Help!!!

I have a great pup from mixed german/american lines (mostly german). He’s 13 weeks old now and we’ve had him since he was 8 weeks old. He’s got a great temperament – is wonderful with people and is already getting training down pat with come, sit, crating, walking. He automatically walks at heel, and waits at doors for me. He will only use the part of the yard I designated for washroom use – he’s eyes will cross on a walk but he won’t go anywhere else <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

He is so wonderful in public that people always exclaim on how well behaved he is for a pup and how well trained he already is! I have taken him to school, we have over 400 grade 7 and 8’s and he’s absolutely perfectly behaved when mobbed by my pre-teens! It’s not any training I’ve done, as I’m a novice dog owner - but rather it is him that is a real nice well mannered pup. I’m very very happy with him so far except for one thing.

Here’s my problem. He won’t stop the chewing of us family members! He gets so excited when we get home, when we play and first thing in the morning (before coffee for goodness sakes!) and “mouths” us. It is overwhelming for the myself, let alone for the children! I have tried everything, from yelling “ouch”, replacing my hands/arms/legs with toys, stop playing and ignoring him, time outs, to hard scruff shaking till he yelps for his life all the while saying “NO” sternly. I have read Mr. Frawley's articles about teaching "NO" but he just doesn't seem to get it. Perhaps I make up too soon.. cause the "NO" is forgotten the very next minute after he's been shaken and pinned for the chewing of body parts. I even put tobasco on my arms – but it didn’t deter my lil alligator! (Hey – it worked on the hand woven turkish carpets!). He’s not allowed on the furniture, but when he gets chomping he puts his forelegs on the couch to bring him up to us and we’re trying very hard to train him “OFF”.

He’s gotten so big now that I can barely do a scruff shake that really shakes him and makes him yelp. My husband can still make him scream like he’s dying – but my scruff shakes are getting very ineffective. I know he doesn’t intend to injure, because his bite isn’t hard (I’ve had my hand gotten accidentally with a toy and yikes THAT does hurt!) but it still hurts! Sometimes he catches my hand wrong and draws blood. What am I doing wrong? How can I stop my pup from chewing on the children or me?!

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance.

Well, Apollo, my GSD pup, loved to chew on me as well. Now I'm not a professional trainer or anything, but what I did was any time he even attempted to chew on me, I would put my thumb under his tongue right between his two lower canine's, and grip the front of his chin with my hand. I would push down and back with my thumb/hand so he couldn't close his jaw, until he whined from being uncomfortable and issued the NO BITE command.

If it was a quick little attempt to mouth my hand or me, he'd get a good swat right on the top of the nose, with the NO BITE command. I didn't make it a play swat, either...

He learned pretty quickly with this method.

-Lee

hahah , i was going throught it also and here is what fixed my problem.

1: PIG EARS""" when the pup latches on ur arm i pry open her mouth and say "OUT" then as she does it i praise then toss a pig ear for her to chew on . down side of this is when she wants a pig ear she just come and bites u to get one
fix that problem after out toss a toy or some times nothing mix it up some

2: grab her by the tuft of the neck and say " no" read ed's section about this there is all kind of info on this cause it seems to be a problem to most

i normally play with her when she starts to look like she is going to grab on to me read and watch ur dog u will see that pray look in her eyes "use this to ur advantage" toss a toy fetch a ball or play tug . destractions are ur friend and relife at the moment!!

I just placed an 8 month airedale with a new family. He was very mouthy and wanted to sit on your lap.I was always pushing him off with my hands telling him no or off. Big mistake! He thought I wanted to play and kept coming back for more. I learned whenever he tried to climb on me to shove him down with a body block.In this way I was invading his space.

One more thing to add. I would be very angry if a puppy was biting me hard enough to draw blood. Does he like to chase the ball? Maybe you could transfer his need for mouthing to something else.

Thank you all for the advice.

Titan doesn't "bite" to hurt - it's when he's really excited and/or wants to play. Sometimes when I'm pulling back his lil razor blade teeth catch me wrong. My friends who have dogs tell me he's really gentle - but I have nothing to compare him to, and don't like being chewed on!

Cheryl thank you for the "body block" advice. I was doing just what you described, pushing him off with my hands, and he'd keep coming back for more - as a game I see now. Now when he does it I stand up and push him down with a strong OFF command. He'd now getting off on his own with the OFF command when I stand up - even if I'm across the room, and knows we don't like him up there.

For the nibbling I'm not sure I want to reward him for using me or the kids as a chew toy with a pig ear. He gets those as real special treats <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> He seems to think a muzzle smack or my hand in his mouth is an invitation to play more chew on Corey! Maybe I'm just not physically strong enough to deter him in that way.

What I have started to do is react faster and grab him by the scruff and pin him saying "No Bite" strongly and then put him in his "room" for 5-10 minutes. I'm hoping he'll soon associate chew on a body part means the humans think I need some alone time. It seems to be working - abet slowly. I've read and tried the "no" with the shake til he screams -but he's gotten too big for me to shake about - so mostly I end up pinning him first. He quiets down after the time out and is doing better.

He has tons of toys from rolled up towels and balls on ropes, to chewy moppets which he really enjoys. I also give him frozen carrots and raw beef bones to help him with his chewing and teething. He likes balls - but he doesn't like bringing them back! I'll keep trying new chewy things and count the days til teething is done <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I am certainly not the expert. But I had a similar problem with my dog licking. I would grab his snout and hold it close for about 10-15 seconds, while saying "No Lick". Worked very well. You might want try it. That is something even my 5 yo daughter could do.

Rho

I think teething starts about 4 months? (lasted about 5 weeks)
my rottie bitch did and we got her a hip bone to chew on, but she seemed to loose most of them on a towel with tugging games,she would stop pulling spit out the tooth or eat it , and then straight back to the towel for more. I never pulled the towel though in case i pulled out a tooth, i didnt want to scare her of gripping things.I just held on and let her do the pulling.
Get yourself a towel lol just in case.
Just saying what i know . Thanks Dave