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10 Week old puppy "attacks" advice

5K views 17 replies 13 participants last post by  Della Luna 
#1 ·
So our sweet, darling puppy has officially entered his monster puppy stage, and our ankles and hands have become his new favorite play things. I'm not too concerned about it since I know it's normal, but at times he gets incredibly wound up (I think it's referred to as the zoomies) and will go racing around the room "attacking" anything he can.

Unfortunately this is often our legs, and we aren't talking about gentle play biting, its basically a puppy attack that I can't seem to redirect him from easily to a proper toy or chew stick. The problem is, the bites/scratches are pretty hard, sometimes drawing a little blood and they hurt a lot. The only way I can seem to get him to stop and then redirect in this situation is to push him off my legs with a little force, sometimes grabbing him a bit by the rough of his neck to do it (not too hard, I'm a small person) to where he does the puppy flop on his side, looks at me kind of confused, and then will go after the toy I offer.

The thing is, I'm really dedicated to using positive methods to train him, and I really don't want to do something that can encourage aggression or bad behavior down the line. I'm not afraid of him, of course, he's a 20 pound puppy, but my natural reaction is to get him off me when he's biting. Eventually when he gets this way, I have to put him in his puppy pen with a bully stick to have him calm down a bit before he can come play more, and I really don't want to relegate him to the pen because he's too difficult. Plus that pen won't have much effect in 20 more pounds.

Anyhow, this is getting long, and we do have a trainer coming over to start working with him next week who used to train military dogs and has a lot of experience with gsds, so that should help. I think a big problem is he's still stuck inside for another 3 weeks until he's done with his vaccinations, and it's hard to properly wear him out in here.

Basically I'd like some advice - is pushing him off me with a little force or grabbing his scruff going to cause problems down the road, and if so, can someone please recommend a better method to deal with the leg attacks. Is the time out in a pen a bad idea, and again any better ideas would be appreciated. Finally, any advice on how to get out that excess energy while stuck inside would be great - so far we've tried the flirt pole, tug, some basic training (sit and down, which he's done well with), and chew bones.
 
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#2 ·
When does he do it? Is it in the evening? Right after being let out in the morning? Actually, putting him in his pen is effective because sometimes pups get over-tired (like a toddler) and need someone older and wiser to tell them "okay, you need to rest a little while".

A flirt pole is great and my dog, now 3, still gets super excited if I get out the old flirt pole. Work on his name ... have someone hold the puppy while you call it from a distance (other side of room or whatever you have). Release puppy and when he runs to you, treat and hold him while the other person calls.

It's probably great fun for the puppy when people dance around and make weird noises when it goes for their feet. Being boring about it and not responding would probably make the game less interesting. He will grow out of it eventually. Put on more layers of clothing! ;)

Make a toy fun by moving it around and actively playing with it with the puppy.
 
#3 ·
Wear long pants more and long sleeve sweatshirts. ;=)

Seriously... although the above is a viable option.... he sounds normal and if you persist he will get it. He just is little and has the attention of a gnat. Off course no serious corrections now. He is too young and knows nothing. That comes later unless you are an amazing positive only trainer. For now it is fun and consistency to build the foundation of a good bond.

One thing you can do is to gently grab his snout and roll his own lip over his own teeth for a "natural consequence" of biting. This seems to help a bit but working on animating a toy and getting in there with him for some animated play is the best. Then you can use play as a reward to obedience (age appropriate) Sit... reward play... woohoo.... sit...reward play ...yahoo...

He sounds fun. Good luck with the positive only... wonder what your military guy will say about that. ;-)
 
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#4 ·
He's only 10 weeks old? You pretty much have to deal with it for a while. I'd shove a toy in his mouth and play with him that way to redirect his bite. I spent a lot of time on the floor playing with my puppy with a toy. If he bites you hard, yell ouch! and walk away to another room so he loses his play pal for biting too hard. At some point around 4-5 months, I had to smack my pup on the muzzle for biting me too hard. Cured the hard biting. She's still allowed to express herself with her mouth and knows to do so gently. Hang in there. It'll hurt for a while.
 
