr. Ian Dunbar's book and reading through the threads here, I now understand how important bite inhibition is. My question is, when do I know that I'm done teaching bite inhibition? When I play with my puppy, I let him mouth my hand gently, and when I say "no bite", he stops. Is that the goal? Or do I have to let him hurt my hand and then throw a fit when he does?


As I'm sure many others in this thread will agree, teaching bite inhibition never truly stops. Your dog needs to be worked with and reminded of the concept regularly so that they never forget it. If your dog mouths your hand without causing you pain (or more accurately what someone else would consider painful) AND he stops when commanded to do so then yes you are at the point of maintaining bite inhibition. If he does well, consider it a job well done...for now because I'm sure he will have his excited moments where he will get to firm with his mouth. Great job though!


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## Krystyn and Noah

Hello all,

This site has been tremendously helpful at easing my worries. My wife and I adopted an 11 week old Shepherd mix a week ago and needless to say, she is quite the handful. I had been worried that she was just too out of control. However, after reading through here, I can see, for the most part, we are all in the same boat.

Islay (eye-luh) can be the sweetest girl in the world and she is super smart (sometimes probably too smart for her own good). In one 10 minute clicker and treat session I got her listening to sit, up, and wait. Also, except for a few tinkles when she was overtired or over stimulated, she has been eliminating on schedule in the same spot in the yard since her second day home with us. We have also started puppy classes with her once a week and although she was the most active in the class, she was also quick at picking things up.

She is however, quite the biter. Once she is wound up, pretty much nothing will keep her from my socks (on my feet). Once she gets a hold my foot or my wife's she's tough to get off, plus her little teeth seem to be getting caught in the fabric causing her to bite even harder, no amount of yelping, ignoring, or redirecting will calm her down. Usually at this point, I lure her into her crate, which she already has been feeling safe in, and close the door. She'll cry for a minute or two, but then settle in and chew on her antler toy, eventually falling asleep. Granted its only been a week and I understand I need to practice patience.

My biggest concern, is no amount of treats or food is ever enough for her. When they are all gone, she becomes like a junky and starts getting frantic looking for more food. This really gets her worked up and her bites get harder.

As I side note, I should mention, that my wife and I live in a good sized apartment with a small side yard. I've been keeping her tethered and confined to the living room carpet when we play or train inside. She as stopped for the most part trying to run off while in this position, but man, when she gets a smell of food, the demon comes out.

Anyway, not so much a question I suppose as a ramble about my puppy. But, I thought I'd share. Thanks again for all the great info on here!


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## kgawley59

You are all so right...this stage will pass. My 9 week old pup, Romo, is corralled in the eat-in kitchen for play while the family can interact with him. He, too, "mouths" and gets rambunctious. The knotted rope toys are great to play with. What really is exciting for him, and helps with teething, is to play with ice cubes. He gets to chase them, and the cold probably helps his gums.


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## CurvyOne

I'm glad I revisited this topic. I guess I just wanted a little reassurance. Huter is 4.5 months old right now. He'd actually stopped the puppy biting for a couple weeks, like completely. So I thought we were done. This week he started again. However, we are about to move, and I'm packing up our stuff, so I know he's more stressed. And also, he has been loosing baby teeth and bringing in adult teeth like NO OTHER. He's almost done. So I'm sure that's why the biting started again. He's no where like he was before, and I can redirect him with a little effort or walking away. But still sometimes he gets me pretty good. And he's "herding" me more. lol. Anyway, glad to hear other people's stories. Makes me feel better. I know since he's still better than before, he's learning. Cant wait till the move is done and his teething is over with!


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## CurvyOne

I LOVE your attitude. Sometimes its easy to forget that these are puppies and are LEARNING how to communicate. Biting at this age is pretty much just another form of communication. "My teeth hurt" "I'm bored" "play with me" "Im hungry" "I'm scared" etc... Its OUR job to fulfill their needs; food, play time, discipline, confidence etc... and teach them proper ways of interacting and communicating. 

I used to say "stupid human" when Huter would have an accident. Because it was ALWAYS one of us human's fault. We didnt have many accidents, but none the less it was always because we were paying attention to his pretty clear attempts at communication. 



JoMichelle said:


> I was just reading through this thread and other websites, desperately searching for a way to stop our puppy hanging onto our clothes when we're walking around, jumping up to nip, air snapping at us. Nothing has worked so far, the penny jar has gotten old, water spray is fun, yelping is fun.
> 
> Now I know what the problem is, she wants to play with us! Not by herself. Poor thing. I guess I should leave the housework until she is tired and wants to sleep - not during her crazy hour! Stupid human


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## Shep's Mum

Hi everyone,

I am going through the same thing at the moment with my 12 week year old. She seems to love eating my feet and hands and is really starting to hurt me. I have tried telling her no but she persists. I try giving her a toy and she plays with it for a while then tries to bit me again. She is also grabbing on to my clothes and making holes in them. At the moment if she bits i tell her no and if she continues i put her outside for 10 minutes and let her back in but she is at it again....

Can anyone help me find a solution?


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## Metro_Mike

Shep's Mum said:


> Hi everyone,
> 
> I am going through the same thing at the moment with my 12 week year old. She seems to love eating my feet and hands and is really starting to hurt me. I have tried telling her no but she persists. I try giving her a toy and she plays with it for a while then tries to bit me again. She is also grabbing on to my clothes and making holes in them. At the moment if she bits i tell her no and if she continues i put her outside for 10 minutes and let her back in but she is at it again....
> 
> Can anyone help me find a solution?


Try the following it may work for you.
When she nips/bites immediately mark the inappropriate behavior with a stern “No”. If she is latched on to clothing get her to release it. If she immediately re-nips or bites you grab her by the collar and put her in timeout. Timeout being an area sectioned off (i.e. blocked by a baby gate or etc. where no other people/potential playmates are located). Leave her there for 1 – 2 MINUTES ONLY and let her out of the timeout area. If she nips you again upon being released immediately mark the behavior AND put her in timeout again for 1 – 2 minutes. It may take a few times but she will quickly get the picture. The IMPORTANT part here is only leaving her in timeout for 1 – 2 minutes. Ten minutes is too long. Another important part is getting her into the timeout area. Don’t let a chase game occur. The only thing is I am not sure if being outside will be as effective if she enjoys it.

This method is what worked for us with our puppy that we implemented at 14 weeks of age. This was when his nipping/biting really became problematic. This is part of the advice I received from two different trainers.


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## Walperstyle

Our guy is 9 months old, still bites and plays rough every so often... but usually that is our fault.

See, what you have to realize is the mouth is to the dog as hands are to ourselves. When our guy gets too rough, or starts to rip at the couch or clothes, I slap him on the nose, say "NO!". If he keeps on doing it, I stand up.... This is now where he runs away. He knows he did something wrong. When I catch him we both go upstairs and I send him to the back yard with a slap on the butt. 

