# Bit my face



## LuisSD619 (Jul 13, 2015)

Hey guy's was laying down rough housing with my puppy, I noticed he was biting harder than usual and all of a sudden he snapped at my face... How do I correct this? I attached pic of how he left me..


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## Chip18 (Jan 11, 2014)

Holy crap!! I have never had that happen?? At this point you can forget discipline, as it's way after the fact!

Best step going forward is whatever "you" were doing...don't do it again! Hardcore lesson and making an "assumption" here, is dogs aren't allow to "play" in the house!

I was a "Boxer" guy first long before I got my GSD so that is "not" something I ascribe to! But it is things I have heard Pros say!


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## Springbrz (Aug 13, 2013)

How old is your puppy? Land shark phase??? First suggestion not knowing age: Do NOT play with your puppy while laying down. Makes the face way to accessible.


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## LuisSD619 (Jul 13, 2015)

He is 4 months now


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## LuisSD619 (Jul 13, 2015)

Yeah I learned my lesson I guess, kind of shocked though that he did that.


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## Baillif (Jun 26, 2013)

Depends on the circumstances. You guys were screwing around he could have easily gotten over stimulated and bit harder than he should have, or it's possible he has nerve issues and you freaked him out and he decided to nail you out of fear or anger. Hard to know without seeing.

Either way if someone gets bit in the face you can hardly call it unprovoked huh? You had to be in his face for it to happen.


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## DutchKarin (Nov 23, 2013)

Kind of weird to ask this in a poll. For whatever reason, your pup crossed the line. Assume it was your fault. Sorry, 95% of the time it is our fault for not reading the dog well, assuming the dog is like some other dog you knew in the past, just wanting to do what makes us feel good and missing the cues. He is a pup but you want to learn from this. Puppy classes are only as good as the person teaching and the other people in the class. I am a big proponent of investing in one on one lessons with a very GSD/protection breed savvy trainer. You will get much more on reading your dog and learning how to train your dog. So the answer is, train train train with good people.


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## KayDub (May 4, 2014)

My girl bit my face when she was around the same age. Totally not her fault, she was sleeping I gave one too many goodnight kisses, Bam! She got me back good by putting my whole face in her mouth, it was obvious she felt very bad and didn't put any pressure behind the bite. You are not alone, I'm sure it's happened to quite a few of us over bearing parents.


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## amburger16 (May 22, 2015)

If I hadn't of had such good reaction time, I think I would of looked like that a couple times. Bear during the land shark phase continuously snapped at my face when really excited. Thought it pierced my ear a couple times too :/ ouch


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## Sunflowers (Feb 17, 2012)

Ummm Yeah. 

Discipline yourself. You should not be roughhousing with, and overstimulating a GSD puppy.


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## carmspack (Feb 2, 2011)

YOU stop acting like a dog and the dog will stop treating you like another dog.


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## LuisSD619 (Jul 13, 2015)

Yeah I agree I'm not blaming him was just kinda shocked.


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## LuisSD619 (Jul 13, 2015)

Yeah it was my fault I forgot my baby had super sharp baby teeth lol.


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## Nigel (Jul 10, 2012)

Yup, keep your face out of harms way, lol our female Tuke liked to target noses as a pup. She didn't need to be ramped up either.


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## dhaney81 (Nov 5, 2014)

I agree with everyone else. It was your fault, but I definitely understand it. I used to do try to rough house/wrestle with my dog but I realized that it was probably the worst thing I could be doing with him at a time when he was teething/biting and nipping everything. When you're trying to teach a dog to stop biting, it's a little counter productive to wrestle and expect him not to bite. You should wait a while on the rough housing, as I'm doing the same.


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## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

They don't understand our "dog play" and the result is miscommunication as you now know.


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## Chip18 (Jan 11, 2014)

Boxers are safer for this kinda stuff they don't tend to bite folks in the face...now getting "punched" in the face or eye, whole diffrent story!