#5 · (Edited)
I would never push him off with force. At 10 weeks its like pushing around an infant child. Your family should each keep a toy or rag in their pocket at all times and never let him loose in the house without a leash, when he bites you give a firm NO, and redirect to the rag (a dish rag worked well for me). When he bites the rag give a high pitched YES!
This will get annoying because he will probably be doing this for the next 2 months at least. But it's what having a GSD entails. They are notorious biters as pups. I've said this many times on this forum, It always gets better. Have patience and never hit or push the dog. This will only kill your bond and make the dog hate you. Their brains aren't capable yet of knowing right from wrong, they think biting you is as natural as breathing.
Just be patient and stick with what I said, also an exercise pen works wonders.
 
#6 ·
Thanks so much for your responses! He seems to do it most midday or morning when we're at home, usually after waking up, if he's at the office with us it doesn't seem to be a problem *touch wood*.
DutchKarin I guess I should clarify, I'd like to use positive reinforcement as much as possible, and I don't want to ever misuse physical corrections in a way that could promote aggression, which I figure is something that could happen since I'm not an experienced trainer..this dog will probably outweigh me if he takes after his dad, so any aggression or need for strong physical corrections once he's grown isn't going to go well for me!
We've already tried some of your suggestions, and they are helping! Calling him by his name back and forth across the room today and treating was a great way to wear him out and he loved it. Keeping the rag in our pockets has also been helpful.
I'll keep using the xpen "timeouts" when necessary, and hopefully the trainer will also help.
Unfortunately July in the Middle East pretty much rules out long pants and sleeves for now - our window unit can only do so much :)
 
#7 ·
When my guy was a land shark I used the redirect with toy method to some degree of success but what stopped him within weeks (not months): every time he chose and grabbed my hand one of my fingers would automatically press down on his tongue which caused the gag-spit-it-out-quick reflex which he was free to do and then he would grab the toy instead.

It got to the point very quickly that when he came after me for some land shark fun, all I had to do is hold stead the free hand and slightly wiggle my fingers but shake the toy with tons of enthusiasm. He decided on his own which one he wanted.

I also used this for ankle biting. He chose the ankle, a finger went in and caused the spit-it-out-quick-choose-a-toy reflex.

When I did this, I showed no emotion. None. I wanted him to think that my finger press was just as natural as his landsharking.

Also in case you wonder, it did not cause a fear of my hands I think because I never force held the finger in his mouth. He was always free to spit it out. Press the front half of the tongue with light pressure it does not require any more than that for the gag reflex to kick in.

I just wanted to share what worked for me.

Redirecting with a toy was a major part in the method I used. Land sharks need something to bite. It is just how they are.

Have fun because a few years from now when you look at your hands and notice tiny little white marks and realize they are landshark scars, your going to be flooded with other wonderful puppy memories.
 
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#12 ·
When my guy was a land shark I used the redirect with toy method to some degree of success but what stopped him within weeks (not months): every time he chose and grabbed my hand one of my fingers would automatically press down on his tongue which caused the gag-spit-it-out-quick reflex which he was free to do and then he would grab the toy instead.

It got to the point very quickly that when he came after me for some land shark fun, all I had to do is hold stead the free hand and slightly wiggle my fingers but shake the toy with tons of enthusiasm. He decided on his own which one he wanted.

I also used this for ankle biting. He chose the ankle, a finger went in and caused the spit-it-out-quick-choose-a-toy reflex.

When I did this, I showed no emotion. None. I wanted him to think that my finger press was just as natural as his landsharking.

Also in case you wonder, it did not cause a fear of my hands I think because I never force held the finger in his mouth. He was always free to spit it out. Press the front half of the tongue with light pressure it does not require any more than that for the gag reflex to kick in.
Great post. It's so important not to show emotion with dogs on things like this and start developing bad behaviors.

I hope this doesn't sound bad, but with our other dog, which is not a GSD but a Schnauzer/terrier mix of some kind (we pick up our GSD puppy this weekend!), I did the same thing when he'd start getting under my feet while I was walking. If I saw him, I just kept going. I didn't step on him, but would just keep walking. It wasn't kicking him, but just not stopping. He'd look up at me, and see that I was looking where I was walking without any emotion and would decide that he didn't want to be in the way of my feet when I was walking by. There was no anger or emotion involved at all.