The last two times, he went up stairs willingly. He is learning.


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## Anthony8858

Walperstyle said:


> Our guy is 9 months old, still bites and plays rough every so often... but usually that is our fault.
> 
> See, what you have to realize is the mouth is to the dog as hands are to ourselves. When our guy gets too rough, or starts to rip at the couch or clothes, I slap him on the nose, say "NO!". If he keeps on doing it, I stand up.... This is now where he runs away. He knows he did something wrong. When I catch him we both go upstairs and I send him to the back yard with a slap on the butt.
> 
> The last two times, he went up stairs willingly. He is learning.


Please don't tell people to do this. It's wrong in so many ways. 
Never smack your dog. 
Never chase your dog. 
Never slap your dog. 

There are positive methods that work well. 


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## Sunflowers

Walperstyle said:


> Our guy is 9 months old, still bites and plays rough every so often... but usually that is our fault.
> 
> See, what you have to realize is the mouth is to the dog as hands are to ourselves. When our guy gets too rough, or starts to rip at the couch or clothes, I slap him on the nose, say "NO!". If he keeps on doing it, I stand up.... This is now where he runs away. He knows he did something wrong. When I catch him we both go upstairs and I send him to the back yard with a slap on the butt.
> 
> The last two times, he went up stairs willingly. He is learning.


No.

What this does is teach your dog to not trust you and to be afraid of you.


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## Walperstyle

Well, seems to be getting less and less and our guy loves us very much. So I'm going to keep doing this. Thanks.

As I said, when we stand up and stare at him, he knows he was in the wrong. I will train my dog as our family has trained dogs, and horses and such. Thanks but my guy is currled at my feet sleeping right now as I write this.

I got a very good handle on the situation, the dog doesn't fear me. He listens to me. There is a big difference.


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## Mrs.P

Walperstyle said:


> Our guy is 9 months old, still bites and plays rough every so often... but usually that is our fault.
> 
> See, what you have to realize is the mouth is to the dog as hands are to ourselves. When our guy gets too rough, or starts to rip at the couch or clothes, I slap him on the nose, say "NO!". If he keeps on doing it, I stand up.... This is now where he runs away. He knows he did something wrong. When I catch him we both go upstairs and I send him to the back yard with a slap on the butt.
> 
> The last two times, he went up stairs willingly. He is learning.


Hrm odd. My guy is a few weeks shy of 10 months and I do not need to do anything like that now. He respects the house and is well over the chewing furniture and people phase -although no hitting, slapping, or chasing were ever involved. Very strange! Doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result is.. well never mind.


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## Sunflowers

Mrs.P said:


> Hrm odd. My guy is a few weeks shy of 10 months and I do not need to do anything like that now -although no hitting, slapping, or chasing were ever involved. Very strange! Doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result is.. well never mind.


Exactly. 

If you got to nine months and the dog is still mouthing you, you need to change the way you're training him.


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## Anthony8858

Walperstyle said:


> Well, seems to be getting less and less and our guy loves us very much. So I'm going to keep doing this. Thanks.
> 
> As I said, when we stand up and stare at him, he knows he was in the wrong. I will train my dog as our family has trained dogs, and horses and such. Thanks but my guy is currled at my feet sleeping right now as I write this.
> 
> I got a very good handle on the situation, the dog doesn't fear me. He listens to me. There is a big difference.


You can train your dog anyway you want. But I wouldn't suggest you tell others to hit their dog.

Does your dog have a good recall? Instead of chasing, will he come to you on call?


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## Neko

Ohh glad this was pulled back up, reading every post, as now biting at 13 weeks is stronger and I am bleeding all over!


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## Walperstyle

Anthony8858 said:


> You can train your dog anyway you want. But I wouldn't suggest you tell others to hit their dog.
> 
> Does your dog have a good recall? Instead of chasing, will he come to you on call?


Mine, yes. Sorry if I'm coming off mean, its just this is old school training. Everyone is so desensitized these days. I'm going to spank my kids when they do something wrong too.

There is a huge difference between abuse and correction.


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## sashas_mommy

Hi everyone

Sasha is 8 weeks old. She nips at my hands, fingers pant legs, ankles and she loves the big toe. I have read on here to try a stuffed kong. What would you stuff it with? Peanut Butter?

Any other suggestions as to help with her trying to correct the nipping would be great.

Thanks


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## Longfisher

*There certainly are times when it's appropriate and even necessary to use force*

It all depends on the dog.

I use positive training too. But I don't shrink from a choke collar. He still loves me.

I don't use a e-collar now and never have. But if I did he'd still love me.

I don't use a prong / pinch collar, anymore, and not on this GSD at all. But I did on others. They all still loved me.

I don't like to use the leash as a tool of discipline. But there have been times when only a light swat of the free end would get the dog's attention when another animal was in his sights and I knew what was going to happen without intervention. Instantly I broke his distraction and the event never morphed into a disaster.

He still loves. me.

I also use the leash as a helicopter in front of me when I walk the dog to keep him from pulling and to keep him in position. Of course, in the past it whacked him lightly on the snout. Not necessary anymore. And, he still loves me.

I can count the total number of times I've swatted my GSDs on one hand. But I won't hesitate to do so if I believe the other methods aren't working or if it's an emergency.

I guarantee you he'll still love and trust me.


Remain flexible in your training methods. Never allow the dog to "come up the leash" on you. Be positive every time it's possible. Don't fail to resort to the necessary.

LF


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## Longfisher

sashas_mommy said:


> Hi everyone
> 
> Sasha is 8 weeks old. She nips at my hands, fingers pant legs, ankles and she loves the big toe. I have read on here to try a stuffed kong. What would you stuff it with? Peanut Butter?
> 
> Any other suggestions as to help with her trying to correct the nipping would be great.
> 
> Thanks


There are probably a thousand posts here on nipping and how to deal with it.

Basically, if you did your homework before buying the dog you already knew that dogs, in general, nip when they're puppies, chew up some things in the house and yard while they mature, dig holes in the yard where you might not want them until they mature (and some, like labs, forever) and that one breed in particular, GSDs, have a particularly objectionable habit of nipping until they're aboout 4 - 5 months old and their adult teeth have all erupted.

So, put up with it by nibbling around the edges of the problem with treats, toys, long walks, games, etc. I also simply wore work gloves or motorcycle gloves when the puppy was small. Actually, I've found gloves to be useful in a lot of training situations, especially long-lines and tracking. Try it.

But above all, enjoy the puppy above all else during these trying times. Take lots of pics. Hold and caress the puppy. Tell him Good Dog at least 100 times a day.

In a few wonderful months you'll be glad it went away and that your puppy and you have a great relationship. Without a single doubt the GSD is the finest dog on the planet and you're actually lucky that the most fuss you have to put up with to own one is to get nipped.

