So, my 8 week old GSD puppy is going through a serious mouthing phase. His bite is growing stronger and he is growing bolder. I've done some research on this and most sources indicate to convey to the dog that I'm hurt and also to stop movement. I've tried doing these two things simultaneously with varied results. I think the first time that I yelped really loud he stopped biting so hard for a day. However, since then, his bites are getting out of control. I can feel these bites in my bone. He's not being mean or anything like that. He's a very sweet dog and he starts out gently but gets increasingly rougher until I feel my bones in my hand separating. I'm afraid to teach NO to him on this behavior because I do want him to have a strong bite for playing tug and fetch when he's older. I've also tried replacing my hands (and face) with a toy to chew on but he comes right back for real flesh. One thing I haven't tried is delivering a reward when the biting stops but that's because I'm having a hard time imagining reliable mechanics for this. What I mean by that is that he chomps down until I pry (or yank) my hand away. Rewarding that seems backwards. There isn't really a good behavior to mark. Can anyone offer some insight? Surely there must be a good video focused on exactly this issue.

by yanking, pulling you make it a fun tug game.
My puppy now 6 months was a monster leg/pants/leash/hand shark.

I carried a tug/towel or any other ok to play tug thing with me to redirect him. It pretty much stopped when he was teething, now he is back at playing tug but by my rules

I guess it just takes a lot of patience. We've replaced our flesh with a soft nylabone, a hard nylabone, a rubber squeeky chicken, bully ring, bully stick, a rubber tug, a fabric tug, so on and so on. We have a ton of toys, LOL!

Puppy teeth suck!

The mechanics are simple enough.

Use a tug or some other toy the dog relly likes.

Just freeze up with the tug so the pup can't more it around and shake it.

it may take a bit but AS SOON AS the pup lets go mark with a "yes" and move backwards so the pup comes into it for another bite.

They want to pull and shake whatever they have in their mouth so by you freezing up the pup gets bored and lets go.

One old school way I used a lot

When the pup is grabbing at my hand I would calmly slip a finger in it's mouth BEHIND ALL THE TEETH and gag the puppy.

NO excitement from me. No yelling. NO corrections.

The pup just learns that putting teeth on skins is non productive at best.

I used this on my SCH III when he was a pup and he never had any hesitation in bite work.

I'm god and they knows that teeth on me has it's consequence.

The "mark with a "yes" comes from marker training. Best thing I ever got involved with in almost 60 yrs of training.

 Quote: Bob Scott

Puppy teeth suck!

One old school way I used a lot:

When the pup is grabbing at my hand I would calmly slip a finger in it's mouth BEHIND ALL THE TEETH and gag the puppy.

NO excitement from me. No yelling. NO corrections.

The pup just learns that putting teeth on skin is non productive at best.

I'm god and they know that teeth on me has it's consequence.

The "mark with a "yes" comes from marker training. Best thing I ever got involved with in almost 60 yrs of training.

YES, along with pushing both their upper & lower side flues in BETWEEN The TEETH -- They learn PDQ that it's pretty much No Fun to BITE their own LIPS

Bite inhibition is one of the main lessons that puppies learn from mom and litter mates from 6-8 weeks of age - that's one reason why it is important that they are not removed from the litter before 8 weeks of age

I've done the method that Candi talks about - pushing the lips in so that puppy will bite its self, but in my own experience, it resulted in a puppy that was hand shy - she didn't understand that she was biting herself, I think she thought that with my fingers on her muzzle that I was the one biting her... she would duck anytime my hand went near her head. It took me a LONG time to rebuild what I had lost when I did that, so think LONG and HARD before you do that... other puppies may be fine, and mine was the exception, but I for one will not be doing that again...

Redirect, be consistent and patient. He'll figure out that it's much funner to play with the tug than to bite on your arms, legs, etc.

 Quote: Kelly

Bite inhibition is one of the main lessons that puppies learn from mom and litter mates from 6-8 weeks of age - that's one reason why it is important that they are not removed from the litter before 8 weeks of age

I've done the method that Candi talks about - pushing the lips in so that puppy will bite its self, but in my own experience, it resulted in a puppy that was hand shy - she didn't understand that she was biting herself, I think she thought that with my fingers on her muzzle that I was the one biting her... she would duck anytime my hand went near her head. It took me a LONG time to rebuild what I had lost when I did that, so think LONG and HARD before you do that... other puppies may be fine, and mine was the exception, but I for one will not be doing that again...

Redirect, be consistent and patient. He'll figure out that it's much funner to play with the tug than to bite on your arms, legs, etc.

Interesting caution, Kelly -- I've raised quite a few pups over the decades, from a number of different breeds, and have never even once had one become Hand-Shy by learning that biting me is not a pleasant sensation for them ... Go figure (???)

Who knows, Candi? This particular pup was extremely soft to start with, but she was a biting machine.... she turned out just fine in the end, but I lost some ground at the beginning with her.

Hi Jeff,

My dog was a landshark when he was a pup. The most effective thing that worked for me was making an operatic high pitched yelp when my dog bit me. It sounded very unatural to me but it worked. As soon as I did it he stopped and looked at me "wow I hurt you, oh I didnt mean that I was only playing look". I tried the toy chew and that helped as well. I would continue to do the yelp but thats just my opinion what worked for me. Let me know how it goes....

One more thing...I know leerburg and you tube has had some videos. I will look to see what I can find. Also, its really important to praise pup when he takes treat from your hand in a gentle way etc....if pups mouth is too hard trying to get treat fold your hand in a fist and say no until they start licking and lipping your closed fist in a gentle manner.