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Yikes!! Puppy biting hurts!!

It's been such a long time since I've dealt with that, but these are some things I remember reading about.

- Try spraying them with a squirt bottle,
- grab their snout and tell them "no" in a firm voice
- redirect with a chew toy so they know to chew on that and not you (ropes and cow femurs worked great)
- yell "Ouch" when they do it to startle them (similar to what a his mom would do)
- make sure he has lots of exercise during the day to wear him out.

good luck!

Puppy teeth are so sharp!

Keep in mind that puppies/dogs use their mouths to explore their environment (it's their sense of touch), so it's important to let him explore. If he's biting a little too hard, then we always yelped loudly to startle our dog and it worked well.

@MrsBrewer: We would grab the snout tightly right after or right before was about to nip and say "No!". Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Like @Sammyfab said, puppies explore everything with their mouth (kind of like babies), so they are bound to test everything out. Also, when they are puppies, they play with each other by biting and wrestling. The only way they learn not to do something is usually when they hear the other puppy (or mom) yelp (or when another puppy makes them yelp), which is usually why saying "OUCH!" like a yelp works the best.

It's not a fun phase, but hopefully it passes quickly.

The biggest thing is to be consistent. Never let him put your skin in his mouth.

I have heard the bite them back theory (on the ear is best). It does work I guess to show some dominance.

Oh man, I so feel your pain. German Shepherds (what we have) are called land sharks for a reason! Do know that they will stop. Promise. Like @Sammyfab, they are doing something totally normal. They also have incredible control over the jaws. If his teeth touch your skin, it wasn't be accident.

Please don't bite him back. That's confusing, and it might also back fire where he thinks you're playing, too. My pup loves rough play and would just get more excited by something like that. Dominance in the dog training world is a much debated topic and I won't get going on that, but you can be a leader by being fair and consistent in other ways.

I would be careful with the water bottle and grabbing his snout. Yipping might startle them in the beginning, but it can often get them really excited or they just ignore it. The best thing to do is redirect with an appropriate chew toy, and if they keep at it, leave for a few minutes. Totally ignore him with back turned or exit the room. Start working on the command "leave it" and that can be used for your hands and feet and pants and whatever he latches onto to!

We always did the high-pitched yelp when he nipped. He learned really quickly and would become startled. We also taught him "let go" for his toys which helped a lot.

@Bunnylove08--this is so true! Our dog liked the taste of the Bitter Lime gel. The human society recommends that you spray the bitter apple on a cotton ball and then wipe it in the dog's mouth, withholding water for about 15 minutes. The idea is that they will then already have a negative association and the spray can act like a deterrent.