# Puppy Biting hard



## Natasha0b (Dec 27, 2017)

Any tips on teaching bite inhibition?

I have tried everything I can think of now.

I try the high pitch yelp and he doesnt care at all. I have tried always keeping a chew toy on me but he prefers my ankle or arm. I have tried a Kong with treats in it, it keeps him entertained for 30 seconds and hes back to biting me. I have also tried just walking away and he goes nuts, barking and jumping on the gate. 

Any tips? Is this normal? He is 8 weeks...Ive had him for about a week now and its gradually got worse, i understand he is teething but at this point the bites are getting so hard and painful.

Thanks!


----------



## LuvShepherds (May 27, 2012)

It’s typical and normal for some dogs. Make sure he’s getting enough exercise for his age. Is he tired or hungry? Mine bit more before meals, when he needed a nap or when he needed to run. I put a piece of kibble in a closed fist and let him learn to lick to get it out. He eventually substituted licking for biting.


----------



## Jpage24.87 (Jan 19, 2018)

Keep it up. Keep redirecting to a chew toy, but play with him, don't just give it to him and leave it be. Redirecting worked for us, but it doesn't happen overnight. I added verbal cues as well, if he was playing with the toy, I would tell him "good, good boy!" And got super excited. If he went for me, I'd say "no bite" very stern. 8-12 weeks was awful, but just be consistent, they will learn if you're patient. I saw a big decrease in the landsharking after 12 weeks. If he is just overstimulated and won't give up biting you, perhaps put him in his kennel for a nap.
Good luck!


----------



## Natasha0b (Dec 27, 2017)

Jpage24.87 said:


> Keep it up. Keep redirecting to a chew toy, but play with him, don't just give it to him and leave it be. Redirecting worked for us, but it doesn't happen overnight. I added verbal cues as well, if he was playing with the toy, I would tell him "good, good boy!" And got super excited. If he went for me, I'd say "no bite" very stern. 8-12 weeks was awful, but just be consistent, they will learn if you're patient. I saw a big decrease in the landsharking after 12 weeks. If he is just overstimulated and won't give up biting you, perhaps put him in his kennel for a nap.
> Good luck!


It seems like the second he's taken out of his kennel he's biting and its hard now...My hands and wrists are so cut up and bruised. I don't know what to do. I can't even play with him without him getting out of hand.


----------



## Natasha0b (Dec 27, 2017)

Jpage24.87 said:


> Keep it up. Keep redirecting to a chew toy, but play with him, don't just give it to him and leave it be. Redirecting worked for us, but it doesn't happen overnight. I added verbal cues as well, if he was playing with the toy, I would tell him "good, good boy!" And got super excited. If he went for me, I'd say "no bite" very stern. 8-12 weeks was awful, but just be consistent, they will learn if you're patient. I saw a big decrease in the landsharking after 12 weeks. If he is just overstimulated and won't give up biting you, perhaps put him in his kennel for a nap.
> Good luck!


I think he's getting enough exercise and I do agree if he's hungry it gets worse...But over the last couple of days he seems to be biting hard the second he's taken out of his crate. I have cuts and bruises all over and they hurt so bad. I don't even know what to do anymore.


----------



## car2ner (Apr 9, 2014)

be patient and keep bandaids handy for awhile. It does get better once teething is over. My boy thought every touch was an invitation to play rough. It took a long time for him to learn to appreciate simply being pet. Now he loves it, but it did take time. Remember, nipping and wrestling is a survival instinct for pups. It is how they play and explore relationships with other pups. We used to wear leather gloves when our boy was very small. When he got bigger the gloves got tied to a strong string and became a tug toy. Continue to encourage playing with toys but don't just shove it in their face. At this point they want you, not the toy. They have no idea what to do with a toy.


----------



## Nurse Bishop (Nov 20, 2016)

Arm Chaps https://www.uline.com/Product/Detai...J5nWuSkTtsbQGhJ358xoClKgQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds


----------



## LuvShepherds (May 27, 2012)

My puppy who bit a lot also had Giardia. I wonder if he’s not feeling well. He eventually stopped. But we could not cuddle with him or let him lick our faces until he stopped teething.


----------



## KaiserAus (Dec 16, 2016)

Sounds normal. Just keep redirecting with a toy, playing with him and the toy. Don't just give him the toy and expect him to play with it, you need to make the toy fun. I found it got worse before it got better... you'll see an improvement around the 12 week mark.
Always have a toy on you... I used to carry a wash cloth in my pocket... perfect for a little game of tug when I needed to save my ankles or arms.


