You’re likely reading this because you are a new pet parent. First off, congratulations! Owning a pet is a big responsibility and as a dog owner, you want to ensure your puppies grow into polite and well-mannered adult dogs. Surviving the puppy stages can be difficult and come with many challenges such as potty training, crate training, and encouraging good behavior to avoid developing bad habits.
During the puppy stages, biting and nipping is normal behavior for most dog breeds. Reasons for this behavior are teething, boredom, and playtime antics. Although common, this is not something you want to continue. The good news is this bad behavior can be curbed with proper training methods.
In this article, we will discuss the history of German Shepherd Dogs, why German Shepherd pups bite, and the best training methods to stop your puppy from biting.
History and Information About German Shepherd Dogs
German Shepherds come from a long bloodline of working dogs. In the 1800s, they were bred to herd sheep. Their breed-specific functions consist of herding, guarding, searching, and sniffing. This background is also what makes a GSD so useful in police work.
German Shepherds are generally considered medium to large breeds. Their average height is 24-26 inches for a male and 22-24 inches for a female and weight ranges from 65-90 pounds for a male and 50-70 pounds for a female. The life expectancy of a German Shepherd is between 7-10 years.
Why Do German Shepherd Puppies Bite?
The best way to properly train a behavior out of dogs is to understand why they are engaging in the behavior in the first place. The same principle can be applied to the question of why GSD puppies bite. The “GSD” or German Shepherd Dog is a mouthy breed due to their history of herding livestock. It’s in their nature to nip at the ankles of the animals they are herding. You may find that your German Shepherd bites more than other puppies because they are a herding breed.
German Shepherds also have a high prey drive. This means that they are on high alert for any noises or movements that might be made by potential prey or danger. If you observe your puppy outside, you’ll notice this constant alertness. Once their prey drive kicks in, your GSD is ready to attack. Of course, this drive may not always be directed at prey. Toys, other dogs, your hands, or even flowy pant legs moving too quickly can alert your pup and send their prey drive into action.
Other Reasons Puppies Bite
In addition to a history of herding, there are also a number of reasons that young puppies bite, which are: teething, boredom, and playtime. Let’s look at a breakdown of these reasons below to get a better understanding:
1. Teething Phase
A new puppy will start teething at about 3 to 4 months of age. Just like the human teething phase, this is the process of your GSD puppy’s adult teeth growing and how they explore their new world. Unfortunately, “exploring” can be displayed as chew marks on furniture, rugs, carpeting, clothing, shoes, remote controls, and much more. It can also come in the form of nips and bites to your fingers, hands, etc. This is not aggressive behavior, but it can feel like it when those sharp puppy teeth puncture your skin!
It’s important to note that your German Shepherd puppy biting phase will not last forever! Biting during the teething phase is a natural behavior that you will not have to worry about with an adult German Shepherd with adult teeth.
2. Boredom
You’ll often hear German Shepherd Dogs described as “high-energy.” Typically, a German Shepherd wants to be busy and active, especially at a young age. If not properly trained, this can come out as mischievous or difficult to handle. Boredom is a common reason why German Shepherd puppies bite.
If you notice this unwanted behavior occurring when your GSD is lacking stimulation or attention, it is important not to reward this behavior as it can lead to biting habits. We’ll go over best practices for this situation later in this article!
3. Playtime
Keeping your dog enriched is an important part of being a dog owner. A great way to do this is with a play session. Tug-of-war and chew toys can be a favorite among GSDs. It’s easy for a German Shepherd to engage in rough play because of its strong prey drive.
Biting during playtime is normal for an excited puppy, but it is important to train this habit out of your dog. One day, those razor-sharp teeth in your puppy’s mouth will grow into adult teeth with adult strength. A GSD bite is not something you want to mess around with!
How To Get Your German Shepherd Puppy to Stop Biting?
As we mentioned before, the puppy training process is an important responsibility for any dog breed. The best time to train your dog is as soon as you bring them home. If not done properly from an early age, this can lead to a slew of bad behaviors in your adult dog. Training your dog can be similar to parenting a toddler. You have to teach them right from wrong, and some methods are better than others.
Making sure your puppy knows biting is not allowed is important for all dog owners, especially large dogs. Because these breeds are muscular dogs, a German Shepherd bite could lead to the injury of another person or dog. This can lead to expensive lawsuits, increased insurance rates, and costly medical bills (all of which, we want to avoid).