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## UWMsGirl (Apr 19, 2015)

Sorry that happened but yeah it was your fault. I do not play like that with my girl because I know she can hurt me. Best thing to do is don't put yourself in that situation again. Poll option should included "human training classes". :happyboogie:


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## annabirdie (Jul 3, 2015)

I don't put my face near my puppy's for that reason, I could totally see her doing something like this if she was overexcited. I wouldn't overthink it, it doesn't mean he's an aggressive dog or anything, just be more careful how you play with him.


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## annabirdie (Jul 3, 2015)

Just noticed your poll-way too late to discipline at this point but your reaction was likely very noticeable to the pup and he probably knew something went very wrong.


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## Kyleigh (Oct 16, 2012)

There's nothing wrong with rough housing with your dog BUT it's ALWAYS BEST to do it when the dog knows some commands (and I mean KNOWS those commands).

I didn't rough house like that with Ky when she was a pup, but while she was growing up I taught her words like STOP / LEAVE IT / ENOUGH / DONE, etc. 

Once she was about 8 months old we would start rough housing and I would start to incorporate one of the commands. For example we would play with a toy (a long stuffed snake) and she would be "killing" it and I would be holding one end and then I would just stop moving and stay STOP. 

Then I practiced with leave it / done / enough, etc. 

Once she had these down pat, I felt it was safer for me to move in with my hands (knowing full well if those teeth caught me / my shirt it was MY fault). 

She really loves it when I chase her around the yard, give her tail a quick tug and run the other way ... I also grab her by the scruff on both sides and make funny noises and her and then take off running - she's chasing me. 

I've been nailed a couple of times through my long-sleeved shirt. Nothing serious, no punctures, no blood just a bit harder than comfortable. As soon as it was too hard, I would say STOP and we would take a breather. 

I'm pretty sure she didn't feel bad about it LOL ... we were having to much fun to begin with, and things got a bit amped up. No different than a bunch of toddlers in the playground with lots of sugar!


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## Lilie (Feb 3, 2010)

I voted puppy lessons because that would be good for both of you.


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## sourdough44 (Oct 26, 2013)

Yeah, nothing wrong with classes and lessons. Just skimming through I don't know all the particulars of the event. Maybe 'over stimulated', and the heavy play accidentally turned into a bite?

All I add is play defensively, if worked up keep watch if things get bity. If behavior like that(more serious bites) becomes intentional I'd be coming down harder on him, going a little 'old school'.


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

I didn't vote. 

I had a puppy that was 13 or 14 weeks when he went to his new home. He was so cute that I would pick his little but up and bring him up to my face and every single time he would bite me in the nose. never did the blood thing though. I told his new folks, "he bites." But he grew out of it and that wasn't a problem for him. Most of my puppies do not do this though, so it is kind of individual. It does not mean he is defective at all. 

It just means that this pup will need to grow out of this and learn not to go for the schnoz. You can teach him to be gentle and careful. And he will mature. 

Puppy classes with a competent instructor will help you have realistic, age appropriate expectations for your puppy, it should teach you some basic communication skills, and it should teach you to teach him what you want for him to do, while being around other people and pups in a controlled environment. Definitely a good idea. I just do not think that this incident would make me rush for the classes. Classes should really be a given.


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## sourdough44 (Oct 26, 2013)

Yes, with many/most puppies if you hold them up to your face they will reach out and try a nip. It's about the same if you put your face up to them while spooled up on the ground. I'd call that a rather normal behavior.

As posted commonly, they will grow through much of it. As the pup gets older if it's always coming around and trying to bite, they need to start learning that's not right. Even if you were to have a training session one day, it all continues the next and then the week after.


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## Dalko43 (Mar 30, 2015)

Sorry that you got bit. Could you be more specific about how this happened? Did he snarl and bare his teeth as he bit you? Was he biting/mouthing playfully and got carried away? 

What was his reaction after you realized you were bleeding?

As others have said, what's done is done, so there is nothing to discipline at this point...he wouldn't understand why he was being disciplined at this point, so there is no point. Dogs have a short attention span on that kind of stuff.

Honestly your best bet going forward is to correct him on any bad behavior in the future and reward for good behavior and obedience.

Also, I would take the poll down, since discipline is not relevant to something that already happened.


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