My 8 week old lab/german sheperd mix puppy?

Question

Bites EVERYTHING and everyone. what are some good training methods to help him calm down and listen when we tell him no??

Answer 1

Poor dog, he is puppy&teething!

HITTING THEM ON THE SNOUT WILL ENCOURAGE AGGRESSION, NOT STOP IT!

Tip - 44 - Dog biting - bite inhibition

All puppies love to play by being mouthy and biting or chewing anything they can get their sharp little teeth into. These sharp teeth are the reason that it is crucial for puppies to learn bite inhibition (controlling the force of their bite) during the first few months of life. Normally this is learned naturally and effectively through contact with mom and other littermates. If the puppy bites mom during nursing mom can roll the dog over to correct it or just get up and walk away. Hungry puppy learns very quickly to control those teeth if it wants to eat. Likewise when playing with littermates, if a puppy gets bitten too hard it will yelp and stop playing. Once again puppy learns that biting hard means the end of something good. Normally if puppy stays with his littermates for the first 2-4 months of its life it will learn bite inhibition.This is why it is so important for dogs to meet and play with other dogs. A group obedience class is usually the best way to properly socialize dogs, and reduce possible bad behaviours in the future even if the dog stayed with its littermates for a long time.

When it comes to humans, a new puppy or dog may never have learned that hard biting on humans is never allowed. When a puppy bites you during play it's almost never an aggressive bite, it is just play.(You would know if it's an aggressive bite because the dog would be acting aggressively i.e. growling.) Dogs play using their mouths because they are like its hands. They touch and grab and l**k, it's one of the ways they interact with us and the world. It's up to the dog owner to teach the dog bite control if the dog hasn't learned this on its own. Usually puppies and dogs will bite our hands because that's the way we interact with them during feeding, grooming, playing etc.

The best approach to teaching a puppy or dog bite control is usually adopting the behaviour of one of the dog's littermates. If the dog gets too mouthy and bites you too hard during play, exaggerate a loud yelp or cry and immediately stop whatever activity you are doing. Turn away and ignore your dog. Sometimes this takes a bunch of lessons, but most dogs will learn it over time. At first the goal should be getting the dog to reduce the force of the bite. Then the goal is to reduce the frequency of biting. Expect that it will take a few days to a week. Hitting a dog after a bite is the worst thing you can do because the dog's intent was play not harm. A hit from you therefore, confuses the dog and it may even react defensively, this time biting you with intent.

In general teach the dog that playing with dog toys is better than playing with hands directly because the game lasts so much longer. Play with a frisbee, rope, Kong, ball etc. Don't use your hands as a dog toy. Most puppies bite you accidentally and that's how you both learn. If you have already received an accidental play bite so you know how hard it is, and you want to deliberately elicit a bite to teach the dog bite inhibition, only then should you play directly with your hands. You will probably get a bite and it probably won't hurt that much and the puppy might learn faster. Wear long sleeves and protective ace bandages or gloves if you're afraid.

Remember: All family members must be consistent, a bite equals a cry from you and the end of play and attention.

If your dog is regularly overly mouthy, aggressive or you feel threatened by your dog, then it's time to seek immediate professional help. Ask your vet to give you some referrals.

Answer 2

You have to show him your boss ( he sees you as the pack leader) and you should approach him in a confident way when disciplining  him set boundaries for example maby not let him up on furniture or in the room where he bites make sure you praise when he does something good with little treats and he should start to learn....also i think that there is something you can buy and put on furniture that dogs don't like so they don't bite.

Also when disciplining him remember his not a person so he wont understand "whats wrong with you your acting silly" as some people have the habit of doing but a sharp "NO" should do the trick

Answer 3

My 15 week old Collie is in Puppy Head Start.  At our class last week week talked about puppy biting/nipping.  This is what we were directed to do (it seems to help)...

Get the pup excited with play and then put your hand in front of his mouth...the minute you feel teeth yelp "Ouch!" and turn your back and walk away...the best thing to do is to be in a room where you can leave through a door that can be closed.  What this teaching the puppy is that biting/nipping humans is not ok and will result in no play and the human going away.  Anytime that our pup nips any of us, we yelp "Ouch" and walk away.

As for the biting/chewing on things...get some bitter lime and spray whatever he is chewing, tell him no, offer him one of his chew toys and tell him, "Chew This".

Hope this helped.

Answer 4

Shepherds and labs are both highly intelligent and very easy to train.  I have a white German shepherd  and she was a very wild pup, we got her as a stray off the streets.  You can try lightly swatting them on the snout if they're really tearing something up.  You can also get a clicker (sold at any pet store for 2-3 dollars, they make a clicking noise) and give them a treat when you click.  This way when they are acting up, you can distract them with the clicker and they'll forget what they were doing and come to get a treat.  Make them wait for it so they don't go back to biting on the furniture and/or the neighborhood kids.