Sorry to disagree but as a GSD owner & dog trainer for nearly 50 years, IMHE no dog tries to dominate a human or any other animal by this behaviour. If you have ever had a really dominant dog(& I've had a very dominant GSD bitch)you will be aware that they actually do very little in the way of biting/nipping to"dominate"other dogs.

Dogs also do not consider humans as part of their "dog pack"they know humans are not dogs so there is no need for them to "dominate"humans.

You need to teach your puppy that hard mouthing is not acceptable & scuffing an eight month old GSD to"subjugate"it is not always the answer

I've never had a GSD that I have owned still nipping & biting in play at 8 months because I have trained them not to as small puppies, even my working bred GSDs who have gone on to do manwork. they have never tried to dominate me & I in return have never tried to dominate them to force them to do what I want. Subjugating a dog into obeying is not giving the dog the respect it deserves & will not make the dog respect the owner either

I really did think the "Domination"theory between dogs & humans had been debunked many years ago(except in certain TV programs of some celeb behaviourists)

Well, I didn't actually use a yelp, more of a "cry" (coz it did actually hurt!! ) and when I did this I noticed, she stopped and cocked her head sideways and came over to lick me, but I can't really remember how young she was at the time. She is the only one who ever did this anyway, and I'm now on my 6th gsd. I also noticed that data seems to have already tried the firm speaking to her dog which hasn't worked, and really, at the end of the day, this should have been corrected far earlier than 8months old anyway. I think it's play that's got out of hand as the pup has got older, and they probably (without realising it) made the mistake of thinking it was quite funny the way this dog was nipping them, so didn't bother to rectify it at the correct time. Hopefully, she will try all of the suggestions in this thread and hopefully something will work. I thought that link that Jodee gave was quite helpful to her too in some respects. If it were me, I would try just about everything anyway, as it certainly has to stop before it gets really out of hand.

Do you by any chance do any kind of play fighting with him? as if you do this may well be a big part of the problem

It sounds as if he is learning to control but not really knowing what he is doing as he is getting unclear and conflicting signals i'd imagine - sorry not trying to criticise, but dogs who tend to bark and growl are often just overexcited and being OTT and silly. He probably doesn't understand that when you raise your voice you are not happy.

I'd suggest stopping all boisterous play, but just play retrieve games or "hunt the biscuit" etc.

Avoid anything which may get him hupedup adrenalin wise as it can take dogs several days to come down

Next I'd try "3 strikes and you're out" which is successful for older mouthy types almost always.

Have him on a house lead and as soon as he goes to "bite", say "ah!" calmly and avoiding any eye contact take him out the room, leave him for 3 minutes then back in.

You will almost certainlly have to repeat, when the 3rd time comes, leave him out the room for about 20-30 mins MAX. Over a few days and weeks he should get the message - however, you must be totally consistent as if you are not, it won't work.

So that means do it, even if you are inthe middle of dinner, tv or whatever

hth

Hi Helena, perhaps I should have said a sharp word of command may be best once the pup is over 14 weeks, if does not matter really but if you use only one or two words or noises to mean no then less confusion creeps into the dogs brain and I find (NO) better to use in public as a squeal that may be understood by the dog but misinterpreted by the GP

Me too Thordell! My dogs know the word "no" and I use that all the time (not that they're too norty!)I'm a great believer in short sharp words to get the message across, and consistency wins every time. Luckily for me I only had to use my squeals indoors when they were pups with this biting thing they do. I'm just trying to get across to data, that if nothing else works (and she has already tried the short sharp words I assume by reading her post)she can but try this squeal effect, even as a last resort.

I totally agree with you too Wysiwyg about the play fighting - been there! Even now my 10yr. old bitch will get quite carried away in a play fight and it takes a very firm word from me that enough is enough sometimes and even then, it sometimes takes ages to calm her down, but 10yrs. down the line I know I'm quite safe I hope!

well im just saying what works for me i might not be what every one does but as i have found it works on my dogs then i use it i do say know and thay stop and i do have three so know what stops them i have also seen it used on tv i also use no and that stops them as well