How to stop my GSD puppy biting

[Kayteee]

My lovely 5month old German Shepherd puppy will not stop biting/chewing and I'm getting very worried now she's getting bigger
I realise she's only young but am getting in a panic because everything we've tried so far has not deterred her.
She has 'listened' to all other training commands but we just don't seem to be able to communicate to her that she must not bite.

She doesn't do it with aggression but seems to think it's a game when she starts nipping and we get cross with her. We don't shout (tried that and was useless) and we don't hit/smack (don't feel that's right). Tried water spray but she loves it. Tried gently holding her mouth shut...nope..sigh.

Am I worrying too much or is there hope?

afaik, you are meant to walk away from her and ignore her.

I have a 12 week old springer and his biting is driving me mad. He gets into a frenzy and will bite anything within reach. He be dangling off my trainers, trousers, jumper, coat, hair, kids! He really just loses all sense and just nips at anything and everything. Its easier said than done to walk away from him as his teeth hurt!

Hope someone else has something positive to say, I'm going to check back here for some useful advice myself

General chewing - give her plenty of things that she is allowed to chew. Kongs are excellent, stuffed with treats or paste.

Chewing hands, feet etc - there are two things which work best ime. Yelp OUCH or somesuch, just as another pup would yelp. Your GSD is learning through rough play and acting with you just as she would with littermates. These would give a sharp squeak if she was too rough, which is an indication that she has gone too far. Gradually she will learn that your yelp means the same.

Another one to try is to immediately disengage if she gets nibbly. Stand up, fold your arms and turn your back. When she steps back and is no longer trying to chew you, then and only then resume play with praise. Try to initiate play more rather than letting her take total control of when and how she plays and investigates her growing teeth (that doesn't mean of course that you should ignore all her attempts to interact!). Also try a firm NO when she chews hands and offer a toy instead, praising her when she accepts it and plays with it. Be consistant and ensure that everyone in the family knows to "follow the rules" and to carry out the ouch, disengage, offer toy and praise process every time.

This is just my experience, which has worked with foster youngsters and my now 3 yo GSD, whom I have had since he was a diddy thing.

PS, great choice, I have 2 of the monsters as well as a Lab x and adore the breed! :)

My springer is a nightmare for nipping. He starts really gently and I try to encourage him to chew a toy instead.
If we try to walk away from him, he just goes for the back of the ankles instead.

Even if he doesn't seem to be in a chewing mood, you try and walk past him (with or without shoes on) and he will make a dive for your ankles!

He is still adorable and if thats all I can complain with him, then I am very happy and lucky.

I will try the yelping thing to see if that has any effect on him.

yep, Kid, that's what Beanie does too!

Not so much with me but ds and when he turns his back Beanie thinks 'yay' and runs after him, snapping

Find a local GSD group, they are quite a specialist breed, they are easy to go wrong with and they do respond best to a strong, confident leader. I found that some behaviourists just did not "get" the breed, finding someone with lots of specific experience to advise you is the best thing IME/O. I found our local group by ringing the local GSD rescue group who were happy to point me in the right direction and the group has been great! They do agility for GSDs, training groups, one to one sessions and all sorts. Above all else they offer lots of people who understand what you are talking about when you go into the idiosyncracies of the breed

Watching this post Kaytee I'm having similar problems, though with a younger pup.

I am at the end of my tether with it today actually, wondering about whether I have chosen the wrong breed for us (springer spaniel). Feel we are doing all the right things (deep noise, ignore, distract, then walk away and leave her for 2 mins). I always try to go back in, calmly, only to be launched on immediately.

This just eggs her on, furiously wagging tail, nipping, snapping (biting is what it feels like) frenzied dog. I am now wearing wellies in my own kitchen. I know I sound pathetic!

A week ago she 'just' went for my DD, now she goes for DH and especially for me, first thing in the morning, last thing at night especially. So she's tired or hungry. Maybe it's the food! (skinners field and trial puppy mix).

Later today we have a trainer coming round to help us manage this better. We start puppy classes next week with this same trainer. Lola is already meeting other dogs in the park, and we are trying to take her out without too much exercise.

Anyway I'll watch responses with interest, as I'm now sure where we go from here.

as I'm now NOT sure where we go from here.

Agree with Valhallas perfect advice, you just need to be very consistent and you will get there.

(ilove I have posted to you wrt food on puppy thread, sorry for hijack op)

Ilove, it's a bit like toddler tantrums. You think they'll never end but it's all just part of evolution. Even without training to curtail these behaviours, dogs lose them after a while.

Consistant, patient training just makes a natural stage happen a little faster.

You'll get there! :)

The yelping like a puppy worked really well with our CKC puppy, who is nearly five monts old. The hardest thing was getting ds1 who is 9 and AS to yelp properly, instead of a pathetic sounding 'ouch'! You really do have to yelp properly, but it works!

My dog was a terror for nipping when he was young, but has grown out of it. He would ambush our toes from behind the sofa etc.

To solve it, I used the tips that Val has suggested. I also made sure that children came downstairs wearing socks on their feet. Bare flesh was a lot more tempting than feet in socks.

Eventually Patch grew out of the nipping. Even now at a year old whenever he is feeling excited he goes and grabs one of his toys. He knows that he is allowed to chew on his own things but not on us!

Thanks all....we'll keep trying :)

Be aware that yelping (rather than simply ignoring and becoming very boring) may be stimulating for this puppy - for some it can make the biting more rewarding and exciting.

Bite inhibition is one of the single most important things you can teach your dog, so this time is really key. Our GSD came to us as an adult with no bite inhibition at all, and it was a lot more serious in a 3 year old than a puppy, and took a fair time to cure.

Maybe the thing to look out for is the dogs reaction when you yelp. Ours always looked quite shocked, and it definately stopped him in his tracks. Perhaps it should be dropped if the first few times you try it it just winds the dog up more.