my pup likes to bite my pant legs when im walking through the yard, and when we play in the house(tug of war etc...) he will play fine for a while but when he gets into it, he completely stops focusing on the prey and has total focus on biting me. i want to do schutzhund&personal protection work w/him. should i let this go on, as it doesnt hurt me, or should i try to break him of this because it will begin to hurt as he grows? all input is appreciated.

I moved you here. Check this ARTICLE out.

I agree with the reply in the article 100% you can not allow the pup to get the upper hand. But at the same time you do not need to get mad,angry or even with the pup. You tell him NO, in a firm not asking but telling voice and redirect the pup to a article he can chew or bite on. Then tons of praise and treats if need be.
God's Blessings

Kat:

While the theory of never allowing a puppy to put his mouth on his handler is one followed by many top police and SchH trainers I’m not sure it is for the reasons you were hinting to. While I agree that if done correctly redirecting a puppies prey drive from you to a prey item should have little if any drive reduction it is not always a necessary practice in effectively raising a working dog. And I am not sure that if you did not follow this philosophy you would be giving the dog the upper hand as you put it. I allow my pup you use what ever it wants to be a prey item at an early age and then as he grows I start to redirect his drive onto items that I choose. I do not believe I promote any future dominance issues with this training technique. Now Kevin Sheldahl who I respect very highly contradicted my methods under certain circumstances knowing the bloodlines of my pup. Here is what he wrote:

“The behavior that you are relating where the dog becomes stressed and then unloads into prey is very much a hand me down from Otis. You must be careful of this. Do not allow him to unload on you! In fact be careful to begin to train such a dog to hold his drive. Do very little formal bitework early with this dog. Work on other aspects of the work first. I am very familiar with this bloodline.”

But this is a very unique case and does not apply to most. Just another point of view not meant to contradict you.

I had the same problem with my pup, I really didn't mind the biting but it carried over onto my children, which is a definite no no. For the kids I would shake the scruff of his neck and in a firm voice say phooie he learned not associate phooie with stop, but me I would redirect his biting to the rag on a string. As you will find out the puppy will grow out of this. Also the minor corrections did not effect my puppies drive at all. I am the only one working my dog, the kids can not play with the string or tug just basic ruffhousing, which he always dominates. I was also told if the biting becomes to much put him in the crate for a few minutes.

Rottiedogz-
Everyone addressed the biting, but I read you also asking about keeping the pup more focused on a prey item.
Of course, your pup views your pant legs, etc. as a prey item because of the movement. Often people redirect this biting with a toy or other prey item(i.e. kicking a toy, ball, tug). The problem happens when that item is dead again (not moving)and then we walk past the pup & he sees fast moving white socks, shoe laces or flapping pant legs and this once again becomes the prey item because it's moving & alive. The pup will almost always shift its focus off of (whatever) and onto you when you are moving faster than the item.
Hope this helps. BTW, I highly recommend the tape "Training Drive, Grip & Focus" - Bernard Flinks. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />