[Linck]

This is really just me venting but if somebody going through the same thing I would love to know i'm not alone here

My 6 mo still doesn't get over his nipping. No matter what I do. We teach him bite inhibition since very first day he start biting me which was 4 months ago. Now he probably didn't use full strength when he bites because seeing from his adult teeth i'm sure he can do serious damage if he really wants to. But when he get worked up, nothing can stop him. He jumps on me and grab my arm or whatever he can get a hold of. Now I have to watch out for both nails and teeth. Sometimes I run to the door and get out of the room. Sometimes I tell him with the calm voice to stay down. Sometimes I yelp. Sometimes I push him off (which is a very bad idea but it is an impulse). Nothing works. When we were in obedience class last night, the lesson was to let stranger pet him (one of the test for CGC). I was very nervous that he would nip them or scratch them. And he did. I wanted to say he is still a puppy, but I see other dogs around him, even another female shepherd same age with him, is doing great. I feel like I'm a terrible handler. I must be doing something wrong. ... Does anyone else ever feel the same way? What else can I try with him?

 

[NormanF]

You have to be firm with him and teach him nipping/biting is not proper behavior. You have to show your dog who is the alpha in the relationship!

Good luck.

 

[JakodaCD OA]

how much exercise is he getting? as in running around? Mouthy dogs usually are doing it for attention, whether it's good or bad, it's still attention.

Sounds like he maybe needs more exercise. Tired dogs are good dogs

 

[blackshep]

Oh dear, I can understand your frustration. What is getting him worked up? Playtime, you coming home from work? If he gets worked up can you put him for a timeout in his crate until he settles a bit?

Try to keep yourself calm, as getting excited will only feed his excitement.

If it makes you feel any better, my pup is high drive and was so terribly excitable as a younger puppy. Don't compare your GSD to someone else's, this forum will teach you that there are many different types of GSD, and some are higher energy and have more drive/harder type than others.

I thought my pup would never stop jumping on me, she used to muzzle punch me in the face, and that is no joke when they are over 30, 40, 50, 60, 70 lbs +++ and coming at your face full tilt.

I just kept up with telling her 'off', and I'd turn my back to her.

She'd try even harder to get me, but I just kept at it.

I swear to you it stopped almost overnight. Don't give up, it took a really long time for me.

Another thing I found really helped, there are two commands my dog is really enthusiastic about, 'get in' (sitting in heel position) and 'platz' or 'down'. She will pretty much leap into those positions. I found this would also help when she was really wound up, I'd tell her "platz!" and *boom* she'd be laying down. I found it helped to make her think instead of just react. She was jumping because she didn't know what to do with her excitement, so I gave her something to do instead.

Or I'll tell her 'where's your bally?' and she will go find her ball for me, which will put something other than my arm in her mouth (however, you might first want to read my thread on my dog smacking her face off the coffee table lol)

That helped for me.

And I agree about more exercise may help

 

[Linck]

Thanks everyone. I know to you guys you probably like oh another biting thread. So I appreciate you still take your time responding to mine. I just feel like with all research done I still haven't make any progress.

@JakodaCD -- We play fetch quite a bit after my husband and I come home from work. He worked up at the random time though. And yes, it is obvious that he do it for attention. I love it when he is tired which usually during the weekend when I have a lot of time with him

@blackshep -- your methods is exactly what my husband told me to use! it must really works then. I will keep at it.

So, how do they stop doing this? Would they completely stop biting one day? I remember before we get him we went to the breeder nearby and I met the first GSD ever. He was 10 years old. Even though I was a complete stranger he was so sweet. He just sit and let me pet him. Will that be the case for my dog one day? When will he get that calm?

I get a lot of bad vibe from people at the park they think he is a scary monster. I wouldn't blame them if they haven't really been around dog. GSD is big and with their barks its fair to say some are intimidated by him. But I want him to stay calm and prove that he is a friendly dog. And he is. I'm certain of that. Its just the way to express it is not acceptable to human. Plus he barks as soon as stranger gets close to me. He would stop when I tell him its ok. But his first impression is already gone bad. Sigh....

