I have a little situation with my new German Shepherd puppy and I need some advice from people who own big breed dogs (preferably German Shepherds) and know what I'm talking about.

My German Shepherd is now 7 weeks old and no matter how hard I try and train her not to bite and use her teeth on me and my family, I don't seem to be getting through to her in any shape or form. Biting fingers, toes, feet, arms - pretty much anything that has skin on it.
She's generally quite bubbly and I love how she comes running up to you as soon as you open the door, but instead of licking your face she'll lash out at you and clamps her jaws down so hard piercing the skin of either myself or whoever is in front of her. She's clearly just enjoying the attention because she prances around the house looking for trouble like most puppies, but the biting is becoming a big issue for reasons which I'll state in a second.

I've tried everything. I use a firm "NO!" everytime she bites and I turn away and ignore her until she calms down, but it usually doesn't work and instead of her biting getting less frequent it's getting more common and harder as time goes on. Her teeth are getting sharper by the second. She has hundreds of chew toys, I've tried ice cubes, cold rope for her to chew, putting her into an empty room by herself, using a newspaper and smacking the floor to make a loud noise while using a firm "NO!" - I've tried everything I can possibly think of and nothing is working. I've tried these methods for over a week now and I'm not getting anywhere so I need some help.

I live with my family and I personally love German Shepherds, but my Mother hates them and associates them with police dogs and seems to have the impression that my dog will eventually lash out and put someone from the family into hospital. She has grown up with Labradors her whole life and doesn't seem to understand that all dogs will lash out if they are treated badly, not just German Shepherds. But, earlier today I was holding my dog while having a conversation with my Mother and because I wasn't showing any interest in her at the time she lashed out at my neck and almost took a chunk out of it. I now look like I've been bitten by a Vampire and have a rather scared Mother as a result who will now not step foot near my dog.
She literally launches herself at you with her teeth wide open ready to do some damage - It's not really coming across as play fighting anymore.

I hate shouting at dogs and will never use any physical violence towards her, but I really need to think of something to solve this problem soon before she gets out of control. I have a family of 6 and trying to control a puppy in an environment with 4 children around is not easy. If she ever lashes out at someone other than myself then I have no doubt that my Mother will end up not wanting her in the house so I need to sort this out now.

Any advice?

How long have you had her? she is only 7 weeks old? I would be surprised if at this age she had stopped biting to be honest, you want a pup to be a biter because you can teach them not to bite and they learn control, usually at 7 weeks they are still with their litter mates and learn some bit inhibition through play fighting with their litter mates, as she is young you need to take their place, I normally use the yelp training, ie if the pup bites down I yelp and pull my hand to me with a hurt expression on my face and say NO I do not shout, I do not slap I just give a sharp yelp, if the pup was with its littermates, they would yelp if another pup was biting too hard, it will take a good few more weeks for your pup to get out of this and you need to be consistant and fair in your training, as mentioned she is still very young, try not to expect too much too soon.

Mo

7 weeks is still very young, it will take a while. I know its hard when it hurts, but try ignoring her and turn away from her when she does it rather than giving her attention. Continue to provide her with things to gnaw whilst she has baby teeth, carrots are good. Good luck

Good post. Also, tell your mother to get a grip - this little puppy is NOT going to turn into a baby eater just because it is doing what normal puppies do

I was always told that the last few weeks the litter is together are when they learn bite inhibition. Since your puppy is only 7 weeks it has missed out on that as 8 weeks is best to leave the litter.

SO it is going to take a while to train the puppy not to bite.

Try putting a baby gate up and when the puppy gets too over the top, put her out the room to calm down.
Never give her attention when she is hyper it will encourage her to keep doing it.
I think ignoring a puppy to them is the worst punishment because they love human attention it is also alot kinder than shouting or hitting etc (not saying that you would)

Don't give the puppy all her toys at once, have a few out at a time and rotate so she is geting 'new' things all the time.

German shepherds have good noses so to keep her mind stimulated hide things for her to find it will tire her out more.

x

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-MY DOGS ARE NOT MY WHOLE LIFE- BUT THEY MAKE MY LIFE WHOLE-

Hi, Here's some tips that I read. Hope it helps;

Let the puppy know that you hurt when they bit you. You can be stern and say “no” or “ouch” to let the puppy know that it hurt you. The puppy will know that they have gone too far and they will think about what they’ve done.

Slowly take your hand away. Doing this too fast can cause more damage.

If they bite you again, repeat your verbal reaction. Step away from the puppy for a while. They will realize that you don’t appreciate what they did and will figure out that you don’t want to be around them.

Give them a toy to chew on.

Reward the puppy when they are good and not biting you.

Be consistent when you are training them to stop biting. Continue to let the puppy know that bites are not acceptable.

Your puppy should take an obedience class. That way he can interact with other dogs as he gets older. He will learn about limits with humans and other dogs.

As your puppy gets older and grows into a dog, he needs lots of physical activity, including regular exercise. Also, give them a chance to play outside so that he can get some fresh air. Make sure he gets to walk and play fetch. This can help them not think about biting.

Keep them on a schedule with their physical activities. They will get used to doing things and will come to enjoy doing them.

Keep young children out of harm’s way by not leaving them alone with the puppy. The puppy may still be in the learning stage and may bite the child.

Refrain from aggressive behavior with them. That can influence them to continue biting.

Let us know how you get on,

S

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