# I think my puppy is attacking me



## ShilohGSD (May 10, 2013)

Everyone I have talked to about this just writes it off as play-biting. I have read the info in the sticky on this forum, as well as numerous articles online and a couple of books, and this does not seem like play-biting. I know this is going to sound crazy, but I seriously feel like my puppy is intentionally trying to hurt me. At first she would only do this if she was doing something bad and I tried to tell her "no", so I thought it was her way of "talking back". When she first started doing it, if I'd hand her one of her toys or a chew, she would stop. However, now she'll just be minding her own business, chewing on a toy or something and I'll be minding my own business, and all of a sudden, she just comes after me and there is nothing I can do to distract her. 

She starts off by going after my ankles, knees, the back of my knees or my shins. She will just keep biting me like she's obsessed with it. Like the sticky on here (and several other articles I read) suggested, I tried the suggested "ouch" quietly (no effect at all), then "OUCH!" (made things worse), and I tried locking her in another room for a few minutes (worked initially but then a few minutes later she'd start again). If I try to walk away from her, she just follows me, still biting at whatever she can reach. I have tried kneeling down to try and scratch her ears, belly or chest (areas she likes to have scratched) and all that has resulted in was me getting my arms, elbows and hands bitten. She has tried to bite my face but so far has been unsuccessful. I try to stay calm but that gets really difficult when you're having a mouthful of little razorblades sunk into some of the most sensitive parts of your body over and over again! Obviously I realize when I freak out on her that doesn't help the situation any... not that there's anything that does seem to help.

It was only happening once every other day or so, now it's escalated a lot. She got me twice this morning before I left for work. Earlier, she got ahold of my elbow just the right way and I couldn't help it, I burst in to tears out of a mixture of frustration and pain. If she was just playing, I would think that would give her pause... but no! she just kept after me. I have scratches and bruises all over my arms, legs and hands from her doing this. 

I have her enrolled in obedience classes but they don't start until next Wednesday and I honestly don't know if I can deal with her until then. She has attacked me four times today (twice before work and twice since I've been home). She's in her crate right now because I'm at a loss for ideas of what else to do with her. I play with her, she gets to spend a significant amount of time running around out in the yard, she gets plenty of food, what am I doing wrong!? I am so far beyond frustrated. I didn't even want to come home from work today because I didn't want to be home alone with her. This is totally ridiculous!!!


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## seaboxador (Sep 23, 2012)

You have her enrolled in obedience class, so they'll give you lots of advice. That's way too long for me to read, so I can't say anything specific.


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## SydTheSpaniel (Feb 12, 2011)

When I had my aussie puppy - she did the exact same thing. A young puppy is not intentionally trying to hurt you. It might just seem that way because it hurts. Lunetta used to draw blood on my legs and arms because of her herding instincts and of course.... her just being a puppy. Just continue with the training and exercise and wait it out until you start classes. You'll learn in the classes as well that it is normal behavior. GSDs are a herding breed. What you're describing is not unheard of. I do understand your impatience though, I felt the same way with Lunetta, but knew it was normal and you just have to work through it and be patient with her.


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## packetsmom (Mar 21, 2013)

Welcome to life with a healthy GSD pup. It sounds like she just has a healthy drive. Obedience training and patience will help, but it's going to take a while. It helps to keep something on you at all times when you're with the pup that you can redirect her to, like a bite rag or a tug toy. Playing tug can also help her learn to keep her mouth on toys rather than hands or pants because the game ends when she doesn't.

This does not mean your puppy is going to turn into a vicious monster. It does mean she might do great in Schutzhund or other dog sports that give her a healthy outlet for that drive, so after puppy obedience, as she grows, you might want to look into those. Dogs like that who don't have a job to do to channel that drive...tend to make up their own jobs...which is usually doing things you don't want them to do!


