Play Biting Behaviour

I have a male German Shorthair Pointer named Hendrix and he is 2 months old. He loves to play and cuddle under the blankets. We have 2 other dogs, 2 cats and a toddler in the house. The only problem i have with him is, play biting. He bites all the time, i know hes not doing it to be mean. He can be pretty rough with it. He has several toys, chew bones, etc. Ive tried playing with him often and he would still rather try to chew my hand off, and it hurts! I know this breed is full of energy and we play frequently, but this biting is getting ridiculous. Everytime i tell him no, he thinks im playing and tries to bite me again. Please help!

At 2 months part of it may be teething also.
Frozen yogurt, Icecubes, or a frozen wash cloth may help and be a good distraction.

Yup, exactly! poor thing's mouth is hurting and he's looking for relief. There are also a few behavior training methods you can start to use. As soon as he bites you, yelp. LOUD. This is how puppies tell each other that what they did, hurt. Then, get up and walk away from Hendrix. he needs to learn that biting means play time is over. He may try to follow you and nip your pant legs, ignore it and get away from where he is. If this doesn't work, fold his lip onto those sharp milk teeth- it's painful to him, too! He will hopefully understand that it's a nasty sensation. Another way to do this is to push your hand further into his mouth until he lets go. Every time he stops biting- whether he replaces it with licks or a different play, praise him like no other! Tell him he's a good boy. Finally, if your pup is as stubborn as mine was, you may need to get a dog safe but nasty substance to put on your hand. My trainer had me put hot sauce on my hand- a very teeny tiny amount, but she tried to bite once, and she was done after that! After that if she was getting too rough, I merely had to pick her up and show her the bottle. Yes, this method is a little mean. But one super hot puppy mouth is better than a dog who likes to bite people or other dogs. You can use a spray from a pet store, too. Never put him in his crate for "time out" for this or any other bad behavior- I know you didn't mention anything about it, but it is a very common reaction. Good luck!

There are different methods it’s just finding the right one. I used to teach mine the word ‘Gentle’ id hold a treat in my hand and make a fist, offer it to them if they went to grab or bite id keep my hand closed, when they stopped biting and gave a lick or nibbles id say Gently then give the titbit. I kept saying Gentle each time i offered a treat so they would associate the word with the behaviour, repeat this several times through out the day, if they forgot id pull my hand away and then offer the titbit again, using Gentle to remind them of what I wanted, same when playing if they got to rough id just say Gentle.

Please do not use a spray as suggested, it can lead to other problems

We adopted Callie as an adult and apparently he hadn't had much play interaction with people. He wanted to play with us the way he would play with another dog, play wrestling and play mouth grabs. It wasn't aggression, if he was showing aggressive behavior he could have hurt someone very badly....No he was all smiling and waggy, to him it was a happy game.

With a puppy it's quite different. Follow the above advice about teething and instantly stopping attention any time your pup uses teeth on you. Since Callie was full grown he obviously wasn't teething but we found out having suitable chewy objects always available helped him learn to redirect his urge to chew. You need to find the toy or bone your pup prefers, some dogs like stuffed toys better, another choice is a brand like Kong or Nylabone or even antlers.

Too big for a puppy but we discovered Callie's all time favorite toy is empty plastic bottles. Toss him one and he'll merrily chase it through the house then settle down to chew it flat, then he usually takes a nap. Big smile on his face, it relaxes him.

Thanks everyone for the replies! I will definitely have to try some of these!!