# Biting/Nipping at ankles



## mroutdoorsman (Oct 4, 2010)

How common is it when walking a GSD puppy on a leash for it to try and bite at or nip at your ankles? As Ze'eva hits her terrible 2's of puppy hood she has started to try and challenge me a little more as I have read its pretty common for a 3-6 month old puppy to fight for dominance and attempt to be the alpha.


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## Stosh (Jun 26, 2010)

I think her herding instincts are developing and she's nipping at your ankles to move you along- perfectly normal. And her prey drive is also developing where she wants to chase and bite anything that moves. She's becoming aware of so many drives and instincts, natural behaviors, whatever you want to call it and she has to try them all out. I don't think it's a matter of dominance, she just needs to see what being a gsd is all about- and there's a lot! You might start using NILF, a puppy class, clicker training, etc.


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## Elaine (Sep 10, 2006)

Definitely not dominance in a puppy this age, but very normal biting for one. I was always shocked when I looked down and didn't find my puppy hanging on my pants. It did stop by around six months.


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## Montana Scout (Sep 27, 2010)

my lil turd ripped a 1in hole in my jeans last night... talk about some sharp puppy teeth, but next week he will be 2 months old.. so he's got a lot more nipping to do


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## Stosh (Jun 26, 2010)

Ha- you should see a pair of sweatpants I have! Looks like lace!!


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

sounds normal. i agree its not dominance. Shasta finally stopped nipping at my pants on walks. Now when she knows we're about halfway done with our walk she gets the zoomies though she's learning to control herself as walks are not times for zoomies and crazy puppy. lol.


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## mroutdoorsman (Oct 4, 2010)

Ze'eva does really well on walks on and off leash... I mostly have her on leash right now and her obedience training is going REALLY well that I am doing with her. I train with the same concept and style as Cesar Millan of The Dog Whisperer and it works amazing wonders. Ze'eva can sit, down, recall and "mostly" heel as much as a 3 month old GSD is able to. It is taking a lot of work and training to get her ready for SAR training once she reaches 6-9 months.

Some corrections though she does try and nip or bite back which I am not sure how normal it is but I am guessing for GSD it is overly normal.


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## Caitydid255 (Aug 28, 2010)

Freyja is 4 months and goes through bits and spurts of nipping the heels during walks. She'll be fine for a week then suddenly...BAM...you're yanking a pant leg out of a pup's mouth. I've learned that if we increase the pace, do some heel turns or have a conversation she'll become focused on me and not my pant legs. I am convinced that my neighbors must think I'm crazy.


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## Stosh (Jun 26, 2010)

Biting, mouthing, all normal. That's how they learn, explore and communicate. Stosh is 9 mos now and he's not nipping or biting but he holds my wrist in his mouth very very gently while I'm petting him or putting his training collar on. Your pup will go through all of those stages and she needs to. Sounds like you're doing everything right and are getting to know each other- it's a great trip!


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