I am a new handler to the working dog world, I am part of a club that has great training. I have recently purchased my first malinois for schutzhund. it is a female, 8 weeks old. and she loves to bite. now that is not a problem at least when she is biting the toy. but sooner or later she wants the hands. and is getting pretty good bite on her now. and has gotten the face twice. i have finally figured out to keep her mouth away from my face. I am absolute this puppy means no harm. this is not my first dog and know the difference between aggression and play. this is defintly a game for her. now before i would have used any means necessary to stop all biting, now i do not want to do this. i want her to bite and not feel dominated. so domination is not an option. But i would like her to learn some bite inhibition at least on human skin and preserve her great qualities for work. i am trying redirecting...sometimes are more succesful than others. i use other toys and sometimes food. but sometimes she is unbearalbe and i have to put her up in her crate. any suggestions would be helpful
First mal puppy huh? Your gonna have to suck it up and take it! (I am only half kidding) Remember, your puppy will bite and play with whatever is the funnest. If you or your family members flinch and say ouch and move your hand when you get bit, that is fun stuff! Your puppy will want to do it again.
Re-directing is the best, but you have to make sure what you are playing with is more fun than your clothes, skin, etc. Keep your rag, tug or ball, moving more than the rest of your body. Don't forget to keep everything very short and the puppy always wins!
I personally NEVER tell a young puppy no or correct them. But if you must, when they bite your clothes or body, go limp and don't give a reaction. (Hard I know with those sharp puppy teeth!) Give them a little EH, EH and make they toy come alive!!
Remember,your puppy can only fail if you give it the opportunity to. Use your crate. Keep all interaction and play short and don't give him/her the opportunity to bite anything but the toy!!!
Good luck,
Chrisitian
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"I have come to see my dogs as a reflection of my willingness to try to improve, as well as an unsparing measure of my frequent failures in doing so."
thanks for the response and that is basicly what i am doing thus far. I have another malinois but not a sport dog, show lines and he was like handling a beagle or pug, mellow no biting, the un-malinois. I have very pleased with the dog have i received, she is going to do well. this is all defintly operator error and inexperince. But i have got to tell you, I look like i have gotten in a fight with a feral cat.
,Remember,your puppy can only fail if you give it the opportunity to. Use your crate. Keep all interaction and play short and don't give him/her the opportunity to bite anything but the toy!!!? ?
I should clarify. I believe if you are training seriously for bitework(and in the first year of any dogs life) everytime you bring that dog out of the crate you are training. Even when you are just playing or loving on your dog you are teaching it something right? If you have that mindset and prepare, you will almost always be successful. Everytime your dog comes out to play/work, know exactly what you want to work on and set up the environment so your dog can only do it correctly.
Example: When working on the retrieve use a hallway in your house. Close all the doors and throw the ball/toy down the hallway. The puppy chases the ball and cannot go anywhere but down the hall after the ball! If she wants the game to continue, she has no choice but to bring the ball back to you! You have set up the environment so the puppy can only do it correctly. There is no other way.
Where am I going with this you ask? Do this excercise 3-5 minutes and then put your pup away for 5 minutes. If you do this 5 times(this is when you must "read your dog" stop before your dog gets bored of the game) I'll bet your pup will have spent enough energy that you can pet her and love on her a little without you getting all chewed up!!!!
Try it and let me know how it goes,
Christian
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"I have come to see my dogs as a reflection of my willingness to try to improve, as well as an unsparing measure of my frequent failures in doing so."
Thanks pete, that advice was/is great. I have tried it and have had progress. I also, see what you mean about reading. she does go after the hands once the toy becomes boring. I see it all coming together now.
I should clarify. I believe if you are training seriously for bitework(and in the first year of any dogs life) everytime you bring that dog out of the crate you are training. Even when you are just playing or loving on your dog you are teaching it something right? If you have that mindset and prepare, you will almost always be successful. Everytime your dog comes out to play/work, know exactly what you want to work on and set up the environment so your dog can only do it correctly.
Very well adviced !! But be sure you take the pup out of crate to go potty or socialize too
I have been doing as advised, and things are going good. the only thing is i ma feeling a little guilty, the dog is crated or kenneled most of the day. we do go out socializing and play a few short games. loving the dog is hard right now, she does not want loving, she wants to bite. so if i catch her while she is sleepy i ma okay. but the dog has been spending more time confined than i am used to. i am just being to soft
Don't feel bad. Puppies need lots of sleep, just make the most of the time your puppy is out. But don't forget that the first year is when you do all of the imprinting so spend as much quality time as you can. This is the most important stages in the pups life.
I bought my dog when she was 9 months old. She did not know how to do anything but bite. She was very high drive but very handler sensitive as well.
I tried to let her in the house and be a "regular" dog but if I got on her about stuff aroung the house, it affected her on the training field. I wanted to compete very much so I decided that she was to be an outside/kennel dog. When I retired her from competition, I allowed her to come in the house and she was a mellower 8 years old and things were much better.
Some people may disagree but being a pet and being a competition dog work against each other. Of course you can do both, and many do. For my own sanity and my trail scores my dogs are outside until they retire.
As you said, Your dog does not want love, she wants to bite. This takes some getting used to. I spend lots of time hiking and going to the river and such to spend "quality" time with my dog. It may seem like a long time from now but you wont feel guilty when your 10 year old dog is lying next to the chair and you have all those trophies and titles on the wall!!!
Hang in there,
Christian
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"I have come to see my dogs as a reflection of my willingness to try to improve, as well as an unsparing measure of my frequent failures in doing so."
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Puppies need lots of sleep, just make the most of the time your puppy is out. But don't forget that the first year is when you do all of the imprinting so spend as much quality time as you can. This is the most important stages in the pups life. 