 

[blackshep]

Well, if you get REALLY desperate I saw on Dogs 101 a Lab breeder told the family to rub butter all over their arms so the puppy would rather lick them than bite them. LMAO!! Let me know if it works!

 

[Linck]

butter on my arms? ewwww I'll try your other method lol

 

[jafo220]

Sent from Petguide.com Free App

To me it is about being persistant with redirects and praise when they are behaving well. To many times, we fall into a coma if you will of the only time we give attention is when they are acting up and it's always negative. Is this a sure cure? No, but it's goes in line with being persistant and consistant with showing praise for good behavior.

I know what your going through as my 6 month old goes bazerk in the backyard even after playing. He does the exact same thing your describing. I do one of two things if not both. One thing is I take control of him by his collar and we go straight to the kennel. I tell him in a calm athoritative manner no biting. And I leave him there until he calms down. If he starts up again, he goes back to the kennel. It's important that you stay calm. You don't want to make it where his kennel is a scary form of punishment. The other thing I do is take him to the back door, give him a set and wait command and then walk inside. He is left looking in the door at me. He gets the idea that biting and mouthing is not allowed. Keep in mind I have a fenced in yard. No fence, I would not try this, go with the kennel timeout.

Make sure you take him to obedience classes. As there are tools that will help you deal with these situations. But it's up to you to be the leader and show authority or he will continue to try you and push your boundries.

 

[Msmaria]

I may get some slack for this but I used a water bottle with sprayer. He hates water so I only had to spray him 2 times. Now i just have to pick up the water bottle and he stops immediately. These dogs are super smart.

Dexter is 5 months now and my arms have healed pretty well from a month ago. He mostly given yp biting hard but he now has a habit of nibbling my hands when hes falling asleep or if i rub his belly he nibbles the sensitive part under my arm and it can hurt sometimes. if i tell him gentle he usually stops. I dont know what it is with the nibbling, he uses his front teeth only and makes these low groans. It must be him using his bite inhibition..LOL

 

[Msmaria]

Well, if you get REALLY desperate I saw on Dogs 101 a Lab breeder told the family to rub butter all over their arms so the puppy would rather lick them than bite them. LMAO!! Let me know if it works!

Ewwww.. if any ones willing to try this they should do a post on it and let us know how it goes LMAO. i would love to read it.

 

[doggiedad]

find a trainer. train and socialize everyday, many times during
the course of a day.

 

[KB007]

I am at the same place with Layla, she is 6 months old and gets so excited when I come home that she literally jumps vertically and nips me in the chest. What has worked, slowly, for me is turning and facing the wall - completely and totally ignoring her. I was literally standing with my nose in the corner one day. When I see or her her butt hit the ground I turn around and resume activities, saying "Good Girl". At this point she will do maybe one jump, sometimes a nip but most of the time not - but thats it. Only one then she sits, then goes out to pee.

 

[mikeber]

So, how do they stop doing this? Would they completely stop biting one day? .

Linck, do you have children? When do they stop behaving like kids? When they become adults! And yet, I miss the kids period, with all its problems.
Its amazing how much these dogs love their people and how much they wait for their owners to return home.

In the time being, wear protection gear when biting starts. I used my gardening gauntlets and a thick working shirt with long sleeves, That helped minimizing the damage. Of course, the other suggestions to stop biting are worth trying.

 

[Linck]

Linck, do you have children? When do they stop behaving like kids? When they become adults! And yet, I miss the kids period, with all its problems.
Its amazing how much these dogs love their people and how much they wait for their owners to return home.

In the time being, wear protection gear when biting starts. I used my gardening gauntlets and a thick working shirt with long sleeves, That helped minimizing the damage. Of course, the other suggestions to stop biting are worth trying.

No I do not have kids but I get your point. The reason I asked because when I went to the shelter this pass week to donate some toys I saw a GSD that was there since two months ago. I asked the staff what is the deal with her. The dog seems calm and look like a purebred. I thought people will be all over her. The staff told me she was rescued once and they surrender her back here because she was biting their children. She is around 2 years old. I may be wrong here but I expected that my puppy will be more mature and "become an adult" around this time. But apparently not in this case.