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## elrohwen (Nov 10, 2011)

Honestly sounds like playing to me. My pup is 10 months and still "attacks" me sometimes. The more I carry on, the more excited he gets and he'll start jumping and biting my clothes, my arms, etc. He has absolutely no idea that yelling and crying means I want him to stop.

Puppies are land sharks. It's just what they do. Some dogs take a really really long time to learn bite inhibition (like my dog). Being bitten 5+ times a day isn't unusual. 

It sounds like you're not being consistent enough. You need to get up and walk out of the room every single time she bites you. She will follow and continue to bite, but ignore it and keep walking. I have never found "ouch" to work with any puppy until they have learned what it means. It's not something she is going to innately understand. And lots of puppies have no concept that they are hurting you - as I mentioned, my pup thinks the more upset I get, the more I'm enjoying his playing, so he gets rougher. You can't expect baby puppies to read your emotions, you just have to stay as calm as possible and remove contact. It sounds like you did have some success when you gave her a time out (which is basically the same as you walking away), so keep doing that. The more consistent you are, the faster it will work. If one day she gets a timeout, but the next time you keep playing with her, she will just learn that she needs to keep biting longer to get you to play.


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

I understand that GSD pups are second only to Lab pups in their land-sharkiness . Yes, it's normal puppy behavior and she's not meaning to hurt you. It's just that puppies play very rough and she doesn't yet understand that people don't like to play that way. Exercise her a lot (but not a lot of running on pavement as it's bad for her growing joints), keep up the training and everything, it WILL get better!


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## blenderpie (Oct 5, 2012)

I hear you. I really do. I have another one of the shepherd breeds (a Shiloh) and I have scars all over my legs, I had pairs of jeans literally shredded, and was constantly bruised and bleeding. Not to mention the tears of frustration because all I wanted to do was pet my dog and have him "be normal" and I couldn't I couldn't even pet him without coming away bloody. He will be eight months old tomorrow (time flies) and is the love of my life (sorry SO, Ellie, cats, and bunnies). It gets better. I promise.

Some tips. 
1. Exercise. Has she had all if her shots? Between our breeder and vet, we decided to walk Lincoln after only his second set, but that's completely regional and by dog (we waited for all 3 sets before walking Ellie.) Even though they're young and a large breed and you have to be careful, 20 minutes two times a day helps so much.
2. When she's really riled up and it's not just one or two disengages before she gets it, pull our your clicker. She can't bite you if she's practicing her puppy push ups (going from sit to down over and over).
3. If you really, really need a break, don't feel bad taking one. You'll both feel better that she's safely in her crate when you're so frustrated you just wanna scream in her little puppy face (been there. I'm embarrassed to say I've given my puppies the finger on multiple occassions.)
4. Remember that this will be over in a few months...ans you're going to have her for YEARS. Have you ever heard of human mothers forgetting the pain of childbirth? It sort of happens with puppies, too. (Which is why I have an 8 and 4.5 month old). I look at baby pictures of Linc and show my SO and I say "I miss him being so little!" And he'll look at me like I'm crazy and say, "you realized he bit you all the time and made you cry a lot, right?" And sometimes i actually do forget that part until he reminds me. 
5. This goes back to the training one, but focus on what she *can* do well. Ellie was a complete bear to housebreak and I would get super mad and it really did help to take a step back and say, "yeah, she's struggling with this concept, but she'll get it. In the meantime, she heels better than any dog I have met." Once I did that, it was easier to see the house breaking in perspective because obviously she didn't learn to heel overnight. So what is Shiloh really good at?


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## packetsmom (Mar 21, 2013)

^^^^Really good stuff here.


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## EagleRiverDee (Mar 14, 2011)

My lab/pit mix is a very aggressive player and she can bite hard. Interestingly, she's become selective. My DH likes to play rough with her and she gets super rough with him including leaving bruises and I think once she broke the skin. With me she is learning bite inhibition because I do not encourage the rough play. She's older- 22 months- but she is a rescue that was kenneled for 9 months of her life so I think she might be a little "behind" other dogs her age just from lack of experience and training. All that said, I don't think her intent is ever to actually hurt us, she just wants to play like dogs play. She has to learn that's not ok.

