# Land Shark - When will it end?



## Gracie's My Girl (May 27, 2011)

Gracie is now a little over four months old. Since we got her at eight weeks, everyone has had more than their fair share of attacks. We've reached the point where we can sit around and compare bite marks. 

She transforms into a landshark frequently and while we do redirect her with a toy...the distraction doesn't last long. Feet are so much more interesting! We are trying to survive this stage, but I am dying to know...when did your puppy *stop* doing this?


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

by the time my pup was 4 months old
he wasn't a constant nipper. i remember
when my dog was 6 months old he walked pass
me and nipped/put his mouth around my knee.
there was plenty of room for him to pass without
making any contact. after he mouthed me he continued
into the livingroom, turned and faced me and laid down
with the "what, that's what we do" face. 

one day my GF was practicing Yoga in the livingroom.
i heard her say "don't bite my toes", "hey, don't
bite my pants", "don't bite my hands" and finally
"don't bite my face". i was ROTFL.

hang in there. your pup will out grow the
nipping stage before you lose a part of your
body.


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## StryderPup (May 16, 2009)

I think Stryder stopped at about 6 months


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## Castlemaid (Jun 29, 2006)

She is probably starting teething - someone told me that once that you know that they are teething when they stop trying to bite everything, but I had a puppy that started biting MORE when he got into the teething stage, but did stop at around six months - which is the usual time they outgrow that stage.


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

click this for more ideas to try ----> http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum/puppy-behavior/85888-puppy-biting-teaching-bite-inhibition.html

Plus EXERCISE EXERCISE EXERCISE~

The amount of play and exercise (and training) that was fine for when she was younger is clearly not enough now. Gotta plan more of the car rides to new places, miles more running, and play play play play. 

As long as you are being driven nuts in the house, you know you haven't reached the appropriate amount of exercise your pup needs at this stage in it's life. A good mix of socialization (outside the home), car rides (to new places), meeting new people, new dogs/pups (good meetings only) and new fun trick training will all help focus and keep your puppy happy, engaged and WORN OUT!


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## paulag1955 (Jun 29, 2010)

MaggieRoseLee said:


> As long as you are being driven nuts in the house, you know you haven't reached the appropriate amount of exercise your pup needs at this stage in it's life. A good mix of socialization (outside the home), car rides (to new places), meeting new people, new dogs/pups (good meetings only) and new fun trick training will all help focus and keep your puppy happy, engaged and WORN OUT!


I'm going to have to respectfully disagree with this. I think there are puppies for which the threshold level of exercise required to get them to stop biting would preclude any other activities such as, oh, working, sleeping, showering...at least that was our experience with Shasta. I'm not saying we couldn't have exercised her to that point, just that life beyond puppy intervened.

Shasta was just awful around 4-1/2 months but the biting dropped off rather quickly after that point. I don't think it was a result of anything we did - and we did all the "right" things - I think it was purely developmental. I think all the things we did to try to teach her not to bite were more beneficial to us (oh, look, the biting will stop because we're doing _this_) than to Shasta.


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## kmarti32 (Mar 28, 2011)

OMG! I don't miss that stage. I think my guy let up around the end of the 4th month. He is now 7 months and still does it sometimes but he has learned not to bite so hard. One time he actually slit my daughter's hand open (pretty deep) with his canine tooth because she jerked her hand back. 

It gets better and before you know it you will forget about. I bought my guy a pigs ear when he was about 3 to 4 months old and he left us alone for a whole day! :rofl: I think the trick is to just keep them busy doing something else. 

Good luck with your girl.


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## Wolfiesmom (Apr 10, 2010)

I think Wolfie was around 7 or 8 months when the constant biting stopped. Then he turned into a run by biter. He would run by and bite us on the way by. I think by the time he was 10 or 11 months, the mouthing stopped completely, though at 20 months, he still bites my feet when he sees me trying to leave the house. It's his way of saying "don't leave me here alone"


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

paulag1955 said:


> I'm going to have to respectfully disagree with this. I think there are puppies for which the threshold level of exercise required to get them to stop biting would preclude any other activities such as, oh, working, sleeping, showering...at least that was our experience with Shasta. I'm not saying we couldn't have exercised her to that point, just that life beyond puppy intervened.
> 
> .


I'm just posting from my personal experience with getting THREE GSD puppies thru this stage.

There was always a direct coorelation between my busy life and it getting in the way of my ability to exercise and take my puppy out and about to mentally and physically wear them out.

As soon as I was realizing I was being driven nuts by my puppy and having to yell over and over (angry me) I could also have the 'lightbulb moment' and figure out 'Heck, I didn't take my dog out and about today (yet)'. 

So my choice was aggravation and yelling (and that not really working  ) OR taking my pups out and about OUTSIDE THE HOME for a few hours at least every other day and having the much more 'perfect puppy' that would listen and obey and not be driving me nutso! :wild:


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## paulag1955 (Jun 29, 2010)

MRL, I understand what you're saying and after I thought about it, I don't really disagree. I'm just making the point that there may be a time available/puppy mismatch. The person may be providing as much activity and stimulation as is physically possible but it may not be enough to tire the puppy to the point that it doesn't bite. 