----------



## Natasha0b (Dec 27, 2017)

LuvShepherds said:


> My puppy who bit a lot also had Giardia. I wonder if he’s not feeling well. He eventually stopped. But we could not cuddle with him or let him lick our faces until he stopped teething.


He seems to be acting like he's feeling well. I am able to cuddle him sometimes.
We have a vet appointment today to get that blood test done.


----------



## car2ner (Apr 9, 2014)

Natasha0b said:


> I try the high pitch yelp and he doesnt care at all.
> 
> Thanks!



by the way, if people make high pitched noises, it can be similar to a squeeky toy which our dogs can find delightful to chew on. Jerking and jumping around and making interesting noises can be very rewarding to the pup. Try to stay as calm as you can when you say a nice deep strong NO. Save the high pitched exciting noises for rewarding playing with the toy.


----------



## LuvShepherds (May 27, 2012)

What is the blood test? Don’t bother with the ERISA test for Giardia. It gave us a false positive when a visual inspection showed the parasites were finally gone. Keep working on the biting, don’t expect a landshark to give it up quickly, and in a few weeks or months, it will be over.


----------



## LuvShepherds (May 27, 2012)

car2ner said:


> by the way, if people make high pitched noises, it can be similar to a squeeky toy which our dogs can find delightful to chew on. Jerking and jumping around and making interesting noises can be very rewarding to the pup. Try to stay as calm as you can when you say a nice deep strong NO. Save the high pitched exciting noises for rewarding playing with the toy.


I agree. Don’t do it. It just wound my guy up more. I realized our older dog was teaching him by using her teeth and growling a little. She was very patient, though. He bit her more than he bit me. She yelped when it hurt and he responded to her. Eventually she did a better job of teaching bite inhibition than I did.


----------



## Demir Tahirovic (May 25, 2018)

Yea my 3-month-old is right now biting harder than ever. I can't even go on a run without him getting over excited and locking onto my calves. When I give him a stern no, he gets mad and starts throwing a fit by barking and going for my feet. Redirecting towards toys doesn't work, he prefers my hand over toys all the time even when I try to make the toys interesting. Its because he is keeping his eye on my hand and not the toy. The only thing that I see that works is putting him in his playpen until he takes a nap. After his nap he becomes calmer but once his energy kicks in and goes into Anarchy mode, there is no correcting his behavior without having his teeth sink in. 

Yelping doesn't work with German Shepherds. As puppies, they would Yelp all the time when they played with each other because their pain tolerance is much higher than most breeds. It seems aggressive verbals work the best. Watch a full grown male (father) GSD play with his puppy. When the father isn't having it, his teeth start to show and so does the growling. Then the puppy calms down a little. For us, it will have to be a very stern and vocal No. They may still bite but it won't be as hard. I have exposed my puppy to a female Great Pyrenees (1 year) she did a good job at teaching him how to play and bite. I wasn't too worried leaving them 2 alone at home. But I haven't let my puppy play with a full grown male yet just because I am worried if the male dog wasn't a father at one point or doesn't have experience with puppies. 

Best thing I recommend getting is a flirt pole. Most GSDs have a predatory stimulus. When you first introduce the pole to him. Just play with him until he gets tired. Do not give any commands right away like "leave it" or create a game of tug of war. Just have him chase the toy around. Let him grab it occasionally so he doesn't get bored of it. Make it a fun experience as much as possible. After a few days of playing with it, you can then introduce commands to make it more controlled. This way you will train him what to bite, when to bite, and when to leave it or let go. At the same time, you also tire him out which will make his or her bites weaker. 

One thing I have learned is you can't stop the biting. It will happen and continue until the teething stops. Until then focus on letting him know that when he bites you, nothing good or positive comes out of it. Here are some things I am currently doing to help ease the pain lol.
1. Wear *Jeans *

2. Spray *bitter apple or vinegar* on the Jeans

3. Get a *flirt pole* and learn to play with it.

4. When the biting starts at the moment when he opens his/her mouth, make an *aggressive and vocal no*. He should pause, right during the pause have a toy or cloth and shake it around them so they 
redirect their biting onto that.

