Hi there,
I need a little help here
I have had my male pup for 3 weeks
he has taken to biting alot more than the usual "mouthing" bit that he did when we first had him.
he has cut my hubbys ear, my hand more than once, and my feet.
when i tell him no and put him down on the floor (he is usually jumping up when he bites hands etc) he has taken to barking at me and snapping his mouth shut sharply with no noise, it is as if he is challenging me!
what is the best way for me to get him to stop this, we have tried yelping and the "Ow's" but he gets worse when we do that

please help !

At 10 weeks, it sounds like normal puppy behaviour, as well as the fact that he's teething, and I remember oh so well how sharp those little needles can be :( :D
Try and continue with the loud ''OW'' and distract him with toys and a Kong. Dog training is always a good idea for the larger breeds. Don't give up hope, with love and a bit of work, you should end up with a crackin' dog :)

liberty

Thankyou Liberty, I was just getting worried that he would turn out vicous (spelling rubbish i know).
I am about to take him to training now that he has had both jabs,
the whole family have really fallen for him, and he for us, but he is going to be a biggie so the last thing i wanted was for him to snap at a child in play and catch the child, it would scare the child no end!

Oh and by the way, what on earth is a Kong ?????

If you put Kong into your search engine, you'll probably get a better description than I can give you. Basicaly it's a hollow rubber thing??? Most good pet shops will stock them, the idea is you push various food and treats inside them, and your dog spends many happy hours trying to get said treats out of the Kong. There is a website which advises on various recipes to put in kongs, I prefer some of their normal dog food/treats.

Good luck with your pup, and remember there are lots of people on here, who will have much more information regarding your breed, so just ask :)

liberty

LOL
thankyou once again, I just tried it, and got LOADS of King Kong, Donkey Kong cheats etc, will keep on looking though, thankyou :-)

Have a look here : KONGS.

Here is what I would suggest and what I sugest to all the people I train for. When he jumps up reach down and grab a paw in each hand. Hold lightly enough that it won't hurt but strongly enough that he can't break your hold. Look him straight in the eye and say either "No Paws" which is what I prefer or "No jump". Then look away from him and totally ignor him for 30 seconds to a minute. The whole time holding his paws firmly even as he struggles. After the time is up put his paws on the ground and the put him in a sit postion and then say "good sit" and pet him. In this way he is getting rewarded for the sit and not the jumping up. You will find he will really hate having his paws contorled like that for so long and after about5-10 times he will stop. Usually after about 5 you will see him starting to hesitate. Jumping up in large breed dogs needs to be curb early because they could easily knock a child down in play.

As for the nipping and mouthing to me this does not sound normal because all the pups I work with are stopped early on. This is what we do. When the pup reaches out to bite I either grab his tongue or the side of his mouth and in a firm voice with my eyes looking straight at him a say "No Bite" Then I let go and look away from him and ignore him. If he does it agian or jumps up then I folow the same routine as I stated already. It has always worked for me. I suggest you try it. After 5 minutes of ignoring him though I suggest you put him in a sit and then praise him for the sit. By the time my pups or the pups I train are 10 weeks old they are coming to me where ever I or their owners are and sitting for attention with no barking and no clawing or jumping. I always get the pup to sit before any attention is given. They are just as good about it then with kids also and i never worry about one being hurt in any way.

One point to make, Nicole, is that if your pup may be destined for the showring, never use your hands to do anything to his mouth or head which he doesn't like (pinching his tongue or cheeks etc). :( It will be the end of his show career if he objects to strangers (ie judges!) feeling around his head and checking his teeth. A dog who has been made handshy (and it's easy to do) is a loser.

Our Minx was nearly 20 weeks old before she cottoned on to the idea that we really don't want our body parts chewed to ribbons, thank you very much! I think some just take longer than others :-) . She could be really growly and snappy, and if you haven't had a puppy for a while, it's easy to forget that it's mostly just what they do until they learn better! She's still growly when she's playing now, bless her. Its hard to be patient and consistent when your hands are bleeding, but it will come.

Just to add to what Jeangenie has said - by using this technique you are teaching the pup that having his paws held is an unpleasant thing - what happens when he needs to have his paws looked at by a vet?? Also - staring at a dog is a threatening behaviour - which could lead to the dog being pushed to feel he has to defend himself - which could lead to a snap - maybe at a humans face :(

The most effective solution I have found to this sort of behaviour is to teach the pup that doing it means the fun ends - and not doing it means you can carry on playing......... When the pup starts to play inappropriatly stand up, turn away and ignore the pup..... I am also a little concerned that you say you 'put the pup down' - maybe he's trying to tell you he isn't happy being 'up' - so putting him down is rewarding the behaviour - it may be best not to pick him up at all as this is providing him with a reason to snap......

HTH

Thank you for the replies folks

I am intending to show the dog, so wont use the mouth holding bit.

