You are very welcome and keep us posted on progress, I am sure you will do just fine.

 Quote: Sandra Vernlund

Hi Christi, One thing you can also try, is when he jumps on you, grab his muzzle (not too hard) from the top with one hand and guide him down. You can say Off at the same time. This replicates the mother correcting a puppy. This is also an action of a dominant dog (mouthing another dog's muzzle).
Sandy

I'v been trying this and it realy dose work! Thanks. Things with us are getting better. Thanks again for all you help.

 Quote: Christi Collett

 Quote: Sandra Vernlund

Hi Christi, One thing you can also try, is when he jumps on you, grab his muzzle (not too hard) from the top with one hand and guide him down. You can say Off at the same time. This replicates the mother correcting a puppy. This is also an action of a dominant dog (mouthing another dog's muzzle).
Sandy

I'v been trying this and it realy dose work! Thanks. Things with us are getting better. Thanks again for all you help.

Not sure I would be using this method in a dog that you are using for bite work.
While it may work on pets, it may not be the correct method for a working dog.
But then again, it may be just fine.

Seems to be more of an easy way out, rather than using food or a toy (positive reinforcement) to redirect.

I can't say that I have not been thinking the some thing. Also, some times when I do this he jumps back up and bites my hand. I'm not sure why he is doing this but he dose it right after I push him down as if he's getting beck at me or somthing. I'm starting feel that this may not work for me after all. I just am having truble thinking that I don't like the idea of using food to teach him respect/pack order and that I am and always will be the leader so he can't jump on me unless I ask him to.
can any one else out there throw in a thought, PLEASE!!!

Hi Christi, Yes, I agree, you need more comments from others on this forum. I can only give my opinion. If he tries to bite you after guiding him down, immediately turn your back on him and ignore him. Pack leaders are suppose to be aloof. I have used this on my working dog and it has not diminished his drive or enthusiasm for his job one bit. You are only teaching basic puppy manners here. Good luck!

Sandy

With dogs that are going to be trained for bite work, it is my understanding that holding their muzzle and pushing them down, or physically trying to restrain them may really only bring out the drive and cause them to come back and try again.

My experience is growing and I am learning, and I do have two dogs that I am training for bite work and know first hand that physically trying to make them stop is not the correct thing to do.

Maybe the members here who have EXPERIENCE with this type of training will jump in here.

I do not turn my back on my dogs, as when they are in drive and being mouthy as it results in them being able to bite, especially young pups and dogs that are still in the learning process. Controlling the dog when it is behind you is difficult and I would not recommend it. Like I said, this may work for pets but working dogs are completely different.

Regarding biting, say before a dog is around 16 weeks of age I typically try to redirect this biting but not correct it. However but there comes a time when a dog must learn manners and that time is, when it hurts like hell. Regarding jumping I don't correct that. Understand this is just what I do and I am not suggesting you do it. Norman Epstein

At 11 months, Macy has learned not to jump on people without any major prong corrections like we used on Noah. It took a long time, and it was hard, but I feel good about it. She's doing it because she understands, and she wants to comply. I see her wanting to jump on my wife sometimes (who's position in the pack is only maintained by my authority). But she resists. Which is good, because my wife is 6 months pregnant.

Anyway, what I'm saying is, if you want a biting sport dog, you don't want to violently punish jumping, you want to teach that jumping is appropriate in some settings and inappropriate in some settings. This can take a long time to communicate. I did this almost exclusively by positively reinforcing calmness in the house, and largely ignoring jumping.

In fact, any correction she got was a correction for ignorning me, not for jumping. For instance, she'd see my wife, run up as if to jump on her, I'd say "Macy, SIT". At that point, when she jumped (and freaked my wife out) I'd say No, grab her (usually by the scruff) and work her into a sit. Not roughly, but Very firmly.

Now she's much calmer. Anyway, you need to figure out what will work for you and do that. For us, it was that sort of training that went around a direct confrontation with jumping, and focused on the reward for sitting and being calm. Also, it's a maturity thing with the dog. As Macy matures she listens to "no"s better, and is less excited and crazy. 10 weeks...hehe. You've got a long, long road.

