5 Month old German Shephard who won't stop biting!!!!!!!!!?

Question

We have a little puppy dog who wont stop biting. She doesn't chew furniture but she is always going to bite or chew our hands, arms, legs, feet.....basically everything thats attached to us!!!!! She is in the middle of loosing her baby teeth and thereofre i am aware that that may be the problem but as i say its only us she chew not anything else. We have tried punishment, praise, ignoring her (which is hard when she is biting every bit of your body ha)but nothing seems to work and she isn't learning that she is not allowed to bite us. I have narrowed it down to the fact that it happens more when she is excited or when we are playing. With other dogs she is absolutly great-no biting-growling-no signs of aggression at all. Its getting to the point that i am putting her in her cage as punishment all the time and its not fair on her but i cant have her biting us.

Answer 1

Puppy playbitting is the means by which dogs develop bite inhibition and a soft mouth. The more your puppy bites and receives appropriate feedback, the safer her jaw will be in adulthood. At this age she's learning her bite. The puppy should learn that her bite can hurt long before she develops jaws Strong enough to inflict injury. The greater the pup 's opportunity to play-bite with people and other dogs, and other animals the better her inhibition will be as an adult.



Good bite inhibitions means that should the dog snap and lung, her teeth will seldom make skin contact and should the "bite" will cause little, if any, damage.



This is an easy one and it works...I know from experience.



EVERY TIME (and I mean every time) she bites you say with a loud voice..."OUCH"! You then pick her up (holding her away from you, make it very uncomfortable for her) with out any eye contact, and place her in an area like a bath room, play pen, some where she can't get out...close the door. Do this for about 15 seconds and then let her out and go back to playing with praise.



What she'll think is..."Hey, what's gong on, why did we stop playing, we were having so much fun?"



If you stay on this what she'll soon understand is.... "Man, those human's sure are delicate. Much more then my fellow dog friends."



Try this and let me know how it works. If you stay with it, you'll see as fast difference!!!

Answer 2

A trick i have learned is that when she bites..give a loud yelp..the noise a dog makes when in pain. They learn as puppies when their littermates do this that the game has gone too far and they automatically stop. You shold ignore the dog for about a minute after this. If this doesn't work, and you say it's mostly through excitement...try not to get her too excited..and if you see she is getting that way then stop any games before it gets to biting. You will need to remove her to another room to calm down for two minutes..then let her back in. Do NOT use the crate as punishment as she will look at it as a place not to enjoy. Which will cause further problems. If the biting still hasn't stopped after this..it may be an idea to get in touch with the breeder for suggestions or speak to a canine behaviourist. Make sure she has plenty of toys to play with and that she knows these are alright to bite. You could try redirecting her biting onto a toy instead. I wish you luck as GSD's make great family pets...

Answer 3

Just been through this with a GSD puppy, they do seem to take longer to get the message than other breeds! This may sound cruel, but it doesn't hurt: When she takes you hand in her mouth, try pressing her tongue down with your thumb. As soon as she pulls back, let go. While you are doing this say NO very firmly. She won't like not being able to let go when she wants but she won't deliberately bite hard enough to hurt you.

As you say, it's when she's excited or playing - it's the only way she can join in the play (apart from belting you with a big paw!) Have you got plenty of tugger toys which you can offer instead of your hand/ankle/sleeve etc. ?

Completely turning your back on her, standing still & not saying a word until she stops also helps, as well as sitting up straight & folding your arms across your chest.

She is learning - she's just not quite ready to accept that she can't do this. She will be much better when she has finished teething, just carry on, don't despair & she'll finally get the idea.

Answer 4

The suggestion of an obedience class is an excellent one. Read here https://tr.im/kZnns

It will help your dog learn to behave around other dogs, and help keep your training moving forward as you'll want to be prepared for the next class. Also, a good instructor can be a wonderful resource, someone to help you with any questions or concerns about your dog. Leash training can take a LOT of time and patience, depending upon the dog. I'm not sure what you mean by 'horrible on a leash' but my basic suggestion is that you take a lot of yummy treats with you on walks. When your dog behaves well on the leash (not pulling) praise her and give her treats. Change direction a lot so that she learns to pay attention to YOU and where you are going. It's also helpful to teach a "Watch Me" command such that whenever your dog looks at you you praise her and give her a treat. About chewing, yes a Kong is a great chew toy. Some dogs also like Nylabone brand bones. I suggest also teaching a "Leave It" command. You use this when she shows interest in chewing on something she shouldn't. Then immediately give her something she is allowed to chew, such as the Kong stuffed with somethig yummy. This same command will be helpful on walks when she wants to sniff or eat something she shouldn't. Again, when she does leave the item alone, be sure to give lots of praise. I would look into an obedience class right away. I think that you'll find that a good obedience class can help enormously! Good luck and enjoy your new dog.

