I just purchased my first GSD about 2 weeks ago. She is 9 weeks old from German working lines. I did quite abit of homework before her arrival (I basically read every article on Ed's website, and anything else I could get my hands on), although the mouthiness was expected, not to the degree I'm expieriencing. Generally speaking, at what point does the mouthiness subside in favor of affection/petting? I do not plan to train her for protection/schutzhund work, but I hate to correct a natural behaviour in a 9 week old pup. I purchased Ed's puppy tape before her arival and have watched it several times. I've tried a scruff shake, a jowl grab, muzzle grab in which all produced a scream from the pup, but she just comes harder in play. I can live with the mouthiness if it goes away, but I have 3 kids who don't enjoy it to much. Any suggestions appreciated!

I experienced this with one of my GSDs also. We got him when he was 4 months old, and every time we corrected him for biting, he would come back biting even harder. The more we'd push him away or scruff shake him, the more determined he became. He bit my husband so hard one time that even the doctor was sure he had broken my husband's wrist. Thankfully it was only sprained, but his biting was very difficult to deal with. We tried scruff shaking him, putting him in his crate for a "time out", holding his mouth shut, & my husband even tried biting him back to show him how it felt...all to no avail. Eventually, we started spraying bitter apple on our hands. It didn't stop the biting all together, but it did make him less interested in chewing on us. You have children to worry which we didn't, so there may be a better option for you, but this is the only thing that worked at all for us. Our dog is now 9 months old and he has grown out of the mouthiness. This behavior should eventually subside on it's own, but you have to do whatever you need to do to make in manageable in the meantime.

We now have a new puppy & will probably be experiencing the same thing again, so hopefully there are others out there with some better suggestions <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

I tried the bitter apple on my hands as well, didn't really seem to help much. Maybe I should wash my shoes and pant legs in bitter apple <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> ! Housebreaking and crate training is going well, she eats like a vacuum cleaner, behaves really well for hot dog bits while obedience training. I don't have any expierience with a GSD puppy for comparison, but I would say she has above average prey drive. She goes nuts for the ball on a string, damn near does a back flip <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> ! The mouthing is definitely frustrating, it is difficult to remain calm and patient with an alligator on your arm or pant leg.

Eric

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> Maybe you should do what Ed suggested in his "Your Puppy 8 Weeks to 8 Months" video. He said to saturate a cotton ball with Bitter Apple and put it in the dog's mouth for 20 seconds, twice a day for 3 days. He said by the end of the third day, the dog will hate the smell of Bitter Apple so much that it won't mess with anything you've sprayed it on. Sounds like it would work very well for chewing, although I don't know how well it would work for the biting problem. Ed, what do you think? Will this work for a biting problem?

I certainly understand what you're going through. It was rough for us for a few months, but our dog is also a fast learner & very intelligent, which is the only reason he survived in our house as long as he did <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> Hang in there, it'll get better. And remember, you could always send the puppy to live with someone you don't like for a few months.

I found it was easier just to have a lot of toys around to control the mouthiness. My GSD always found a beef flavored nylabone more important than my hands and wrists, but sometimes he would still leave his marks up and down my wrists and hands.

When my dog went through teething things got a lot better. There weren't any teeth in his mouth to chew me with, and I believe it was painful for him to chew anything at that time.

All I can say is hang in there, it DOES go away.

Here is something that worked great with our puppy when she would bite at the kids.(we have 4 children our youngest is only 15 months)After you have conditioned the puppy to hate bitter apple.(By soaking a cotton ball and placing it in the pups mouth and making the pup hold it for about 30 seconds.) Do this as Ed says on his video 3 x per day for 3 days. Then you must condition the puppy what they are aloud to bite on. What we did was purchase a rubber kong toy. Fill it three quarters full with some can dog food then freeze it. When it is completely frozen put fresh dog food in the last one quarter. Play keep away with the kong from the puppy for about 30 seconds (using frustration as a training tool.) When you see the puppy is jumping and biting for the kong, GREAT. Let him have the kong. Now put the puppy in a set up situation. I had all my kids run around in the living room laughing and playing. This stimulated the pups play drive. As soon as the pup was begining to bite at the kids I squirted the pup right in the mouth and cheek area with a bitter apple / water dilution (1 part bitter apple to 20 parts water.) By the way I DID NOT use the word No or phooie. As I wanted the pup to realize that it was the act of biting the kids that was the negative not the fact that dad yelled. Once the pup backed off I would say "Get your kong" and give him his toy filled with the frozen food. It only took a few time before the puppy realized that chasing and biting the kids was not such a good idea. It did not destroy any of her drive and the negative was never associated with me. Here is the best part when she started teething her mouth was in great pain. By chewing on the frozen kong it relieved the pain of the teeth coming in. Now she always looks for her kong and never chews on anything else.

ericsaun:

You have what is called a hard temperament puppy. This in its true form is very rare. But if this is indeed the case the way to correct this is to place a prong collar on him and when he displays improper behavior to pop him very hard while giving a firm but not mad NO command. So hard in some cases that it scares the hell out of him. This is ALWAYS followed by calm praise. If he continues then the correction was not hard enough. If after a minute of calm praise he will not play it was too strong. Ed goes into much more detail in Training the Hard Puppy. Check it out.

Ps. 99% of you do not have this caliber dog. I would refer to Teaching a Dog the Meaning of the Word No for your puppy.

Vince, I agree with this. If it's a really driven and hard puppy I found answers more with the prong collar and then giving appropriate toys than anything else. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

One of the things recomended on another lost I am on is to teach the puppy to carry a toy. They can't get mouthy if they have something in their mouth. What they use is a fairly large stuffed toy. The dog carries it all the time. Part of the reason they teach the dog to carry is it is a fairly natural behavior for the breed. I am not sure if this would work with a GSD though.