# 11 week old Puppy Biting/Barking



## GSDloving (Aug 10, 2011)

I have had my german shepherd puppy for a little over a month now, we got him when he was 5 weeks, the man who gave him to us lied about his age. By the time I found out how young he was it was too late to take him back to his mother because there was a chance she could end up cleaning him so roughly she would kill him. It was a hard decision to make but I kept him and took extra care of him the first two weeks.

He is now a little over 11 weeks old. He is overall well behaved. I have taught him sit, down, shake, and currently working on stay. He walks pretty well on a leash and he is very smart and never runs away from me when he is off a leash. 

Our problem is...he bites a lot. There are times when I will be petting him and he is fine next thing I know he is trying to nibble on me, when I say no bite he barks and bites harder. The barking is a problem as well, I have tried ignoring him and he will eventually stop but ends up doing it again. He does it mostly when I tell him no bite. With the biting I have walked away and ignored him but that doesn't seem to phase him. I have tried bitter apple spray which he actually ends up licking and enjoying. I have also tried redirecting him to a toy. I have given him chew bones that as soon as he finishes he moves on to my arms. I have put him in time out and I will say "time out" but when I let him back out it's like he goes crazier. 

Is this just a phase that'll pass? I know puppies bite but I think after all the stuff I have done he would eventually stop.


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## Eiros (Jun 30, 2011)

He is still really young and the biting phase will take awhile. Look into getting him into a training class or a puppy class when he's a few weeks older. It's important for a young puppy (who was taken from it's mother too early and didn't learn proper manners from it's siblings) to learn bite inhibition. With Jack we just ignored the biting and stopped play and it worked over the course of a couple months. He is still mouthy but I have seen an improvement. Lots of other members here have had success with other methods, too!
As far as the barking goes, we ignore Jack if he barks at us because it's important for a puppy to know that he cannot "command" you to do what he wants. As far as barking at other dogs and people, getting him socialized is going to help A LOT. He needs to be socialized very heavily and gain confidence in other environments.


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## GSDloving (Aug 10, 2011)

Thanks for the reply! He gets his second set of shots on monday, so I am going to sign up for puppy classes at the dog daycare I work at or at petsmart in the next 2-3 weeks. Also looking into therapy dog training.

Glad to know I am not the only one with a mouthy pup. I will make sure I refrain from playing with him also. 

Socializing is a huge thing with shepherds, he has been introduced to a lot of people just not dogs yet because of his vaccines. So as soon as he is in the clear I will be taking him to dog parks daily.


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## Mre2me (Jul 25, 2011)

How did you teach him shake if he has constantly bites?

I am having that trouble now. Every time I reach out for my puppies hand (10 weeks now), she bites me. I tried to give her a treat so her mouth is full while I grab her paw, but she never gets it this way. Even after doing this like 50 times, there is still no response to "paw" and she still bites when I try to touch her paws.

I don't know how else to teach her.


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## PaddyD (Jul 22, 2010)

He is a GSD and that is what GSD puppies do for at least a couple months.
You got your puppy early .... young puppies learn bite inhibition (control) from their siblings and mother and yours did not have enough of an opportunity to get that education. So you will have to teach him. Try redirecting to a toy as much as you can. Also try the yelp OUCH and pull your hand away. I am sure you will get much more advice here.


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

This should help ---> http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum/puppy-behavior/85888-puppy-biting-teaching-bite-inhibition.html


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## GSDloving (Aug 10, 2011)

I was taught to get a dog to shake by moving a treat along one side of their face, from the front of the nose back to the ear and a little farther. Eventually as the dogs head moves backwards and to the side to follow the treat one paw will go up. Grab the paw, say "shake", and give him the treat. It's similar to raising a treat behind a dogs head and their butt automatically goes down to teach them "sit".

Sometimes my pup will try to bite me while trying to get him to shake, he will even get frustrated and bark sometimes too. I don't give him the treat until he can hand me his paw without biting, if he keeps barking I turn around and ignore him. 

Also your pup is still so young too, I trained mine at 9 weeks and I think I was just really lucky to get him to catch on so quickly. I wouldn't worry about teaching him shake so young, there is plenty of time for training! Just remember lots and lots of treats when trying to teach something new


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## sable123 (Jul 11, 2010)

Pups that leave the litter too early miss out on the manners that mom and the other pups teach each other. So you have to be consistent and firm with this pup about how to behave because his mother was not there to discipline him. I would consult a professional. He sounds fairly dominant so take that into account. Mouthing is a normal puppy behavior but when they leave the litter that young you have to step back and do things the way mom would have.


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## Stella's Mom (Mar 8, 2011)

I had exactly the same situation as you and got my girl at 4.5 weeks. I was convinced that she would never stop biting and I used to wrap my hands in boxing tape before attempting to put her harness on.

She used to get pretty nasty and mean from the time she was 5 weeks to 9 weeks old. She would growl and snarl sometimes if you picked her up. I can't tell you how many times I had to scruff her and scruff her good so she would learn. I thought my dog was going to be mean and it would cause me a lot of worry and stress not knowing if she would grow out of it.

Good News is headed your way. She pretty much stopped biting altogether by the time she was 20-22 weeks. We did spray her mouth with bitter apple starting at about the time she was 17 weeks. That helped to slow down the biting until it came to the halt at just about 5 months. She is now the sweetest dog in the world. It is hard to believe she ever growled or snarled at me in her younger days. She will turn 7 months on August 22nd. The vet and my trainer have both told told me that she seems to have a wonderful temperament, especially for such a young dog.


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