Answer 5

Hi, ive been throught this before with y first dog - bearing in mind i had a newfoundland!! Hug breed with VERY big teeth lol! When my dog was gettin older every time he started biting hard (i know may sound mean) but grab the dog by the scruff of the neck and pick it up so its on its back paws - and so that your face to face and say 'NO' and a very stern voice and the push the dog away and put the dog in a kennel or in a room for a while (thus makin it aware of what they did and then youll have your dog come towards you with its tail between its legs and its head ducked down) When you do this you make yourself the alfamale. So it will obey you...it works really does work, good luck!!

Answer 6

You need to start with the concept "nothing in life is free" with her. You can start by putting her on lead in the home. If she starts the biting, you can give her a correction with the lead, tell her no. Then make her sit, if she sits, give her positive reinforcement with either a treat or tons of praise. If you make a big deal out of the biting, she thinks that you are playing a game and she comes back for more. Keep up with positive reinforcement with the things that you want her to do and ignore the things that you do not want her to do. She will start finding out that she is pleasing you by not biting, and doing good things for a reward.

Answer 7

when your dog bites you, you should give her a tap under her chin NOT SO THAT IT HURTS HER but so that her teeth click together and will send a jolt through her teeth this will give an instant shock to her and at the same time firmly say NO! And keep repeating this time after time and i guarantee you she will stop biting you. DO NOT PUT HER IN THE CAGE AS PUNISHMENT because then you are teaching her that cage is linked to being bad when she should she the cage as being her safe zone where she will not get hurt. BUT REMEMBER do not hit her under the chin just tap her so her top and bottom teeth come into contact with each other.

Answer 8

we had a german shepard also who used to bite. its apperently the equivelent of a baby putting every thing into its mouth. the dog has no hands and its mouth is what it uses instead. Do not use a cage as that is cruel, instead you must persit in giving the dog a light smack on the snout every time it does bite and also always use the same words "No biting" after a maximum of one -two months the biting will have stopped totally if done correctly. It is vitally important that all members of the familly do the exact same punishment using the same words and do not make exceptions. be consistant in the severity. there is no need to be particularily harsh just because you feel fed up or particularily lax just because you are in a great mood that day. and it is very important that all members of the family understand and practice this as generally younger childern find it difficult to do this. remember that a dogs nose is as sensitive as a mans you know whats so think of that when you smack his/her snout.

Answer 9

Please understand that your dog is in pain. Teething pain can be awful.



Get some good chew toys for her and even refrigerate them. You can make them more tasty by putting some flavoring on that she likes; peanut butter, gravy etc.



Give them to her before she has a chance to chew on you, Then if she does, fold your arms and ignore her.



Dogs start biting and chewing people because it feels good because of teething pain. If the humans "reward" the dog by reacting they will think it is just another fun game.



Address her pain first, then ignore her when she does bite.

Answer 10

when she is biting you, make a sharp, loud, sudden noise or use a whistle. this will startle her for a few minutes and as it does, praise her, give her a treat and then give her a toy to chew on and keep praising her while she is doing it.

try doing this every time she bites and soon she will learn that if she doesnt bite you, she will get a treat.



try getting her a softish rubber toy that can resemble a human limb and every time she bites it instead of you, praise her.



this is if the problem is extreme. use a rilled up newspaper and lightly tap her (make sure it makes a noise) on the snout every time she bites, this should teach her that if she bites,

she will be tapped.



hope this helps

Answer 11

German Shepherds do have the tendency to 'mouth' my 14 month old is still doing it, I've kept this breed for 25 years or more and most of them have done it to a certain extent, one of my bitches did it for the whole 12 years of her life! though only to me and only when I came home from work or shopping or whatever, she would just grab hold of my arm, similar to a child getting hold of your hand, she never hurt me though. Try using a rattle bottle, small plastic water bottle with a few pebbles in, and when she goes to grab hold of your arm rattle it in front of her and say in a firm voice 'NO'!, you will only need to do this a couple of times, afterwards she will only have to see the bottle to stop what she is doing. The person who said it takes 2 years for them to mature is right, this kind of behaviour usually calms down after that.

