Friend has recently bought a rottie x alsation bitch. She has had dogs before and was brought up with dogs from a child.
This little bitch is now 8 weeks old, friend got her when she was 6 weeks off the breeder. Both parents where seen, and they where family dogs, breeder had children.

The little bitch has settled very well, she is already starting to show that she is goign to be very intelligent and switched on. When she went for her first vaccination at 7 weeks, the vet commented on well she looked , but also said that the pup will have it tougth becasue the alsation and the rottie are very different in temperment, and it will be hard to know which breed she takes after the most intill older. I myself have had a pure bred rottie pup and he was very laid back, into everything but a real sweet. the vet said that alsations tend to be very cautious and aloof!

this little bitch is certainyl very cocky and into everything, however one thign that is bothering my friend is that she seems to lunge at people and growl. Friend says a firm no , and this does stop then, the little blitch gets really cocky and starts to bark and growl even more and again lunges with her teeth. she does mouth liek puppies should and do, but this lunging is worrying my friend.
I have to be honest i have not come across this before and was wondering how you would stop this behaviour. any demands to stop are met with a growl or a bark and bareing teeth, and then the pup lunges again and grabs what ever it can get. The behaviour comes tottaly out of the blue and beofre it happens the pup may just be playing with some toys and then runs over and starts. her tail does wag whilst it happens and she does nto seem to be doing it through fear or pain.  any suggestions thankyou.

Somethign similar to this recently happened to one of my puppy owners, and the owners felt it was aggression. I went to see the pup, and it was playing, which sounds exactyl like what this pup is doing. I would say that the behaviour is partly normal puppy behaviour, but possible exacerbated by the fact she left her litter at 6 weeks, and so hasn't had much time to start the bite inhibition process with her Mum and litter mates.

The pup won't understand what 'no' means, and it sounds like it is making the pup more excited.

This should help:

http://www.jersey.net/~mountaindog/berner1/bitestop.htm

Obviously consitency is very important.

If her tail is wagging and she crouches down on her front legs at the same time in a "play bounce" she is definitely playing.  Puppies charge and bounce on each other all the time - it's normal.  When she does this best thing is to distract her by throwing a toy.   If she will not stop than really the best thing to do is to quiet her down by popping her in either a crate or a puppy pen.

At that age especially when a dog is seeking attention in a negative way the very best teaching technique is to teach them that they will get no attention as a result.  It's a lot more effective and long lasting than "no".

...Also, don't forget that learning it's 'Bite inhibition' is not something that happens over a short period of time. This is a long lasting process that will go on until at least Nine months or so, depending on the mixing with other dogs etc. It does sound like the personality leans more toward the German Shepherd, so it's important to remember that they, as a breed, can be very 'showy' in their nature. Running, barkng etc, as a defensive act. No real aggression though, it's just show.

My advice would be to mix the dog with lots of other dogs as soon as possible and for as long as possible. The REAL bite inhibition will be learned best from them.

Rough playing can be scary when you encounter it first time in a larger breed (infact, it probably wouldn't even seem rough in a smaller pup).

I have my first mastiff pup, (he's 7 months old now )!!

I tried the 'yelp' when he was biting - this only got him more exited I tried pushing him away - he thought I was playing rough too & he got more exited I found the best tactic is to stay very calm, not raise my voice, use a simple, but firm 'No', then offer one of his toy to him & praise him when he chewed that. If he was really insistent I would move him off (via a firm hold on the collar), and tell him to 'sit', he would then be ignored untill he was calm.

Unfortunately, our instincts tell us to push them away & raise our voices and maybe flap our arms in and jump out of the way, but this all adds to the fun of the game for the pup. The calmer everybody can stay, the sooner she'll realise its no fun.

It happens in stages, first they will learn to bite with less force, then they will learn not to bite. At the moment Buster will occasionally 'play bite' when he is exited, but he is at the stage where there is no force to it (just lots of slobber!!!).

The key is persistence & consistency (the same reaction EVERY time) and the messege will sink in eventually.

This sounds exactly the same as my new pup (8 weeks) and he is a GR. All the books say yelp, say no/ ignore him. Well yelping and pushing him away just make my pup more excited and he will just come back for more. It is difficult to ignore him when he is still attacking my trouser leg! I am not too worried as I hope when I have taught him some basic commands I will have a little more control - no idea how I am going to do that however he is a complete tearaway at the moment! Gorgeous though all the same

In response to Oz.

Basically when people say yelp and ignore the biting they don't mean keep sitting in the same place and let the dog bite you.  What happens is that the yelp indicates that play ends.  To reinforce this rule you should get up (don't push the puppy away) and walk away.  If it is a really enthusiastic puppy then a closed door may be needed to stop s/he from following.

It is the pushing away that the dog is getting more excited at.

Hope this helps
Anna

Hi Oz

Ive got the same issue, my pups 11 weeks now but has been doing this since I got him at 7 wks, I look like Ive been self harming (covered in marks all over my hands and wrists)-let me know if you sort it and what you did.  good luck!!!

Our puppy was very chewy at around that age too.
She would start the biting games when she should have gone to sleep.
She was a angel just after she has woken up but after she started to get tired she would forget the good manners and become a crocodile!
She would come over for some cuddles and then turn it to playing very rough and biting us.
With her, the "time out" described in the link above really worked (us leaving her and actually closing the door behind us).
After few times of being left she realized she has to play nice if she wishes to be with us.
At first she would get upset and bark when left but being a clever pup she soon figured out staying quiet is what brings us back and when we opened the door for her to come out totally different pup to what was left behind would walk out.
Her halo would be shining again and even the expression on her face changed.

Yes walking away is very difficult as he is normally attached to my trouser leg! The yelp does nothing, he was really going for it this morning so I managed to detach him and get out of the room! I am not worried, I know we'll sort it. Oh the books make it sound all so easy!