Health & WellbeingHello, we recently have had our german shepard/lab mix for about a month now and we are having difficulty with her biting. Because of this she is in her kennel most of the day unless we take her outside because she is also not potty trained completel
Congratulations on your new puppy! Play biting and being excessively "mouthy" is very common in puppies. I have not personally had luck with the techniques of saying "No!" or holding the muzzle. I that makes puppies more excited. My general rule for puppies is that you make a high pitches squeak (like a littermate puppy would do if they bit too hard), then walk away from the situation. More than anything, your puppy wants to play with you. If you walk away, it is negative reinforcement, so they are less likely to do that behavior again. Depending on the puppy, the goal is to get them to look away from you or start doing something else before you engage in play again. I found that a long rope toy made a good toy to play with my puppy because there was lots of toy for him to bite at without touching my skin.
I also found that allowing my dog to play with other dogs was a great way for him to learn what is appropriate play. I took my dog to doggy day care twice a week as a pup
Updated on August 12th, 2025
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