LF


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## Longfisher

Walperstyle said:


> Mine, yes. Sorry if I'm coming off mean, its just this is old school training. Everyone is so desensitized these days. I'm going to spank my kids when they do something wrong too.
> 
> There is a huge difference between abuse and correction.


Actually, there's a huge difference between correction and punishment and the between punishment and abuse.

But you're spot on in all the rest. Do what works but start with the least forceful methods first.

LF


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## Beckch

We had a nipping and "talking back" problem with our GSD puppy when he was about 3 and 1/2 months old. Unfortunately, he had giardia so I was not able to take him to puppy classes as I had planned. We hired Bark Busters and the trainer that came out to our house did wonders. She has now trained all the humans in the household and our puppy (who is now 5 months) is no longer a sassy land shark (thank goodness). We actually did not need to do this, but for those pups that are determined to nip, you may want to try spraying Bitter Apple on your hands and feet?


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## ImJaxon

We taught Jaxon bite inhibition from day 1. People say don't ever let the dogs teeth touch your skin. That's total BS in my book. From our working dogs, to our home dogs, all of our dogs mouthed. It's how they communicate with you. It's their version of HANDS. 

I can't count how many times Jaxon comes up to me and gently take my hand to put it on a ball, or gently tug me to get off the couch to take him to pee. He has never hurt us, not intentionally anyhow.

Once we got beyond the teething, sharking, etc he has been amazing at his bite inhibition. I mean how hard is it really? If he nips too hard, shriek like a little puppy whos hurt and ignore him for a few minutes. Come back and start over.

He never mouths on other people. Just us. He treats us like his pack. Strangers are not for mouthing. Not sure why he doesn't mouth strangers.

I know one thing, you don't want a dog that has NO bite inhibition. Good luck with that one if your doggie ever chomps down on something you don't want him to.

You will get sharked up during the teething periods. Just deal with it. It's far more worth it to have a dog with proper bite inhibition than to save your skin for a few months of teething. To be quite honest, once Jaxon was nipping and biting my hands for a couple days, I didn't even feel it anymore because he got the bite inhibition really fast. The younger you do it the better. We started at 8 weeks, the day we brought him home.

Good Luck.


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## RemusI

Walperstyle said:


> Our guy is 9 months old, still bites and plays rough every so often... but usually that is our fault.
> 
> See, what you have to realize is the mouth is to the dog as hands are to ourselves. When our guy gets too rough, or starts to rip at the couch or clothes, I slap him on the nose, say "NO!". If he keeps on doing it, I stand up.... This is now where he runs away. He knows he did something wrong. When I catch him we both go upstairs and I send him to the back yard with a slap on the butt.
> 
> The last two times, he went up stairs willingly. He is learning.


You sir are quite foolish, when your dog gets older he will not trust you or come when called and may even bite way harder out of fear when he is older


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## lyssa62

I went with the NO BITE rule and it's worked for us. I think people just need to go with what feels right for them and their own dog. Instinct will take over for a good quick bite when it's needed ....which unless for protection is NEVER .


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## Bandit_Acosta

I have a two month old puppy going on his 3rd month. Recently just got him. I'm 23 and its my first puppy or dog ever so I'm new to this. I've been getting different answers as to how I should train my puppy from biting my ankles feet hands and clothing. I honestly don't know what to do. He already cut my hand a little bit because I moved it quickly and I ended up cutting it a bit. I've been trying to play with him more than usual but he continues. When I give him a firm "no" indicating that he is misbehaving he sort of tries to howl or bark at me( still learning how to bark I'm assuming). I feel that he is trying to challenge me or something. That's just the vibe that I'm getting. Any help would be greatly appreciated.


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## ShoBoudreau

My dog is a pain in the REAR.
Less than half the time he mouths very softly and thats usually only when my husband is home, the rest of the time he mouths, he bites the **** out of me. 

I tried the Yiping AND I tried the loud NO AND I tried the grabbing his mouth or grabbing his collar and he thinks its a game and barks and howls and bares his teeth and just bites me harder.. Ill try to walk away and he comes after me biting my ankles and legs.

If i leave the room he will just tear up whatever he can find in the room that he is in, so its not really EVER a time out for him.

Iv tried putting him in the bathroom because thats where he sleeps at night, and its like he knows. Once I put him in there he lays right down and looks at me like " yeah I expected this ".

He manipulates me because he knows I love and care for him.

When my husband gets home from work the pup is ridiculously loving, doesn't bite either of us, doesn't destroy the house. I want to give up! :crazy:


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## Prouty87

*Bite be gone*

An effective way I got my little shep pup Harley to stop nipping was to consistently play with him and his toys while using my hands, face, arms, feet etc. whenever he nipped I would make an ouch (as authentic as you can) sound and then turn, walk away and ignore him giving him a moment to think about the action/reaction. Making an ouch sound and continuing to play can often lead to confusion later on, say if he happened to nip at someone and associate ouch with play. I reengage play being sure to use the same hand or finger he nipped and he avoids now. Also very early on I fiddled with his food using hands while he was eating. I believe a dog goes into a primal state during meal time so it's one way I helped to foster his submission. He would growl at first now he just sits back and waits until I say okay. Your pup can easily become dominant in your household if you don't redirect it. Remember, using words without association isn't going to be as effective. When my pup got stubborn or assumed the dominant role I would simply say 'no! Or tss!' Touching either his neck or hip, if he persists, i would calmly grab underneath him his arm so that he lays on his back or side while having one hand on his neck as if the "pack leader or mom pup would engage". he struggled the first couple times but I stayed calm didn't let go and didn't let his paws touch me as this can also be domineering. Now he is catching on very well and when he's in trouble which is rare he knows to lay or submit. He is almost 5 months now and loves to show off his tricks... Well maybe I love to show him off lol he just loves his treats ! 

You'll get there!! Good luck!


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## Jlmaiorana

My 13week old puppy bites our hands, ankles, and achillis to the point of bleeding. She will not let you put a toy in her mouth. There is absolutely no redirecting her. stepping over the baby gate is really hard because if im not near it I have to walk across the room with her attached to my ankle. apple spray worked for 10 seconds. Now she likes apples. Same with hot sauce. Vet suggests spraying with a squirt bottle with water. Im affraid if we dont get a handle on this soon, she will take off an arm, leg or our achillis tendon.


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## SirLancelot

rucker105 said:


> I got Zeke last Tuesday!! He is almost 9wks old and has been great.....
> 
> But his bite is becoming increasingly painful! If you are in a ten foot radius of him, your feet are in danger! And my hand was nearly punctured this morning! This thread has been very helpful, especially as a reminder that I am not alone! I wish "ow" would work with him, because I'm not faking it when I say it anymore. He just looks at me for a second then bites me harder. And carrying him is asking for it! He loves to nip the face when I take him downstairs at 6am, half asleep.
> 
> Shall I just stay consistent with redirecting and the "gentle"/"no"/ignore combo and pray that he will shape-up? I don't want to be too forceful with the little guy but I have grabbed his muzzle and pinned him a few times when he gets wild and starts growling/barking. That seems to make him bite even more like its a game.
> 
> He just doesnt take me seriously does he?! I'm about to resort to bitter apple spray on my hands (in addition to the already doused house). Could he be showing signs of "alpha" tendancies at this young age? My last dog was a lab, and as a puppy he was so gentle with his nipping. He seemed to listen and became rather submissive when he was older. I know these things can be unrelated, but Zeke has a lot of attitude!!


