Whew! Glad it's only me that's scarred for life, not my dog

There is one other problem I ran into, though. My pup is also extremely possessive, and can still get very mouthy with the ball or sleeve despite a lot of "into my arms" sessions. Advice is I may have overdone the "Aus" too young. Really hard for us Schutzhund novices to know what the right balance is between too much Aus and not enough leadership. On the other hand, I did manage to quickly teach my pup that my clothes are not a prey item, particularly when I'm putting them on. All I had to do was say "uh uh" in a quiet, matter-of-fact voice. He soon learned the difference. Very useful if you have a little alligator.

Okay, so let me ask you this...when the pup is trying to chew on me what am I supposed to do? The vet told me to shove his lip into his teeth and tell him no. Is this what I want to do with a working gsd? I don't want to lose respect by being too harsh and yet I feel that these dogs almost require a little bit more harshness than what I would use with my lab. I have been doing everyting that I have been instructed to do today. I am even bidding on a basic obedience dvd on ebay, since hubby is cheap and won't let me buy from Ed and all is going well. I have not permitted him to eat any grass today. I have not let him out unless I decided it was time to potty, get a drink, etc. I have played with him several times today and he actually is doing better on the fetching. He isn't all that enthusiastic about it. Almost like he is humoring me. Still, I think he is starting to get the message that I am in control of life around here. As far as being intimidated by him, not for a second did I show that I was intimidated and really it was only a split second thought in my own brain after the fact that I shared with the forum. So, I hope he hasn't got esp cuz then I'm really in trouble. I know how important it is to be pack leader especially with a dog like this. However, I am not quite sure how to correct one so young without being resented by the dog. I came from the old school where if my dad saw the dog doing something stupid he would get a swift kick in the arse. I don't want my dog to fear me, I want his respect so i'm trying to find the happy medium. Still, I would like to learn how to correct him biting me, without ruining his bite drive. By the way, thanks for everyones help.

My dog is now 4 1/2 months old (had him since 8 weeks old). Been teaching him (indoors) to sit while I throw his favorite toy into the next room. I say, "Go get it". He runs after it, brings it back to me and drops it at my feet and then sits to wait for his treat. I vary the times that he gets a treat. He will do this 6 to 10 times in a row and then he starts getting "pushy" and "bumps" into my legs as he is returning with the toy before he spits it out. Then that escalates to him getting mouthy and jumping up on me. I figure he is getting tired and I put him in his crate for a little while. After reading all of these posts, I am starting to doubt whether I am doing everything OK or not. He is a bullmastiff/pitbull mix.