 

[doggiedad]

train, train, train. i use to stand near the Supermarket front doors
so i could have an audience so i could teach him how to meet
and greet. i invited family, friends and neighbors to visit often
so i could teach how to meet and greet. i trained a lot but in short sessions.
each session last 5 to 10 minutes.


when my dog nipped i would pull him, push him away and say "no biting".
then i would pet him. if he nipped i would pull/push him away and say
"no biting". sometimes i would left his head and look at him and say
'no biting". lifting his head and looking at him or pulling him away by
some neck fur was my way of being firm with him.

train, train, train and he's going to learn. everyboby in the household
should train in the same manner.

 

[Midnight12]

You got some good advice here and one more thing, I would never run out of the room from my dog. Grab some treats and start making him sit and stay and lie down, when he is like this.

 

[Baillif]

There are a lot of methods to fix the nipping issue. Teaching the off command and redirecting are my favorite because they worked on a maligator puppy I break a lot of the "rules" with. (I play tug games with him, I roughhouse with him, he's allowed to mouth and nip as part of certain games but only within the confines of the rules of the game)

You have to keep in mind to unlearn a behavior whatever method you use will need to be done consistently and repeated and stuck with for at least 90 repetitions. It is harder to get a puppy to unlearn a behavior than to teach a new one by about a factor of 3x-5x depending on the dog.

Another thing to keep in mind is the yelp method is not used to stop a dog from nipping and biting, it is used to get a puppy to control his bite pressure and bite less hard. You need to teach a leave it or off command and use that and redirection to "legal bite targets" to get the dog to stop biting and nipping at you entirely. Sri linked this video and it is a good one on how to teach the off command. How To Train Puppy To Stop Biting! - YouTube Keep in mind it may take over 90-100 repetitions of this spread out over the course of a week or two to get the desired behavior. Stick with it.

The only thing I'd add to this is a stage where after he masters the off when he's at lower levels of energy you up the ante by intentionally riling him up into biting on you and then get him to "off" for the treat. Then you can fade the treat and he will obey without you needing to have it.

I wouldn't time out a puppy in a kennel simply because I don't agree with using the kennel as punishment for an action. The kennel should never be associated with punishment.

 

[mikeber]

No I do not have kids but I get your point. The reason I asked because when I went to the shelter this pass week to donate some toys I saw a GSD that was there since two months ago. I asked the staff what is the deal with her. The dog seems calm and look like a purebred. I thought people will be all over her. The staff told me she was rescued once and they surrender her back here because she was biting their children. She is around 2 years old. I may be wrong here but I expected that my puppy will be more mature and "become an adult" around this time. But apparently not in this case.

Regarding the 2 year old GSD at the shelter: I always take with a grain of salt claims like: "she was biting their children"... We don't know the circumstances and what was that about - such as - did she fully attack the kids or was she playing and how the children and owners reacted, etc.
Raising a GSD is not intuitive and simple without learning (and seeing) first. Many people are not ready for these wonderful dogs (Sadly, I also find many people unfit of being parents as well).
Bottom Line: I would like to hear from you if your dog keeps biting when he is 2-3 year old...

 

[Linck]

Regarding the 2 year old GSD at the shelter: I always take with a grain of salt claims like: "she was biting their children"... We don't know the circumstances and what was that about - such as - did she fully attack the kids or was she playing and how the children and owners reacted, etc.
Raising a GSD is not intuitive and simple without learning (and seeing) first. Many people are not ready for these wonderful dogs (Sadly, I also find many people unfit of being parents as well).
Bottom Line: I would like to hear from you if your dog keeps biting when he is 2-3 year old...

At what age your dog stop biting?

 

[mikeber]

At what age your dog stop biting?

Hard to say. I almost didn't notice, but at 5 month she was out of it. Later, at about 10 months (as a teenager), other unpleasant behaviors kicked in, just to pass away as the biting phase once did.
I am speaking from a perspective of time, but when these behaviors happened it was very annoying and upsetting. Mostly since I didn't expect nor anticipate them. What we expect, is a great dog, one of the best in the canine world, but we are not told about the long way towards that goal.