# 4.5 month old drawing blood



## CAR83 (Jul 3, 2013)

So my pup is still biting...yes I've read everything on here and everything else I can find on the subject! But I'm not sure what is normal and what is not. She bites very hard at times(blood, bruises) and she does this several times through the day. I've tried different methods, one being a timeout in her crate so she can calm down. This method seems to work the best. But she has figured out that if she lays on her back she can fight us off. So she is snapping and refuses to go into the crate without a very painful struggle. If you walk away, she jumps up and will bite our legs very hard. Her hair on her back stands up and she will sometimes curl her lips. Is this fear? Aggression? A future problem? I tend to think its fear so I will just speak softly to her(no yelling) and try to rub her belly but this only works for a few seconds. She is so smart and I'm in over my head with this biting! My dad avoids her because she has drawn blood and I actually believe she scares him. Which can't help the situation. There is no training in this area as I live in the country. So this site and google are my trainers. I would love input!! Thanks!


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## Chantald (Jul 23, 2013)

My 5 1/2 month old is still nippy too, and also does the lip curl and roll on his back/side when I'm kicking him off the couch, though his hackles don't go up. I'm sorry I don't have much advice, but know that you are not alone LOL


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## Harbud (Aug 27, 2013)

This is not ok behaviour for a puppy to draw blood repeatedly or bruise. I can say pretty confidently that if she is learning this as a method of communication now, she WILL use it as an adult too. I would not say she will be vicious but she will be certainly be inappropriate. As a larger dog that will become an even bigger issue as Im sure you can imagine.
Crate time outs are ideal but as you have been experiencing she will get pretty savvy about it as well, leave her on a lead so she is easier to move when you need to. Do not relent, one bite = "that's enough", next bite = , "too bad" and into the crate for 30 seconds. Keep at it what it she will start to understand what it means. Also I would think that you need to consult with a behaviourist, hopefully one will come along on here and offer you some better advice. I expect they would have a ton of question about her litter/littermate, the age you brought her home, parents history (if you know), etc.


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## Msmaria (Mar 2, 2013)

If I could post pics of my arms when my dog was your dogs age you would be horrified. (and that is with me telling him no). He ripped quite a few pairs of jeans. He did this even though he is not considered a regular hyper german shepherd. His trainer said he was very calm, but boy did he always want to play bite with just me. When he did it i would tell him gentle and try to redirect him. hes 8 months now on the 16th and he has not bitten me hard in almost 2 months. hes very gentle now. Now the only time he puts my hand in his mouth is to gently take me to his water bowl when hes out of water or when im on the trail and he thinks im falling to far behind from the group . 

My advice redirect him with a toy as I found Dexter did this when he wanted to play, firmly tell him no when he bites your arm. Yes i did squirt mine with water when he didnt stop. got to the point when i would just have to get the water bottle and he would immediately stop jumping up to bite me (very smart dog, he learned fast). as for the crate. I taught him to "go to his bed" by using the clicker and treats. (pieces of hot dog). Then I would lock the crate door and feed him a few pieces through the wires, and then let him out, extending the time gradually.

Do know that my dogs hackles would go up when he was excited or scared, but he has never curled his lips at us, to date. So maybe someone else can help you answer why hes doing that.


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## Kovinator (Mar 24, 2013)

When the pup starts biting, try and immediately substitute a bully stick or chew toy (if it's a matter of him teething.) Sometimes I would pick him up and hold him close to me so he couldn't bite and try and calm him down. My dog would nip pretty good at that age, then he lost his baby teeth and it seemed to stop. Adult teeth aren't as pointy either! Good luck


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## JakodaCD OA (May 14, 2000)

exercise exercise and more exercise,,a tired puppy is a good puppy


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## bellske (Jul 30, 2013)

my pup still bites a decent amount but its calmed a lot.

I had tried yelping which was useless after the first few times as she just dove back in with more intensity, redirecting to toys for 1 second then back on the hands even if you were sitting to start playing. now I just get up and walk away and if I do ever put her in the crate for timeout I invite her to go in herself( I don't force her in the crate I want her to willing go there), if anyone else is in the room they're not to interact with her if someone has left because of ankle/hand biting, because she just won't learn even though the teenage girls think its mean lol

An issue I found too was my wife would let her "suckle" her fingers and had been doing it since the day we came home, as soon as I found this out if I let the dog suckle my finger her biting stopped as my hand was where she wanted it lol so now all hands in mouth activities are over which helped immensely.


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## Saphire (Apr 1, 2005)

JakodaCD OA said:


> exercise exercise and more exercise,,a tired puppy is a good puppy


Yep yep and yep!!

Perfectly normal for a young GSD puppy with lots of energy. 

I would use treats for crating so you eliminate the fight to get puppy into crate.


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## Chantald (Jul 23, 2013)

I also will say exercise helps. The minute my pup starts nipping, we head out for a walk. We generally do about 3 hour long walks a day and it helps tons. 

Once my pup hit about 4 months, his nipping slowed down a lot. But it's still there, and were still doing loads of redirecting with appropriate chewables. He mainly nips when he needs to wear out some energy and wants to play, when he is being told to get off the couch, and sometimes when I'm putting on/taking off his leash. 

I thought at first I had a crazy puppy until I read the bite inhibition thread here and realized German shepherds are just a particularly sharky breed.


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## Greybeards (Sep 18, 2013)

*Exercise*

I have found out that my 4 month old puppy will not bite nearly as much when I get home from work, do some obedance, throw a stick for her, and go for a walk.

The excercise helps alot,

GL


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