# Puppy mouthing/biting



## Bebe (Apr 17, 2011)

I just got me precious Molly who is 2.5 months old. Her first vet visit she was 16.5 pounds. I think she has doubled in two weeks! I can barely pick her up. She is expected to top out at about 100#. She is a large boned "Old Fashioned" GSD. 

That said, she is still a 2.3 mo. puppy. Her mouthing is killing my hand, legs, feet and face. 

My breeder said to try to yell loudly OUCH and turn my back on her as she is a pack animal and doesn't want to be ignored. That not working she said to squeeze her muzzle until she yelps. Not working. I've been told to substitute a toy for my hand/other body parts. Only works when I'm sitting down and have a toy at hand. 

Walking across the room is somewhat dangerous because of those sharp little teeth.

I have been laying on the floor with her scratching her belly, which she loves, and when she bites me say OUCH! NO BITE! Worked for about 15 minutes. Then it was a game.

I have 5 grown kids and 10 grandchildren. We're having a family vacation at the beach and have rented a big house of course. I will be the only one there with a dog. A land shark and 8 of the grandchildren are 5 and under.

Needless to say, I am one worried grandma. I have rented a small beach house for 3 of the weeks and 1 large house for the family week. I will be alone most of the time with friends coming and staying days or a week. They all know Molly will be there.

She will be just 4 months old when the vacation begins. So when does this mouthing stop/get better/respond to a verbal command? Is there any hope for this week with my family?

I have purchased a fairly large "exercise pen" which is just an 8 paneled wire (heavy gauge) that you can position as you like and has a gate for entry and exit. I don't want to keep her there all the time. The 3 weeks I'll have her alone I know there will be lots of beach walking and would love for her to use this opportunity to socialize with other people and dogs. 

I've tried to Google this and found this forum. I've been reading and I think that you are the people that can answer this for me. Is she too young to train "NO BITE"? Do I dare let her around the 5 & 6 year olds? I don't want them to be afraid of dogs, especially large dogs.

This is a very large house (sleeps 24) so we have two floors, 2 kitchens, etc. and we can have a room just for her with the "pen" when we are home but not outside. I plan to kennel her when we go out to the beach. I am a very fair skinned old lady so I won't be "sun bathing" too long.

I've jumped off the bunny trail. Back to it.

How about this mouthing? Any suggestions, ideas, help, medications for me :wild: you can suggest?


----------



## Bebe (Apr 17, 2011)

I am so sorry that initial request was so dang long! I'm wordy. Just slap me.


----------



## Elaine (Sep 10, 2006)

Sorry, no pity for people that complain about puppies biting as that's what they do. The best thing you can do is exercise her a lot, keep shoving toys in her mouth, hang in there for a few more months until she out grows it, and keep anyone away from her that doesn't want to get bitten. It's best if you develop a sense of humor about it so you can brag to your friends about the scratches on your arms and legs in the mean time.


----------



## lizzyjo (Jan 6, 2011)

I totally agree with Elaine. Ruger is 4 1/2 months and is getting his adult teeth. He is so much less mouthy. I would crate the dog while the young ones are around Walk him while our a the family house alot. good luck...


----------



## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

when my dog nipped i use to hold him by
some neck fur and say "no biting". then i would
touch his face. if he nipped i said "no biting".
if he didn't nip i praised and petted. i'm not sure if my
method worked because my pup always nipped.
i think they just grow out of it.

you should use your vacation time with the pup
as a training and socializing time. get some or all
of the people there involved.


----------



## zyppi (Jun 2, 2006)

May not be helpful, but may reassure you to know that's what little German Shepherd puppies do!

Little landsharks.

With patience and redirection, pup will out grow it.


----------



## RazinKain (Sep 13, 2010)

Being a 'German Shepherd Owner' is definately a hard won title in this respect. Be patient, the biting will stop with age.


----------



## Bebe (Apr 17, 2011)

Thank you all for your suggestions. I knew they were land sharks and I have been trying the give them a toy and not your hand. I was hoping there might be something I didn't know. I've had many dog breeds and even my St Bernard didn't bite this much!

It is comforting to know an 2-2.5 months this will decrease. I bought another book on GSD last night. The first one was worthless. I will have her at the beach alone with me for 3 of the 4 weeks. I planned a lot of walking and people interaction. There are some dogs on the beach but most people do not bring their dogs.

My neighborhood is filled with dog walkers do I can socialize her when we return.

So.....hand in there for another 2 months. Yeah. That is not long at all.

Again, my thanks to all of you.


----------



## Miss Molly May (Feb 19, 2010)

:rofl: sorry couldn't help it!!!! One of my first posts was the same one. We thought we had a devil puppy with aggression. After about 4 months she finally stopped! Now at 17 months old we have the sweetest, friendliest pup ever. Just be patient


----------



## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

We have a sticky thread with lots of information to help you: http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum/training-our-puppy-basic/134407-teaching-bite-inhibition.html


----------



## Rott-n-GSDs (Jul 7, 2010)

The "yelping" method did NOT work with my little landshark. She just got more amped up and bit HARDER.

The only thing that worked would be to shove a toy in her mouth that she could bite on. If she got too revved up, I would halt play and ignore her as best I could. Redirecting with some obedience work (teaching sit, down, other tricks, etc.) and treats can help give a break from the biting, too.


----------



## warpwr (Jan 13, 2011)

You just have to really scream OUCH a LOT louder. Bloody murder loud if you need to. You have to get their attention.

Instead of teaching Miss Molly 'no' bite, we did the extremely loud OUCH thing so that now she has a very soft mouth with hands, legs etc. We think the soft mouth with humans is important but that's just a personal preference.

At first she would stop biting hard for me but not my wife. When Diane stepped up the volume, it finally started working.

