nibbling Germane Shepherd - Page 1

Our 5 month old  wants to nibble us all the time he is playing but he also snaps , he is very loving and wants to be with us all the time, but he is very hyper  and can hurt when he plays with us we are retired and we enjoy him very much. Any suggestions ?

This should have been dealt with long ago, you might try correcting this nipping verbally and with time out, end of play time when nipping occurs.
Personally I would bite the dog back myself, but I am me.

So often I see mismatched pets and owners, nothing good ever comes from it.

I guess a lot depends on your capabilities shoalgrl, can you handle this dog?

Moons.

Have you considered finding a reputable trainer or going to obediance classes? You can always find some in your area. As much as I hate to say.. Petsmart offers obediance classes that can help with alot of issues. If you decide on trainers, go watch some sessions and see if it will work for you. Positive reinforcement is the best way to train :) IMO

Saban is an inside with us and has a kennell run when he is out side by himself ,when we are out with him he runs free,we live in the country and on the river so he has a large area to play ,he is very well behave we have trained him to speak, stay, speak and he comes when we call he just nibbles to show affection. we have raised shepherds , huskies and wolf dogs so we are familiar with having pets, the wolf dogs showed affection by mouthing , bur Saban nibblles and pinches and he bruises me and sometimes he breaks the skin, we love him very much but at 5 months I do not know if I should be to rough with him I will tell him to go to bed and he will obey. Thanks to all who have answers to this.

That is not showing affection. He needs to learn bite inhibition and learn it  very soon. I would try to find an OB class taught by someone who knows this breed. Maybe if you tell us where you live, there would be some suggestions for a trainer. You may also want to contact Saban's breeder with your concerns.

Good luck.

Shoalgrl,
I have a bitch that nips sometimes under the right circumstances, I raised her and did correct her as a pup including nipping back on the bridge of the nose coupled with verbal corrections and the time out down stay fun's over because you nipped.
I don't think I'd try that with your 5 month old.

Mine is as you said mouthing, communicating, dog's do that, but it still hurts and yeah I too bleed once in a while.
I usually instigate things but others don't, and I would be very severe on one of my dogs that nipped anyone other than myself.
You should find a way to reprimand the dog with a correction, and a punishment, and try to curb this behavior now before anymore time passes.
Not all nipping is mouthing, sometimes it can be a real problem.



Moons.

Thank you Moons , I agree with you and I believe you are correct he is very attached to me and my hubby he will whine when one of us leaves the room and he can't decide which one of us to be with he is very loyal and this is the only issue we have had with any of our pets our wolf dogs were mouthy but they were very different. I also think it is because we keep him with us in the house and he wants to be with us all the time .We live in Al. on the warrior River he loves the water he is 5 months and weighs 60lbs.he will be a big guy. I enjoy this forum very much it has been  so helpful !! thanks again to all for answering and helping me!!

Thank you Moons , I agree with you and I believe you are correct he is very attached to me and my hubby he will whine when one of us leaves the room and he can't decide which one of us to be with he is very loyal and this is the only issue we have had with any of our pets our wolf dogs were mouthy but they were very different. I also think it is because we keep him with us in the house and he wants to be with us all the time .We live in Al. on the warrior River he loves the water he is 5 months and weighs 60lbs.he will be a big guy. I enjoy this forum very much it has been  so helpful !! thanks again to all for answering and helping me!!

If this dog doesn't learn bite inhibition soon, he is going to hurt someone unintentionally.

http://www.dogstardaily.com/training/teaching-bite-inhibition


http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/issues/13_6/features/Bite-Inhibition_16232-1.html

Thank you Blitzen very excellant information , there is a lot of infromation on training on this site, I would like to have all of his dog journals  if I could, I will start a different working idea's with him , He is so smart and wants to please I feel sure we will eliminate this issue ,when he nibbles and mouths he is playing and he does not want to hurt he just has to learn the difference, he was 10 weeks when we got him and there were 10 in the litter and were 8 left on a screen in porch and had never been on the ground so he was used to playing ruff with his litter mates , so he wants to continue to play rough he is a lot better than when we got him but it is a continious series of  correcting him with love. Thanks again