Things I do that help:
-LOTS of exercise. I want her wore out. 
-Toys that allow her to chase and chew to her hearts content 
-Encourage the behavior I do want, and reward it. I use a verbal positive reinforcer "Yes!" and treats. 
-Discourage the behavior I don't want with a verbal negative reinforcer "Ah-ah!" or "Wrong!" - I don't ignore her because it doesn't work.
-Redirect negative behavior back to positives.
-I will crate her for a bit if I'm totally fed up but I make sure it's a positive experience for her because I don't want her to start associating her crate with punishment.


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## Greater Swiss (Jun 7, 2011)

Ok....how do you mean ignoring her doesn't work. Are you removing her ability to get to you or are you just not doing anything in response to the behavior (or trying not to...). 

I would suggest some "time outs", and actually make sure she can't reach you. Using the crate isn't a good idea as you know, but you could set up a baby gate and go to the other side of it, or you could set her up on a tether in the house and step out of her range (so long as it is a safe spot)....something like that. 

It takes a LOT of repeating. Caeda was a brutal puppy....she hung off of the arm of my jacket, my husband's shirts, you name it, she would bite it. She broke skin plenty of times (though never got into deeper flesh...but it hurt!). I found removing attention was a major tool for her, but it does take a lot of patience, something I know, and can't blame you for being short on right now. Take a breath and start over. One thing to remember, is pick a method and give it some time. Trying something a few times won't really give you an indication of success or fail. On top of that it may work for a bit, then backslide for a while.....

I know it feels like you are being attacked (I guess you are, but not in the way that it seems). Good luck and do your best to take a deep breath and calm, I know it is hard!!!


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## ShilohGSD (May 10, 2013)

Well there has been no improvement with this issue over the last few days. 

Attempts to burn off energy are futile. If I take her for a walk, she walks beside me and bites my leg. At least I have the leash so I can hold her away from me. I just get strange looks from people driving by... probably laughing at me because I can't control my psycho dog. I've tried throwing a ball or a frisbee for her in the yard but if I decide that game's over before SHE wants it to be... yup, I get bitten. 

I took her to the vet Thursday for her 12 week shots and told him about the problem. He said to tell her "no!" very firmly and then isolate her from me. The only way I really have to do that is to put her in her crate because baby gates don't phase her. She has figured out how to climb over them. I realize putting her in the crate isn't ideal because she could start to view her crate as a negative thing, but it's the only option I have. So that's what I've been doing and it doesn't seem to be helping at all. I'll let her out of her crate and she's fine for a while, then she ends up doing the same thing later. 

She is making me absolutely miserable. I don't feel like her good times (few and far between) are enough to make up for her bad times. I'm to the point where I would rather just stay at work than come home and deal with her. It's gotten so bad that when I got off work early the other day, I went to the mall and walked around for almost 2 hours just so I wouldn't have to go home. I'm starting obedience classes with her Wednesday. Hopefully they'll help but I'm not holding my breath.

ETA: She has also developed this incredibly obnoxious new habit... of pacing around her crate and barking at it. A couple weeks ago, she figured out how to get the plastic tray out of the bottom of her crate and she started chewing on it. We put it back in and she left it alone. Well the other day she got it back out again. This time when we put it back in, she started pacing around her crate and barking. We ended up shutting the crate in another room. Now we have to do that whenever she's not in the crate because as soon as you let her out, she starts pacing around it and barking. Obviously moving the crate around is a huge PITA (especially since I've been using it as a means to confine her when she's biting me). Nothing distracts her from it, not even her food. Any ideas for how to get her to stop?