You're describing our Lucy and 6 year old lab Molly perfectly. Molly is what I describe as "stupid proof". She has always been such an amazing pet and trusted friend. With 12 week old Lucy though, I've actually caught myself having regrets on occasion... I hope the tips in this thread work!


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## tjpearse

Along the same line; I just got my first puppy ever. I've wanted an all black German Shepherd since I was a kid and finally the opportunity fell into my lap. Everything is going as it should, except whenever you try ti pet him, he goes to bite you. I understand he wants to play so we play with his chew toys and play fetch(or attempt to) midway through a decently long walk. Even when he is tired, he'll slowly try to bite your hand. We are making great strides on the bite inhibition so it doesn't hurt. He just seem like he doesn't like to be pet. He is 11 weeks old now. Any suggestions?


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## Sheababy

Bite back as his mother would. Works for our 6 week old. Also light slap with a magazine when she bite my feet


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## Josh and Jax

RemusI said:


> You sir are quite foolish, when your dog gets older he will not trust you or come when called and may even bite way harder out of fear when he is older


It's easy to criticize. Then what's the right answer?


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## Aire

I have this very issue with Gemma. I know she is only 7 weeks old and very into mouthing anything she can. I have managed to redirect her from shoes, electrical cords- which nearly gave me a heart attack when she thought my laptop cord was something to chew on, and the coffee table. I cannot seem to redirect her from my hands or feet. 

I have tried the yelping and telling her "No" - only to get a tilt of her head and right back to gnawing on me. I have taken to telling her to kennel when she continues to treat me like a chew toy, but I don't wish her to associate her crate with anything negative either. 

What else can I do? Is she just testing me?


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## Serbrider

Continue to just make it zero fun. I personally have nothing against mouthing, I prefer a dog to know how to properly use their mouth on me. But biting is immediate a "no" or yelp and I do not continue to allow the object to be available. I don't walk away until they are older (bc I want to keep them within close contact), but say she is chewing on my hand. She bites down too hard, and I yelp and immediate remove my hand and put it behind my back until she is calm again, and then I introduce it again, and rinse and repeat as needed. Especially though with young puppies, it does take quite a bit of time. It's not immediate, but stick with it. Have your boundary, and do NOT give in or be lenient. No biting/mouthing harder than a particular pressure, period. No exceptions. And they'll learn. Never had a dog not understand after a while, and modify their behavior. And THAT is bite inhibition, the knowledge of what is acceptable and acting accordingly. 

Good luck!!!


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## ssou9

Ceasar GS is now almost 10 weeks old. He bits a lot on legs and hands. Whenever he does this i always try to calm him down by giving him his soft toy or his toy in his mouth in order to distract from biting. Or i remove my hand and say NO to him with change in tone which he has learnt to command but he try to revoke the command by making noises and start coming to bite my legs..!!
Any help friends ? 


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## Cassidy's Mom

It takes time.  Teaching bite inhibition is a process, it's not going to stop overnight. Be consistent and patient.


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## ssou9

Thanks  will be right on it. 



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## tricia0740

It will get better my dog Max is now 6 months and still does it every once in a while.

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## tricia0740

All I can say is when he was 7 to 10 weeks I sometimes was was overwelmed!

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## JM_doggy

I have to say biting inhibition is awesome! Now that we've been working with Bella on this, per Shirley CHong's article, we are having way more fun! Hubby loves it, too, That we can play with Bella's mouth and puppy play back with her. She screws up now and again, but it's amazing how quickly shes learning not so hard with her biting. Hopefully we continue on this way with her that she picks up things like this easily. Makes us more confident and her, too. Can't wait to see what we can learn!


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## Bonzay

Hi everyone,

We took our Bonnie to Puppy Classes and the trainer said we shouldn't let her bite or chew our hands at all. She's now four months old, still biting arms and hands and the trainer says she's worried about this, however reading all of these posts I still consider it normal. Bonnie responds to "No" and releases but she still tries to bite my arm when I put her harness on. Should I be worried at all? Thanks!


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## SunCzarina

Your trainer hasn't seen too many GSDs. Bonnie's probably getting her big girl teeth and they're horribly bitey about now. You can use a frozen wet washcloth to help relieve some of her tooth pressure.

With Venus, we just kept saying No Bites and closing her mouth. She got it eventually. Still when she comes out of her crate after I've been out, she's so excited she forgets. I like to have a ball ready for her to bite, break her cycle.


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## Bonzay

Thank you so much for your response. I told the trainer Bonnie was teething but she said that her teething was no excuse... she suggested to put the puppy on her side but that just increases her biting and I wouldn't be able to do it for much longer anyways 

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## SunCzarina

Bonzay said:


> she suggested to put the puppy on her side but that just increases her biting and I wouldn't be able to do it for much longer anyways


??? physically hold the puppy down on her side? Trainer is definitely NOT shepherd people LOL. Feel free to start your own thread for your own pup.


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## Bonzay

SunCzarina said:


> ??? physically hold the puppy down on her side? Trainer is definitely NOT shepherd people LOL. Feel free to start your own thread for your own pup.


Yes, physically. I think she had something like this in mind but frankly, it's a pain in the butt. I'll keep saying "no" and leave when she bites and if it doesn't get better I will definitely start my own thread. Thank you again!


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## SunCzarina

You might want to look for a new trainer who's less harsh.


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## Olly

Hey everyone, I'm just wondering when your pups stopped mouthing or biting (or at least had no urge to bite any more). 

I've got my little Olive (11 wks) who I feel has done a fairly awesome job of bite inhibition due to my yelps and our older dog who also teaches her. The thing is you can't even reach over to her because she will bite at me.


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## wyowolf

Our 12 week old pup has just started doing this  mostly to my son/wife. She doesn't do it all the time but when she does she really gets after them. Walking away is pointless because she just pursues them. You have to physically restrain her to stop. what I am afraid of is them becoming fearful of her which will make it worse 
hopefully with some of the tips here it will get better. 
I wish i had some answers.... 
Starting obedience training tomorrow so hopefully the trainer will have some good answers/solutions we can try. She knows all about GSDs growing up in Germany so I am hopeful


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## wyowolf

just wanted to share this, I was having some issues with my 12 week old land shark so I thought I would ask my Breeder. After all she trains these dogs for years so she should know. And this was a solution she gave that I havent seen anywhere that worked for me. None of the leave her alone and walk away did anything for me but this worked like a charm and i would never have figured it on my own... 