5. When they go into *"Anarchy Mode"* _(crazy hyperactive I will bite your leg off mode)_ Timeout, put them in a playpen or kennel with something to chew on and leave them by themselves until they take a nap or until you hear the golden silence. They will cry, bark, throw a fit...ignore it! Do not let them free until they have calmed down or finished with a nap. If you do, they will come right out and bite your feet. 

6. Redirect focus on training with treats. *Beef liver by Stewarts or even small bits of chicken* (not fried). Take a small peace and put it near their nose, they will pick up the scent right away and their eyes will be on your hand or you (depending on how your training goes with the treats). Have him/her go through 3 cycles of "sit" "lay down" "focus" (I use focus to make eye contact, if they are focused on the treat, keep it under your chin as you say focus. Do not give them the treat until they have made strong eye contact for at least 1 second at first.) Use these 3 commands in any order. I recommend 3 cycles, you can do more but do not make the mistake I made by giving your dog too many treats. If you want to have long sessions, use kibble or dog food, if the puppy is hungry or hasn't eaten for a while. 

7. Get a *kong*, fill it with small bits of cheese, a few treats, and some kibble. Cover the hole with peanut butter or anything that tastes good really that isn't harmful to your dog. Make sure you have him near you and looking at you while you load it up. (Teach him some patience) Go through the 3 commands, and give him the kong.

8. Spread Peanut butter on the palm of your hand, and close your hand but enough to make a small hole. Have him start licking the peanut butter. If he bites, close the hole tigheter...open it up wider if he licks. 

9. Whenever giving treats or using method 8, do not let your dog have anything if he is aggressively going for it. (heavy breathing, forcing, using paws to lock down your hand...etc) 

10. As for the land sharking, the only method that seems to work for me is to let him learn the hard way. Do not look at him when he is at it, keep doing what you are doing. You might step on him, kick him by accident and he will yelp. Make sure you do not make eye contact with him if you decide to do this. Having eye contact may make him believe that you hurt him on purpose or that you are trying to play with him. If he takes it the other way to play time, its nap time.

I have a puppy right now in Arizona, it's too hot during the day here to have him outside because of his paws. Not much grass here. So during the day, he does get pretty irritated with boredom. So at night, I try my best to make sure he gets at least an hour of play time outside. He is 3 months old and I am trying everything. So far above is what I am doing. It hasn't cured the biting but it does make the puppy experience a lot more fun then just getting bit all the time. Just remember that the biting won't stop right away, it will take a lot of time and patience if you do not have another fully grown dog around to teach him. Think of the puppy as a baby, when they start throwing a fit, its nap time!


----------



## Miss Olive (Apr 11, 2020)

Thank you for this article. I was beginning to think the worst. But after reading your post & this thread, I now understand my girl is just being a GSD puppy. Patience lots and lots of patience and Band-Aids.


----------



## K9SHOUSE (Jun 8, 2003)

Check out previous threads for more information. Lots of people have given thoughts on this.


----------



## Evalynn (Apr 20, 2020)

I have done a lot of toy playing with my pup. We never wrestle and there is no time when she is encouraged to put teeth on me. She is regularly encouraged to put her teeth on her toys, and she always has at least one toy with her. We have a large variety of chewable objects. Safe bones and antlers have helped the mouthiness a lot.

The second she put teeth on me, everything stopped. I got very still, tensed up a bit, and stared at her. I didn't yank my hand away or squeal. I sometimes gave a low "no" which escalated pretty quickly to a sterner "no!" if she stopped then started back up again. We had one episode when she was little and didn't understand "no" yet, where I gave her a very low grumble and side eye. Her eyes got wide and she turned all waggy and sweet, and we followed up with lots of love. It clicked better after that. Keep in mind that pups have all played with their siblings this way, and it's a very natural way for them to interact. Initially they have no idea that they're not -supposed- to bite you!

Even after they know, it's still genetically hard wired. She can't fully help herself. There's a lot of "well, what if I do it lightly? what if I just do your pant leg when your back is turned?" She's getting there! I can just tell her "no bite" or give her a toy at this point to redirect. I've always put her in her kennel or pen if she's sleepy and land sharking. She is still incorrigible when sleepy but that's a baby thing and beyond her control.

If I had a pup that wanted to bite the second it came out of the crate, I'd probably greet it at the crate door with a toy. We'd just work the issue directly for awhile. I should also mention that she and I aren't planning to do bite work and I'm not worried about hurting her drive.


----------

