Trouble with dog

[Yai]

Anyone know how to stop a five week old German Shepherd Dog from biting at your ankles and chewing the bottom of your trousers?

[wildwood]

If you've just acquired a puppy and already feel the need to post for help, I wonder if you've made a wise decision. It is really necesarry to read up and learn about any pet before this responsibility is taken on.
This behaviour is perfectly natural and at 5 weeks old a pup can not be expected to learn that you do not like to be treated as a 'nest mate'. Chewing and biting is necesarry to develop the jaw muscles which, in nature, a dog would rely on to survive. Your pup should really have spent at least another three weeks with its mother. Get it some toys or chew-bones.

[PurplePixie]

I agree with wildwood, 5 weeks is much too young to take a pup away from it's mother. It is simply doing & learning what it should be with it's litter mates...learning what is ok to nibble at & how hard to bite is all part of learning through playing and as you have now taken over the role of 'parent' it is up to you to teach the pup. You need to find a book on dog behaviour that you feel you can follow,as your dog will grow up into a large sized liability if you do not train it firmly & consistantly from the start. At this age I think it would be best to gently remove the pups mouth from your ankles or trousers and give it something more appropriate to chomp on. You will have to do this over and over again with only positive praise..NO punishment & the pup should eventually catch on. But avoid any games that involve chewing on your fingers or anything that you aren't going to be happy for him to chew on when he's 80 lbs, cos it won't be cute then!!!!! I'm not a dog trainer tho, just a dog rescuer...so it's only my opinion.

[woofgang]

We used a trick on our weimaraner puppies which we learnt from the breeder she trains her dogs in obedience and field trials where a soft mouth is important on a retiever breed. She treats her dogs like (junior) family members and expects nothing less from the people who have her puppies, she also expect you to raise them properly, so as not to bring the breed into disrepute through out of control dogs.NB ONLY DO THIS IF YOU HAVE SHORT FINGERNAILS...and don't try it on full grown dogs. Let the puppy nibble on your fingers, as they bite down tickle the roof of the mouth gently and say to the dog "gently" The dog should open his or her mouth and look surprised..Praise lavishly. As the pixie says, never allow the dog to bite down or chew things that you won't want it to later. The reason to let the dog mouth your fingers is so that you can control the mouthing. if you let it chew on clothing, it will think that the clothing is part of you and the chewing doesn't hurt and not learn not to do it. Later on, teething pups will need something to teeth on and will try to chew on any thing they can if not prevented and given something of their own. If the mouth play gets too rough with an older puppy, don't shout at the dog, but yelp like a litter mate would and stop the game. Where did you get the dog from and will they help you? also the battersea dogs' Home website is full of useful stuff. http://www.dogshome.org

[apricot]

I would strongly recommend the book 'The Perfect Puppy'. Your GSD will grow to be a big dog and you should have read ahead of purchase. Start now and make sure you are a responsible dog owner.

[enema]

Thats told you then!

[woofgang]

well yes it has. When there is trouble with a dog's up-bringing, the big loser is ALWAYS the dog