Per her...

"As for play-biting – your son, or if he cannot do it than you, have to show her that this is not an acceptable behavior. Supervise her, wait for her to start doing this. Make sure that he doesn’t run from her. Say NO, walk up to her, take her by her head (like a mother dog would do, with your palm from above), and squeeze it. Do not lift her up or anything like that, just squeeze pretty strongly, to imitate her mother’s bite. Puppies have instinctive understanding of this, and if you do it right, you will only have to do it a couple of times and she will stop biting. It is more effective than any human-invented remedies such as re-directing, shouting, lifting her up or hitting her with newspaper : )"

Yes, just picture a nature show where you see the mother wolf with her pups. If they bite her too much, she will just take their entire head into her mouth and give it a good squeeze (never causing an injury though). So just use your palm in the middle of her head, where the mouth starts. As if you were to cover her eyes with your hand. Then squeeze from both sides to imitate a bite. It has to be strong enough where she will realize that you are not playing. But it will not hurt her really, it’s more playing on her instincts. "


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## adom

Thank you very much for sharing this.I had a pups but due to I hadn't take care him carefully.He died:help:I just want to buy a new one and I will learn more


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## Alena Gonzalez

8.5 week old. Play biting and today she had my 11 year old daughter in tears. She seems to really favor playing with my daughter but she plays the roughest with her as well I keep telling my daughter to redirect her and give her a toy but when you pet her she automatically goes back and just starts eating your hand. She doesn't do it to me as often that she does my daughter she's already ruined two of her shirts as well. HELP


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## charlotte2407

*6 month old GSD biting*

Hi Guys and girls, basically I have a6 month male GSD hes out of the teething stage now but every so often if you play with him he goes for your arm In quite an aggressive manor it seems almost like hes trying to prove a point when he does it. and if you leave he will do what I call 'run by bites' nipping you. How do I deal with him hes our first GSD we don't want to be overly harsh however im more the strict one and now my dog doesn't seem as attatched to myself as my partner because he doesn't tend to tell him off :L 
Please help


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## Lapres

Really useful reading. We've been entering the "I really want to use your hand as a teething ring" phase. Bailey has quickly learned feet are not to be eaten, but if you have slippers/socks and not a bare foot, she'll go in for a nip or two until told otherwise. (Usually its a surprise "I WANT TO PLAY NOW!")

However, she LOVES hands. She doesn't like anyone touching her chest or under her neck, it's more of an invitation for playing and biting. It's a bit frustrating that when she does bite and I try to get up and leave, she is right under my feet wanting to continue playing. I've been trying to close a room door behind me so that she gets the idea that playing rough means separation for a few minutes. I've applied some of the techniques to when she plays with me and I can usually get her to stop biting my hands, but then with the rest of the family the boys think its funny to rough house with her and shes back to biting hands again.

I need a training day for pup AND boys. Sigh.


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## Sigmund

*Finally found a solution to the biting*

Thanks to all the great inputs on this site.
I have been working on the biting inhibition with Ziggy who just turned 4 months old. He was biting insistently now for quite some time and was becoming frustrating as nothing seemed to work and his biting was getting harder and harder. Those sharp little razors in his mouth have been leaving my wife and I with embarrassing mutilated hands.
I recently introduced clicker training into his daily routine. Incorporating a bite inhibition and leave it command has worked wonders. Before every meal I feed half of his kibble by hand. I place one or two kibble in my closed hand let him smell it and when he finally stops trying to get it out of my closed hand I click and reward him by opening my hand and feeding him the kibble. I have introduced the "leave it" command on top of the of the action. It took him a very short time to figure out that leaving my hand alone he would be rewarded. After the third feeding he has virtually stopped biting/mouthing our hands during play time. If he does mouth our hands it is much softer. If the mouthing starts to increase, I close my hand and say "leave it", he instantly stops. It’s a miracle! Good luck with your own Land Sharks, be patient.


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## Scottmel12

I'm New to this and had only small lap dogs. We now have a 16 week gsd (Sasha). My five year old Pom is terrified of Sasha and will not get near her. Sasha is jumping on him and really just trying to play. Any ideas? I want them to be family


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## WhimsicalRain

*Very reassuring thread*

I think all new puppy owners should read this thread a couple of times a week. If anything, just for the reassurance that they are not alone. Our Henry is 10 weeks old. We've had him a whopping 4 days. OY! but is this a challenge.

I've read the entire thread and appreciate the constructive input given by so many of you. What resonates with me is that we must have patience and absolutely be consistent in whatever method you use to teach biting inhibition.

Our biggest battle is the ankle/pants biting when you are trying to walk. I now have a few ideas on how best to handle this and will see how successful I am.


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## val419

I am new to this forum. 

I have a beautiful 5 month old GSD, Kaia. She goes to daycare 2 days a week, and recently bit 1 of the women who works there. 

The first time, she broke the skin, this time she drew blood. The woman called me and said it wasn't "aggressive" biting, more out of excitement. I feel guilty. She rarely, if ever bites me, and if she does I immediately get up and stop playing with her. I want to help her become the wonderful dog she is meant to be. I also want her to continue to be able to to daycare. 

Any words of wisdom for this defeated mama would help.


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## OkieDog

I am a new GSD owner and my puppy is now 4 months old. The bite inhibition was a real challenge for me, but after reading this thread of helpful tips, Finn is getting much better.

Previously, my arms and legs were the chum for this sweet land shark. Literally, I had bite marks all up and down my arms with bandaids covering the most severe. I was bloody and at my wits end and almost in tears. No Bueno!

However, through reading and applying the tips here, Finn has almost stopped the biting and his bite inhibition is gentler. That being said, I want the biting to stop completely so I am continuing his training.

What works for me is his favorite toy and treat training. If he starts biting during playtime with his frisbee, he gets time out. I say "no bite" in my Moses voice, take his frisbee, and turn my back on him for a few minutes. He sits and waits for time out to be over.

Another awesome tip I learned, was to place a treat on my forearm and say, "no bite." I move it to my wrist and say the same thing. Then the back of my hand, and finally in the open palm of my hand. Only until I say "take it" can he have the treat. Now, when he starts to gnaw on my arm, all I have to say is "no bite." and he stops. Even his bite is softer because he just can't resist a little mouthing.

His playfulness when I walk is another difficult thing, so I'd appreciate any tips for that. He wants to grab my shoes and ankles when I'm in the backyard. I know he's telling me he wants to play, but honestly, sometimes I have to do yard work, too!


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## newlie

Newlie wasn't a puppy when we got him and I think someone, somewhere had already worked with him alot. The only thing I did was try to put the finishing touches on it. He had a habit when he was excited of grabbing a toy or treat out of my hand so while he wasn't biting on purpose, it still hurt sometimes. I would always cry out when he did this (even if it didn't really hurt very bad) just to give him the idea he needed to be more careful.

