# Pup latching on to arm and won't let go



## Knight

My 9wk old is great overall. Learns commands fast and rarely has had accidents in the house. 

However, his play biting has gone to the next level. He now latches on to the wrist area HARD and will NOT let go. Redirection does NOT work, nor does yelping in pain (the yelping worked when he was 7 wks). He bites harder if I yelp. I taught him the "leave it"command with treats and a clicker. When i put a treat down and say leave it, he backs off. But that command only works with treats.

He has lots of toys and we run him around our backyard 3 times a day until he is tired. He is grabbing other things besides arms too, like my daughter's stuffed animals. His toy list is: kong, tennis ball, bullystick, indestructible rubber rings and a chewing toy.

I started misting him in the face with water when he bit down. This worked for a few days. Now it has no effect

I've read lots of training books but can't figure this out. Is this just a stage?my hands are bloodied and he has ripped 3 shirts today. Sometimes during training, he now latches on to my shirt and won't let go.
:help:


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## paulag1955

Knight, welcome to the wonderful world of GSD puppies! I wish I had something really clever to tell you that would solve your problem, but we just had to wait it out until Shasta was finished teething. Luckily for us, she teethed young and fast. 

I did use the crate more than I would have liked, just to give myself a break.


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## Stosh

Are you teaching 'leave it'? I used a clicker and it worked well. Like paulag said, crating immediately after he bites takes away the escalating into a game, like the misting and 'ouch' turned into.


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## GSD Momma

My 8 week old doesn't bite as hard as you describe, but I found that SCREAMING OW!! really loud makes her stop - or I will blow into her face and it startles her enough to let go. Now, unless she is especially ornery, a simple "Ow, no" is working. Sometimes she does get fired up though, especially if I'm playing on the ground with her (she assumes I'm her litter mate then). When that happens, so far the blowing and screeching OW are working for me. I've also gotten up and turned my back on her and that also seems to help her understand it's not appropriate. Good luck to you!


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## Knight

Stosh said:


> Are you teaching 'leave it'? I used a clicker and it worked well. Like paulag said, crating immediately after he bites takes away the escalating into a game, like the misting and 'ouch' turned into.


I am, but he only listens to "leave it" if it is a treat! If i say leave it, with regards to anything else, he ignores me. Will crating, before it escalates, create a negative association with the crate?

Paul,
Thanks. At least i am not alone 

Momma
The blowing in the face is something I do and it does work. Im trying to correct him, but not be mean. I hope the water and blowing are ok and won't make him aggressive!


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## DianaB

Your pup is still very young and this is a tough stage, but she WILL grow out of it (eventually)

We use "drop it" if Siena has something in her mouth that we want out (ball, food, hand, etc.). 
We use "leave it" if it is not yet in her mouth and we want her to ignore it.

Leave it is what we call a safety teaching. There could be bad things if she does not leave it (like the 1 inch bumble bee flying around our house that she was trying to catch last night). She started playing with it (before I knew what it was) and firmly told her leave it and she did. It was dark and I needed to see what it was. Luckily she did not get stung!

As for the crate. I would not use the crate as the pup will associate the two. You can find a leash and tie her somewhere for a brief amount of time (after saying "time out" which she will learn very quickly). We had an ex-pen that we used for time outs and when she was that age, she spent A LOT of time there. Start with 30 seconds in the time out. Then go to 60 seconds, and keep going with 30 second increments til you hit about 3 minutes. As soon as she comes out, try to get her to do what she got the time out for. If she does, back into time out. Not fun, and very boring, but that's how they learn.


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## paulag1955

Knight said:


> Will crating, before it escalates, create a negative association with the crate?


Hopefully someone with more experience than I will chime in on this. I can only say that it didn't see to do so with Shasta.


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## Stosh

Crating for a time out when Stosh was little and misbehaving didn't affect him that way. I wasn't mad or upset with him, just popped him in for a few minutes to change the direction things were going and to let him know that I was the one who decided how we were going to play and when it would end. He figured out pretty soon that a bite was going to end that kind of play. It really will lessen with time- I know you're exercising, training, doing all the right things but it's just something you have to go through. I'm wearing a pair of sweatpants that have puppy teeth holes in them. Good thing I work from home


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## Uniballer

Knight said:


> ...his play biting has gone to the next level. He now latches on to the wrist area HARD and will NOT let go.
> ...
> Sometimes during training, he now latches on to my shirt and won't let go.


Sounds like this dangerous animal needs a new home. You can put him in my truck if you want .

Seriously though, you might not be able to stop a dog like this from biting, but you may be able to channel the biting behavior into more appropriate activity. A good game of tug with the flirt pole will be lots of fun for you both. Bark at and bite the rag is cool too. Eventually you can work your way up to sleeve or suit work.


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## Knight

Stosh said:


> Crating for a time out when Stosh was little and misbehaving didn't affect him that way. I wasn't mad or upset with him, just popped him in for a few minutes to change the direction things were going and to let him know that I was the one who decided how we were going to play and when it would end. He figured out pretty soon that a bite was going to end that kind of play. It really will lessen with time- I know you're exercising, training, doing all the right things but it's just something you have to go through. I'm wearing a pair of sweatpants that have puppy teeth holes in them. Good thing I work from home


Ok great, i am going to try is. I think the secret is not showing anger when you pop him in the crate. 

Thanks for the replies everyone.


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## PaddyD

paulag1955 said:


> Hopefully someone with more experience than I will chime in on this. I can only say that it didn't see to do so with Shasta.


We had to pin our pup a few times to let her know we were serious and that we were in charge and that her behavior was unacceptable. It only takes a few seconds and you don't have to be mean, you just have to be firm.


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## Knight

I've pinned Knight a couple times too...


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## gamble

what has been really effective for me is leaving the room for a few minutes at a time whenever he is biting hard, it only takes a few times before it clicks for the puppy. Another thing I was taught, only to be used on puppies who are especially rough biters is when the puppy is biting your hand, make your hand flat and push the entire hand back so it is up against the very back of the mouth. make sure it is perpendicular to the puppys mouth ( so your fingers arent going down his throat!) grab the scruff of his neck so he cannot back out of it. It is not painful to the puppy but is very uncomfortable to him. leave your hand there till he gets the point, it is very quick and VERY effective. My puppy wont bite my hands anymore.. my pant legs are a different story though... :-/


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## JakodaCD OA

get a nice thick sleeve)) (only kidding)


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## westallkennel

At what age did you get this puppy? It sounds like you got him way to young. Puppies need to stay with their mother and litter mates until they are at least 10 weeks old. They learn alot during these extra few weeks like bite inabition. what did you do after you yelped in pain? Did you go back to playing with him or leave and ignore him? Another puppy or the mother will walk way and ignore him, this way he learns that if he wants to play he must stay soft with his play. Teething has to do with chewing not bitting so it is not just a matter of waiting it out. When he bites give a firm no and turn away only when he is quite do you resume play. If he does not stop then a time out is needed. Put your puppy in his crate for 2 to 3 minutes. do not put him in in anger just calmly say time out put him in and when he is laying quitely then let him out, do not say anything when you let him out just walk away. He will not asociate the crate with be punished if done in this matter but only as a place to chill for a while. when you do the leave it command and put the treat on the floor do not ever let him have that treat. Give him another treat. This way it is not just waiting out to get what I want. Leave it means LEAVE IT .


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## jakeandrenee

Here is my link from last summer.........http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum/puppy-behavior/136477-leg-biting-tears.html


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