Puppy "mouthing" kids...am I making it too big a deal?

[Lego]

Hi Everyone.  Lego has been great but I've noticed a behavior that makes me a bit nervous and I don't know if I'm handling in right or not.  I hope I am!

 

When my kids are trying to pet her she mouths at them...it seems like it's aimed at their face or hands (the face makes me nervous).  She is not at all hurting them but it is the action that makes me nervous.  She did the same thing with the vet yesterday  (although a bit more gusto) when the vet checked her ears.  I know she was telling the vet she didn't like having the thing stuck in her ears (she had some sort of yeast infection). 

 

So this is what I'm doing today.  Trying to have the kids hand feed her more and do more training with her.  Also, with my 5 year old (who seems to be taking the brunt of it) I'm having him hold treats in a closed fist and ask for kisses.  While he does this I'm telling her "that's gentle, good girl".  Works great but then I tell my 5 yo to pet her and she does the same mouthy thing.  I pick her up and put her in her ex-pen for a couple minutes (although she just escaped from that!  how can such a little thing climb over the expen I have no idea...guess she will have to go in her crate) Anyways, It just doesn't seem nice and I feel like it needs to be corrected.

 

What do you think?  Am I overreacting?  Is this normal?

 

Thanks so much in advance.  Lisa

[Denise U]

Let me preface my response with, "This is my experience with my mouthy Doodle..." I have two doodles, 10 weeks apart in age. The older of the two is mouthy, usually to me or my husband and more so when she was a puppy. In fact she used to do it a lot when she was a puppy. Since puppy teeth hurt no matter how hard or soft they are mouthing you, we would loudly say "Oww" to startle her to stop. She never bit down, it was soft mouthing. Now that she is 2, she only does it now and again when she hasn't seen us for a while. She also did do it to me once with a little more gusto as I was trying to get a mat out of her fur... I know she was telling me it hurt and she never clamped down on my hand.

I did some research on this and found that it's pack social behavior, a way to communicate with the pack or in our case, us. When a wolf comes back to it's pack, it will be greeted by the others putting their mouths over the returning wolf's muzzle. Since we don't have muzzles, dogs that do this will find another body part to do this to. My doodle does it to our wrists. They also do it when correcting others in the pack. My non-mouthy Doodle is a barker and the mouthy Doodle will go up to her and put her mouth on her muzzle to correct her to stop.

Now, if you don't like this behavior, you can train them to break from doing this. I am also wondering if Lego sees your 5 year old as more of an equal and doesn't do it to you as you are seen as the leader. But puppies will be puppies and they will test their boundaries with you. Like I said, ours has seemed to outgrow this stage as she hardly does it anymore, where she used to do it often when she was a pup. We would just loudly say "Oww" and she would back off and get sheepish. It sounds like you are on the road to correcting it already. Good Luck... and by the way... Lego is a cutie.

[Carla, Lucca and Izzy]

Thanks Denise for this insight. Lucca was like that when he was younger also but what I find interesting is the pack "social" behavior and the way they communicate. Lucca grabs my wrist with his mouth when he wants to say hi or to show me something!!! Now I know why.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I think this is great advice, because you are (1) getting his attention with the loud noise, (2) telling him "NO" as a verbal cue, and (3) REDIRECTING HIM TO WHAT HE SHOULD BE MOUTHING (the toy or antler). It lets him know that he needs to stop the behavior but also tells him what he should be doing instead. It will probably take a while since Lego is just behaving like a puppy, but it can be done. I also think the "time out" is good when he just isn't listening to you....mostly because it just gives them a few minutes to calm down. I found the puppy mouthing usually occurred with my grandkids when my Doods were excited (they went for the kids because they also were excited, and logistically they could reach them easier than the adults).

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

I did exactly what Jane says above and Peri is not mouthy AT ALL at 1 1/2. I don't have kids, but I will in the next few years and I did not want her to think that behavior is acceptable. The mouthiness is totally totally totally! normal...so just start saying no firmly and put a chew in his mouth. Stay consistent and he will stop doing it. They catch on when you are consistent with anything. Doods are smart :)
Peri is around my friends' kids and babies and will only lick them :)

[Nicole]

My doodle will be 12 weeks tomorrow...she is a mouther/biter...She is VERY smart...learned down, sit, sit up, and "here" very quickly...however she darts and bites hard...I tried the high pitched squeal and it only seemed to make her more excited. I left the room...I put her in her time-out area (where she proceeded to lay down and go to sleep), I tried a deep and loud "No!", I tried the "no bite" while holding the muzzle closed for a few seconds...no matter what I try she comes back and bites harder...have put food on my hands and she licks it off while I pet her and tell her how good she is...
It is not just lying beside me gently mouthing...it is playing and literally lunging/darting for anything she can get hold of...toes, ankles, hands, face, clothes, etc. Just can't quite figure out what else to try. The ultimate was when she darted and bit my toes so I gave a firm deep "no" and pointed my finger at her...she lunged up and grabbed my finger.
ARG!

[Nicole]

Thank you! Will try this tonight lol...she's quite the character...and we adore her spunk but OUCH!

[Laura Deutsch]

Well, Molly is over 5 months, and she still is very difficult. Thank goodness I can look on this site and see that it's not abnormal. Obviously some are like this and some are alot easier, but it seems as though they all change around a year. Never having had a puppy like this, it makes it alot harder to take. All our labs and goldens have been pretty laid back and wanting to please.
Molly is very stubborn with lots of puppy spunk. Often it's pretty funny, and probably if I was younger and didn't work full time, it would be a lot easier to deal with. I try to put it in perspective but it's hard. In many ways, she listened better when she was 8-16 weeks, at least in terms of the commads and training. She is alot better with the biting though. That started changing when she got her adult teeth, although she still bites, it's much less freqjently and doesn't hurt. She can be relentless though. In the last few days, there was a lot of wind and rain. Taking her out with leaves blowing is unbelievable. She darts all over the place, including in front of me, practically making me fall trying to get all the flying leaves. Treats don't work at that point. She also picks everything up outside, so that remains an issue. I am praying it stops soon. Keep telling me it's all normal, please.

[Laura Deutsch]

thanks for the encouragement. i know that part of the issue we've had and continue to have is that she's had continuing intestinal issues, so we haven't been able to give her "treats" or kongs, or anything like that. I think we're on the path of resolving that stuff so patience is a continual necessity. she is a very spunky girl and has lots of great traits as well as lots of annoying challenging ones, so hopefully in the next few months things will be more balanced. off to puppy class this afternoon.

[Brooke Evans]

I have a 14 week labradoodle..They get excited.. I asked the vet and he said that with my five year old they often think of them as a "litter mate".

[BG and Gavin]

At this young age it is very normal from my experience. Our guy was like this too. We would not approach to pet without having a chew toy in our hand. We would put that in his mouth to keep it busy and pet then. It also reinforced that chewing the toy was a good thing to do.