I also started with a medium sized treat, made him sit, point my finger at him and say "Easy" followed by "No Teeth." I would give him a treat and then if I felt his teeth very much, cry out and then say "No Teeth" again and then no more treats. Gradually, I reduced the size of the treat and I started execting more from him. I went from expecting him not to hurt me very much to expecting him not to hurt me at all. I no longer have to say "Easy" now (unless he's really hyped up about something), just "no teeth" and I can literally give him a dot of treat between my fingers and he will either lick it off or use his teeth gently so it doen't hurt at all. He is so reliable now I can put a small treat between my lips and he will take it without hardly touching me. With time, I was able to get to this place with both my dogs, but belive me, I am not going to let teeth get that close to my face unless I am absolutely sure it is safe.


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## Naval2006

My female GSD is 8 months old now and I can say we are through the biting period. It's been quiet hard, especially with the kids (they were afraid of going out to the backyard) but it's all over now. 

Our dog lives and sleeps outside but now we take her in when everybody's home and she shares time with us and our male poodle. It's true all seasoned GSD owners say about living with a GS. Best dog I've ever lived with.


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## wick

Agh so Wick was super bitey around 10 weeks but after that he never mouthed at all, all of a sudden it has been resurrected (7 mos) ?!? Has anyone had this happen? He knows not to bite, should I use the same techniques as before? He is doing it when playing or trying to get us to play.


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## csmith4313

*18 week old little demon*

My boy is hardly ever sweet and cuddly. Which is fine. What we can't deal with is his constant biting. My arms are chewed to shreds. He has drawn blood on both me and my boyfriend aka daddy. We have tried so many different techniques. He is currently in puppy classes. We have tried the turn and ignore which he apparently sees as weakness. We have tried just getting up and walking away he nips and bites as we walk away. We have tried removing ourselves from the room. Etc. Etc. He will bark and lunge at us for no reason. He will bite any body part he can get to. We are starting to get seriously worried about it. We don't want to resort to spanking.


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## Castlemaid

Normal puppy behaviour! Takes weeks and months to 're-program' their brains. The biting, lunging is how they play, it's how their brains are hardwired for play. The land-shark phase is one of the most difficult phase to go through for most people. Spanking won't do anything but teach the pup that you are not to be trusted. 

Pup like this, csmith, takes patience and management: tire him out, teach him to play with you WITH toys. Redirect, redirect, redirect!!! When you stuff a toy into his mouth, play with him. Many pups prefer softer toys like tug ropes and linen tugs.

Management is very important to keep your sanity. You don't wan't to feel like you have no control over your pup - tire him out with lots of outside play and activity, and incorporate regular naps during the day. Many people have reported huge improvements after setting up a schedule of one or two naps per day for their pup - pups like toddlers can get over-stimulated, and don't have the self-awareness and the self-control to put them-self down for a nap, so you do it for them. One or two hour naps in a crate can do wonders! Use that crate! Nothing wrong with crating him at other times to give yourself a break from constant puppy attacks. 

And remember, redirect and play! You want to get your pup to the point that when they want to play, they will pick up a toy and bring it to you. Make sure you re-inforce this behaviour by tugging and playing to reward them for doing this. A much better choice from their part than biting you directly.


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## csmith4313

Castlemaid said:


> Normal puppy behaviour! Takes weeks and months to 're-program' their brains. The biting, lunging is how they play, it's how their brains are hardwired for play. The land-shark phase is one of the most difficult phase to go through for most people. Spanking won't do anything but teach the pup that you are not to be trusted.
> 
> Pup like this, csmith, takes patience and management: tire him out, teach him to play with you WITH toys. Redirect, redirect, redirect!!! When you stuff a toy into his mouth, play with him. Many pups prefer softer toys like tug ropes and linen tugs.
> 
> Management is very important to keep your sanity. You don't wan't to feel like you have no control over your pup - tire him out with lots of outside play and activity, and incorporate regular naps during the day. Many people have reported huge improvements after setting up a schedule of one or two naps per day for their pup - pups like toddlers can get over-stimulated, and don't have the self-awareness and the self-control to put them-self down for a nap, so you do it for them. One or two hour naps in a crate can do wonders! Use that crate! Nothing wrong with crating him at other times to give yourself a break from constant puppy attacks.
> 
> And remember, redirect and play! You want to get your pup to the point that when they want to play, they will pick up a toy and bring it to you. Make sure you re-inforce this behaviour by tugging and playing to reward them for doing this. A much better choice from their part than biting you directly.


Thanks, he likes to fetch so we are constantly throwing a ball. Long walks and running. He has 2 soft stuffed animals and 2 different tug ropes. We are trying redirecting now but he usually takes a finger off in the process. I guess we have to just stick it out. We are also teaching soft bites with treats.


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## FarolKay

Well, this thread makes me feel better. Gunnar, 10 week male; we got him Aug. 11 and it is the 26th today. Although he is a quick learner and will pee and poop in the designated spot 99% of the time, will "wait" before allowed to enter house (after humans enter) 95% of the time, he has become very, bitey. He barks and barks at me, looking me straight in the eye: it seems he is trying to defy me when I say "no bite", or when I am correcting him from chewing on the moulding, coffee table etc. I have tried yelping loudly and simulating the mama dog nipping correction with my fingers at the side of his neck. This barking started a couple of days ago. He just starts barking at me and nipping at my feet not to mention trying to bite my arms and hands when they are in his reach (I have several scabs where he did break the skin, ankle and arm). Last night I did start ignoring him and walking away and also redirecting with his many toys. I am getting worried and very upset (like, crying later) that he will be a menacing dog, when at first he was so sweet and loving. I praise him when he doesn't bite and when he is chewing a toy, when he poops and pees outside. He is not at all food aggressive; I can take bowl or even raw bone away from him no problem. When he is being defiant like that, I held him down on his side, hand on his shoulder while he has whining tantrum, making psst! sound when he would whine/growl. I let him up, praised him when he calmed and seemed submissive. He went back to barking, wanting to bite a few minutes later...omg. Is this a wrong tactic for GSD personality or is it ok?


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## gsdsar

I would not use that tactic. If he is being super bratty, he is probably overtired. Try putting him in his crate for a bit. See if he takes a nap. That's what I found with my boy. 

And don't worry, landshark puppies do not mean you will have a problem adult. They are just tough and frustrating puppies.


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## Themusicmanswife

*Bump, bump, bump*

Just wanted to bump this up for all those people like me with a puppy. I've learned a bunch from reading this. It's an open tab on my computer! Lots of great advice. My Cookie is 12 weeks and is either sweet and mellow or "Chompy" as we've come to call her sometimes!

And a picture, because why not..


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## Coleen

Omg! So glad I found this thread! Tasha is doing great with everything else, except this biting thingy!  Nothing I do seems to work. Landshark? I think she's a great white! Come to think of it, I think I would rather swim with a great white! I found a few ideas to help me! Gonna try the wet cloth in the freezer for her teething, she loves all things water! Snow is god to her! I definitely can't wait for this phase to be over!


