I'd like to chime in here as well and know I am repeating a fair bit of what has been already shared, but nevertheless...  I have not read anything that indicates to me a “hard” dog or a particularly extreme case.  Our female puppy Juneau is now 6 months old and is becoming a wonderful little dog.  However, it was not always so.  In the 3-4 month old period, we certainly were getting frustrated with her behavior and it sounds similar to what is being described.  For what its worth, I believe that if you get clear leadership in place and make it a little easier for Wyatt to succeed, time will solve most of what I am reading about here.  Juneau used to nip at us, get more fired up with each correction, bite at our heels, growl, try to instigate play fighting – all of it.  And we have two daughters, a 3 year old and an 8 month old to add to the excitement.

I would make sure you have established your and your family’s leadership over the puppy.  This starts with the basics.  Pup should be required to submit in order to enjoy any positive things, ie sit before being fed, sit before being let out of crate, sit before exiting/entering house etc.  NEVER playfight when he instigates it – in fact, given the behavior, I would not playfight at all with him until he understands this is a privilege that you, as the BOSS get to choose.  I would never have him come up on the couch if he asks to – only if you invite him.  I would put your hands in his food regularly to let him know he DOES NOT own his food, YOU do.  This is a really critical developmental period for the puppy in figuring out the hierarchy and the message needs to be clear – he is low man on the totem pole.  I would consider withdrawing your attention from him as a VERY strong disincentive for bad behavior – likely will have a much greater impact than a thump on the butt or even a scruff shake.  His nipping, growling etc has likely always resulted in more attention, not less and he may well be getting the wrong message.  Bite training is very important in the sporting dog breeds that are naturally VERY oral.  If Juneau nipped at our heels or our clothes unprovoked, we grabbed her collar or scruff, gave her a sharp “NO”, and she was crated for a few minutes to separate her from us.  Nipping is fundamentally different from biting – still important to correct because it is unwanted and can cause hurt, but it is usually an attention getting technique in puppies and not an aggressive behavior.

As for the kids, we have had our 3 year old (closely supervised) train and treat Juneau from very early on.  She now comes running when Lucy calls, and sits and lays down for her on command.  I think this has helped to increase her respect for little Lucy who certainly could be easily overpowered by the puppy.

As for the undesired chewing, my opinion is that it needs to be two-pronged: 1) verbal correction command such as “NO!” or “NO BITE”, as well as 2) a redirect and praise for acceptable chewing on a toy etc.  Others feel otherwise, but we have had very good success with rawhide bones for chewtoy training, as long as we keep an eye on how soft it is getting.  Remember that puppies like variety in their toys so rather than having a bunch of toys lying around, keep only a couple out and cycle them so that they remain novel and interesting, otherwise they are not an appealing diversion from the furniture chewing.  It is as or more important to reward the behavior you want, then to just try to reprimand for the behavior you don’t want.

With some strong, positive leadership and patience I think you will have a great dog.

All thank you for your input. Getting rid of him will be a very last resort.

Currently, He sits and waits to be told to go out or in any door after all people have gone out or in. For his food he waits until told it is ok to eat. When eating I on occassion pick up food make him sit and wait again. There is no aggresive behavior what so ever. We have a 3yo who is very physical and she gets the most respect from the dog. She hugs his neck and rubs him and pulls around without any problems. The problems seem to be isolated to those times when he goes in what I would call a puppy terror. Then the kids back away and he continues to dominate by moving forward and niping. This is why I have tried with the 8yo to have him stand and dominate Wyatt and it has helped but he still gets a few nips in before becoming submissive. By the way the kids are always supervised with the dog. We are just not right on top of him but never more than a few feet away.

We will stop all on couch allowance. Should he be put in a crate more often? My wife puts him in when he gets out of control to help settle him down.

He was weaned at 6weeks and had no interaction with adult dogs from 6-10 weeks.  We didn't get until 10 weeks because of a parvo scare with some of his littermates. 

I will try to get a video of it posted and have you folks take a look.

I was just going to add what everbell added.  I saw the bad behavior come out on both Halo and Ringo when they got tired.  I even gave it a name when Halo was a puppy, the crazy Halo (for those of you that saw Hunt for Red October the name was taken from the Crazy Ivan when the sub would circle back.  Halo would do crazy running loops in the house when she was going into this mode.). Anyway I still have to put Ringo in time out for naps when he gets really tired.  He turns into a wild man and goes nuts.  He usually picks on his sisters.  Belle will reprimand him, but Halo has started joining in on the game.  Anyway what always has worked for me was putting the tired dog in the crate in a quiet room and letting them rest for an hour or two.  When they come out they are settled down and sweet again.