Also, Carol is right. Turning your back on a pet dog may be an adequate rebuff. If I turned my back on Macy when she was crazy, she'd just have jumped up and bitten the back of my neck. Or my bicep. Ask me how I know that those are her favorite spots to bite. The challenge is, I don't ever intend to correct her for biting, so I want to keep her biting of me to a minimum. That means, no turning my back on her when she's in drive, and I always have a tug in my pocket. Always.

 Quote: david eagle

Now she's much calmer. Anyway, you need to figure out what will work for you and do that. For us, it was that sort of training that went around a direct confrontation with jumping, and focused on the reward for sitting and being calm. Also, it's a maturity thing with the dog. As Macy matures she listens to "no"s better, and is less excited and crazy. 10 weeks...hehe. You've got a long, long road.

Also, Carol is right. Turning your back on a pet dog may be an adequate rebuff. If I turned my back on Macy when she was crazy, she'd just have jumped up and bitten the back of my neck. Or my bicep. Ask me how I know that those are her favorite spots to bite. The challenge is, I don't ever intend to correct her for biting, so I want to keep her biting of me to a minimum. That means, no turning my back on her when she's in drive, and I always have a tug in my pocket. Always.

The above post sounds eerily familiar - I'm nursing a puncture wound and several 'rips' across the back of my hand from my 20 wk old GSD because she unexpectedly decided to involve my hand in a game of tug-of-war during our morning walk. Turning my back in the past has resulted in bites to the back of the legs/buttocks, trying to muzzle her with my hand ends up escalating the situation, and grabbing/shaking the scruff also escalates it.

I don't think that it has anything to do with handler aggression, she is just acting out as a puppy. Her prey drive is through the roof and has proven that she has a very hard temperament - she'll pull like a mule even with the prong on live ring if she sees something to chase (except cars, children, and other animals - early hard corrections for chasing these objects seemed to hit home quickly). I've owned dogs my whole life, both large and small, and I've never seen a dog with so much prey drive - before I got her I didn't even know that it existed within a domesticated animal to this extent. She can generally be recalled pretty easily even in the face of distraction, but it has taught me to be ultra aware of everything around us so I can keep ahead of her game and keep her craziness within a manageable level. She has been slowly out growing this, but still requires quite a bit of redirection. I think that it is all in good fun on her part and she just wants to interact with me because she minds extremely well except for when she is wound up (usually after a good 'leaf chasing' session).

Even though I was feeling some pretty serious pain this morning while she was latched on, I couldn't help but laugh because I was giving her commands, which she was responding to (sit, lay) but wagging her little tail and holding on with all of her might at the same time.

From what I've been reading here on the forums, I've gotten the impression that as long as I stick with her training and keep control of myself then I should expect this behavior to slowly dwindle. Currently the method I am using is to keep her under control with a leash and prong, displaying aloof mannerisms, using redirection when possible, positive reinforcement for good behaviors (especially licking instead of biting), and crate 'time-outs' if it escalates to the point where I feel like I might lose control of myself or her. The only time she really get corrections now is if she tries to roughhouse with our 4 year-old son (that is not tolerated and she seems to be getting that message quite quickly) or if she doesn't come when recalled.

Sandra - how did this end up turning out for you? Did your dog outgrow it, or did you end up figuring out another method?

Christi,

I wonder why you don't put him in a crate if you have things to do? If I am really busy and cant focus on my GSD Tazer 100%, rather than always be diverting him into good behaviour, I crate him until I can focus on him again.

I have been doing that since he was little, now he is 5 months old and LOVES his downtimes. Sometimes he is in the crate 15mins and sometimes a few hours. I always make sure he has had a drink, and peed and he is really happy. I have multiple crates aroung my house and all of them hold concealed treats. I tell him "load up" and he is delighted to do his little SAR attempt before nodding of for a bit.

I work from home alot and if I hadn't done something when he was that age I would be unemployed now...

Now he will load up, stay by me feet or sleep on the fireplace. Even so, I still give him his crate downtime, we got in a routine and he is very content. Also like the idea of the puppy love of hidden treats in his crates.

Hope this gives you another option....folding washing on the bed is fun for a GSD isnt it