When it comes to biting behavior, there are a few different ways to get your German Shepherd puppy to stop biting. Whether you choose to train your dog yourself or use a K-9 Obedience Training service that replicates the teachings of police dog training, positive reinforcement and redirection are going to be the most essential elements of this process. Harsh physical or verbal commands used as punishment will only create fear in your dog. This is not an environment where your dog is willing to learn.
Proper playtime, correct voice commands, and socialization are a few popular training tactics for puppies. Below, you’ll find the top most effective methods to train your German Shepherd puppy to stop biting.
1. Provide Plenty of Toys
If you notice that your puppy is biting furniture, shoes, or other items, it may be a good choice to invest in some chew toys. German Shepherd pups often bite things because they want to play and keep themselves busy. Ensuring that your puppy has access to toys means that these can be the subject of your puppy’s teeth rather than your valuables.
Different aged dogs will require different types of toys, so make sure you’re buying the correct type. You can also provide a variety when it comes to toys, such as teething rings, squeaky toys, and rope toys.
This is a great technique to redirect your puppy’s attention to positive actions. Whenever they are biting an unwanted object, you can engage their attention with their chew toy. With repetition, this will eventually teach your puppy to only bite their toys.
2. Give Proper Attention and Playtime
This tip goes hand in hand with tip #1. Toys and the right amount of playtime are some of the top maneuvers to get through the biting stage in your dog’s life. As a puppy and even in adulthood, dogs require a certain level of stimulation and attention.
German Shepherds are an exceptionally smart and energetic breed. This requires mental and physical activity. Often, your puppy will bite out of boredom. Regularly playing with your puppy will do wonders in curbing their biting behaviors. Starting a fun game of fetch or hide and seek with your dog is an easy way to keep them occupied, which means they’ll be too busy to exhibit biting behavior.
3. Use Special Training Games
Professional trainers recommend four special training games to train your German Shepherd puppy to stop biting. If initiated often, these games will teach your puppy soft mouth skills and build trust.
- Build a Bridge
This game is designed to give your dog a positive association with trust. GSDs are great guard dogs, meaning they are usually on high alert. This game breaks down that barrier by slowly introducing touch.
To play, sit on the floor with your legs out straight. Use treats to get your pup to jump across your legs. As they jump, gently touch their sides. The treats will create a positive association with your gentle touch. If your dog nips during the game, take a few steps back.
- Boop Your Snoot
Boop your snoot is a great tool to replace nipping. If you notice your dog bites your hands to get your attention, you will want to use this game in your training process. This game involves hand targeting to the nose in order to ease your dogs fear when being touched by humans.
Use high value treats as you gently “boop” or touch your dogs nose. This may take a few tries if they are more nervous when it comes to touching. Eventually, this will teach your dog that not every touch deserves a dangerous reaction.
- Go Fetch
This is one of the most classic games you can play with your dog, but a very powerful one. Teaching your German Shepherd how to play fetch increases obedience and distracts from biting limbs and fingers.
Grab their favorite toy and toss it, once your dog runs and retrieves the toy, call them back to you. You can use treats to really nail down this concept. After enough times of running back and forth, your pup is sure to need a nap!
- Tug-O-War
Another classic in the name of puppy play time. Tug-O-War is a game that centers around biting! If your pup has the urge from teething gums or boredom, this game will be a great way to curb that habit and promote positive biting on toys rather than humans and unwanted items.
To play, first choose a toy that is appropriate for your dog’s age and size. Make sure it is interesting to them. This could mean squeakers, scented toys, or ropes. Let your pup grab one end while you pull the other. Use treats to encourage this good biting behavior.
4. Let Your Puppy Know
When your dog is born into a litter of puppies, it learns cues about the world from its family members. For example, if one of the puppies bites another, the other puppy might let out whimpers or loud noises, like “yelp!” This reaction alerts the puppy that biting is not nice behavior. Additionally, if things get too physical between puppies, the mom will intervene with her own disciplinary growl. Before this incident, the puppy did not know that biting hurts.
If your puppy was abandoned, born into a single-puppy litter, or taken away from its littermates at a young age, it could miss out on learning those lessons. You can teach your puppy by letting them know that their German Shepherd bites hurt. A quick “ouch!” or “eep!” repeated over time will alert them that something was not right with their behavior.
5. Use Gentle Voice Commands
Most GSD owners use voice commands to control their dogs. Voice commands are a huge part of obedience training. Using strong words like “sit,” “stay,” “come,” etc. are essential to teaching your puppy right from wrong, that includes puppy bites. Once your dog has learned these commands, you can redirect them into these movements to distract them from biting.
You should introduce voice commands in your training sessions as soon as possible. If you’re not confident about training your own dog, a certified dog trainer will be able to help.