I only bring it up so that people who might be in that situation don't feel as though they're doing something wrong or ought to be doing more. Shasta was a high energy puppy; I work part-time from home and even though I let many other things slide (my garden, housework, time with friends, etc.) I couldn't get her to that point on a regular basis.


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## elisabeth_00117 (May 17, 2009)

Zefra is 19 weeks old and is still biting. It's getting a tad better but she still resorts to using her mouth.

We are re-directing with a tug/toy.

She is just starting to teeth (bleeding gums/teeth).


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

Shasta didnt really start being mouthy until recently actually. But her mouthyness is more along the lines of "hey, love nibbles!" and then she's done. BUT she's also almost a year and a half. I think the biggest problem we have with the biting she was about 5 months old, nipped a little too hard one time, got bopped on the nose out of instinct and she didnt do it again after that. BUT (yes another one) we also had Mia, one of our guests/foster dogs who kept her pretty well entertained.


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## JulieBays (Jun 26, 2011)

paulag1955 said:


> MRL, I understand what you're saying and after I thought about it, I don't really disagree. I'm just making the point that there may be a time available/puppy mismatch. The person may be providing as much activity and stimulation as is physically possible but it may not be enough to tire the puppy to the point that it doesn't bite.
> 
> I only bring it up so that people who might be in that situation don't feel as though they're doing something wrong or ought to be doing more. Shasta was a high energy puppy; I work part-time from home and even though I let many other things slide (my garden, housework, time with friends, etc.) I couldn't get her to that point on a regular basis.



I agree with you and MRL both. I have never had a GSD puppy. I'm amazed at Sasha's energy and need to engage. At the same time, I feel that I could play with her for 5 hours straight and she still would try to bite. She's 15 weeks old today and I am seeing improvement so I can't complain but I understand people's frustration. I don't think it's their fault but also understand that a tired puppy is a happy puppy. It's not easy raising a GSD pup, for anyone.


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## paulag1955 (Jun 29, 2010)

JulieBays said:


> It's not easy raising a GSD pup, for anyone.


Amen to that! I raised three daughters and they were *never* as exhausting as Shasta can be.


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## JulieBays (Jun 26, 2011)

paulag1955 said:


> Amen to that! I raised three daughters and they were *never* as exhausting as Shasta can be.



I raised two sons and as toddlers they were never so much work. LOL


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## mw7 (Dec 15, 2010)

Maya was very bad with this at ~4 months, so much so that we brought in a personal trainer to help. The trainer recommended an immediate halt to playing tug and got us playing the "ouch" and "touch" games. Basically, holding a high reward treat in your closed fist while sitting in front of the dog. If the dog places teeth on your fist, you immediately say "ouch!" and stand up, fold your arms and then look away from the dog for a few seconds. Sit back down and repeat (many many times). Once the dog is getting this, move to the touch game where you show your open palm of one hand while holding the food in the other hand. Once the dog bumps your palm with the nose only, reward lavishly and give the small treat. After about a day, she got this down. She also wanted to paw at our hand as well and we would say a firm no and stand up on that behavior as well. 

We played this game 3 times/day for a solid week and by the end of that week she had improved considerably. After a month of this game at ~ 2 times/day, she had dropped the nipping totally. This behavior has the second advantage of getting her to heel by me or come near me while we are walking, I can say "touch" and hold my palm down and she will come up and nudge it.

For games in lieu of tug, we played a lot of hide and seek with toys and the kids, and also a lot of having her stay and wait while we moved the toy and then releasing her to go get it. The idea was to remove the interactions that involved a lot of mouthy-play directly with us. Naturally, she still had one or two chew toys to destroy on her own. I was able to go back to tug and integrate the "drop it" command as well so I could establish that I was the controller of the game. 

Maya has gotten a lot of exercise from day one, so I knew that this wasn't really tied to that. I would highly recommend the games above and really work at it...and just wait for the butt-head phase about 4 months later when it all comes back again!:crazy:


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## PaddyD (Jul 22, 2010)

Wolfiesmom said:


> I think Wolfie was around 7 or 8 months when the constant biting stopped. Then he turned into a run by biter. He would run by and bite us on the way by. I think by the time he was 10 or 11 months, the mouthing stopped completely, though at 20 months, he still bites my feet when he sees me trying to leave the house. It's his way of saying "don't leave me here alone"


Abby was the same. At 2 she is still a run by biter but she doesn't bite but you DO feel the teeth.


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## Gracie's My Girl (May 27, 2011)

Thanks for all the encouragement and advice! I bought her lots of bully sticks and it is helping to keep her mouth busy. We are giving her plenty of exercise and training as always. It's clear that she goes through phases with her biting. Three days ago...she was going at it like crazy. Today...she hasn't done anything. I'm enjoying the break.


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## CelticGlory (Jan 19, 2006)

Do you know of a local pool you can take your puppy to? Starting on teaching your puppy how to swim might also be away to get her tired as well. Swimming would be fun for both of you and give both of you something to do on these very hot and humid days. I know of one beach that allows dogs where I live its kinda far, but it would be worth taking my puppy to when I get my puppy. Also playing fetch in the backyard, tug, etc. should tire your puppy out.

I remember the biting stage, I wonder if a GSD puppy's bite is the same as a Rottweiler's or more painful?


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