# Help my sweet landshark won't stop jumping and biting



## Yggdrasil (May 13, 2014)

Argus is 4.5 months old and 60lbs. He has recently taken to jumping on people and other dogs. He becomes very excited and jumps. He also does it to get attention or play. We have tried removing all attention and waiting till he has all four feet on the floor and praise...no change. We have tried placing a palm in his face when he is in process of jumping up...no change. We have tried pinching the toes. Leaving the room. Tethering and not approaching till all feet are on the floor. We have tried scruffing (he now avoids the scruff and dodges) We have tried bringing a knee up or pushing him away...still nothing. To add to the problem is he not only is unresponsive to any of these tactics, his land shark tendencies come out. He starts nipping at clothing or lightly biting/mouthing the thighs and other sensitive areas. He is getting his adult teeth and boy are they sharp! The more he is ignored the more insistent he gets. Do you have any suggestions for us? He starts his second puppy obedience class on Monday.


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## Yggdrasil (May 13, 2014)

This is the land shark. My monkey boy Argus Von Folkvangr.


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## CDR Shep Mama (Mar 14, 2015)

Aww he's so handsome!

Commander is terrible about jumping, or I should say he _was_ but now he only does it badly and often to my husband ( who refuses to correct him when he does it, so it's his own fault really ). To get Commander to stop I started stepping into his jump or toward him when he would jump up on me, I read somewhere that it asserts dominance and tells them you're in charge, blah blah blah but really, I think he just got sick of having to back up to remain balanced which is why he stopped doing it to me. I would/do verbally praise him for a "sit" afterward. He sometimes gets too excited and forgets but I just step into his jump and he will stop and sit.

Good luck figuring out how to keep him down, I know every dog is different!!


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## Nikitta (Nov 10, 2011)

He's gorgeous! This method might sound harsh and many disagree with me on it. Take him someplace soft like a lawn and when he jumps up on you flip him on his back.


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## katieliz (Mar 29, 2007)

Oh you got that right Nikitta, I HIGHLY disagree with you. OP, please do not take the chance of a possible paralyzingly injury by "flipping" your dog on his back, no matter WHAT kind of surface you're on. That is just TERRIBLE advice which could have catastrophic consequences.


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## Nikitta (Nov 10, 2011)

Oh please. Stop overdramatizing. It took maybe two flips to get my dogs to stop jumping up on me


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## Nikitta (Nov 10, 2011)

And guess what? When they tried to bite me as puppies, I slapped their nose. I never use anything but my hand. And guess what? They stopped biting and jumping on me. What a concept. I also don't allow them growling at me. I'm the boss of my house. I would never beat a dog. I would never use anything but my hand to correct them. BUT I don't tolerate biting, growling and jumping. If redirecting works for you, go for it. BUT I have seen SO many people who get this breed them let them turn into monsters.


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## Steve Strom (Oct 26, 2013)

Yggdrasil said:


> Argus is 4.5 months old and 60lbs. He has recently taken to jumping on people and other dogs. He becomes very excited and jumps. He also does it to get attention or play. We have tried removing all attention and waiting till he has all four feet on the floor and praise...no change. We have tried placing a palm in his face when he is in process of jumping up...no change. We have tried pinching the toes. Leaving the room. Tethering and not approaching till all feet are on the floor. We have tried scruffing (he now avoids the scruff and dodges) We have tried bringing a knee up or pushing him away...still nothing. To add to the problem is he not only is unresponsive to any of these tactics, his land shark tendencies come out. He starts nipping at clothing or lightly biting/mouthing the thighs and other sensitive areas. He is getting his adult teeth and boy are they sharp! The more he is ignored the more insistent he gets. Do you have any suggestions for us? He starts his second puppy obedience class on Monday.


Have you tried correcting him with the leash? If you've been going to obedience classes with him, it could fit in with what you've been doing there. The heeling etc.. you've been doing with the leash. Off is just another piece.


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## lexiz (Apr 4, 2015)

Nikitta said:


> And guess what? When they tried to bite me as puppies, I slapped their nose. I never use anything but my hand. And guess what? They stopped biting and jumping on me. What a concept. I also don't allow them growling at me. I'm the boss of my house. I would never beat a dog. I would never use anything but my hand to correct them. BUT I don't tolerate biting, growling and jumping. If redirecting works for you, go for it. BUT I have seen SO many people who get this breed them let them turn into monsters.


Amen, Nikitta!


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## MamaofLEO (Aug 8, 2014)

Whichever method you use (we used the turn-away-and-sometimes-hip-bump), being consistent, is my advice. When Leo was between 4-7 months, those were the worst times! When we first started to address Leo's jumpy/mouthy behaviour, were told every method under the sun and used them all; unfortunately each family member who came in contact with Leo had their own idea of doing a different method (got to love the Caesar roll  supplemented with treat reinforcement :-O) Our trainer was explicit---use what works and have everyone (including guests) integrate it into routine (for us--turn-away). We also kept a lead on him for a while, and sometimes still pop it on if he is rambunctious (although just read on the boards that cutting the loop of lead/leash makes it much safer-simply genius!). With Leo the landsharky, we continue to see improvement, and as Steve stated, classes will also instill self-discipline in pup! We now see Leo almost check himself during excited times (like he wants to jump but knows not to) and now go into an _*automatic sit*_ <---never thought we'd get to this!!! Consistency and fair discipline that works (and obedience or group classes with other pups) are the philosophies that we use. Good luck!!


Leo's auto sit


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## Yggdrasil (May 13, 2014)

I tried stepping into the jump, it was effective coupled with a sit command, though he still nips. I do agree everyone in the household needs to be consistent. We do keep a lead on him and the obedience classes are helping. We still have a lot of work to do together. Thank you all for your advice.


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## mjackson0902 (Sep 14, 2015)

Nikita can you give the specifics on the "flipping" you are talking about...like how to do it without getting bitten? LJ will jump on you and I have tried everything. When we correct with ignoring, stepping into, or correction with his leash lead on he just hops down and nips at out feet as if say "HAHA, I AM STILL HERE."


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## Stonevintage (Aug 26, 2014)

I was just remembering this time with mine. I used the gentle but firm squeeze on the muzzle with a firm "No", same with paw squeeze for jumping up. Sometimes she was just so full of it that wouldn't work, so I brought out the "Big Gun".

I don't know why this works but it has with all 4 of the GSD's I've owned. I make the broom the bad guy. I've never struck them with it. As an introduction - I got the broom and held it in one hand and stamped my foot and said a firm no. They think it's a game at first but do not like the fast moves I can do with the broom and the distance I can keep them at. If they try to bite it they get stickery bristle ends poking their sensitive nose and they don't like that. 

After a few of these encounters with "The Enforcer" if I said "No" and they didn't stop - if I even looked like I was headed to the laundry room to get the broom - they pulled themselves back to sanity and quit the carp!


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## Longfisher (Feb 28, 2013)

Nikitta said:


> And guess what? When they tried to bite me as puppies, I slapped their nose. I never use anything but my hand. And guess what? They stopped biting and jumping on me. What a concept. I also don't allow them growling at me. I'm the boss of my house. I would never beat a dog. I would never use anything but my hand to correct them. BUT I don't tolerate biting, growling and jumping. If redirecting works for you, go for it. BUT I have seen SO many people who get this breed them let them turn into monsters.


Yep, what she said above, 

LF


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## zyppi (Jun 2, 2006)

ah... a teenager!

my approach would be to train a behavior - whether sit, down or any of the basics with high value treats. then, when pup bounds forth, use that command to redirect and change behavior.

good luck.


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