Is it really just me?

[GSDMUM]

I have a 6 mth old GSD female ( working line ) and I am really having problems with her when she get's wound up and bites like a starving landshark and I'm the only "meal" around. I have a trainer and she is doing well on other commands but "ouch" or yipping only gets her more excited ( I have read others dogs get that way too and it can be interpreted as play), "No" has no effect, ignoring her has no effect, and now the squirt bottle has no effect. I have had two other GSDs and they were not as bad with the biting. A friend of mine keeps insisting that it's me and that I should just yell No loud enough and keep it up and she will stop. She said she owned three GSD's and they all listened to her say "No" and they never had puppy nipping so bad. It makes me feel like a moron because my other two were doing well and this one is from a working line. I heard they like to play nip more. I feel like she is making it sound so easy and that it was so simple for her. She always tells me loudly, "LISTEN, you just have to say NO and she will listen but you're not doing it good enough, or all you have to do is yelp and she't stop right away. I told her that others on the GSD forum have had many threads on puppy biting and it's common with GSD's and she says, "That's Bull Sh*t!"It gets me angry. I think it's the personality of each pup. I'm never mentioning the nipping problem to her again and will act like it's resolved.
I have read the puppy biting article ...just want some input, is it just me? Am I so arn ineffective?

[msvette2u]

Keep rope toys handy so you can give them to her.
Leash her and hold her out away from you so she can't bite you.
Also no, it's not just you. Some are worse than others.
Was she with her mom and littermates for at least 8 weeks?

[Msmart]

Personally I wouldn't yell at my dog. I have never noticed an effect with this. If no or ignoring doesn't work or even the spray bottle I would try a soda can with some loose change in it. Something to startle your dog in conjunction with a verbal command. Good luck

[msvette2u]

I would not recommend a can with coins. The point isn't to startle or frighten the dog. The point is to redirect.
Even if the coin can worked once, it's not going to continue. You have to build a replacement behavior. Rope toys are great for this.

[RocketDog]

If you can, try turning your back IMMEDIATELY and ignoring her. If she still bites your backside or legs and you can stand it, that will eventually get the message across. Or if you're close to another room, leave for a min. Same thing.

Interestingly enough, mine had a two day spell recently where he would just get ramped up and start doing it again. I decided on the advice of a fellow friend here to try an "IPE!!!" one more time (it NEVER worked as a smaller pup). I did it PERFECTLY-- and LOUD. I was most proud of the pitch, tho- and I'll be damned if he didn't stop dead in his tracks. It only took that time and one other and so far he hasn't gotten his teeth anywhere near anyone's skin. He's just over 7 months. It's like he finally "got" it.

Also he had pretty much stopped, this to me seemed kind of like a teen hormone-wild thing. Has yours stopped at all for a bit?

[GSDMUM]

Originally Posted by msvette2u

Keep rope toys handy so you can give them to her.
Leash her and hold her out away from you so she can't bite you.
Also no, it's not just you. Some are worse than others.
Was she with her mom and littermates for at least 8 weeks?

Yes, in fact I picked her up at 9 weeks old.

[GSDMUM]

Originally Posted by RocketDog

If you can, try turning your back IMMEDIATELY and ignoring her. If she still bites your backside or legs and you can stand it, that will eventually get the message across. Or if you're close to another room, leave for a min. Same thing.

Interestingly enough, mine had a two day spell recently where he would just get ramped up and start doing it again. I decided on the advice of a fellow friend here to try an "IPE!!!" one more time (it NEVER worked as a smaller pup). I did it PERFECTLY-- and LOUD. I was most proud of the pitch, tho- and I'll be damned if he didn't stop dead in his tracks. It only took that time and one other and so far he hasn't gotten his teeth anywhere near anyone's skin. He's just over 7 months. It's like he finally "got" it.

Also he had pretty much stopped, this to me seemed kind of like a teen hormone-wild thing. Has yours stopped at all for a bit?

Actually, yes, she had slowed down the nipping but lately she has escalated it with bursts of energy. I also use toys to distract her but she usually prefers flesh

[KZoppa]

Just keep at redirecting her and I would definitely give time outs. A timeout can be done in a number of ways. It really just involves her being seperated from the point of her "obsession" for about 15-20 seconds immediately when she starts the biting.

~chomp chomp~ says something like Oops and remove her behind a closed door for a few seconds. Repeat. She does it again, repeat the time out. She'll probably quickly pick up on the fact that the second she bites, she is removed from the fun which isnt what she wants.

Of course you can say oops or no bite or no. I definitely wouldnt use the shaker can. You dont want to make her jumpy and some dogs will even learn to ignore shaker cans. And its tricky because you're supposed to shake the can behind your back so the dog cant see you doing it. Well you cant just be all like "Hang on a minute in the biting there. I have to go get the scary noise to shake at you." Besides, that kind of thing, the dog knows you're the one making the noise which pretty much defeats the purpose and is very likely to amp her up further.

I got spoiled with my current girl. VERY easy puppy. I'm actually a little concerned about how i'll handle my next pup when the time comes. lol

[Holmeshx2]

no its not just you some dogs are harder then others. If she's a working line from decent lines with decent nerves that darn shaker can isn't going to do a darn thing lol. Just keep redirecting onto toys. When she grabs the toy praise her like crazy and tug with her and make a huge game then as she starts taking the toys more readily and puts her mouth in your again give a nice "eh eh" or something similar and then when she grabs the toy big praises she'll get it. Trust me I have a working line female who could care less about ANY correction what so ever and anything you do to try to correct she takes as play and ramps up even more. I'm ok with her biting me now that shes older so long as she has limits and doesn't bite hard (my girl is just mouthy over all) What I started doing is I'll rough house with her some then if she gets a bit too rough (or I'm done) I put both hands up in the stop sign position and tell her either "enough" or "all done" and end the game then maybe initiate again in a little bit. Your girl is old enough that if she isn't settling down on the mouthing she probably needs to work more.. so up the physical and up the mental exercise.

[Mrs.K]

Obedience. Impulse Control and Re-Direction are the key. Just redirecting doesn't always work. Impulse Control and Obedience on top of it does actually help. If she's getting to the point where its unbearable (and there are dogs that are so driven that never really get out of it. I'm having a 16 month old landshark and she sees a string hanging out of your pocket, it's on) than a swift, quick correction at the right moment is sometimes better than any re-direction is.
Not a penny can, not yelling or slap in the face but a swift correction.

A swift correction, sometimes is more humane than dragging it out for months, and months and months.