Puppy Biting Excessively -Help-

[Ifinx]

Hey Everyone,

I am in need of good advice. I read the sticky on puppy biting and I've tried everything, but nothing is helping. Me and My Wife have a 8 week old German Shepherd puppy that will bite everything. I have tried everything in the world to get him to stop biting humans. I know that biting is a good trait for a German Shepherd, but when he is around he bites us way to hard. He will snap at your nose, ears, ankles, hands, fingers, toes, and everything in between.

We can't love on him because he always try's to bite our face, lips, nose, etc. You can't pet him because then he turns around and then tries to bite your hand. He doesn't bite soft at all.

I have tired whelping loudly and ignoring him. He just goes right back to my feet or something else and starts biting again. Just like he doesn't care. We've tried holding his mouth down until he whines, but not forcibly. I've tried putting my finger under his tongue and again that doesn't work either. We've tried water bottles, spanking, biting him back, and I just don't know what else to do.

Does anyone have any good ideas?

[mandiah89]

When he starts biting you put him in his crate and ignore him till he calms down, then let him out again, that is a fairly easy way... The way I like to go about excessive biting is put his leash on, put on a pair of shoes just incase he gets your foot, and place your foot on the leash near his neck to force him to laydown and do not let him up until he is completely calm and relaxed, most dogs will fight you for a while so get comfy, but you will only need to do this a few times before he gets the point!

[sprklnh2o]

Your pup is only 8 weeks old. He will bite, it's normal! That's how they play. That being said, it sounds like you tried a lot of things but did you try it for an extended period of time? If you keep changing your methods, it will confuse him and he won't learn as fast. I think a lot of methods will work if you are persistent. For my puppy, I found yelping and giving him "timeouts" in the bathroom helped a lot. From the yelping, he learned that human are uber sensitive and from the timeouts he learned to calm down. He stopped biting after he got all his adult teeth in (around 6 months) and now he has a very soft mouth!

[m1953]

Biting will be a tough and frustrating issue for you and your wife but the good news it will pass. My arms looked like they went through a meat grinder when Nala was that age. By 4 months old it does settle down and no marks on my arms at all my five months. As frustrating as it is keep redirecting her to one of their toys when biting keep doing it. Also try getting up and walking away. When your pup has one of those calm movements, hide his favorite treat in your hand. Put your fist in front of his nose, he will sniff at your hand and as soon as he licks it release the treat to him. repeat this over and over. This helps him learn your hands are for good things and not biting. As hard as it is sometimes, especially when they really chomp down, never slap them on the nose. That only makes it worse.

[GSDmax]

We have a now 10 week GS pup that does the exact same thing and we too have tried EVERYTHING! Stinks that we can't even give him love without him trying to get you in the face! I just look forward to the day this passes. But your not alone, everything you've said is just like our Maxx.

[volcano]

Are you overexcited/ riling the pup up? Puppies are great and thats alot of fun, but think of the future, I dont think you should be putting your face in her vacinity at the same time as creating excitement. 20 seconds ago I was nuzzling my girl with my face as shes sleeping though, I couldnt resist. Excited paly should be with a toy, not you talking baby talk and moving your face towards her. But im a dog owner of 3 days so I may be wrong...

[OffgridAlex]

Your puppy is 8 weeks old? and you have tried everything?

How long have you had him? For the bite inhibition techniques to work they need to be applied consistently over a long period of time. I don't know anyone who managed to teach bite inhibition in a week.

You need to pick one technique and apply it religiously. If you keep changing your reaction and moving on to new things before sticking with one thing for a few weeks all you are going to do is confuse your puppy.

[doggiedad]

good idea is stop spraying him with water, stop spanking
him (spanking a puppy, geeze), stop biting him, keep your
face away from his. a puppy nips everything. with training
and age he will stop.

Originally Posted by Ifinx

Hey Everyone,

I am in need of good advice. I read the sticky on puppy biting and I've tried everything, but nothing is helping. Me and My Wife have a 8 week old German Shepherd puppy that will bite everything. I have tried everything in the world to get him to stop biting humans. I know that biting is a good trait for a German Shepherd, but when he is around he bites us way to hard. He will snap at your nose, ears, ankles, hands, fingers, toes, and everything in between.

We can't love on him because he always try's to bite our face, lips, nose, etc. You can't pet him because then he turns around and then tries to bite your hand. He doesn't bite soft at all.

I have tired whelping loudly and ignoring him. He just goes right back to my feet or something else and starts biting again. Just like he doesn't care. We've tried holding his mouth down until he whines, but not forcibly. I've tried putting my finger under his tongue and again that doesn't work either.

>>>> We've tried water bottles, spanking, biting him back, and I just don't know what else to do.

Does anyone have any good ideas?<<<<

[hotrod2448]

We've been experiencing similar issues with our 12 week old and I'll say this, it is extremely easy to get conflicting advice on how to handle this. We've been told to do everything from yelp and stop play/walk away, gently grab their muzzle or scruff and say "no", stick you hand down their throat till they gag, to pull up on their lead till their front feet are off the floor and count to 3.

My advice would be to contact your breeder or hire a trainer and see how they recommend handling this issue and be consistent versus getting a bunch of different advice and confusing yourself and the pup.

My breeder advises to avoid corrections with your hand (scruffing, spanking) as it encourages avoidance or fear of your hands later in life which could be a problem.

[Sitz&Platz]

I have raised 3 puppies so far, and "ouch" or yelping never worked. My lab was the worst land shark ever. The last time he bit me as a puppy, he bit so hard that he drew blood. I am ashamed to say that I bit his ear out of pain and anger. While I would not recommend this to anybody, I have to say that he never bit me again after that. He turned out to be that one in a million dog, and I miss him dearly now that he's passed away.

With my GSD puppy, I'm a bit wiser and much more civil. Ian Dunbar recommends to walk away when your puppy bites, and that's exactly what I did. Every time my crocodile puppy bit me, I would firmly say "no biting" and walk away. Repeat every single time. :-) Really fun, when you just want to sit on the couch and relax after work. But: Dunbar's method worked and within a few days the biting stopped. It helps that Dexter is my personal Siamese twin, and me walking away from him is the equivalent to confiscating a teenage girl's cellphone. Now he's super careful to avoid touching me with his teeth when we're interacting and he's extra gentle when taking food or toys from my hand.