Can anyone advise please?

[incogKNEEto]

I have a six month old German Shepherd puppy who in most ways is a great dog, he is very responsive to the positive training we have been using thus far and (mostly!) very well behaved.

However, he has started to try and take things out of our hands when we are holding them. If it is me, dh or eldest dc we can just say 'leave it' and he does, but today my youngest dc (5) was playing with a stick in the garden (I was out there too) and pup jumped up at dc and tried to get the stick and in the process nipped dc's upper arm. Dc very upset, pup marched into kitchen for time out while I consoled dc. Skin not broken, but a red scratch where pup's teeth caught dc's skin. His teeth are now adult sized and it hurts if he catches you with them. Dc ok now, but don't want this to happen again obviously.

So, my question is: how do I stop pup thinking he can take things from dc/train him not to even try? Thanks.

[WeAllHaveWings]

Our lab was like this when he was that age, but as he was such a big puppy (although smaller than a GSD!) we kept him and ds(9) mostly apart to allow ds to mess about as much as he wanted.

When ddog was "loose" ds(9) knew he had to be aware of where the dog was and his actions, spent more time "training" ds than the pup! ddog is 12 months now and much better, he sits (most of the time) if he wants something we are holding.

To be honest I think its a bit too much to expect a puppy, at this stage, not to want to play with a stick being waved about.

[incogKNEEto]

Weall thanks for the reply. I think you're right, I do have high expectations of pup as he's usually v calm and very gentle around dc etc, I need to remember he is only 6 months old! I have spoken to dc about not waving sticks around in front of pup anymore and I can easily separate dc and pup as we have a gate in the middle of the garden. I will be more vigilant in future