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## Rolisaac

Our land shark has learned not to nip me. . .the problem is training the other people that live with me :/ I taught my mother in law the whole "YIP" loudly thing. . . she doesn't put the right effect into it. She keeps reverting back to saying no. Which doesn't work. What is no supposed to mean to the dog? 
With the kids, she isn't biting them, they yelp loudly enough, but her darn nails keep scratching one of my kids that refuses to keep clothes on. I wonder if nudist colonies have policies that ban puppies?


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## 1fastRN

Thanks for this! I'm hoping to try leaving the room when my 6 1/2 month old puppy bites. She is the roughest with me, I think because I'm her#1 playmate. 

I tried redirecting her, yelping or yelling ouch in every pitch, but she remains fixated on me and thinks it's a game. 

One thing I did figure out to do was when she starts nipping me or gets the crazy zoomies (bouncing off the back of the couch and going full shark attack mode to the point she hurts herself) I'll grab her leash and make her sit down. At first she would fight the leash and remain highly energetic but now she calms down within a minute. At that time I'll praise her and calmly pet her so she gets the idea, "when I'm calm they are super nice to me! ". I guess it's similar to the time out idea but it has actually worked. I let her off the leash once she's calm. Just a suggestion for times you don't want to leave the room or the whole family is in the room. Don't know if this one was suggested but I just figured out out after lots of trial and error. Just passing it on. 

Thanks! 

I have to do some more reading now that my pup has entered the phase of ignoring me and "forgetting" her obedience. She has even regressed with leash training at times so I need to work on engagement and maintaining the boundaries. After a decade without a puppy, I forgot how frustrating this phase can be...it's easy to see why so many inexperienced owners give up on their dogs in late puppyhood.


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## MT523

Keep in mind I've only had my puppy for 5 days so we'll see if it keeps working. Of course she is very curios and is biting on everything, including me. I tried ouch(didn't really work), redirecting with toys, etc. Redirecting with toys is working pretty well along with saying how good she is when she takes the toy, but sometimes I don't have a toy right in front of me. 

I'm teaching the "leave it" command but haven't been able to connect it with stop biting. 

I asked a friend what he did with his puppy and said "no bite" and gently push down of their jaw if they've get your fingers. 

I've got the book Your German Shepherd Puppy and it says to say "ouch" look directly in their eyes "like their mom would" and grab them a toy.

What has started working for me is a combination of the book, what my friend said, and one of the links on the first page that mentions puppies just need to learn how hard they can bite, and that it hurts humans. 

I say "ouch!", followed by "no bite"(somewhat firm but mainly just a different tone of voice than I normally talk to her), and when I'm saying "no bite" I look directly in her eyes. Again we'll see if this keeps working but looking directly in the eyes I think is what's getting her to realize she can only bite humans so hard.

P.S. Short on time, sorry for any typos or something that doesn't make sense.


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## Shankltion

Thank god me and my wife both have to defend from land-shark attacks from our ten week old long haired chewie when he's nipping me it's not so bad I have thick skin but he's a big old boy so when he plays like this with my wife it's a lot worse I'm glad it's something we can get over its kind of hard as my wife doese beauty at home and he's over stimulated from new ppl coming to the house and he keeps reching like he's going to be sick but not is this a hair ball or something more ?


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## KimJ

I'm right there with all of you with my nearly 12-week old terror  Haven't had time to read all posts here but just jumping in with a few things that come to mind:

1. If anyone ever tells you to spray Bitter Apple in your dog's mouth to stop biting, don't. I tried that with my first GSD at advice of a trainer and 1. He didn't care in the least, just though it part of the game and 2.) The next day he had horrible diarrhea. Never again.

2. "Ouch" always ramped my boys up. Never use it.

3. I don't know about all the "act like their momma does" stuff: rolling, scruff shaking, growling, biting. Never seemed to do anything for my dogs when I experimented with it but ramp them up. Also, not a big fan of humans acting like dogs, "pack leader" all that stuff. Dogs know the difference between humans and dogs. I think we kid ourselves with this. Just my opinion.


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## Madie

wyowolf said:


> just wanted to share this, I was having some issues with my 12 week old land shark so I thought I would ask my Breeder. After all she trains these dogs for years so she should know. And this was a solution she gave that I havent seen anywhere that worked for me. None of the leave her alone and walk away did anything for me but this worked like a charm and i would never have figured it on my own...
> 
> Per her...
> 
> "As for play-biting – your son, or if he cannot do it than you, have to show her that this is not an acceptable behavior. Supervise her, wait for her to start doing this. Make sure that he doesn’t run from her. Say NO, walk up to her, take her by her head (like a mother dog would do, with your palm from above), and squeeze it. Do not lift her up or anything like that, just squeeze pretty strongly, to imitate her mother’s bite. Puppies have instinctive understanding of this, and if you do it right, you will only have to do it a couple of times and she will stop biting. It is more effective than any human-invented remedies such as re-directing, shouting, lifting her up or hitting her with newspaper : )"
> 
> Yes, just picture a nature show where you see the mother wolf with her pups. If they bite her too much, she will just take their entire head into her mouth and give it a good squeeze (never causing an injury though). So just use your palm in the middle of her head, where the mouth starts. As if you were to cover her eyes with your hand. Then squeeze from both sides to imitate a bite. It has to be strong enough where she will realize that you are not playing. But it will not hurt her really, it’s more playing on her instincts. "


Thanks for sharing this. We have a lovely 6 mths old female god who does a lot of arm mouthing so will try this as it's getting a bit much sometimes, specially for the kids.


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## wafflexpress

Hi all. I am a new owner to a GSD pup who is on the verge of 10 weeks. I appreciate all the tips and helpful hints in this thread for puppy biting because she is DEFINITELY doing it. I have a question though. I want to do the walk-away/timeout method however the way our house is built, I can't gate a certain area or leave the room because if I do, I know the space won't be boring enough for her to understand that the playmate left. Basically, her play/training space is the living room, but it is too big of a space for me to leave her unsupervised (curiosity and hello POTTY TRAINING!). Bathroom and kitchen are too small to play/train. And the other rooms are bedrooms, too small. Also, anytime I do try to walk away, she chomps down on my feet. Like CHOMPS. And even when I'm still as a statue, she still chomps on my feet. Also, 'ow' doesn't work for her and toy redirect works like 50% of the time. Can someone please help me so I may implement the walk away method as a timeout/break? I have a feeling that method would work. I just don't know how to do it. Please help! My feet need it.


