I hope for suggestions for my 6 month working line German Shepherd. When she was a smaller puppy she was very mouthy on my feet/shoes, legs, & arms, but could easily be distracted from biting me with treats or toys... to her all this is a fun game.

I was confident this play nipping would stop once she got a bit older and passed through her teething stage. Once she began the teething process she stopped the mouthiness on me, so I thought we had passed through the puppy mouthiness. However, recently during play she sometimes grabs my arm, and the distractions that worked when she was a younger pup don't seem to do the trick any longer. Instead of her releasing her grip, she tightens her grip on my arm. I think she is having fun with her new big teeth, and I have bruises.

I am ony using motivational training with her, and she has never experienced any compulsion. She is reliable on commands, but sometimes forgets if we are working and have distractions. Since she is still a pup, I don't expect perfection, but I would really appreciate some suggestions dealing with the mouth grips on me.

I don't want to dampen her spirit for future bite work, but hope for some guidance on getting her unfocused on my arm....any suggestions?

Evette its time for her to have a reality check. I agree that a puppy should never be disclipine, UNLESS its biting the handler/owner or breaking the rules of the house (ripping things up), not respecting you as Alpha. If you can't command her to stop, she needs to be corrected, then immeadiately go into the appropiate item to bite or play with praise afterward.

This is still distraction/praise technique but you use an attention getter first a rap on her nose with your finger or slowly pry her jaws off and say "No" a struff shake, then with tug in hand or rag swing it around in front of her let her bite that, a short game of tug and praise.
She notice the "What not to do", but you don't harp on it, go straight into what is fun and appropiate to bite.

It's never appropiate for the puppy/dog to bite you especially at that age and older. You obviously have noticed that its not cute anymore, and you don't want this to continue into her adult stage. Stop it Now! This is MO <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

I agree w/Don that this must stop now!

When Bella was a young girl she too would grab arms in excitement when I came in the door. I would grab her by the cheeks and and look right into her eyes and say very sternly,"Phooey bite!!". After a few times I never had to do this again.She actually taught herself to redirect her mouthiness by looking on the floor and picking up a shoe by the door instead! Then she would run around for a minute or two with a shoe in her mouth!
I never corrected her for that because I kinda liked her display of ingenuity!LOL, but that's just me....
Good luck

thank you for the suggestions, and I appreciate the advice.

If I understand correctly both of you suggest getting the pup's attention by a tap on the nose or grasping her ruff with eye contact, a verbal correction and then distraction. I will do this the next time she goes after my arm during play and let you know how she reacts...it could be a while since she doesn't do this frequently. But regardless of the frequency, I've got to get this stopped now.

I'm glad you suggested still using distractions because some other folks suggested a strong correction with a prong collar and I wasn't feeling really good about that tactic with my pup. She is still in a flat buckle collar and I haven't felt the need to go to a prong or choke yet, but was starting to question my decision.

Thanks for your advice!

Does the dog know off? My male went through a second teething spell at around 9 months old. Not only would he bite forarms, he would jump up and bite upper arms as well. Lucky for me he knew OFF and after about three or four times of this crap he got the idea.

I am not a fan of hitting a dog in the face. Even if it is a 'tap' on the nose, it can cause you problems later with the stick depending on the hardness of the dog.

I do think now is the time to get a handle on it, but I don't necessarily think that you will have to use a prong. At this age I don't think it is dominance related. Start making the dog work for things more around the house. When my dog started being a punk I knew it was time to become the enforcer. Don't underestimate the simple acts of asking for, and requiring OB in your daily routine.

platz beside the car, sit at the door, etc.

If the dog knows off, try OFF, sit, and then when the dog is CALM some physical praise in the form of petting or a 'happy dance' But if the dog starts again, cycle over. The little happy dance I do used to trigger this, so I would start with calm praise and move to more animated stuff as the dog is starting to get it.

If youve never used any corrections obviously your dog doesnt know when enough is enough and it doesnt know what NO means. Im not a fan of zero corrections on a dog until its a year old. If you dont want to do anything compulsively for a year then fine but I do think there are a few things your dog should learn as a pup so there is no confusion later. The dog should at the very least learn that "NO" means "stop whatever your are doing it is wrong."It doesnt take much to teach this to a young dog and it could take alot to teach it to a grown dog that has spent its entire life acting wild as a deer and running all over you.The dog needs to respect you and should never think its ok to bite you. Whatever you decide to do Id make sure the next time the dog puts its mouth on you the whole world comes to a halt and that its the end of anything enjoyable for awhile.The dog needs to learn what NO means and react to it. It becomes very helpful later in social situations and in training.

Deanna & David,

thanks for the advice for my puppy and me. Since I entered the post she hasn't gripped my arm, but I am preparing for the next time.

She does know off and I use "at" instead of no. The "at" in a firm low voice usually gets her attention and she'll stop & then I distract her. I didn't think to use the off command when she gripped my arms. First I tried to distract her, but she tightened her grip. Then I said "at", and it felt like she eased up, so I think she heard my command, but then she tightened her grip again. At that point I had to pry her mouth off my arm, we then quit play and went inside where I left her alone for awhile. Wasn't sure if this was my best reaction to her behavior, but I was a bit frustrated.

This is when I decided to search for some suggestions from experienced handlers and I am pleased with the ideas from the posts on this discussion board.

Evettte,

I did not hit my dog in her face, I would grab her by the side of the face and pull her towards me by the cheeks.
And as for scruff shakes, I don't feel they're very effective by the time a dog reaches 6 months old. AS a small pup during housebreaking , then yeah, I'll pick up a pup caught peeing and give a scruff shake as I run out the door, but not much else....

Good luck!

I'm glad someone wrote about this because my dog is starting to do the same thing. When I play with him, if he can not get the toy I am tempting him with right away, he goes for my arm or hand. After the last time, I yelled sharply and refused to play with him in the same manner since. I'm sure he has long forgotten what the lesson was. I will try this new approach.

rho

It is interesting to read what techniques everyone employees. Our pup was horribly mouthy when very young and we learned to redirect his attention by giving him VERY large toys (I mean big!). In this way he could battle the toys and keep away from our hands, face and arms.

Now that Tyr is 8 mos. old he does grab forearms hard enough to bruise. His invitations to play can be really rough. We figured out that although he likes a tug game he breaks every tug we have found (ball on string types). So, I happened to cut off a 16" piece of garden hose to see if he would enjoy it. Good lord. He goes after the hose like a rat on cheese. We can grab both sides of the hose as it sticks out of his jaws and rough it up with him. Sometimes he attempts to ratchet things up by pushing the hose towards us until he can get a pinch of us. A sharp "No" usually works, as he doesn't want the game to stop. The hose is long enough to keep him away from you and you can throw it quite far (heavy hose) when you need a break.

I think you also should consider ignoring him and placing him in the kennel should the biting continue once you have asked for it to stop. He will catch on quickly. Most of these guys don't want to stop the rough house and will obey if they fear loss of a human play partner.

Good luck and I wouldn't worry so much. Mouthiness isn't a bad thing unless you let it become a problem.