Answer 12

I have a German Shepard too, and he acts the very same way, I believe once this dog matures he won't do that anymore, it does take roughly 2 yrs for a Shepard to mature though. I just tap mine on the snout and tell him no, but the more he wants to play the more he bites at my hands and arms too.

Answer 13

I went through that with Arrow my sheltie .Finally I decided to grab his mouth and hold it closed while saying no bite and he would stop biting and start licking. you don't want her to feel like she goes in the cage when she is bad cus then what happens when you leave and put her in she will think she did something wrong. One thing that helped with Arrow I woul have something for him that he could chew and i would say here chew on this and even push it in his face.



Here are a few links hope they help good luck with your dog child.

http://largedogbreedz.com/large-dog-training-articles/dog-behavior-training/tips-to-stomp-dog-chewing.html

http://home.att.net/~vlea/Solving_Chewing.htm



Someone said use a rolled up news paper DON'T she is a big dog dont want her to get mean i have even seen dogs get after a news paper boy cus they were hit with a paper

Answer 14

Well I am no expert by any means, but you said your pup seems to bite more when she's excited or when you are playing with her, right?



How do you "play"? Puppies should not be encouraged to participate in rough play, as it encourages aggression. Yours will grow up to be a "large" dog, so this behavior needs to be curbed asap. If your play includes tug-o-war or play fighting, stop and try to stick to playing with a ball, or fetch maybe.



Also, encourage her to be in a calm state of mind as often as possible. Try to retain a "calm, assertive" energy at all times as your pup will feed off of YOUR energy.

One of the most common things I've noticed is people start talking in that high-pitched, "oooh aren't you such a cuuuute good wittle doggie!" voice. There are ways to show your dog affection without working the poor pooch into a frenzy. Think about it... when you do this, you're putting that dog into another frame of mind - the overstimulated, hyperactive dog, which, if not everyone's in the mood for, can be a nuisance. Then 5 minutes later when you're ready for "calm dog" state you expect them to suddenly relax again, mostly without communicating this the proper way. This isn't fair to your dog.



Dogs are smart and can read us better than we sometimes know. Our energy and actions can speak much louder to dogs than words, I've found.



Last but not least I think maybe your pup doesn't respect you as her pack leader. With other dogs, she knows what's up, but maybe you haven't shown her the proper chain of command. YOU are in charge, don't let her actions control you. Maybe it would be a good idea to practice "dominant" positions with your pup, to start giving her the idea that this biting (aka .. challenging you?) will not be tolerated. Don't lay down or let her assert herself over you. If she starts her biting actions, flip her over and lay her on her back with her belly up to you. (In dog language this is a submissive act) It may also help to stand directly over her as you have her do this.



I've had issues with my pitbull pup who we adopted from the local animal shelter, and he came with his own slew of "bad habits" as well as dominance issues. It's taken quite a bit of patience as well as some time, but keeping an assertive, and calm (this is soo important) frame of mind has helped tremendously.



I think mostly it's about letting them know what's up. You are the leader, first and foremost. When you get that part down... the rest will come naturally. Wish you and your pup the best of luck.... hope I was able to shed some helpful light. =)

Answer 15

Make a quick sharp cry sort of sound like another puppy would and then ignore her for a couple of minutes you will hav to do it a few times for her to get to know, try to stop play before it gets to far - you will be able to tell when she starts to get excited.

Answer 16

You need to stop this behaviour now.

Smack it sharply on the nose with one finger then point at it and say firmly "No!" This should have the desired effect.

I have had GSD's for the last 40 years

Answer 17

When I was young we had a German shepherd.

We could never wrestle or play rough around him.

He would also bite you if you ran.

I would suggest obedience school.

It really helped us.