German Shepherd Puppy - 8 months old

Question
I purchased a GS Puppy 5 weeks ago from a breeder that I know and have purchased dogs from before.  Cody is 8 months old and appears to be very dominant.  Problems are:  he likes to mouth everything including my hand.  Like to bit, not hard, but his teeth are sharp.  Also like to jump on me.  I keep pushing him away and saying no to both the biting and jumping but he continues to do it.  Also, when he plays with my other dog, he can really get wound up and barks alot.  I try to stop this behavior by distracting him, but within minutes he is back to it again.  He is exhibiting very dominate behaviors.  He also is digging up my flowers in the garden and leaving holes. Any suggestion on how to break that habit?

Answer
tThere is little I know to be done about the digging.  Fro the rest, he needs obedience training.  The key to most behavior problems is approaching things using the dog's natural instincts. Dogs see all the people and dogs in the household as a pack with each having their own rank in the pack and a top dog. Life is much easier if the 2 legged pack members outrank the 4 legged ones. You can learn to play the role of top dog by reading some books or going to a good obedience class. A good obedience class or book is about you being top dog, not about rewarding standard commands with a treat.

Young Labs, which I know best, and other puppies tend to very bad about biting. You see a litter of them, and all the ones that are awake are biting another one or themselves. I am not even sure they realize that when they are alone, if they quit biting, they would quit being bitten. At 3 to 4 months they are getting their adult teeth, and it seems they spend every waking moment biting or chewing. One thing you can do at that stage is to knot and wet a piece of cloth. Then freeze it. The cooling will soothe the gums. Only let the puppy have it when you are there to watch it. I maintain a Lab's favorite chew toy is another Lab. Otherwise they settle for any person they can. They keep hoping to find one that won't yelp, jerk their hand away, and leave.

You just have to keep on correcting them, hundreds of times, not dozens. Provide sturdy, safe toys such as Kongs and Nylabones. Avoid things they can chew pieces off and choke on them. Keep them away from electrical cords. Crates are essential for most young Labs and other dogs.

Consistently is very important in correcting jumping and other problems. Quickly correcting him each and every time he jumps on somebody is very important. He must never get the affection he wants. A number of things have been used including some negative things inthe past.  As part of the the trend away from negative methods, just step backwards leaving his front feet to fall to the floor. After a few tries, the dog may just stand there looking confused.