Hi Adrienne!
Thank you for taking the time to address, Penelope's concerns with her German Shepherd mix dog and the nipping/biting/ "talking back" issues.
I am going through a similar situation with my Anatolian Shepherd/Maremma Sheepdog Bella. She is also almost 6 months old and over 60lbs. She doesn't bite/nip on me constantly, but does like to mouth a lot. I try to praise the heck out of licking to get her to give "kissies" more. But so far she prefer mouthing more. She does more biting/nipping mostly when she wants to try to escalate to play fight (as if I'm another dog) or is doing what I call "throwing a tantrum" because of being corrected from doing something she shouldn't. (digging holes looking for moles, or trying to eat deer poop out in the field on our long line leash walks.)
I have found that if I walk with a large walking stick in my fenced in half acre with her, she doesn't try to nip/bite me. Or if she does, I place the walking stick between us and she stays back (she might nip towards the stick a few times, then will chase her own tail or something to expend her energy that way). Kind of like a shepherd with a staff? I *never* hit her with it or anything. It's just the act of putting it between us that keeps her back when we are off leash. Kind of like a flirt pole I guess? Is there anything wrong with walking with a big stick/staff and putting it between us like this?
In the field by the house I haven't fenced in yet (planning to fence in around 2 acres around the property next year), I walk her nightly on a long line (50ft) in the area and for the most part she does great. But if she tries to get into something I don't want her to and I lead/pull her away (such as deer poop) she will usually charge me and start "throwing a tantrum". Not aggressive at all. Just nipping at my legs, butt, clothes, hands. I see it like she's complaining I didn't let her do what she wanted so she's trying to bully me into letting her do it and/or telling me how upset she is for not letting her do the thing. She mostly does this kind of behavior if I'm not letting her do something she wants to do, or stopping her from doing something she wants to do when we're out on the long line. I usually choke up on the leash and/or grab her collar and hold her away from me as much as possible until she calms down and repeat "No bite!!" "Stop!" until she wears out and stops and sits calmly, then praise for being "nice" and sitting calmly. After a little rest, she's fine again and ready to keep walking. The only thing I haven't tried yet is bringing my walking stick with me while out on the leash too. What am I becoming now, Gandalf the Grey?? LOL
Any other ideas to get her to stop throwing a tantrum when she's kept from doing something she wants to do?
Should I just accept I am a shepherd and need to always keep my staff with me now or at least until she's 2 years old and more mature? lol
For other things when I tell her no, leave it, etc like when she looks like she is going to try to play with the ducks, for instance, she stops right away and has no problem with learning the boundary. She only throws a tantrum on a correction when it's doing something she REALLY wanted to do (digging holes and eating deer poop for instance) or if I'm standing talking to my mom and she wants to keep walking, she'll come over and start nipping me or my mom or both of us all over. We tell her no in a stern voice and sometimes she'll roll on her back to show she's submitting, but keep kicking and nipping at us as she does it. Usually I have to choke up on her leash and/or grab her collar to hold her away until she calms again(she's usually twisting around and trying to nip/bite and/or get away to nip/bite for a minute or two at this point).. I keep telling her "No bite!" and "Stop!" She knows "nice" so sometimes I try "Be nice" too. Yesterday I tried running through all of her obedience training that we practice twice every day (sit, lay, shake, look at me, etc) and that took her focus and stopped her for a minute, but then she remembered she was being a butt before and started throwing a fit again after performing her training tricks.
If we're closer to the house and in the fenced area and off leash and she starts nipping a bunch and won't stop, I'll usually go in the house for awhile until she calms down and she's better when I come back out. I try to let her know that she won't keep getting my attention if she keeps nipping.
We do a "check" (perimeter walk) inside the fenced area twice a day and she is with me during chores feeding the ducks. Normally she doesn't bother them, but if one of them decides to freak out and run or flap around her, now and then she will look like she wants to play with it and I stop her before she even starts to try. Then promptly take her out of the pen. Thankfully she listens to that quickly. Usually she has no problem and will drink their water or eat some of their grain while I'm doing chores and not even look at the ducks no matter how noisy they are being. She is mostly outside as she is training to become a livestock guardian dog for my ducks. They are in their predator proof pen except for when I let them forage for a couple hours a day in part of the yard that I gate Bella away from. I haven't let her walk around with them outside of their pens much yet. They don't even really like ME near them, so I don't push it. lol She has a dog house, a kennel in half of my woodshed, and access to the front porch at all times. I just don't bring her inside because I have 3 inside cats and 2 senior small dogs (the female doesn't like other females) that have their own fenced yard (40x40 area) with a dog door near where Bella's yard and the ducks are.
I know she's still a baby, a 60+lb big baby, and right now I am trying my best to help her learn obedience skills, socialization with touching her feet, putting my fingers in her mouth to take something out, look at her teeth/gums etc. She may not like it when I take something away, but if it's something she can have, I'll practice "leave it", take it away, then give it back after I look at it. Otherwise, I say "yucky!" and throw it away. I try to teach "mine" and "yours" or "Bella's" as well. But I'm also teaching her things like perimeter walks/checks and getting her used to being around the ducks, etc. She's usually ok with leave it and "yucky!" means she doesn't get to keep it. But sometimes she gets mad about it and throws a tantrum if she doesn't get to keep it.
