GSD Puppy "Mouthing"

~Thalia~

Small problem with the pup and wondering if any of you have experienced this and know how to correct it.

When I come home in the evenings I park my car outside the gate as Magic is normally out in the garden and she watches me coming from her perch on the couch and races out to meet me when I get in so I park outside the gates so she won’t run out and take off up the road if I open them. The thing is our driveway is say maybe 40 feet in length and from the time I get in the gate until I get to the back door, she jumps up and mouths at me and tries to bite my bag and in general is a bit of a nuisance!
I have tried the totally ignore her approach and this doesn’t work, I’ve tried just taking her by her collar and walking her in, I’ve even tried pushing her away everytime she comes near me but this seems to spur her on even more! I’m not even too bothered about the jumping up (although I would like to discourage this also) but it’s the mouthing that bothers me. She doesn’t mouth with any intention of hurting me but she has very sharp teeth so it does hurt. Also for about an hour after I come in she is really excited but this seems to manifest itself in boldness, more mouthing, pulling at the legs of my jeans.
Has anyone experienced this and know how to discourage it? She is an 8 month old GSD & I know this probably comes from an instinct to herd me in the drive! Otherwise she is a very well behaved pup….

Thanks in advance!

summer_ina_bowl

this may not help on your return home, but if she does this frequently inside, then try putting some washing up liquid on your hand and let her mouth it. the taste is horrible but it won't hurt her to ingest a tiny amount, she'll soon get the idea that you don't taste good. if that fails, then when she jumps up at you, do your best impersonation of a puppy yelp so that she realises that she has hurt you. don't react in any other way except for yelping, then ignore her until she calms down, at which time lavish attention on her. the only problem with the latter option is that, her breed can be quite prone to dominance issues so make sure that you don't appear submissive, yelp but don't cower away from her etc.

frizzefreckles

Hi Thalia, my pup does this too. We have started to say ouch loudly and push her away when she does it and ignore her for a few minutes until she calms down. We have found that while she hasn't completely stopped she is much better and i can walk around the house without having her hanging off the end of my trousers.

~Thalia~

frizzefreckles wrote:

Hi Thalia, my pup does this too. We have started to say ouch loudly and push her away when she does it and ignore her for a few minutes until she calms down. We have found that while she hasn't completely stopped she is much better and i can walk around the house without having her hanging off the end of my trousers.

She tore the skirt off me yesterday evening. Nothing quite so inviting as a skirt blowing in the breeeze it seems

:eek:

coisaille

Hi there, I have the same problem with my puppy, have little holes in all my clothes from her teeth catching! Have tried the yelping thing but sometimes that just makes her more excited. I think what shes trying to say is 'play with me' so I find if I say something like 'get your ball' or whatever, it distracts her enough to stop her - that helps - not sure how to deal with it when she starts doing when i can't actually play with her though, or how to get across that its just not acceptable behaviour! - am going to a trainer with her next month so hopefully she might have some answers...

tinkerbell

We had the same problem with our Newfounland puppy only until recently and he's absolutely huge now so we had a bit of a big problem!!

Our dog trainer told us the worse you can do is actually push him away because the dog will do his best to resist being forced back. Tiz a dog thing apparantly!

If you just get the puppy a really good chewy toy and each time he puts his teeth on ya, give him the toy instead. Also make the yelp sound. Actually our dog trainer said one really sharp loud noise (not a shout, more like a strong bark from a person) will tend to stop them misbehaving, temporarily anyway!

michelleans

I had that problem with my german shepherd pup but only up until he was about 5 months thank God - those teeth are sharp!!!

First I'd get a nice tug rope for her. When she mouths you put the toy in her mouth instead. She will want the toy instead anyway as it involves a game. She will grow out of the mouthing.

When she jumps up (as would an alpha in the pack) you must not push her away from you but keep her away from you - try to create an invisible space around you which must be left as space. She must respect your space to see you as a leader. When she approaches you running and gets close try making a loud noise of throwing something noisy onto the ground to stop her in her tracks. I'm sure you've taught her to sit, down and stay? When she has stopped tell her down and stay. Reward her with games when she does as she is told. If you make a point of ignoring her when she comes to you and only giving her attention when YOU call her to you then she will soon get the idea. German shepherds are extremely intelligent and very easy to train. A professional trainer would be great along with classes with other pups!
Remember a leader does not negotiate with a dog.

Some other ideas to think about...

When you get home, I'm assuming there is already someone at home? Get this person to practice down stays with your pup as you approach. This will allow her to enable some sort of self control over herself, and would be useful when having guests over too

If she is constantly up on you mouthing and wanting to play for an hour after you come home, it suggests she needs more exercise or stimulation. Take it from me I know the joys of trying to tire out an 8 month german shepherd pup. It does seem impossible sometimes Something I'll be starting with my 15 month old after quarantine is cycling with him running beside the bike. Though until 1 year old your pup shouldnt do alot of running on hard ground. Lots of fetch and tug and swimming!! Swimming really tires my boy out and then he simply lays down quietly for the whole evening

Good luck with your pup!

alexdenby6

my one doesnt like swimming. she wont go out of her depth. any tips to get her swimming?

fenris

find something she likes to chase and then toss it into the water - shallow to start with then deeper until she is swimming!
Don't expect her to go all the way the first time though!

wow that last bit crosses the species barrier!