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## RoughCollie (Mar 7, 2011)

Try this (it worked with my collie when he was a puppy). Put clove oil on whatever the dog is biting. It only takes a drop on each spot. We used to put it on the backs of our hands, on our shoes (it is oil, so it may stain), on our ankles, etc. It's summer, so if you wear shorts, put a drop on your knees and shins, too.

It was not fun going around smelling like cloves, but it was better than being nipped all the time. I called around to stores (health food, vitamin, places like Whole Foods or Trader Joe's) to find a place that sold it.

I googled it, and Walgreen's, GNC, and the Vitamin Shoppe carry clove oil. Call first or you will spend a lot of time hunting for it.


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## samshine (Mar 11, 2011)

I understand what you mean about walking away not working. How about this, leave a leash and collar on her as you are playing. If she starts to act up, grab the leash and hook the end over something (doorknob etc) and walk away. This method means you don't have to touch her, which is only going to get her more worked up. It is important that you do this the very instant she puts her mouth on her, and do it every single time. This may mean that your interactions may be limited to approaching and leaving for a bit, but stick with it. Good luck.


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## EagleRiverDee (Mar 14, 2011)

ShilohGSD said:


> I'm starting obedience classes with her Wednesday. Hopefully they'll help but I'm not holding my breath.


Obedience School was the best thing that ever happened to and for my dog and myself. She had different issues (dog aggression, people aggression, a general lack of respect for me) and the class really helped with ALL of that. Don't give up. My class was 8 weeks long, one two-hour class per week, and at the end of the 8 weeks she was like a different dog. It's not a total cure-all, she still has issues, but much improved and I now have tools to work with her at home. Plus I enjoyed the school, and she did too, so when they start classes back up this fall I plan on enrolling her in another class- perhaps a 2nd round of obedience, or Canine Good Citizen. Or both.


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## packetsmom (Mar 21, 2013)

I ALWAYS have a tug toy of some kind with me when I'm with my pup. Whenever he starts getting nippy (which is pretty much any time he's not in his crate, like yours) I give him the tug toy and just keep redirecting him to it. He can't nip me if he has a tug toy or a bully stick in his mouth. We even take tugs on short walks, in the car...everywhere. You can also use a rag or towel, but just make sure it's just for that purpose or all your rags and towels and socks will become tug toys.

It really is tough to remain patient. My husband has scratches all over his arms and the kids barely get to play with the puppy right now, but we are seeing slow and steady improvement. It just takes time and we're talking months, not just days. Most GSD and mix owners I know expect it to continue up to almost a year and they stay sane with redirection. I also always keep my puppy on a leash so that I can stop him from nipping and getting on other people or even use the leash to keep him at bay while I redirect him. It makes a huge difference in managing him.

I also use the crate a lot for timeouts (mine can collapse his ex-pen easily if he's wound up). I just make sure I put him in there with something special, like a really yummy kong. It's more a timeout for me and the family to get a break than a way of punishing him. It gives us a chance to relax if he's been particularly rotten. We like to say he has two buckets, one full of good and the other rotten and once the good one is empty...all he has left is rotten. LOL!

All this being said, when he's good...he's REALLY good. He's a great dog, but he's also a puppy. Your dog likely is going to be a great dog...you just have to be patient while she's a puppy!


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## CptJack (Jun 3, 2012)

packetsmom said:


> Most GSD and mix owners I know expect it to continue up to almost a year and they stay sane with redirection.


Thud is 7 months old. 

I haven't pet him since he was about three months old and felt well enough to act like a real live puppy. 

Straight up, this is truth. He is better now, between adult teeth and consistent redirection. But about 85% of the time, you put your hands on him and you're GOING to end up with your hand in his mouth. The ONE exception is giving him belly rubs and that's iffy. 

He's a GSD mix. He doesn't LOOK much like a GSD lately (more pyr) but trust me, the fact that he won't stop herding everything that moves and can't keep his mouth to himself is a clue 

Just be patient and settle in for the long haul. It takes time.


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