Hi everyone,

I'm not so much looking for training tips but more for similar cases/comfort. This is getting me really :-( and driving the rest of my family crazy.

We have a GSD pup, nearly 5 months and he hasn't stopped biting. He doesn't so much as bite my dad or my brother (they at one point smacked him on the bum - I will not do the same) but more my mother and I. With my mum, he really tends to go for her straight away. If he is playing with a toy and she comes into the room he will drop the toy and run straight for her. One time I saw him stare her out! But most of the time he does let her stroke him and she does feed him his meals/gives him treats etc. For what reason he targets her I don't know. I guess because she is an easy target and I guess it doesn't help that she's scared of him and shows it too. With me, it tends to come across more playful but sometimes he gets carried away especially when he is overly excited (he is quite an excitable pup. Very hyper). We can't all sit in the same room as him unless he is on a leash but that's something we've started only recently. And it kinda worked in calming him down. He still tried to go for my mum as she walked past but he was promptly pulled back in time and eventually he sat down for a while.

He also tends to bite my leg when we take him out for walks, not at first but again he becomes very excited and turns around and bites me. I do a lot of training with him in the house and he always listens to me, usually first time with commands. As a consequence of him biting me when on walks the amount of times he is walked is reduced because I can't take him out with me!

We've tried all the tricks - ignoring/turning back to him, saying no (when you tell him no he tends to bark back at you, almost as if he is challenging you), walking out the room, distracting him, yelping (worked the first couple of times but then he got clever!) giving him a toy instead, my mum even tried water spray at one point. Thinking of muzzling him, what do people thing of that?

We started training last week and have a session tomorrow. So will ask my trainer for more advice. I guess, like I said above what I'm looking for from you kind people are similar stories. Has anyone had the same problem/going through the same problem? If so, how long did it last/when did it stop? His teeth are sharp and have drawn blood a couple of times!!

Kind Regards and thank you in advance,

Asha

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If he is not already I would imagine he will be starting to be getting his new teeth and it can make them very mouthy. However you have got a dog thats a guarding breed and is likely to be very large. It seems that you are doing most of the things I would have suggested already. The trouble is that if they are not done in the right way,with the right timing it doesnt always work. At his age he is going to push at boundaries and see what he can get away with or he will be starting too. What he needs is training, firm but fair boundaries put in place now. Any bad behaviour put him in his crate if he has one or in another room for 5 or 10 minutes and ignore him, let him out and ignore him for a further few minutes. If he is calm praise and treat him. If he starts the pushy or an unrequired behaviour straight back and keep reapeating it. Dont allow any jumping up, mouthing or any pushy behaviour. If he approaches nicely and sits and does things when you ask then he gets praise attention and a food treat. If he is laying there with a chew calmly even praise him for that and give attention. Your mum needs to try to be calm and in control, If she does anything for him like feed him his dinner she should ask for something in return from him,like a sit and wait before she puts his bowl down.

Step his training at home two, just a couple of sessions a day 10/15 minutes each with all members of the family doing some training, use rewards. dont just leave it to one person. Anything you learn at training then practice it all week in home sessions. Any problems speak to your trainer and ask them to show you how to go about it and practice it consistently.

Hope this might help, however there is not substitute for a hands on trainer who is there and can work with you and the dog.

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Hi thanks for the reply,

I think you're right on the point that not one person can do the training. I think one of the major problems with training my pup at home is that I am the person who has taken the lead and does most of the training. Getting everyone else in my house to do the training and to do it in the same is almost as hard as training my pup! But I think the training classes will help them to get down to it (hopefully!). I think my family expect immediate results but obviously it doesn't work like that and this causes major family arguments and upset and I'm sure my pup picks up on the bad vibes.

It's hard to let him in the room when off the leash if we are all sitting there as he will go straight for my mum and he refuses to get off her and sometimes me too. I guess it'll have to be on leash until he understands he has to be calm, sit nicely and play nice.

Walking is a problem too, as I've said he gets really excitable, so only my brother can walk him. I would really like to contribute to his walks, as with me walking him as well he would be able to get out the house more but I can't because within 5 mins he is biting me and latching on to my leg. In fact today I went along for the walk. My brother had the leash and after a good 10 minutes he latched on my leg and kept making several attempts to go for it. Any suggestions on how to deal with this?

Regards,

Asha

He will pick up on any upset, they often go for the ones that are causing the upset and/or are the most agitated or upset, would you say that seems to be about right in your case? You must all do the same thing. Try letting him off occasionally in between but whether off lead or on, all totally ignore him when he misbehaves. You have to all be completely calm but in control. Fold your arms turn your bodies away and turn your head away too and dont look at him. Also as your turning use the command in a firm voice off. If he tries to jump up stay turned away and repeat off you might even have to stay like that for a minute or too with head turned away.
If he still persists then remove him to another room for the 5/10 minutes let him out ignore him for another minute or two then if hes good praise him and give him a treat. If he starts again then back out. you must all follow the same rules every time he does it and be consistent and follow through for a minute or two after. All use the off word with your body language. All only praise and attention when good and calm.

If you use the off command indoors you can also start to use it when out on lead,
Also teach him to sit for his treats indoors every time before you give him one. and then after using off when he goes to jump up you or dives to bite your leg in the street, you can then follow through there too with the sit and then treat him.

If you do this every single time and the family all does it too it should become a conditioned behaviour. Mine actually sit now without being asked if they want something. Of course I cant give you any guarantees, but its all worth trying.

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My dog was biting the hell out of me a few months ago. As Sled Dog said they are getting their adult teeth in. She wasn't that way with my OH, but he has a deep voice and is twice my size, I really think that does play a part. I had lots of advice from people, some good, some weird, some no way-not doing that. Our trainers said to have lots and lots of toys and a lot of variety too. When puppy goes for you say 'no bite!' and shove a toy at her mouth or throw it for her to catch. That did help and still does. However our dog is small, at 8mths she's 21lbs, that's no GSD!

On walks could you bring a toy and treats along? My Biscuit often gets playful on walks and will try to go for my ankle or inside of my leg and I'll say 'no bite!' and then hold a stick or toy for her to jump at. It doesn't last long as she soon gets interested in all those smells again. I also buy cat toys - those sticks with a bouncy string and toy on the end. She loves them and we can usually get a week or so before they can't be patched up anymore (thankfully they are inexpensive). Maybe you could rig something up?

Lastly I had a King shepherd when I was young (I still think of him often). It took forever to get him to walk properly on lead. I spent so many walks stopping and making him sit before we'd move on, I had to be so persistent and it was tiring and often times I didn't feel like I was ever going to get around a block. Now that I'm a million years older I wish I'd known about reward based training, he'd probably have learned a lot faster.

Sorry I'm not much help. But I hear ya!

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