We have a high drive puppy, very, very mouthy lately. She is 7 months old today, a black Czech line dog, about 56 ## of solid muscle. All teeth are nicely in place, and lately, are getting used constantly on our shoes, and especially, our pant legs. Re-directing helps, but there are times when she is just constantly biting legs and clothing. It is not a vicious bite, more of an "I want your undivided attention for some rough play." Several pants legs look like Snoopy's doghouse after the Red Baron shot it up.
At times, she has an impressive off switch. My wife and I recently travelled over 1000 miles due to a family member's sudden collapse, hospitalization, death and funeral. Due to uncertainty of how long we'd be gone, we took her with us, and drove, rather than flying. She rode in a vehicle, out of a crate, for two days of driving, and had no accidents. She chilled in the seat, with her head in the lap of whoever wasn't driving. She also managed to stay in my Mom's house, full of china knick knacks and about nine million things for a puppy to get its teeth into, without any real disasters. She stayed in hotels twice with no damage, no accidents, out of her crate while we slept. We did NOT leave her out of her crate unsupervised either place. And no, she's not perfect, so she did chew up some paper goods here and there, once got after my Mom's cat good and proper (barking, not trying to kill it), and occasionally had to be crated just for being unruly and needing a timeout. My Mom also has a West Highland White terrier, who never warmed up to the puppy, being intimidated by her size and exuberance. On the good side, my Mom has a 1.4 acre lot, with some nice places to throw balls and frisbees, where she could make long retrieves. She would retrieve until your arm needed icing down. She likes taking walks, but they don't make for a tired puppy.
All this by way of saying, she has shown some pretty amazing restraint at times, she has also had some upheaval and unusual stimulation, and now that we are back to our home routine, she is showing more mouthiness. Literally, from moment we get up, through all of the day's interactions, she is more or less constantly after our pant leg if she is not actively fetching, going after a rag, or some other play/work. I know they are "land sharks," but this is getting to be a bit much.
Not our first GSD, but the first true puppy we've had in quite a while. I would bet my previous GSD was a similar handful, but we got her at about 18 months old. She became a fantastic dog, though she probably would not have been the dog for a little old couple who liked to knit and binge watch TV. T
She will chill with beef esophagus or trachea, which were suggested n the forum during teething. But now, approaching juvenile dog size, she works through those pretty fast.
So my questions are:
(1) Training tactics to get a very, very persistent puppy to re-direct, short of simply crating them when they become incorrigible with the biting;
(2) Any good GSD trainers or Schutzhund clubs within a close drive of Cincinnati?
Before we had to leave for two weeks as described, we had started some training at Pet Smart. Not necessarily my first choice, but we wanted to do something, and the trainer did not seem intent on turning a GSD into a Beagle or Lab.
But before the second session, we had to leave for the trip I described. We did not start formal training until she was done teething, b/c well, seemed like a bad idea, and many on the forum seem to advise against it.
At times, she has an impressive off switch. My wife and I recently travelled over 1000 miles due to a family member's sudden collapse, hospitalization, death and funeral. Due to uncertainty of how long we'd be gone, we took her with us, and drove, rather than flying. She rode in a vehicle, out of a crate, for two days of driving, and had no accidents. She chilled in the seat, with her head in the lap of whoever wasn't driving. She also managed to stay in my Mom's house, full of china knick knacks and about nine million things for a puppy to get its teeth into, without any real disasters. She stayed in hotels twice with no damage, no accidents, out of her crate while we slept. We did NOT leave her out of her crate unsupervised either place. And no, she's not perfect, so she did chew up some paper goods here and there, once got after my Mom's cat good and proper (barking, not trying to kill it), and occasionally had to be crated just for being unruly and needing a timeout. My Mom also has a West Highland White terrier, who never warmed up to the puppy, being intimidated by her size and exuberance. On the good side, my Mom has a 1.4 acre lot, with some nice places to throw balls and frisbees, where she could make long retrieves. She would retrieve until your arm needed icing down. She likes taking walks, but they don't make for a tired puppy.
All this by way of saying, she has shown some pretty amazing restraint at times, she has also had some upheaval and unusual stimulation, and now that we are back to our home routine, she is showing more mouthiness. Literally, from moment we get up, through all of the day's interactions, she is more or less constantly after our pant leg if she is not actively fetching, going after a rag, or some other play/work. I know they are "land sharks," but this is getting to be a bit much.
Not our first GSD, but the first true puppy we've had in quite a while. I would bet my previous GSD was a similar handful, but we got her at about 18 months old. She became a fantastic dog, though she probably would not have been the dog for a little old couple who liked to knit and binge watch TV. T
She will chill with beef esophagus or trachea, which were suggested n the forum during teething. But now, approaching juvenile dog size, she works through those pretty fast.
So my questions are:
(1) Training tactics to get a very, very persistent puppy to re-direct, short of simply crating them when they become incorrigible with the biting;
(2) Any good GSD trainers or Schutzhund clubs within a close drive of Cincinnati?
Before we had to leave for two weeks as described, we had started some training at Pet Smart. Not necessarily my first choice, but we wanted to do something, and the trainer did not seem intent on turning a GSD into a Beagle or Lab.
But before the second session, we had to leave for the trip I described. We did not start formal training until she was done teething, b/c well, seemed like a bad idea, and many on the forum seem to advise against it.