Tired of being nipped!

My German Shepherd puppy Ailsa is a brilliant little ball of fuzz, but she has one bad habit that is causing some tension in my family.

She bites!

It isn't to harm she's obviously just playing but it's getting to be painful and annoying. You can't pet her without being chewed nor can you walk past her without her clamping down on your ankles and ripping your trousers.

I've tried making a loud noise and ignoring her but that just makes her nibble more, I've also tried putting her in her cage to show she's done wrong when she can't take a telling but that too isn't working.

Is biting at 2 and a half months old normal behaviour for a puppy?

Any help to make her stop would be greatly appreciated as my dad especially is beginning to worry she'll never grow out of it.

Heeeeelp!

Gayle

Yes it's perfectly normal behaviour at that age, I just say " Oi" quite loudly and replace whatever bit of me they are chewing and replace it with a bone, chew toy, or kong, whatever is handy.

I let Marco bite (gently) as its what comes naturally but say 'ow' if he bites too hard and to be honest he is gentler now than when we got him 20 days ago.

I read on here about bite inhibition, have a google on it, it's very interesting.

Thank you for the suggestions I'll try them out, I'll especially look up bite inhibition, i'm sure she'll grow out of it

The bite inhibition is Brilliant, it gets them to 'Think about' what they are doing. Also, just try to train her, as much as you can. Getting her to do other thing will keep her mind occupied. Rhodi is still Mouthing, but as soon as i start teaching him something...It stops! Eg. If he is laying down, i get him to sit, then down, then sit etc. If he is standing, i get him to walk to heel, or turn, or through my legs, etc. If you keep her mind focussed and active, it will make all te difference. ( I would also suggest you read up on Clicker Training. ) Good luck!

Hi I think you will have to do what her mum did,and I have a puppy and if she oversteps the mark,her Auntie also chastises her,she growls and walks away,Faye after a few minutes goes to find her and licks her as if to say sorry,so I think you should say No and then put her on the ground and walk away Gemini54

Quite normal for dogs to 'mouthe' and nip and I have to say when my two were doing it I started to wonder if they would ever stop. If I raised my voice or yelped at them it would just excite them more and the biting would get harder. Great advice to replace your limb with a toy in her mouth or just get up and walk out of the room .. ignoring her. It will stop ..... its just such a nightmare going through it as their baby teeth are like needles

Good luck and don't despair. She will learn 'bite inhibition' but is still very young.

When babies mouth we give them something to bite on, puppies are the same especially when teething, give your pup something to chew.

When I teach this, rather than trying to teach the pup to be more gentle I do not allow the pup to put its teeth on people at all...its a much clearer message and its also much safer.

If the pup nips or mouths (even gently) I recommend that you ethier "yelp" or give a firm "Ah" or "No" then get up fold your arms and walk away....Count to 10 then come back. There are no hard feelings, resume playing etc but you must be consistent, you may need to repeat this several times until your puppy gets the idea and learns to interact without using their teeth...

Having been owned by GSDs from 1958 upto a couple of years ago it is quite normal for a puppy to mouth, it is one of the ways they learn about the world & how to behave.

Having watched many GSD adults with puppies they put up with a lot of mouthing & do not react at all, they never squeak or yip as this encourages the behaviour & turns it into a game. When an adult GSD is fed up of being used as a toy, they get up & ignoring the puppy walk away, occassionally they may utter a low growl or grump.

So what I did(& do with all puppies I have had & have now)is not to react at all, I make fists with my hands, tucking my thumbs in, do not give eye contact & simply do not react at all. This makes me very boring to the puppies & they quickly learn that mouthing a rewarding behaviour.

I was actually bitten quite hard by an unsocialized 8 month old GSD puppy who had no bite inhibition at all, I did not react at all & the puppy never again attempted to bite me(sadly the owners did not put in any work with the boy & he ended up being PTS-sad end)

I find not reacting & walking away & out of the room is the best & quickest way for the dogs I have owned over the last 50 years. My current puppy was quite bitey when I got him, but a day of ignoring him & only reacting to him when he wasn't mouthing worked, the only thing that he now does is lick me