mouthing

[meri rietman]

Mika, will be one in a few weeks, but she is still so mouthy with my husband and I. To get our attention, to get her way, ect.... She will even use her mouth during play. 

It's not biting, and most of the time it does not hurt, but simetimes she gets us just right, and OUCH!!

We have tried so many different things to break her of this habit.

I realize that this is a trait of goldens, and most of the time dogs grow out  of it, but... at almost a year she has not improved much over the last 6 months.

And believe me when I tell you we give her a ton of things to chew on. ( she is an AGGRESSIVE chewer).

so any suggestions or rays of hope would be appreciated. 

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Our Springer is mouthy and while he did outgrow most of it, he has never outgrown all of it.  He likes to lick you if you let him - I don't but hubby does. He gets overly excited when greeting you and, because he lives his life with his mouth open, he will occasionally get you with his open mouth.  His teeth are still sharp.  BTW, he is 12!

[meri rietman]

thanks..and believe me when I say I understand sharp teeth. 

[Julie and Max]

How much exercise is she getting a day? Have you tried talking to a trainer? Do you play with her sometimes in a way that allows the mouthing and not other times? When she does mouth you to get attention do you give it to her? Or when she mouths you to get her way, does she get her way?

Max needs a lot of exercise every day. I had to stop my husband from rough playing with him because it wasn't fair to Max that sometimes it was okay and other times it wasn't. He would take Max outside put on a big old coat and let him bite at it, but Max didn't know the difference between an old coat and a new one lol. For Max it was just consistency all the time. When he mouthed me I walked away and ignored him, when I play with him with toys he has to drop the toy before I will pick it up to throw it, to avoid any mouthing. The other thing you can try is putting a high value treat in your hand, let her mouth your hand with a closed fist, and when she stops mouthing,, give her the treat and praise. Hand feeding for awhile can be helpful too, I did that for about two months at least one meal a day, and he learned to put his mouth on me gently.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

This is excellent advice. 

You never want to play with a dog in a way that encourages the dog to grab something from you, or wrestle anything out of the dog's mouth. They must drop the ball or toy before you pick it up to throw it for them. No wrestling games in which the dog is allowed to put his mouth on any part of a person, ever. If the dog's teeth touch the person, the game ends immediately. 

And never reinforce the behavior by giving attention when the dog demands it. The dog must be sitting calmly before she gets anything: attention, affection, food, a walk, anything. 

[Jessica, Loki and Moose]

I absolutely agree with all of this! Loki was very mouthy as a puppy and I wasn't sure why then I watched how my boyfriend and him played and it all clicked together. I also did hand feeding for about a month. I still make him gently take treats from my fingers and tell him "gentle" when he goes to grab them and he's been doing much much better for the past two months.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Mika is no longer a puppy and you really don't want her to think she can use her mouth to get your attention.  Have you started any formal obedience training?  If not, that's the first thing I would suggest.  I really think this is a great point to start her on a "Nothing In Life Is Fee" training strategy.  There's a discussion on this in the Training group and it has worked well for me and for others.  It's not acceptable for her to try to get your attention in this way.  Attention is a reward that YOU decide when and where to give her.  It really isn't about her needing chew toys...it's about her understanding that you are in control and her leader and SHE cannot be the one demanding attention.  I'll search for that discussion and add a link to the comments.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Here's the link...

http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/trainingmindsets/forum/topics/not...

[Karen Glassman]

Wow! What a difference. We read the article and started following the advice. We saw a huge difference in just one day. Thank you so much for posting this. We also listened to a couple of Doggy Dan pod casts. He's very helpful, too. Think we'll sign up.

Thanks again =)

[Julie and Charlie]

Charlie used to have certain triggers, like when we both went down the stairs and he decided to herd me by nipping my pants leg. It even happened with my mom who has balance problems.. The solution was to teach him an incompatible behavior-- sit at the top of the steps while I made my way down. Then when I reached the bottom, I used "come" and rewarded. He still waits at the top of the steps for my mom. Smart guy.

If now his teeth touch me in play, I yelp. He immediately stops, retreats, and sits on his bed for a few minutes. When he was little the yelping didn't work so well, but with maturity he's learned it, I have no idea how.