I have a 11 week old female german sheperd X labrador, CoCo. She bites excessively. She seems most amused with my hands & legs. I have tried everything I have read from using a throw pillow to filling a can with pennies & squirting water & yelping & trying to walk away(which is never possible cos she latches on to my leg). I cannot storm of angrily cos she wont allow me to. The problem is her bite is becomming quite painfull. I love her to bits but sometimes & have to push her away forcefully because her grip is so strong & her bit is so hard. Holding her mouth & giving her chew toys don't seem to work either. she is amused for a short while & back to my feet. She does this mostly to me, with my husband & gran she stops when scolded. At present I live in a flat,which I know doesnt provide for much exercise & place for her to run enough but I try to take her to the park at least twice a week cos i will be moving out in 3 weeks. does anyone have any other suggestions?

fredg

Hi, tammy,
The problem is that the puppy knows she is boss! She is the dominant one, when you are around.
You have to change that. You have to make yourself dominant over her.
When she tries to bite you again, put your fingers on her side, or neck, then push her down, saying "shhhh-h-h-h-h" out loud. Don't hit her, don't scold her. Just push her down firmly, even saying "lay down".
Don't be afraid when you do this, be firm. She will know you are firm, know you are dominant, and she will know you mean what you say.
When she is down, tell her "stay".
Do this every time she start to bite you, be persistent. She has to know you are boss.
I do wish you the best. Also, do you get the NGEO TV channel? If so, watch the Dog Whisperer on Friday nights. You will see what I'm talking about.
Do you take her for walks, every day, for about 45 mintues? She is also bored, has nothing better to do than bite you, wanting to get rid of some energy.

labman

Young Labs, which I know best, and other puppies tend to very bad about
biting. You see a litter of them, and all the ones that are awake are biting
another one or themselves. I am not even sure they realize that when they are
alone, if they quit biting, they would quit being bitten. At 3 to 4 months
they are getting their adult teeth, and it seems they spend every waking
moment biting or chewing. I maintain a Lab's favorite chew toy is another
Lab. Otherwise they settle for any person they can. They keep hoping to find
one that won't yelp and jerk their hand away, or growl "Bad dog." and clamp
their mouth shut. Then offer a chew toy. They keep trying despite hundreds
of corrections. Another good technique is to quit playing and go away. Be
sure to praise them when they are playing nice and not biting.

All puppies are like that, even ones given good leadership right from the beginning. She sounds a little more determined than most. How long have you had her? They can be harder to train not to bite if they are removed from their mother and litter mates before 6 weeks. One thing that may help, if you still can, is from behind her, grasp her with a hand behind each front leg and pick her up and hold her. Make sure it is far enough out it can't fling its head into your face. Hold it until it quits struggling and relaxes. If she is already too big for you to do that, try rolling her on her side and holding her still against your knees. Have one hand far enough forward that she can't reach around and bite. In either case praise her when she quiets down. It will take more time, but eventually she will give up if you correct her as soon as she bites the first time, every time. My answer isn't something I have seen done on TV, but what I learned using what I have been taught on a new puppy every year since 1991.

It is important to teach a dog that you are top dog. It is not a matter of being boss, but more of a strict, but loving parent. The dogs see all the
people and dogs in the household as a pack with each having their own rank in
the pack and a top dog. Life is much easier if the 2 legged pack members
outrank the 4 legged ones. You can learn to play the role of top dog by
reading some books or going to a good obedience class. A good obedience class
or book is about you being top dog, not about rewarding standard commands with
a treat. Start at http://www.dogsbestfriend.com/. 11 weeks is too young for a class, shots or no shots, there is still danger in exposing it to strange dogs. Working out of a book, you can start spending a few minutes at a time working on basic obedience commands. She will become bored and lose interest after a few repetitions.

fredg

HI,
I do agree with the answer before this one. You have to show your puppy that you are dominant over her, not the other way around. I mentioned the TV show, simply because if you get that channel, it is much more accessible to see, than waiting for a video or waiting for a book, or whatever, to arrive. It does answer you questions about the biting. Ceaser Millan is the Professional on the program, with his base in CA, I think.
Best of luck to you, and as the other answer stated, be persistent.

Cowgurrrl22

heyy, my situation is different but in a way the same, i have a kitten who likes 2 attak my feet and bite me, well what i do is i either push him off of me and scold him(hey it may sound mean but it taught him) or i have this thing that makes a loud weird noise and he runs from that, i know when i tryed to squirt my kitten it worked, but not so with a dog. another thing i did was give him "timeouts" if he was bad i would put him in a fairly large closet for a little while, it may sound mean but he had pleanty of room, and he doesnt like 2 be alone so that taught him. i wrote it down on a chart and after the 1 minute went by i would give him a few minutes 2 see if he tryed it again then i would either write a yes or no under the column "did he learn" if he got yes's so many times he would get a reward!

howards girl

I agree with labman as I am known as the lab woman of my area. The only thig i disagree is when you attempt to show your dog who is alpha, dog should be pinned down on her back untill she noglonger resists. not too much force it to be used. roll her over on her back and stratle her.(do not sit on the dog and hold her down using her front paws and shoulders. also use topical applications of bitter apple that should help

fredg

HI,
I agree with the previous answer. Putting the dog on its back, gently rubbing the tummy, will get the dog out of the aggressive mood, and change its thinking to "calmer" thoughts. When the dog's mood has changed from "aggressive" to calm, then let it up.

Zimbo

I have a 8 week old lab mix and I've been doing exactly as howards girl mentioned. I put the puppy on her back as soon as she bites me. I get a growl to my voice and give her this correction for only an instant. As soon as she starts playing again I praise her good behavior.
It's been more difficult to get her to stop biting my children, I'm sure in her mind their subordinate litter mates! Good luck and pass along any methods that work for you.