[jenszeusy]

Hey all dog owners! I have a GSD and he is super mouthy! His story is hes new to me because his pervious owners couldnt handle him anymore and had no time to train him. Hes 8 months old and still has not a clue about anything hes like a 8 week old! I'm working hard but this mouthy thing is the one thing im having a hard time figuring out. Any advice helps!

[cigwyllt]

This is a great article on teaching bite inhibition:

Puppy Biting | Dog Star Daily

My parents had a similar problem with their rescue dog but he has grown up to be a perfect gentleman and in fact will turn away rather than having your hand in his mouth.

[cwilliams247]

Puppy dogs LOVE to mouth things, especially when they are young. It's like a toddler that likes to stick everything in his mouth, and touch everything. Pups only have their mouths to explore things with, and usually with a bit of training they grow out of it fairly early. However, since it seems this guy didn't have too much training, or maybe the previous owners just weren't sure how to go about it, it's become habit for him and he doesn't understand that teeth on skin is quite painful and annoying. My very first advice is not to ever use negative punishment for the mouthing. It's hard not to want to smack pup on the nose, but it will confuse him more than anything. The best thing to do is grab some patience (and it may take quite a bit of that) and whenever you go to pet him, play with him, ect and he starts to get mouthy, say NO in a firm, (not mean or angry) voice and then fold your arms up and turn away from him. No attention when he puts teeth on skin. Dogs are pack animals who are very social and thrive on attention and affection from other pack members, aka you. You don't need to ignore him for long periods of time, just for a moment or two till he calms down and you can try again. He probably won't get it right off the back, just because hes spent most of his life so far doing this action. Another thing that can really help is find some bitter yuck, or bitter apple spray from a local petstore. You can spray it on your hands/arms/anything else he likes to chew but shouldn't. It tastes horrible, but won't harm him at all. After a few times of that he'll probably see that when he puts his mouth on you, nothing positive comes of it. Try a combination of both, but just try to stay positive but firm with him. Redirect him by giving him an acceptable chew toy, and he should be a perfect gentlemen in no time at all....well...it may take a bit haha. Anyway, good luck! and I hope this helps. Also, be careful not to get any of the bitter yuck/bitter apple in your mouth because it tastes HORRIBLE. I made the mistake of being curious of how it worked. Couldn't get the taste out of my mouth the whole day. =D