Digger - when i said "put him down" i meant put him on the floor from the sofa, he is jumping on the sofa alot at the moment. - He just comes tanking into the lounge, and jumps straight on the sofa and then attacks your ears / face / neck / hands, when you try and push him off, or tell him NO he just barks / snaps, especially at me

what we are trying to do is to ignore him if he barks, put him on the floor if he jumps up, and when we walk into the room is to get him to sit and then we will fuss him up and down his body.

He didnt bark or snap at me last night, but that may be because i was on the computer typing my problem in here and not on the sofa !

Any further help / suggestions would be more than welcome

Hi,
As you are intending to show, then the point about not holding his paws to distress him is also important. He will need to get used to having his nails trimmed regularly (as should all dogs, not just show dogs) and the judge will also probably check his nails and pads (they do in my breed) so he needs to be happy having his feet handled. Don't do anything that will put him off being handled by anyone at any time.
:)

Many thanks JG, will take it on board - Cant show him til Feb next year, but will be going to some local shows (Solihull) to introduce him to the surroundings / sights / smells etc.

Wish me luck !

thank you all for the good advice.
Wendy :)

If they're KC-run Open or Champ shows, only dogs entered for the show are allowed in. You'll be able to take him to look around at Companion Shows, though. Good luck!
:)

Wow, didnt realise that, thx loads,
will have to make sure i am going to the right ones then LOL

thanks again

Check your protein levels. This can be causing hyperactivity thus causing excessive biting!

To reply first about holding the paws. It teaches them no such things all my dogs are very good at having their paws handled and at being handled by the vet or show people. I stress agian that you don't press enough to hurt only to hold steady. When any dog I have trained that is pups included go to the vet they are always impreesed at the fact that they are taught to hand their paws over and to hold their mouth open with the hold it command. THe vet opens the mouth with no problems at all and the owner says hold it and the pup or dod keeps it open with no fighting till the vet closes it. These techniques are to teach them that it is uncomfortable to jump up and to bite. Not painful. I would never hurt any of my dogs are the dogs or pups I train. That is why I also never train with a choke collar. Plus my dogs have to be completely reliable because I train assistance dogs to help disable people. So they can't be afrain of deing touched or handled.

Now I don't know why you though I was picking the pup up when I said to take a paw in each hand but you don't. You are basically holding him in a stand. He soon realises that having all four paws on the floor is more comfortable. When I say put him down I mean put his 2 front paws on the ground agian. I don't say anything to him till he is in the sit position. And don't think you can't train him later to do a paws up which is where the dog has to put one or both paws into your lap because you can it's just he learns to do it on command later when he is taught his paw work.

When it comes to the mouth as you can imagine my assistance trained dogs can't act fearful or mean or anything so no this does not make them mouth shy. They just learn that they can't handle your body with their mouth. If they do it is uncomfortable not painfull. I never use pain because I agree that it can make them scared or mean. I hope this helps to clearify some of this.

Simply holding a pup in the stand long enough for them to get uncomfortable can stress the joints, as well as leading to some pups feeling they have to take further steps to defend themselves - far better to use non confrontational methods IMHO..

30 seconds is not going to stress the joints of any dog. Please ready through both of hte post I put up. It states 30 seconds to a minute tops. You can't stress a dogs joints doing that. Ask any vet. If you do it for 10-30 minutes yes but not 30seconds.

Hi Nicole
I have a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Pup who is ten weeks old tomorrow. I have just read your post on puppies jumping up and snapping and growling. This post is invaluable to me as I really did not know what on earth I could do about this problem I am having with my pup. When we had the pup he was very ill with the constant runs for a week. I was given the incorrect information about what brand of puppy food to give him and when I gave him this puppy food after a day or two he started getting the runs to the point that he had to go to the vets. He is fine now and I think that he is hand shy and he does not like being stroked at all. I am going to try what you have suggested anything is worth a go he is adorable but I do not want this jumping up and biting to continue.

Many puppies don't like being stroked, particularly if the hand comes in over their heads - it limits what they can see - and for all they know the hand could be coming to grab them, not do something pleasant (after all - dogs don't 'stroke' each other........) Try and get into the habit of fussing and stroking UNDER the chin and down the chest first of all, then you can slide you hand up the side of the face and under the ears, round onto the back of the neck and shouldars. If he's been needing intensive care from the vet then it may also mean that he's learnt that hands do nasty things like stick pins in him - so take it slowly and carefully, if he shows signs of discomfort with one approach, take a step back to what he is comfortable with and regain his confidence with that before moving on again......