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## ausdland

wafflexpress said:


> Hi all. I am a new owner to a GSD pup who is on the verge of 10 weeks. I appreciate all the tips and helpful hints in this thread for puppy biting because she is DEFINITELY doing it. I have a question though. I want to do the walk-away/timeout method however the way our house is built, I can't gate a certain area or leave the room because if I do, I know the space won't be boring enough for her to understand that the playmate left. Basically, her play/training space is the living room, but it is too big of a space for me to leave her unsupervised (curiosity and hello POTTY TRAINING!). Bathroom and kitchen are too small to play/train. And the other rooms are bedrooms, too small. Also, anytime I do try to walk away, she chomps down on my feet. Like CHOMPS. And even when I'm still as a statue, she still chomps on my feet. Also, 'ow' doesn't work for her and toy redirect works like 50% of the time. Can someone please help me so I may implement the walk away method as a timeout/break? I have a feeling that method would work. I just don't know how to do it. Please help! My feet need it.


It should work over the course of a few months, your puppy is very young. Your puppy will learn 'ow' means it hurt you, it just takes time. Wear pants and shoes. Crate train and give lots of time outs.


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## Bramble

Trying using an ex-pen for time outs. I don't really get too upset about puppy biting. They are just trying to play the only way they know how at that time. Most out grow it around the teething stage. I don't really like to punish a puppy for wanting to interact and engage with me, just seems counterproductive unless they are being truly bratty or I need a break. I try to channel their desire and need to interact into something more appropriate. When using a toy be sure you are using it to interact and play, not just shove it in your pup's mouth. Use a variety of toys and figure out which one she likes best, then save that for when you are playing/training. Exercise can also help curb some biting, just don't over do since her bones and joints are still growing and excising to the point of exhaustion isn't healthy for them. Bully sticks were a great option for me to keep a pup busy chewing something appropriate. 

Also if you haven't already, look into finding a good puppy class, avoid the chain stores options as those trainers usually have questionable knowledge and experience. AKC Puppy Star is a good option and helps prep a puppy for the CGC if that is an option you'd like to pursue.


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## wafflexpress

Okays. Thank you very much. I will try all those things. Hopefully we will get through this.


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## mikej345

*Leave It or Off Command*

This thread has been great, but I'm a little confused by all I've read about commands for keeping them from biting inanimate objects like clothing or furniture and the like. Should I be using Leave It, or Off, or something else? In my previous dog experience, Leave It was for when they were going for something, not after they had gotten it (as in my pant leg or table leg) already.

Any advice?


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## HolyFriedFish

mikej345 said:


> This thread has been great, but I'm a little confused by all I've read about commands for keeping them from biting inanimate objects like clothing or furniture and the like. Should I be using Leave It, or Off, or something else? In my previous dog experience, Leave It was for when they were going for something, not after they had gotten it (as in my pant leg or table leg) already.
> 
> Any advice?


I use a "leave it" if they haven't got it yet, and a "drop" if they have. "Drop" is usually an exchange for me, especially at first, but even into adulthood I try to make it worthwhile for the dog. It's no trouble for me to grab a small treat, and it keeps things consistent.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk


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## HaPpY AnImAl LoVeR

Would this work? Puppy bites/nips you, you grab their scruff and prevent them from engaging with you while you ignore them, then once they relax, you give them a toy (if there is one available) and start playing with them again. Is there something I could do to make this more effective?


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## tim_s_adams

HaPpY AnImAl LoVeR said:


> Would this work? Puppy bites/nips you, you grab their scruff and prevent them from engaging with you while you ignore them, then once they relax, you give them a toy (if there is one available) and start playing with them again. Is there something I could do to make this more effective?


No, that is unlikely to work as you're imagining it! Puppy bites or nips you, you grab his scruff, he thinks "it's on now"! While you're trying to hold his scruff and ignore him, his whole being is going to be focussed on you holding him and getting loose! He won't ever relax like that!

For a very young puppy, 8 to 10 wks, just distract them with a toy. At around 10 to 12 wks I personally start teaching them to differentiate a bit. Keep in mind you can't teach a puppy to not be a puppy and bite things, so it's imperative to provide them with plenty of things they CAN bite! Then you'll be more successful at teaching them what they shouldn't bite... 

And, IMHO, don't grab your puppy to teach them anything! Once youve laid hands on a puppy learning stops and the hand holding them is all they think about! With my puppy I taught her a "stop" command, because for me playing and wrestling with the puppy was mandatory! 

To teach "STOP" just sort of square your body to them and be as loud as you need to to elicit a pause, then give a treat or engage them with a toy. For me it was usually prefaced with me getting a paper towel to sop in blood before reingaging LOL! But if you're firm and you then do something, like grabbing a paper towel or a toy, the puppy will still be engaged and watching you, so he won't see it as an ending, just a pause to switch gears...


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## Chip Blasiole

I haven't read this whole thread, so it might have been mentioned, but when the pup bites, remove yourself from the situation, as opposed to removing the pup from the situation. This is negative reinforcement (but could also be considered negative punishment.) Later, come back to the pup and be sure to praise before his bites, which is positive reinforcement. The reality is with a lot of driven dogs, you just have to keep your cool and wait for some maturity.


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## HaPpY AnImAl LoVeR

Thanks! Do you think having the pup on a leash attached to me and then closing the leash in a door with me on the opposite side of the puppy might work if I could not tether the pup to something or baby gate it away from me? Obviously the leash would be long enough for us both to have some room. I would be doing this to: 1. End the play session as you were talking about. 2. Keep the puppy from getting into trouble (ex. Chewing on things, messing up his potty training, etc.).


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## car2ner

I've closed a door between me and my pup without a tether. The door is only closed for a minute or two. It is just enough time for the pup to think..hmm, that didn't work. Then reunite with the pup and do something you approve of. That worked a couple of times with my boy when he got a bit too wound up and rough.


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## Marylynnb

*a jar of kibble*

This worked for me for bite inhibition, so i thought I'd share in case it can help anyone else. I noticed Caz (at 11 weeks) would be quiet and still and good if my husband or I were sitting on the couch snacking on something (not an uncommon occurrence at our house). I never feed our dogs people food, but my husband cannot resist so Caz learned early to expect tidbits to be thrown his way. I started keeping a closed jar of kibble by the couch and would praise Caz and treat him for being still and good (i.e. not eating me). He learned quickly. I also praised and treated him for gentle mouthing rather than gnawing on me. He's now gentler with all his humans except my husband, who also cannot resist rough-housing with the little cud and deserves what he gets. Good luck!


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## car2ner

Marylynnb said:


> . He's now gentler with all his humans except my husband, who also cannot resist rough-housing with the little cud and deserves what he gets. Good luck!


That is so funny. My sweetheart liked to play rough with our big-boy when he was just a he-pup. We wore leather gloves at first. That meant it was OK to rough house. Then the puppy bite became more of a crunch and gloves don't protect from that, so the gloves got tied to a string and became a tug toy. At five years old my big-boy still loves testing his strength against my hubby when they play tug.


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## dogtreats

Thank you for all your information. You have shared very valuable information to us


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