Very good advice from all Another plan is just use good common sense by not placing your pup in situations where he is not good or unsure of how he will react in. Example: We took Rocky along to our son Dennis's house to help him on house remodling project. Dennis has a cat along side his 2 house dogs(Lab and Golden Retriever). Called ahead of our arrival , had Dennis put his cat in the bedroom. Rocky then entered the house, greeted the humans and dogs then all dogs went outside to play in Dennis's fenced backyard. Afterwards we drove to Lowes to pick up some more building supplies. I was in the truck with Rocky when one of the helpful Lowes employees wanted to reach in our truck and pet Rocky. I advised him not too as not as Rocky has a full set of teeth. Rocky showed no anger and was wagging his tail, but I just was using common sense . Rocky is not outside when the mail is being delivered. At the Vet during Rocky's nail trim he wears a muzzel.I do this with Rocky just to be on the safe side as he does have a full set of canine teeth.   If neighorhood kids are skateboarding on our streets while zooming bikes on sidewalks,I just make sure Rocky stays in the house or secure fenced yard...Hats off To the GSPs who canbe trusted in all situations . But as a breed, the GSP is a no nonsense upland bird dog first  Use your  good common sense and all will go well

I think it's important that people remember that dogs are animals, not human. They don't have a sense of "right & wrong," they have basic instincts, so it is important to deal with them in a basic manner rather than a complex manner. There have been some excellenct pieces of advise given here, but some not-so-excellent pieces of advise.

To begin with, a GSP is a sporting dog. Many of the finest sporting dogs are so great at their jobs because of drive, and the will to be the best. Very oftentimes, the most willfull, obnoxious, stubborn young pups make for the greatest performers in the field. Not every dog is meant to lay at your feet and be a submissive wet noodle. A truly good sporting dog isn't happy unless it's working or at least unless it has periods of the day in which it is working.

When I have a young pup that demonstrates a tremendous will to dominate and control, I allow the animal to express this drive, for the most part, except of course with me. I agree with the previous advise of "correcting" any aggressive behavior toward the owner, but yet a person should still be pleased they have an "alpha" dog and not a submissive dog. Any sporting dog should feel he "owns the world," except for his owner. Therfore, any dog that tries to be "alpha" again is demonstrating a genetic tendency to "be the best" and to "be number one," because that is what they're supposed to do! The trick is to keep this bravado in the dog, while yet discouraging the bravado at being directed toward the owner.

A competent owner therefore makes his dog submit "to him" (or "to her"), but yet still appreciates the budding drive in the fledgling animal and is careful not to extinguish this drive completely.

I agree with the posts about consistent and proportional correction. Some dogs will literally need a "knuckle sandwitch" to get the idea, while others will respond to a stern voice and/or a grab of the scruff as correction. There is no "one" anwer; it really just depends on the dog. In some cases, what you wind-up having is "too much dog, not enough owner," and so the dog will begin to take control over or the owner, who either becomes intimidated by the dog and/or lacks the resolve to provide consistent and authoritative discipline for it.

However, with the proper balance of appreciating a superior pup's desire to dominate, and blending it with an owner's desire to gain the respect and control of the animal necessary to provide guidance, an ideal balance can be made and an excellent animal developed.

However, not all dogs are meant to be "pets," and not all people are meant to have a sporting dog, so with an improper balance, either the owner is going to lose control, or the natural spirit the animal is trying to expressed will be dampened.

The key lies in maintaining the proper appreciation and desire of both ends being met: the dog feeling "on top of the world," and yet with caveat of the dog being conditioned to realize his owner is the one who ultimately rules his world, but yet is behind him and not against him.

LittleBlackBook - I am assuming you are new to the forum since I haven't seen you post before. Why don't you introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about your dogs? Can I assume you have GSPs? How many? and Please post some pictures of your dogs. We all love pictures and love sharing picts of our dogs.

Nothing to be alarmed over just normal puppy play.  Your dog needs more attention and more exercise and this is his way of telling you both.

Tell him no, pick him up, carry him outside and play fetch or just take him for a walk.  Give him more exercise during the day.  Tired puppies are good puppies! CR

If you haven't already, put the kids in charge of feeding him.  Of course you supervise, but the pup will learn that food comes from the kiddos.  Have them make him sit before they put his food down.  Also, keep up lessons with the kids handling.  Even at an early age kids love to make a dog sit or down. Also, when they are playing and he starts the chase with the kids, tell the kids not to run from him.  That just get him going harder and kicks in his chase instinct.  If he gets too rowdy with the kids, tell them to stop and go inside.  They don't even have to say anything.  Then you pick the dog up and put him in his crate.

I also agree with what Wildrose said about more exercise.  These pups, especially the high energy ones can not get enough. Just remember when he gets over tired though he may act out, so bring him home and let him nap. Since summer is coming up fast, a good and easy way to tire them out is let them swim.  I used to take Halo to the beach and let her swim along the shoreline in the bay as I walked on the shore.  She loved it, became a very strong swimmer and it would tire her out.