HTH

Here are some suggestions for the hand shy part. Just to let you know I have worked alot with abused dogs that are terrified of hands and this is what I do with them. First of all stop feeding him from a dish. For the next month feed him only from your hand. One this will assert your dominace to him but not scare him in doing it. You are then seen as the food provider. Always feed with an open hand that way he can't bite the hand while taking the food. If he does get snappy then take the hand away and do the method I sugested earlier with biting. Then after 5 minutes try agian. After about 3 days of nicely eating from your hand then start stroking his head as he eats. The only way he eats is if he lets you stroke his head. I know some people are going to say you shouldn't force a dog to do things he doesn't like but sometimes you do to make him understand he is not going to be hurt. Remember for the abused dogs I have worked with the facts are they either changed in a certain amount of time or they are put down. So I found non painful methods to retrain these dogs and to change their percetion of their enviroment. All the abused dogs and cats I have worked with were going to be put down because nobody could change their behavior but to change a dogs behavior you have to change it's perseption of it's enviorment. Well to him he might see hands as causing pain. So now you have to change his perseption of that to hands causing pleasure and giving food. Once he is fine with eating food from your hand and leting you pet him as he eats, which should take about a week - 2 weeks, then do this. This is the last step I do to make sure the dog will be totally safe and confident. The next time I feed him from my hand I bring the other hand down really fast, in his sight line, towards the top of his head. Then just as it's about to touch his head I stop and pet him really nice and gentle. He will try to run the first couple of times so I try to use a really tempting meal like cooked chicken and rice, or liver. Something his mouth will really water for. What this does is it will make him used to wild movements and kids moving hands every which way. Keep this up even after you are feeding him from the floor. He will end up completely ignoring your hand when ever you do this. Since the hand never hits him and he only feels a nice pleasant touch each time he will end up loving it. This has always worked and never failed to stop dogs from being hand shy. Some do take a little longer than others but it has always worked.

everytime your hand is in the mount tickle the back of his tounge. he wont like that and wil soon stop bitting the hand! a load NO! and a tap on the nose (not hard but just a warning tap)

the other things you could try is a small can with stones in and snack this whenever he does it, or a water squirtie and squirt water at him when he bites!

I agree about changing the food too. We have a GSD who was exactly like this and through perserverance we are through the worst of it. He only mouthes us now when he is totally over excited and forgets himself.

Try and find a food of 21% protein or less - we have done this with Os as we found that high protein / high additive foods seem to send him 'over the edge' - bit like children and e numbers I guess.

I'd recommend Nutro or Burns from personal experience but there are plenty of other foods out there. Also, if you have him on a large breed puppy food they are often very high protein so don't keep him on it too longer.

Jayne

We have a 13 week old female English Springer Spaniel who is a bit too fond of the taste of human flesh for our liking! We are taking her to puppy training classes, and were told to grab her collar saying "NO" very loudly and at the same time put her on the floor (or detach her from whichever part of the body she is hanging from at the time). Only been trying this particular method for 24 hours but it seems to work. She can tell that we are displeased with her and after 5 minutes of being ignored is quite willing for us to fuss/play with her, without her launching another attack! OK, so I do exagerate, but it was spoiling our enjoyment of her. There certainly is quite a difference between testing out those puppy "tegs", and a full scale assault....

I thank all of you for the advice, I will take it all on board, and see what works.
he actually pushed me off the sofa tonight !!
then lay there like "I'm the king of the castle" little so and so !!

I think we just have to be consistent, and remember he is only 10 weeks and needs patience.

He is really starting to look like a GSD now, but with the gangly legs - he is always falling over when he has a toy in his mouth - he seems to trip over his own feet !
I have put piccies on my website.... must be a nutter !

take care all, and thank you once again for the advice.

He sounds normal :D but he mustn't be allowed to throw his weight around !

It can be funny when a pup does this, but as a grown boy he will be big and then if he wants the sofa and ahs always been used to getting his own way, what then?

If your sofa is not too heavy, go round behind it and gently tip him off ;) It is important he doesn't learn he is lots stronger than you.... I don't agree with "dominance" as such, but some dogs as teenagers get very pushy and if a dog feels he is very strong may reallly push those boundaries.

Do yo have a copy of Gwen Baileys "The Perfect Puppy"? It tells the owner how to deal with all these sorts of problems that crop up in a humane and down to earth way. It's invaluable really :)

He sounds full of character though - have fun, and dont forget to socialise him in soem good puppy classes - v. important for a GSD pup.

Lindsay

Lindsay

I have just taken him over the park that backs onto our house over the last week, since he has had both jabs now, (I waited the week after his 2nd), he loved it, but he never went far away from me - in fact he was closer over the park than he was walking down the street to get there (I by-pass the first park entrance, to get him used to the lead, and we go in the 2nd entrance, then walk over the park a short way, then come home, don't want to tire him out too much and cause probs for him later in life with his hips etc.).
Anyway, I have just taken him to his first "puppy party" at our local vets, and he was brilliant, a little noisy to be let on the floor to play with all the others, but he towered over most of them, so wasn't allowed with all of them.
I am taking him to ringcraft training next week (now 12 weeks old) so will see what he is like at that too.

I have just ordered "The Perfect Puppy" so I will be doing a lot of readin i think !

many many thanks for all the advice, will have to persevere with him on the sofa (or rather trying to get him off it - too heavy to lift, the sofa not him, at the moment!)

Wendy
:)

That sounds excellent Wendy, keep us updated :)

Lindsay