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My active GSD puppy bites. How much exercise and play to stop biting?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | German Shepherd | Male | unneutered | 2 months and 22 days old

My gsd puppy is so active. He wants to play all the day. But i play with him for 1 hour actively and go for few shorter walks with him. Is this enough? If i donot play with him enough is it can be harmful for him? Also he bites us alot . Will he stop?

2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Debi Matlack

Veterinary Technician

Published on February 9th, 2017

To help keep him occupied when you aren't able to actively play with him, I recommend getting him a Kong toy. My GSD loved his. Also, to save you hands, you need to work with him on learning what is and is not acceptable when mouthing and chewing. When you play with your puppy, let him mouth on your hands. Continue play until he bites especially hard. When he does, immediately give a high-pitched yelp, as if you’re hurt, and let your hand go limp. This should startle your puppy and cause him to stop mouthing you. (If yelping seems to have no effect, you can say “Too bad!” or “You blew it!” in a stern voice instead.) Praise your puppy for stopping. Resume whatever you were doing before. If your puppy bites you hard again, yelp again. Repeat these steps no more than three times within a 15-minute period. If you find that yelping alone doesn’t work, you can switch to a time-out procedure. When your puppy delivers a hard bite, yelp loudly. Then, when he startles and turns to look at you or looks around, remove your hand. Either ignore him for 10 to 20 seconds or, if he starts mouthing on you again, get up and move away for 10 to 20 seconds. After the short time-out, return to your puppy and encourage him to play with you again. It’s important to teach him that gentle play continues, but painful play stops. Play with your puppy until he bites hard again. When he does, repeat the sequence above. When your puppy isn’t delivering really hard bites anymore, you can tighten up your rules a little. Require your puppy to be even gentler. Yelp and stop play in response to moderately hard bites. Persist with this process of yelping and then ignoring your puppy or giving him a time-out for his hardest bites. As those disappear, do the same for his next-hardest bites, and so on, until your puppy can play with your hands very gently, controlling the force of his mouthing so that you feel little or no pressure at all. Also, the help keep that busy little mind occupied and teach him appropriate behavior, get him involved in obedience training. Many places have puppy kindergarten classes (if you have a PetsMart nearby, ask about their classes) that will teach you to teach them basic obedience. If he shows an aptitude for it, continue with his training as far as you would like to go. Teach him tricks, teach him tasks, play fetch, whatever you can and need to do to keep his body well-exercised and tired and his mind occupied. A tired dog is a happy dog.

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Related Answers from Veterinarians

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    Answered By Anna M., DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on October 6th, 2017

    Hello, and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Play biting is completely normal behavior for a puppy Max's age, and does not indicate he will become a biter when he's an adult. Puppies explore the world with their mouths, and think everything is a toy. However, you should be working with him to teach him that people are not chew toys, and biting when he is "angry" is more concerning. When he playfully bites at you or another person, try to redirect him to a toy that he is allowed to chew on. You might occasionally need to give him a stern "no!" when he bites, then offer him a fun toy to play with. If he's really getting riled up and keeps trying to bite at you (sometimes when we try to get them to quit play-biting they take it as a game), a few minutes of quiet time in his crate will help him calm down a little bit, then he can come out and try again. If you do feel that his biting behavior sometimes seems more aggressive or worrisome, then I would absolutely recommend talking to a vet or professional trainer, as early intervention is key. When in doubt, it's always best to get input from a professional, and since you described that this does happen when he seems angry, I recommend you have him evaluated by a reputable trainer or vet. Hopefully the biting behavior you're seeing is normal puppy play and development, but it's best to err on the side of caution if you're concerned that it may seem aggressive. I hope this helps!

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