# Hand Grabbing



## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

Henry has a problem with "grabbing" peoples' hands with his mouth when they come over. He does it to the cleaning guy every week, delivery men, frequent visitors and complete strangers. He does it gently, and we have been lucky because most people know that he is excited - and not truly "biting" them. But, we would like to get rid of this behavior.

He gets overly excited when people come over, wiggles his body and wags his tail like crazy, jumps six feet up in the air...etc. etc. and then usually runs up to the person and takes them by the hand. 

We've tried telling him to sit and stay while the person comes in, and he does (while still wiggling!). However, as soon as we let him go, he immediately finds the visitor and grabs their hand. 

Help! How do we modify this behavior?! 

(I was in college living away from home when my family got Henry, so I blame them for not nipping this behavior in the bud  I would have had him in obedience training as a puppy! )


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## spoospirit (Mar 10, 2009)

_That's a great question. Two of our pups also take your hand in their mouth. They just do it anytime they are excited and I find it annoying. I would love to see some suggestions on how to fix this.
_


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## pudlemom (Apr 16, 2010)

Both of males do this too I have been trying to extinguish this behavior also,I always tell them no bite but they just don't seen to want to get it. Like Spoosprit it is when the are excited :frusty:


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## faerie (Mar 27, 2010)

eva, my lab x does it too. it is like her way of greeting people. 
she is very very gentle about it, but she is a 50+ pound dog.

we say "eva, no bite" and she stops, then she gets petted for releasing, but she still does it unless prompted not to.
she's a pretty smart, easy going gal.


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## JE-UK (Mar 10, 2010)

Mine does this too, only to 'family' though. I tell him 'ow' and 'go get a toy' and he does. It seems to be a need to have something in his mouth when he says hello. My Goldens were like that as well, so I don't mind it.

Can you try having him hold a toy when people come in?


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## puppylove (Aug 9, 2009)

Jackson did that to me and I finally put a bottle of Bitter Apple next to the door. I sprayed my hands and forarms before coming in. He soon quit. I don't think at this point he would mouth others but that may be because he is a little shy.

If you could employ the help of friends and family and have everyone use the Bitter Apple before greeting Henry it might break the habit.


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## jcwinks (Jun 26, 2010)

Cleo does the same thing - especially when greeting new people. I think I like the bitter apple idea...


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## whitepoodles (Jul 5, 2010)

My boy Cole also likes to mouth (not grab or bite) people hands. That is just what he does.. Cant explain it as none of my other dogs have this behavior and I agree it is only when he is excited. Just say a firm NO and they will understand. If you repeat NO over and over again, eventually they will get the message. Poodles are intelligent, they just push your buttons to see how far they can get with you... LOL. 
I like the bitter apple suggestion also.


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## jcwinks (Jun 26, 2010)

whitepoodles said:


> My boy Cole also likes to mouth (not grab or bite) people hands. That is just what he does.. Cant explain it as none of my other dogs have this behavior and I agree it is only when he is excited. Just say a firm NO and they will understand. If you repeat NO over and over again, eventually they will get the message. Poodles are intelligent, they just push your buttons to see how far they can get with you... LOL.
> I like the bitter apple suggestion also.


It does seem as though Cleo "pushes it" as you say! (Just like my kiddos!)


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## whitepoodles (Jul 5, 2010)

oh YES, they certainly push and the more intelligent they are the cockier they get. I also do something that I found to be very effective if I want to curb an unpleasant behavior.. I growl... Yes, LOL I do, and I growl at the offender in a low gutteral voice just like my female would do when a 7 weeks old puppy hangs by its teeth on her nipple when they are weaned, not much appreciated by the female I can assure you.. LOL
If you ever read the book by Carol Lea Benjami, "Mother Knows Best" it will give you some tips on how to curb and correct your dog's behavior as the mother dog will in the wild. Great book to read.


