[Dillinger]

First I just want to say that I have read almost all the threads on biting and bite inhibition, but I still want to make sure this is normal

If our 11 week old pup is not sleeping or playing with a toy he is nipping our hands. We can't even pet him, just constantly nips, nips, nips. I have been trying the "ow" which kind of works, but it is just frustrating that we cant sit down and "pet" our pup without him putting his teeth on us. And yes as soon as he nips at us we subsitute a toy in its place.

He is getting better at not nipping at me, but he constantly nips my girlfriend (whom I live with and is her dog too).

I have taken the "leader" role by choice, as I have read in many books that is best to only have one master. I feed him, train him, and mainly take him out to go to the bathroom. He doesn't seem to listen to my girlfriend as much as me. How would you suggest that we establish her as an "authority" too?

Thanks in advanced!

 

[BlackPuppy]

Sounds normal.

 

[jakeandrenee]

Normal....and my puppy that is now 7.5 months still gets nippy and mouthy especially when he is excited or needs to burn off energy. There are still plenty of times I can't pet him with out his mouth opening! Sometimes if I am rubbing his belly he has his mouth open waiting for something to get near it, like a shark!!!!

 

[Navah]

That’s a German Shepherd puppy for you. My girl is just over 6 months now and she is just starting to be better. She will bite when she gets excited but her mouthing has become much, much softer. As bad as this is I never really did anything about it so I can’t help you with training. Like you, I tried the “ouch!” thing… that only made her more obnoxious, I tried sternly saying no… that didn’t work either.

We call her The Piranha, because her mouth is almost always open. Even if I am rubbing her belly and her eyes are rolling in her head from happiness… she will still bite me LOL. I’m sure if there is a way to stop it someone here knows… Shepherds are mouthy, it’s the way they are, so guaranteed someone on a Shepherd site knows what to do… Good luck!

 

[Stosh]

I'm afraid I tried everything too, the 'yipee yipee' when they bit me, putting something else in their mouths, saying 'no bite', holding on to the canine tooth, pressing my finger on the roof of their mouths and honestly nothing really worked except time. I swear Uschi must have been 3 months old before I ever pet her without being bitten. Are you taking him to puppy class? That gives him a chance to bite and the other pups will let him know when he bites too hard. There's a thread called teaching bite inhibition you can read. Other than that, just be patient and he'll grow out of it

 

[Dillinger]

We call her The Piranha, because her mouth is almost always open. Even if I am rubbing her belly and her eyes are rolling in her head from happiness… she will still bite me LOL.

Hahaha. This is exactly what he does!

 

[MaggieRoseLee]

The biting is normal, glad to hear it's getting better.

But if you pup is really consistantly not calming in the house, I'd suggest you need to WAY up the intense exercising outside of the home/yard along with the socialization.

The very best puppy is a tired puppy. And our 'evil'' pups come out when we fail to exercise them enough.

Also, you can't have it both ways. If you got to extreme on the Alpha stuff and you are 'everything' to your pup, you have done a great job of pushing your girlfriend out of the picture. It's fine if you instead teach your puppy they come in 3rd with YOU #1, then your GF, then the pup.

Frankly, you would normally come in first if you didn't do anything but be the tallest one in the house with the deepest voice. So if you start allowing your GF equal time with the treats/training/mealtimes and walks she'll start becoming more central to your pups life.

Keep up with the distracting with the toy. If you puppy learns your hand give ZERO reinforcement with playing or your reacting (bad or good, do NOT react), but when the pup brings THE TOY into play YOU WILL PLAY WITH THEM, this will fix itself.

Remember the point isn't just to replace your hand with a toy, that's the easy part. The hard part is now you have to stop whatever you thought was more important and PLAY for a minute or so, that way the toy IS getting better than human flesh.

 

[Wolfiesmom]

I have a nine month old that still is a bit mouthy. Not nearly as bad as he was before, but when he's excited, when he wants to play, and first thing in the morning, he is biting. I tell him no biting,owww, etc.. and then he used his front teeth and does little nibbles on me, like what he does when he's biting his fur, the little stinker.

 

[Navah]

I have a nine month old that still is a bit mouthy. Not nearly as bad as he was before, but when he's excited, when he wants to play, and first thing in the morning, he is biting. I tell him no biting,owww, etc.. and then he used his front teeth and does little nibbles on me, like what he does when he's biting his fur, the little stinker.

LMAO too funny! Navah does this too, sneaky little buggers lol.

 

[XTOL]

They dont call em land sharks for nothing...

Read a couple of my threads back a few weeks ago
when Abby was running amok in our house. She
was a toe biter from day one and got these wild
cases of the zoomies along with drive by biting
at any exposed fleshy bits.

I was almost convinced I had made a big mistake
and actually considered taking her back to the breeder.
I had four bandages on me at one time.

Fortunately everyone here helped me to realize this
is a very normal GSD puppy activity and that everyone
goes through it. Its almost a rite of passage.

So buy an extra box of bandaids and show off your wounds
like the badge of honor they are...

Hey...we need a Purple Heart award for puppy bites!
I know I qualify...

 

[Veronica1]

We often say how nice it is to be able to actually pet Panzer now - and this works best when he's really pooped out! He's six months. It gets so much better after the teething ordeal (except they discover the power behind the jaws with those big dog teeth)!

 

[Cassidy's Mom]

I have taken the "leader" role by choice, as I have read in many books that is best to only have one master. I feed him, train him, and mainly take him out to go to the bathroom. He doesn't seem to listen to my girlfriend as much as me. How would you suggest that we establish her as an "authority" too?

I don't subscribe to this theory. In my experience, the dog will always choose who their special human is, regardless of who does what. Every single one of the females we've had (4) has been a Daddy's girl, even though I do all the training and grooming and most of the feeding. Keefer, my only male dog, is very much a Mama's boy. :wub:

There's no reason why you and your GF can't share the duties, and since he's not listening to her the way he does to you it might not be a bad idea for her to take over everything for awhile.

 

[Skotty009]

Ahhh....What a relief...Skotty is 8 weeks old and biting like he is on a mission for flesh! I thought I just brought home the diablo of GSD's!

 

[KZoppa]

sounds totally normal. We can finally pet Shasta. She's almost 6 months old. She actually SEEKS attention. She's occassionally mouthy but when corrected she's better. it passes. I've heard numerous times that the perfect GSD we all seek doesnt happen until they're about 2 lol. We'll see with her. good luck!!

 

[vat]

Max is 10 months and he still likes to bite sometimes when your petting him. He has gotten much better tho when he was younger you had to pet at your own risk! Your GF needs to take over for a bit, does she practice his training with him?

There is no such thing as one master, all humans in the house are pack leaders plain and simple.

 

[Dillinger]

He has been doing a lot better now that he is getting a bunch more exercise... Thank you for all the suggestions and help