My puppy too mouthy!!

[Nala and Cooper]

Nala is nearly 11 weeks old (time flies) and she is mouthier than ever. This was as expected, of course. But its becoming a daily issue with me where I find her teeth all over me- my hands, arms, pants, slippers, hair, everywhere. Who can relate? I think I'd feel less overwhelmed knowing that this was a daily routine other owners dealt with. 

Nala always targets hands. No one can ever pet her without getting their hands teethed on. She only clamps down on it lightly (sometimes not so lightly) or lightly chews it but in a way that it still hurts. She's never broken skin but has gotten to the point I'll sometimes avoid touching her. Every time I pet her she will respond by putting my hand in her mouth. I know its not because of discomfort because she loves being touched, she will always try to cuddle up with you or come on your lap and she will always search for your hand. Does your dog try to chew on you every time you touch them?

I always discourage this behavior by ceasing playtime, redirecting to a toy or spritzing taste deterrent on my hands. I try all these methods on a daily basis. I always have a toy with me and I make her chew on that while I pet her so she gets used to what is ok to bite and what isn't, but its become a bad habit of hers. When guests come over all she does is bite their hands out of excitement, and she doesn't stop. And when shes excited, the biting really starts to hurt.

I need help!!!

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

This is a pretty natural behavior for a puppy at this age, and from what I've read it usually lasts until around 4 months.  In nature it's usually the mother or litter mates that teach them that this isn't "okay".  I think what you're doing is perfect...it just needs more time and reinforcement.  Keeping a toy with you and redirecting her to the toy to chew (versus your hands) is great....and if she doesn't stop I would put her down or just walk away.  When guests are there you may need to have her on a leash or slip lead....if she starts with the excited nipping you can take her away and create her.  If it continues past the four months I think the approach would be different....but for now she's just a baby and learning.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I was just checking one of my puppy training books, and it also says at this age it's a good idea to kind of "yelp" before you put her down and walk away.  If she was doing this with her mother or liter mates that's how they would let her know that this wasn't "okay".

[SoSa]

You are not alone. Attached picture is exhibit A. It shows one of the many scars I have from puppy mouthing. All of us in my home have mouthing battle scars. Our clothes have suffered as well. "No bite!" is something I feel we should have recorded and played on loop. Ace is going on 5 months now. While his mouthing is no where as bad as it was when he was younger, because he has been losing teeth lately, he has started mouthing a bit again. But, now he certainly knows what "no bite" means. Most times he does it when he is being really playful. We know it's not malicious, but we had to really work to curb the behavior. Whenever he would start biting in addition to yelling "no bite", we would shove a chew toy at him, an antler, a frozen towel, a rope toy, etc. When his biting really hurts, we tether him and walk away.

[Lori, Winnie, Bob and Indie]

I can really relate- Winnie was such a TERRIBLE nipper when she was younger. My hands and arms were covered with marks, and my pant legs/nightgowns all torn up. Check out the Puppy Madness Group- there is lots of info. there about the issue, and even a pinned topic thread near the top of the page. I don't have time at the moment to find links, but it always a hot topic in that forum. I think you will find it useful!

The good news is that right when I felt like I was going to lose my mind (around 4months), it suddenly got better and gradually went away completely. Persistence and patience are key!

[Jessica, Loki and Moose]

Moose does this too! I find that if I "screech"- for lack of a better word, really loudly when he does he stops right away. He's only been home less than a week so who knows if this is helping long term. I feel so bad for Loki though because Moose keeps nipping at him and Loki will just give me that sad pitiful look, I take it to mean "do we have to keep him?". I also make him take treats from my hand, while painful, he seems to be not nipping my as much to get the treat.

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

Typical behavior ... And with teething right around the corner, likely to get worse. Re-direct with a toy, try to refrain from tug of war games, as this only encourages it. A good yelp from you, will let her know it hurts!

[Amy and Annabelle]

I can so relate. Annabelle was mouthy for about 2 months. I never had less than 6 bite marks that drew blood on my hands and wrists at any given time. Usually twice that many. Some were so bad I had bandaids all over me. I remember going to the grocery store one day after a particularly bad couple of days with her and I looked like a pin cushion. The guy at the cash register asked if I was ok, he seemed quite concerned about all the bandaids and other visible sores all over me, I even had a couple on my face. The lady behind me laughed and said looks like new puppy to me. I think it is pretty common, though I thought that Annabelle had to be worse than most. Their teeth are like needles going into your skin. She is almost 9 months old and is no longer nippy unless I am trying to clean something on her she doesn't want me too. Even then she just goes through the motions without actually touching me. Although the other day she nipped at the vet tech that was holding her down while the vet was swabbing her ear for an ear infection. She now has to wear a muzzle at the vet and has earned the name Cujo. We did go back in today to see how her ears are doing and she was perfect. I think her ear just hurt the other day when she nipped at the tech. Annabelle is a mini and weighs 13lbs.

[Gracie, Jade, & Barkley]

Gracie was your puppy! She is now 5 months old. She still likes to mouth a little, but it's more of affection and her adult teeth do not hurt. Plus, I taught her to be gentle.

One thing that I read was to let them mouth you a little. They are learning about their environment with their mouth. This is how I taught her to be gentle too. Once it got too hard, I would yelp to startle her to stop. Also, I would replace my hand with a chew toy or a bone.
Sometimes she wouldn't calm down, so I put her in her crate for a time out. It was the only place I could put her, but some people use a different space to have their puppy take a time out. More than not, the more mouthy she was the more tired she was. This still happens in the evening.
The other thing I do to get her to calm down is to take a hold of her collar standing behind her with my palm up and put my head down (and breath so that I'm not upset) and tell her to calm down. She eventually will sit and then I tell her good calm girl and let her go. If that doesn't help right away, I do it again until she calms down. It works really well.
Hope that helps. I know I posted a similar topic in the puppy madness forum awhile back and I got a lot of good advice there. It might be where I learned about the technique of calming her.

[Nala and Cooper]

Thanks a bunch for all the replies, I can't tell you how relieved I am to hear that Nala isn't the worst teether out there. I mean, scars?! That's a whole new level even for Nala. And Jessica thats adorable with Loki!! I feel very confident Nala will stop, especially with all the consistent training I put into this. And I've spent a pretty penny on chews and toys (shes a spoiled doodle). The "yelping" method, I will most definitely try. Amy, you are a trooper for dealing with Anabelle as a puppy lol!!!

[Jessica, Loki and Moose]

Thanks! I do feel bad for the guy but they will have to figure it out lol!

[Jenny and Cooper]

Cooper used nip a lot more before too.  He seems to nip at my husband the most.  I think it's because he used to let him bite his hand, thinking Cooper will eventually learn his limit and not to bite hard.  Well, it didn't work and I would tell him to great him with a chew toy in hand.  This seems to work.  Just always have a chew toy in hand and like the others said, yelp really loud.  Cooper licks after we yelp.  Hang in there, it does get better but you just have to (1) have chew toy handy (2) yelp (3) walk away if puppy still nips. 

[Nala and Cooper]

Nala does seem to nip at my boyfriend a lot more, and I told him the same thing! I am still trying these methods. And let me tell you, it has made a HUGE difference. This is great advice Jenny, thanks.