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## jcwinks (Jun 26, 2010)

whitepoodles said:


> oh YES, they certainly push and the more intelligent they are the cockier they get. I also do something that I found to be very effective if I want to curb an unpleasant behavior.. I growl... Yes, LOL I do, and I growl at the offender in a low gutteral voice just like my female would do when a 7 weeks old puppy hangs by its teeth on her nipple when they are weaned, not much appreciated by the female I can assure you.. LOL
> If you ever read the book by Carol Lea Benjami, "Mother Knows Best" it will give you some tips on how to curb and correct your dog's behavior as the mother dog will in the wild. Great book to read.


Hey - just tried the growling - Cleo walked away and lay down. I'll have to check out that book!


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## whitepoodles (Jul 5, 2010)

JCWINKS
You cracked me up... ROFLMAO.... 
So you did growl at Cleo, didnt you ??? It worked didnt it?
Maybe we should try this on our husbands.. they do as you know get out of line at times. Ha !!! Thank God he doesnt read the post or he will serve me with papers...


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## bluespoomommy (Feb 25, 2010)

haha growling! maybe it works. i'll have to try. mochi doesn't 'grab' strangers because she only gets excited when she sees family. but definitely does it when she's excited.

maybe it doesn't work for every dog though. my mother has a 5 year old dog who gets really annoyed when mochi gets way to excited for her preference...she GROWLS at mochi which doesn't seem to deter her much, but when she snaps at mochi, then usually the annoying behavior seems to stop.

*edit* wait not only does she growl when she's annoyed, she bares her teeth at mochi. it's totally harmless behavior, but definitely an interesting interaction to witness.

i don't know if i could do actually 'snap' at mochi tho haha.


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## whitepoodles (Jul 5, 2010)

Cole also innocently growls at Onyx when Onyx decides to pur into Cole's face and lick him silly. Onyx is just this type of a velcro dog not only with me but with his house mates to include Cole.. Imagine two intact males, and one that want to french with the other. :rolffleyes:
It is a sight to behold. ONyx being only 7.5 mos. old is totally oblivious to what Cole feels and for that matter could care less, and strangely even if Onyx pushes himself on Cole and gives him a tongue shower which Cole hates, he never showed his teeth. Sometimes I wish he would to stop Onyx from giving him such a lucratice tongue shower, LOL..
They will settle it between themselves.. as long as there is no fighting and blood drawn than all is cool. Cole will always be a hand licker and taking it into his mouth. I dont believe I can ever curb this behavior.. but he does not bear pressure with his jaws so I am fine in a way with it.


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## Mumzilla (Aug 4, 2010)

We call it 'wolfing' in our family because it is a natural wolf greeting behavior. Zero does this, plus likes to hang off the loop on painters pants. This gets tricky when we have a repairman over! But she is so sweet and submissive, she hasn't scared anyone - the A/C guy actually encourages her. We actively discourage her, but as mentioned before, it is a hard habit to break.


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## whitepoodles (Jul 5, 2010)

We actively discourage her, but as mentioned before, it is a hard habit to break.[/QUOTE]

I feel you are right it will be a VERY hard habbit to break. No matter what I do I cant stop Cole from greeting my friends with his open mouth, taking their arm and leading them into the family room. lOLOLOL he is just this type of a dog.. His half sister, Anessa who also resides with us is totally different she is trully what I would call a doggy LADY, 
If the dog does not bear pressure with his jaws when he takes the hand gently into his mouth I would not make a big deal out of it.. it is only when it escalates and the dog starts roughhousing is when I will stop this behavior ASAP before escalating further. Some dogs thrive on encouragement in order to escalate aggresive play and I will not tollerate it.


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## Rockporters (Jan 14, 2010)

Jasper is "mouthy", too, with hands. Luckily he doesn't nip anymore when playing. He's really into butts and backs though, and he'll occasionally surprise you with a pinch while sniffing. Hate that!


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## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

Rockporters - your Jasper is BEAUTIFUL! I just love his face!!! I am growing Millie's topknot out and I want to tie it up like Jaspers!


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## whitepoodles (Jul 5, 2010)

ChocolateMillie said:


> Rockporters - your Jasper is BEAUTIFUL! I just love his face!!! I am growing Millie's topknot out and I want to tie it up like Jaspers!


Jasper is very pretty I totally agree and I know he will have a successful show career in the ring.


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