I have a 10 week old puppy - 1/2 German Shepard and 1/2 Black Lab, and he bites all of the time and seems to have a very high prey drive. We have tried yelping the way his littermates would if he was too rough and even walking away - but he would do the same thing when we reaproach him. Now we are using a water bottle and sray him when he bites, but this seems to be a short-term fix. Bitter apple does not bother him. Any suggestions would be great. Thanx in advance for any help.

http://www.leerburg.com/bitingpuppies.htm

if you haven't had a chance yet, read that article. It's very helpful in helping with a puppy that bites.

Thank you for your response - I have already read that article. I am new at this - 1st time I have ever had a dog of anykind, so maybe I am just expecting to much too soon.

I've been able to teach my 17 month GSD everything from heeling (without a lead) and watching a squirrel, rabbit, chipmunk run right in front of him and he won't move, to "take cover", where he slithers/crawls on the ground but I cannot for the life of me get him to stop biting when he's happy to see you <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> ! He just can't say hello without very gently putting his teeth around your forearm <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> !

Just my experience (and I guess lousy training)! Good luck with getting yours to stop. I'm sure mine is more the exception than the rule.

its hard sometimes for a puppy to learn to not play by biting...and he is young.
Is it that he's biting when you try to pet him?
Have you tried the trick of re-directing his biting onto a toy instead of you? The one thing some people seem to do is just show the toy to the puppy and assume he's just going to automatically re-direct his attention to it. But make sure you have his full attention on the toy by waving it around & throwing it in the opposite direction.
My last dog I had at 8 weeks old was a huge biter, and I did have to resort to the method mentioned in that article about calmly grabbing the pup by the cheeks and lift him off his feet, stare him in the eye and calmly tell him no or knock it off until he submitted. I wasn't rough but just remained calm and looked him in the eye until he relaxed. I did have to do it on more than one occassion but he did eventually learn that when he was biting and I said no, it meant stop. Mind you he would still try to bite (during play), and sometimes i didn't really mind because he wasn't trying to hurt or be dominant he was just excited, but once i had enough, I would say no more and he stopped.
Now, the dog I have now....totally different. He's mouthy, but only if he's excited and not in a aggressive manner.
When we're getting ready to go for a walk he will gently grab my hand in his mouth, or play with my feet trying to hurry me up, but his teeth hardly touch me. Whenever he's too excited he'll always mouth my arm or hand, but he is part border collie, so him being that way isn't a big surprise to me.
All I can say is it will probably ease off as he gets a bit older, but try the toy method and see if that helps.
There was another thread just a little while ago about this, i'll see if I can get a link for it.

Wendy

found the post, here's a link
http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/4181752/an/0/page/6#Post4181752

at ten weeks old, i really would not worry so much about a puppy biting. he's just playing and communicating with you the way he knows how. i've always let my puppies bite me gently in play, and none of them ever grew up to be aggressive towards me or bit anyone.

if the puppy bites too hard and it hurts, yelp or shriek "ow! that hurts!" if they persist, then use "NO!" in a firm, deep, no-nonsense tone.

but there should be no problem with letting a very young pup use its teeth in play, or grab you gently by the arm to lead you somewhere. the key is, they should be doing it gently. and they should stop when you say enough is enough.

follow ed's advice for pups that don't stop or get too rough. i must have just gotten lucky, because i've never had this become a problem in later puppyhood. they outgrow it very fast.

 Quote:

i must have just gotten lucky, because i've never had this become a problem in later puppyhood. they outgrow it very fast.

Lucky you! Like Hayley said as well, I've tried everything from water to prong collar correction to the e-collar to ignoring him to firm "NO", etc., etc. Nothing at all works. Hayley, maybe I should look at it the way you do, he's giving me his version of a kiss <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> . How cute is that?

My dobe is now 8 months old and most of this has gone away on its own. However! at 10weeks she was a friggin' aligator! We are raising her as a schutzhund prospect so I decided long ago to limit my corrections for biting. We yelp and walk away or redirect with a toy. But if that doesn't do it, we calmly put her in her crate with a toy until she calms down. If she was going to be a pet only dog, we would be more strict with the teeth on skin.

As I said, most is under control now and her bite work is going great. On the tug and not on me! <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> I say, just enjoy your dog as a pup and let them grow up. It goes sooo fast <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

""I have a 10 week old puppy - 1/2 German Shepard and 1/2 Black Lab, and he bites all of the time and seems to have a very high prey drive. We have tried yelping the way his littermates would if he was too rough and even walking away - but he would do the same thing when we reaproach him. Now we are using a water bottle and sray him when he bites, but this seems to be a short-term fix. Bitter apple does not bother him. Any suggestions would be great. Thanx in advance for any help.""

Well yelping when he bites you is the worse thing to do. Especially with a lot of prey drive. If you notice a dog attacking a prey and it cries from pain the dog goes into it harder. So don`t do that anymore. You have to redirect the dog energy (biting) onto a toy. Tell him no when he bites you and give him a toy then praise him when he focuses on the toy. Now if you were doing schutzhund i would say let him bite you hahaha.