I have no intention of rehoming her. Since the puppy teeth have been changing to adult, clothes are getting torn less thankfully, but it would be nice to not have bruises on my arms and legs. Thankfully she does have bite inhibition, but still. Ouch. She reacted the same way with the "yip" noises as Penelope's dog. Sees it as a challenge. She does that at times if I say "No!" sternly as well. When off-leash I try corrections in a progression like "Look, Noise, Charge, Touch, Pin" to get her to calm down if I can't get away from her and into the house or something easily and she's escalating.
Sometimes I get stern when she starts nipping while out on the long lead and she starts to ramp up her nipping. So if I can, I try more just to remain as calm as possible and hold her away with the leash and tell her "No bite" and "Stop". She seems to calm down faster when I can remain calmer during corrections. Sometimes it is very hard to do when you're getting bruises, but I do try!
I bought her a pool and filled it with sand to be able to hide treats and toys in it. I'm going to try that soon to help with mental exercise. She has tons of toys, bones, ropes, etc to play with as well. I can't do "brain" plastic toys with the little food compartments with her because she figures it out, then gets mad at the toy and wants to destroy it. LOL I'm thinking of trying a snuffle mat soon, but I'd like to hide things in the sand since she loves to dig. I might have to kennel her, go hide things, then take her to the sand and tell her to "Find it!" to get her wearing out a bit more that way. I read you don't want to walk the large breeds too much too young because of their developing joints. So I'm trying to figure out how to wear her out other ways.
Does it sound like I am mostly on the right track and just need to keep re-enforcing things? Any other thoughts about what to do in the moment when she's "throwing a tantrum" and nipping me all over?
I'll be Gandalf if I have to, but would rather not have to juggle a staff too. Though I did just buy a hiking belt to be able to clip her long steel cable lead to when we're walking so I guess I have a hand free. LOL
Thanks so much for your help and thoughts in advance!
Erin
1. Sandbox worked for a bit, but then she stopped wanting to try very hard to dig and find treats. She would lose interest if they weren't just laid around on top of the dirt or very shallow so she could basically see it sticking out of the sand. 2. She hates anything rubber unfortunately (like kongs), BUT I have been able to get her some cow hooves from tractor supply and fill those with cream cheese and freeze them. She gets one of those at night and loves cream cheese thankfully! I am definitely thinking of trying a lick mat. I tried one of the games with the treats hidden under boxes or slider things when she was about 12 weeks old and she got all the treats, then got frustrated with the toy itself and started trying to tear it apart looking for more treats. 3. Yes, I've been trying to avoid corrections, definitely! I've noticed she's better if I can get her redirected or put a large stick between us as I tell her no. Like a reminder to stop nipping at me. I agree about the corrections for frustration adding fuel to the fire! I can definitely see where those have done that. She's never acted afraid of the stick. Most times she'll just bite on it, or chase her tail or something and stop biting on me. We have actually worked on leave it since she was little. She will let me take things from her mouth, put my fingers in and take them out. I practice with bones she likes, look at it, and give it back. That way she is more likely to let me take things. Sometimes she is a little stubborn at first, but will let me take things after I say "leave it" a few times. I am recently trying to work on "drop it" with her ball and get her to let it go if she wants me to toss the ball. She will fetch a ball a few times before she's bored with it for the day so I only get to practice this a few times a day, but she's smart so hopefully it will start kicking in quickly. I also just started teaching her "touch" to get her to nose my palm on command. She learns pretty quickly thankfully. 4. Agreed with trying to keep her away from the deer poop altogether. Not as easy when the deer frequent my acreage a lot, but I did start steering clear of areas where I knew the piles were! 5. Oh, I like that thought! Practicing leave it with her favorite treats around something like poop so she will start to signal it for a treat instead of going after it. (yes the multi acreage fencing will definitely help cut down on deer poop too. I can't wait!) 6. I am going to have to start carrying extra treats in different pockets. She already knows I tend to carry treats in at least one pocket and sometimes will try to chew on my jacket looking for one. lol But I like the concept of tossing a treat on the ground away from me when I see her start to decide she's going to get excited and mouth on me. I am definitely going to start trying that! Redirect before she gets a chance to start the biting game. 7. I'll definitely take a look at the impulse control article! 8. That is a thought too! She definitely gets more nippy after training when she knows I am going to go inside to get my shoes changed to leave for work. Not every time, but usually. I might definitely have to try another frozen cream cheese cow hoof at the end of the morning perimeter walk and training. Maybe start taking it out in a different pocket and in a baggie so she can't smell it as much and try to eat my coat. LOL But be able to get her to sit and take it before she starts getting frustrated that she knows training time or play time is over for now. Thank you for the suggestion about the piece of PVC pipe on walks! I might try that when out in the field as an extra safety when out there. I can't always hold her far enough away from me when she acts out and I want to be able to get her to stop without having to really try to do corrections since I agree they tend to escalate things. I do have 1/2 acre fenced in for her now! We do our leash walks in the field less lately because she has more room to run. Next spring we will be fencing in around 2 more acres, but I was at least able to get 1/2 acre done for now to give her running room. It sounds like I'm going to have to try keeping treats in baggies and in different pockets. She knows I keep some in my pockets when it's time for training. And I am going to try keeping a frozen cream cheese cow hoof in my pocket to end morning perimeter walks/training sessions. I will read your article on working on frustration/impulse control too. I'm very interested in that! I think it sounds promising for her. I will report back on how things are going more soon! Thanks again, Erin