We have a 10 week old puppy that continues to bite. I shake it, the breeder tells us to slap the heck out of his nose when he chews on us. Now he's shy. Help?

Question

I hope you can help me with my new German Shepherd puppy. When we got him he was 7.5 weeks and a he's a very aggressive chewer and biter. I've had a german shepherd before and do not allow puppies to bite and chew on anything but their own chew toys. I have never let him bite me or chew on me because he is "cute and little." We constantly were correcting him and telling him "no." One night my husband and I were playing with him rolling a ball around while he chased it. He went to the door to go potty and I went with him to tell him good boy and when we came back in he went directly to my 3 year old daughter and bit her right on the face. He punctured her skin right below her left eye in 2 places and on her chin line. I was so horrified and I grabbed him by the scruff of the back of his neck and shook him and yelled in his face and put him in his kennel. He was 10 weeks at the time. Well that has not stopped him from biting the crap out of all of us. 2 days ago I called the breeder we got him from to ask her advice. She told me to NEVER let him get away with that ever again and to hit him hard on the nose with rolled up paper and yell "no, no." Well the next time he bit me I did just that and scared the crap out of him but it didn't stop the biting. So over the next 2 days I would pop him on the nose every time he bit me and now he doesn't bite me all the time but he will barely come near me. I am so worried that I have ruined him by making him afraid of me but the biting was so bad I was considering getting rid of him because I cannot allow him to think biting me and my children is in any way acceptable. His biting of the 3 year old was not the only time he has broken the skin of me or the other kids in our family. His biting is painful and aggressive and when I would correct him he would snap at me right after. Needless to say he hasn't snapped at me since I hit him with the paper. All day today I have tried to be sweet and positive with him, telling how good he is being but he seems to have lost his enjoyment of life. I feel terrible but he was scaring me and getting worse everyday. Can you give me any advice? Thanks a lot for your web site. I've learned a ton.

    Tami

Accepted Answer

I strongly suggest you find a new home for this puppy.

    You do not understand puppy behavior and it is just making things bad for what is probably a very nice puppy. Some people should not have puppies. You would be better off without any dog or going to a dog shelter and getting a nice adult dog.

    Puppies play using their mouth. Shaking it, hitting his nose (your breeder is dog damn fool) is not what should be done. If you keep this dog - get a dog crate and crate train the dog. He cannot bite if he is in the crate.

    Odds are you have screwed this poor puppy up. I have no doubt that he shy away from you. What do you think your child would do if you slapped him around every time he played rough - the key word being PLAYING. Because that is how puppies play - with their mouths.

    Find a new home for this pup.