My wife never did that, and she trips over him at least a few times per day.
 
#8 ·
Sounds like a normal puppy to me. My girl is 4.5 months and still has these stages.
What I did was toy redirection - every time she started biting my hands, feet, pants, clothing, etc I would say "NO BITE! TOY!" and put a toy in her mouth. If she got to out of control I would press her tongue down with my thumb and pinch my index finger under the bottom of jaw if that didn't work I would grab the scruff (not hard obviously, but just firmly) and say "NO, TOY!" then walk away.

Some other things you can try is when they bite or whatever make a loud yip or sound "OUCH!", make a big deal about it to make them question like "what the heck?" then walk away and don't acknowledge for a few minutes. That worked sometimes for me. Another thing also is putting them into a room (somewhere they can't do to much damage) and close the door. Leave them in there by themselves for 5 seconds and then let them out. If they persist, do it again another 5 seconds, etc. Eventually they associate biting = timeout with no play time.
 
#9 ·
. If she got to out of control I would press her tongue down with my thumb and pinch my index finger under the bottom of jaw .
JohnnyMac when you use this method, do you hold until she struggles or release as soon as she disengages her bite?

The reason I ask is because my son initially show me that method and holding a few seconds while my boy struggled to get away. I did not like the struggle my pup was going through but I did see the value of the natural gag-spit-out reflex so I modified the method. It seemed also that Sonny was more cooperative and less confused and less intent on getting back my hand when his natural reflex was allowed.

Again, I'm just offering my limited experience and observation of this method with my own when he was a pup.
 
#10 · (Edited)
Where we live parvovirus is not rampant. We would take our pup out in a yard the first night we brought him home and also to places where unknown dogs roam about. Puppies are cute but can be challenging to raise I often felt compelled to compare raising a pup to raising a toddler (raised toddlers many years ago) but yesterday I was helping my brother with his twin 1 year old boys - yikes no comparison- it took a village. When Max was a pup I tried many things that worked for a short time. The only thing that worked was redirecting and later leash pops and redirecting. Repetition, repetition, repetition. It's a very gradual process for the pup to get it and all are different some are a lot mouthier then others. Loosing patience and getting aggravated never worked it only made the pup more playful and rambunctious.
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#11 ·
Jenny, unfortunately Parvo is pretty common here, and this city is packed with dogs, which is great in general because they can come pretty much anywhere with you, but a bummer right now. I think he will definitely improve once he can get out more. You're definitely right that losing patience works against you! It's just hard to stay calm and not react when you have needle teeth going into your ankles! :wink2:
 
#15 ·
Here's what's worked for me. Food. After food, most puppies/dogs crash within the 1/2 hour. I "get em when they're down. That is; when I take the opportunity to introduce them to puppy massage or gentle brushing, looking gently at their teeth. Quiet calm time...

Soothing talk and gentle brushes or pets for a minute or two when they're nodding out IMO is the time to show them that it's not all about crazy. They will come to enjoy this time too and look forward to it. But, it's training - if they act up - everything quits. It's really a continuation of what mom did when she was nursing them and it's normally a very relaxing, trust building time that you can take advantage of.

Requires a quiet, commotion free environment.:smile2:
 
#16 ·
I just now saw this got some additional replies. Thanks so much to everyone.
His bite inhibition has been improving, so that's good news.The ankle biting is also getting a bit better, and I have been using the approach of just continuing to walk when he tries it and it has been helping.

He's super cute, so it makes up for all the shenanigans ;)
 

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#18 ·
Omg the ears <3 My pup's were already up at nine weeks when I got her so I missed that cute are-they-up-or-are-they-down phase.

I miss those 'puppy attack' days! It might be a bit frustrating, but enjoy your pup as he is, and know that it won't last forever. Reading your posts reminded me of my girl at that age and how the idea of inspecting her teeth seemed like an impossible task with such a fidgety, nippy pup, so I walked right over and freely poked my fingers into my napping 13mo's mouth with a newfound appreciation, lol!
 
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