I got an 11 WEEK Australian cattle dog (blue heeler). Its my first "real" dog on my own (not counting the family dogs growing up) and is the first puppy i have raised. The pup is extremely mouthy. I mean you cant pet her without her wanting to gnaw on you some. Unless of course she has awoken from a nap or you are letting her out of her kennel or she is around new people...or she is extremely tired (which is hard to come by...since i have taken her on a 2 mile walk in the mountains and she gets done un-fazed). Anyhow i am concerned she is doing more than playing and is trying to assert a dominance...is this so. She will in addition to the gnawing kinda let out a errrrrrrrr sound. Definitly not a mean growl by any means...not even a growl.
I am caught between wanting to make sure she sees me as the leader and making sure we have fun together....though my hands are tired of being chewed on....ha. Any guidance or understanding of this behavior would be appreciated.
Thanks!Oh yea...she doesnt do this with other people so much...actually the only person she will really run up to is my girlfriend and the dog will chew on her too....but definilty not to the same degree....otherwise the pup is really shy of new people (though we are working on taking her lots of places)

 Quote: caleb michaud

I got an 11 WEEK Australian cattle dog (blue heeler). Its my first "real" dog on my own (not counting the family dogs growing up) and is the first puppy i have raised. The pup is extremely mouthy. I mean you cant pet her without her wanting to gnaw on you some. Unless of course she has awoken from a nap or you are letting her out of her kennel or she is around new people...or she is extremely tired (which is hard to come by...since i have taken her on a 2 mile walk in the mountains and she gets done un-fazed). Anyhow i am concerned she is doing more than playing and is trying to assert a dominance...is this so. She will in addition to the gnawing kinda let out a errrrrrrrr sound. Definitly not a mean growl by any means...not even a growl.
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Well, I'm certainly far less of an expert than most of the folks on this forum, just having my first dog since childhood also. But, my GSD, did this when I got him at 6mos. I just got to the point where I said "no bite" and walked away EVERY time he started doing it. Eventually (and this took some time) he realized he wasn't getting petted or brushed or anything unless he didn't gnaw.
He still tries it occasionally when I'm trying to brush him (he's a year now), but he knows I won't tolerate it. So, I just stop and walk away and give the "no bite" command. If he stops, I praise him and make sure he knows that this is the behavior I wanted.
I do think it's a puppy thing. Another possibility is to give him something to gnaw on while you're brushing him or whatever, so he can chew, but not on you!

Not a bad idea. She will gladly give up any toy to gnaw on me. And walking away...hahah...she is on my ankles or shoes or whatever. One thing is she easily gets her prey drive up...even me praising her can raise it up a couple degrees. Guess i will just give it time and see.

Yeah, at 11 weeks this is totally normal puppy play. I wouldn't encourage it, because you dont' want to teach the hand biting game, but I certainly wouldn't correct for it.

What are your goals for this dog? Working dog? Pet?

If she loves the prey games, start working her in prey drive. Get a small Orbee ball, or a kong, and a $12 horse whip (a lunge whip works) and let her chase it around! Don't encourage jumps or anything, just chasing and pouncing. I prefer a dog that is rewarded by a toy over treats, once the learning phase is over. If you have a dog that is a prospect for good toy/prey drive, that's great!

When our husky pup that is 12 weeks gets super mouthy but is also wanting attention it works to just remove myself from the equation, stop petting or playing and go perfectly still or stand up and turn my back and cross my arms and totally ignore him.

Everything else escalates the biting and nipping.
whie i wouldnt recommend doing this in most cases, if your pup is getting totally out of control and wont redirect as mine was and isnt going to need to bite for work a gentle yet firm instintual type correction might be end up being necessary.
I agree not to discipline but he did get one strong correction after getting too rough and nipping my son in the face, I gently put him onto his back and held my hand on his chest while giving him the look until he relaxed and looked away. He was totally out of control at that point though and it was the only thing i could think to do.
It worked wonders and while I felt mean at the time, it wasnt aggressive or even really what i would call discipline, it was a matter of letting him know who was boss in a language he understood.
I have watched Loki do the same thing, he noses him over onto his back and throws a paw over his chest until Pup calms down. There is no raised lip or growling or other reaction from loki, he just simply holds him there for a minute. The pup hops right up and gpes back to playing but minus the ear tugs and face tackles.

Just to underscore what Jennifer Lee said, remember that her dog was OUT OF CONTROL. How you handle your dog depends on your dog and the situation, but an inappropriate correction will damage your dogs trust. Also, we do the best with what we have, and I've rolled dogs in the past because it was the only tool I could think of. I will never do it again.

You should read Ed's "Theory of Corrections" article (or listen to the podcast!!). He goes into detail about the best corrections for impolite pack behavior. A "cheek scruffing" will do the trick, but again...I would avoid correcting a puppy for playing with you. Redirect, redirect, redirect. Define the boundaries of the game through consistency, with patience and band-aids.

thanks folks! most helpful. i have rolled her on the back a time or two and held her down. also grabbed her by the cheeks once when she was super wild. i think i will stop this and simply get the bandaids out.
Appreciate your time and thoughts.

 Quote: caleb michaud

\ i think i will stop this and simply get the bandaids out.
Appreciate your time and thoughts.

My newest one is 14 weekish now, brought her home at 12 wks and now have stock in the band aid and neosporin companies.....

Can you redirect her onto a toy? Maybe put a toy on a line and drag it?
Ember goes after my hands when I hold the toy, but she does her best to redirect now. She took well to the bite rag and loves it. Keeps her away from my hands until the initial excited craziness wears off, which with her is about 24 hours...
Lots of repetition and making sure I do things correctly every time is a major factor with her. She is a pup that is going to grow into a dog that will keep me sharp and on my toes.

Puppies attention spans are short, so small games and short sessions with food are key. I feed Ember her morning meal by hand but she gets her evening meal in her crate. Just feeding one meal has helped her to ease up on being "grabby".

They do "grow out of it" though, so I would follow David's advice and not correct but redirect.

Caleb, no one had posted these links, so here they are for videos that you may want to purchase. I can highly recommend both of these. I had dogs growing up, like you, but never a pup that had much prey drive. It's a learning experience!

http://leerburg.com/308.htm (Pack Structure with the Family Pet)

http://leerburg.com/120.htm (Your puppy; 8 weeks to 8 months)

These are well worth the investment!