Miss Molly is just 4 months old and now bites like an experienced old bird dog.


----------



## Rott-n-GSDs (Jul 7, 2010)

warpwr said:


> You just have to really scream OUCH a LOT louder. Bloody murder loud if you need to. You have to get their attention.


I personally feel it just doesn't work with every dog. No need to scream your head off... just try a different method.


----------



## Bebe (Apr 17, 2011)

Cassidy's Mom said:


> We have a sticky thread with lots of information to help you: http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum/training-our-puppy-basic/134407-teaching-bite-inhibition.html



Thanks. I checked out this one and found a few more. I'll give them a try.

Has anybody tried to correct with the sound device that only the dogs can hear with a firm no. Are they too young at 3 mos? Our neighbor has a bark alarm for her two dogs. It is like a bird house and is mounted outdoors.

I noticed when I was playing ball in our driveway and the blood was dripping from my fingertips, literally, where her two would bark and trigger that she would NO Bite for a bit. Is that very hurtful to their ears? Would that be mean?


----------



## Josie/Zeus (Nov 6, 2000)

Always have a toy ready, I got these squeeky toys, he loves them.










In the meantime, get a box of bandaid and a huge tube of neosporin!

Odin hasn't completely stop biting- don't get me wrong I get very irritated sometimes when he bites me. I send him to his crate.

It will stop, it will stop, it will stop- *sigh* yep, I have to keep telling myself that too.


----------



## NelsonsForShelby (Apr 6, 2011)

This post was very helpful to me! I thought we had major issues with Shelby's biting but I'm learning more and more that's it's normal and not really correctable. We do our best with toys, but she prefers to "make" her own out of shoes, sticks outside, and the cats! I can't wait for her to get a little older and show her true companionship! Everyone says she so cute now, but they don't live with her! I'm just patiently waiting for some maturity and training to kick in! Thank you for this post!


----------



## twlinks (Sep 6, 2012)

*Maybe there is hope yet!!!*

Wow...I'm not sure whether this thread is saving my life or my sweet/devil little girl Ebba. She is my first GS and I love her to pieces, however, the mouthing/nipping/flesh removal she insists on has really been wearing me down. She turns 3 months this week and I've seriously thought I may have made a mistake in thinking I could keep up with her from puppy to adult. 

Reading this thread gives me some hope. I've tried the hand around the mouth thing...she thinks it's a game. I've tried firmly but gently pinning her head to the floor...very marginal results. I've yelled OUCH but she still keeps coming back. My arms/fingers/chin sometimes look like I played in a barbed wire fence.

She's going to outgrow this, right? Lordy, I hope so.


----------



## m1953 (May 7, 2012)

The good news is by 4 to 4 1/2 months if you really work with your new pup the biting "land shark" stage should be coming to an end. My arms looked like they went through a meet grinder when Nala was a that age. It does end but you need to work with her to end it as quick as possable. Walking away did help as well as throwing her one of her "ok to chew toys" to divert the biting to something acceptable. At 5 and 1/2 months she still likes to mouth when we rough play, but she is so gentle now, it's hard to believe its less than 3 months sine the biting stage. They do learn.


----------



## m1953 (May 7, 2012)

By the way when she was in the biting stage and my very young Grandkids where over to the house, I made sure she got an extra long walk and extra long playtime to tire her out before they got here. Than I kept her on her leash with me so she was easier to control even while in the house


----------



## dbellamore (Feb 10, 2005)

All Good Adive. I've been though 7 puppies and they've all been landshards, some more docile than others but all of then nippy.

I was diagnoxed with cancer in November and one of my bucket wishes was another puppy.I knew the nipping was an issue (with the cheno) so I went out and bought myself a velco-type carpell tunnel brace.I wear it on my left arm. 

I use it in conjunction with all the "controlling nippin" advice. The brace is a good alternative for me until his mouth gets gentle. Thi pup considers me a litter mate and obeys me way less than husband. 

I'm working on those issue, too. While more time consuming,regaining my status in the pack is much easier, I've been thought it a few times. He's a quick lurner. We start school on the 20th of sempter, at least the owners start. Dogs aren't allowed unti next lesson.

This is my last GSD, I really want to enjoy him


----------



## Sunflowers (Feb 17, 2012)

twlinks said:


> Wow...I'm not sure whether this thread is saving my life or my sweet/devil little girl Ebba. She is my first GS and I love her to pieces, however, the mouthing/nipping/flesh removal she insists on has really been wearing me down. She turns 3 months this week and I've seriously thought I may have made a mistake in thinking I could keep up with her from puppy to adult.
> 
> Reading this thread gives me some hope. I've tried the hand around the mouth thing...she thinks it's a game. I've tried firmly but gently pinning her head to the floor...very marginal results. I've yelled OUCH but she still keeps coming back. My arms/fingers/chin sometimes look like I played in a barbed wire fence.
> 
> She's going to outgrow this, right? Lordy, I hope so.


Yeah, she will. You may still see the scars, though. I was thinking just today that it is nice to get kisses instead of gatorings


----------



## apenn0006 (Jun 22, 2012)

we went through redirection, negative reinforcement, positive reinforcement, ignoring, yelling and I can't say one thing worked more than the other. Around 3 mos he stopped being so mouthy and now that he is 4 mos and teething his biting is picking up a little more again. His bite inhibition is great now and there is hardly any pressure but where his little teeth are still so sharp it makes it painful. I am confident that he'll stop once he's out of the teething stage. 

At this age, the main problem we have with biting is with herding instincts while walking or running around the house. For some reason he cannot resist biting at your feet when you're wearing tennis shoes.


----------



## Sunflowers (Feb 17, 2012)

That is prey drive, not herding instinct. He is hunting your feet.


----------

