Hey guys.... I need your help (again). Cash, who is now about 6 months, has been sooooo good the last few weeks. Of course he has his issues but he's been a good boy. But the last week we've started with a BAD case of jumping and biting when he's jumping. He only really does it outside when I take him out to go potty. He's on a leash outside because our fence is a mess, so he'd get out in nothing. Of course we are going to have it fixed but looking in to the corkscrew in-ground with a lead option as well. Anyway, he will be good for a little while but then all of a sudden either starts biting on the leash or just stars jumping. He's biting with his mouth open too, not growling and seems to be play but ROUGH. I've tried ignoring him, telling him no, knocking him down (not hurting him), putting him on a short leash... and then when I get him in the house he goes in his crate. But between the yard and crate is difficult. He tries to spin and get to my wrist. I feel like he's challenging me, but I'm not sure how to respond effectively. What is worse is my mom takes care of him during the week while I'm at work, and if he did this to her, he'd probably knock her down or really hurt her even in play. Please help, I need suggestions!

So, heres what i would probably do...
Find some way that he really HATES being picked up. Doesnt hurt him, just makes him feel like a dumb helpless dog. For instance, Soshanna hates being faced backward when i pick her up. Give him exactly one chance to stop when you give your cue. If he doesnt listen, he gets the thing he hates for a few seconds. Repeat as often as he repeats the behavior. If you need to hold him longer, do so. Praise the hell out of him whenever he stops attacking it. Also, try to be aware of his tells, and redirect him with obedience cues before he jumps or play bites.

Crissi
Is it an energy thing or and excitement thing? Have you tried turning away from him? Bourbon did this inside and his is out of excitment or has too much energy.
What I do is I hold my hands in my armpits so he can not get to me and I turn around and sometimes stick my butt at him and guive him a hip check. This worked GREAt at first and works sometimes now. (It has decreased alot.) Sometimes I grab his paws and "dance/hug" him to annoy him too. (kind of what Eric said but I think I can find a better annoyance now that I think of it.)

When he does it outside he is on a runner tie out. He bouces with excitementand I have to tell him to sit and wait him out. Eventually he calms down and sits down ...then I take him off a of the runner to greet me (I give lots of praise) and take him inside.

I understand your worry my mom is fragile and Bourbon has bruised her doing this same thing.We started have mom take care of him while I am around to help her, correct her, and remind her how to correct him. She is not alpha at all so it only works a bit but you might be able to try that.

How much exercise does he get. I've noticed that my dogs are a lot more obedient when they are heavily exercised, and less obedient when they're lacking exercise.

When Paw Paw was younger, he would jump up to bite my arms. I would use the side of my leg/knee/thigh in an outward leg sweep to knock him down and away with a sharp, loud "NO!" or "NO JUMP!!" or "NO BITE!!!" I only use the "no" command as a last resort, so he'd know that if the "no" command was used, he was doing something VERY WRONG and would stop (eventually through practice and repitition).

Over time, we were able to work through his hard-headedness and stubborness (typical husky) and it clicked, and eventually he stopped doing it altogether and has never done it since. It just took time, patience, and training-training-training, and then sticking to your training, holding your ground, and ensuring consistency by keeping the same boundaries so there's no "give an inch, take a foot" mentality.

Unwanted behavior has a strict boundary and is not tolerated, and I would drive that point home to correct it and eliminate it as soon as possible before someone got hurt. A lot of this type of behavior is the fact that the dog might not understand his boundaries, and might even think that he's just playing and having fun, unaware of how his "play" is affecting those around him.

Hope that helps! Good luck.

Our GSP used to do this. Even when he's had exercise. He just gets too excited. So I learned this from It's Me or The Dog... when they start doing this, turn your back so they don't get any anttention to feed this behavior. It's worked for me!