6. Positive Reinforcement
Positive reinforcement methods are one of the most effective training methods used by dog trainers. This is the process of using positive reactions and rewards to encourage good behavior. This can be in the form of verbal praise, pets, a small treat, or food rewards.
When your dog performs good behavior and is rewarded using positive reinforcement training, they create a positive association with that action. For example, biting your toy is rewarded with a “good boy” and lots of pets, while biting a shoe is not. Since GSDs are huge people pleasers, they will opt for the action that gets them the most praise from their owners.
7. Don’t Reward Bad Behaviors
We’ve learned that praising and rewarding good behavior is effective, but what should we do when our pups engage in bad behavior, such as biting? If we can train good behavior into our dog’s routine, we can also train bad behaviors the same way. An important rule in training is, “don’t reward bad behavior.” This means no praise, attention, or treats for behaviors we do not want our dog to continue.
Let’s create an example: your new puppy always bites at your fingers to play, so you grab a ball and start playing fetch, loving on them and giving pets. After repeatedly doing this, you will create a habit in your dog. They will learn that biting gives them attention, and they will continue to bite.
Although we do not want to reward bad behavior, we also do not want to inflict punishment on our dogs. Verbal and physical punishments create an environment of anxiety. In order to avoid rewarding bad behavior, it’s best to follow a combination of tips on this list. Instead of immediately playing with your puppy when they bite, give a yelp or verbal command to let them know to stop. Once you’ve distracted them from biting, then engage in playtime to positively reinforce good behavior.
8. Socialize Your Puppy
Socialization for your puppy is critical to their growth and acclimation to the world. Exposing them to new people, situations and other dogs can teach them how to properly interact. Puppies should start socialization as soon as you take them home around 8 weeks. The critical period for socialization is from 12 to 16 weeks of age.
The first thing to do in socialization is to invite new people and animals to your home. This will allow you to have a “home field advantage,” and keep your puppy’s defensiveness to a minimum. Your puppy sees the home as their territory to defend. Biting can be a natural reaction if they see new people and animals as a threat. While this might not be a big deal when your puppy is young, adult German Shepherd bites are much more dangerous. Once you have mastered inviting new situations into your home, you can interact at dog parks and other public places.
Introducing new people and dogs into your puppy’s life is a good way to encourage good behavior and interactions.
9. Teething Relief
Teething is the most common reason your puppy is biting and nipping. Just like a human baby, they are growing teeth. A puppy’s baby teeth start coming in between 2 to 3 weeks of age and adult teeth come in at 3 to 4 months. This is a painful process that causes the gums to hurt. Puppies engage in biting behavior during this time in an effort to provide some relief to the pain they are feeling as their teeth push through the surface. This can include biting you, your furniture, clothing or any other items your puppy thinks will make their gums feel better.
Instead of wreaking havoc on your possessions, there are other methods and items you can give your pup to soothe their pain. Numbing gel, frozen teething rings, frozen veggies or fruits, and ice pops are all very good things to let your dog chew on while teething. Herbal alternatives include incorporating chamomile, sunflower, aloe vera, or lavender in your puppy’s food.
10. Anti Chew/Bite Remedies
If you notice your puppy is biting items like shoes, chairs, or other household items, anti-chew remedies are a great deterrent to stopping your puppy from biting. They consist of a bitter mixture that dogs hate, usually lemongrass. Spraying this onto your items will make them taste terrible. After a few times of trying to bite and getting a mouthful of bitterness, your dog will not be interested in biting that item any longer!
Summary
To summarize, German Shepherd Dogs originate from a long line of heading dogs. This skill makes them a perfect fit for police work, but also means they are more likely to pick up on biting behaviors than other breeds.
Biting is a normal behavior among puppies. Dog bites can occur for a number of reasons, such as going through the teething phase, boredom, and playtime that gets too rough. Although biting can be annoying or harmful to your furniture, it doesn’t always mean you have an aggressive dog.
The good news is that it is possible to train your German Shepherd puppy to stop biting. There are a few different methods to do so that have been proven effective. Some of the best ways to train your puppy are to provide crew toys and teething relief, make sure your puppy has plenty of playtimes, and teach verbal commands as soon as possible. When teaching your dog, it is important to create a safe space using positive association techniques, never physical punishment.
We hope this article was helpful in learning how to train a German Shepherd puppy to stop biting. Happy puppy parenting!
Sources:
https://www.petmd.com/dog/training/puppy-biting
https://www.thesprucepets.com/stop-puppy-biting-2804588
https://germanshepherdcorner.com/german-shepherd-puppy-biting/
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