# An angel with me but mouths other people!



## walkies! (Mar 25, 2013)

Our sweet boy, Robin an oversized toy (or small mpoo!) has a lovely temperament and is now six months old. 
Since he was tiny I taught him to not bite and not even mouth me by making squeaks and pretending it really hurt whenever he did. He won't even mouth me when play fighting now!

The problem is that whenever he meets someone else he gets very excited and mouths their hands. I didn't even realise he was doing it until recently - as he doesn't do it to me I assumed he wasn't to others. 

I'm not sure what to do about stopping him because he's been taught not to do it. We have a young boy next door to us who is afraid of dogs and I would love for Robin to stop trying to hang off his hands so he can start to feel more relaxed around dogs.

I always tell our guests to not let Robin grab their hands and tell them to tell him off or squeal when he does but instead they end up doing the opposite and waving their hands around to tease him. Also nobody wants to be the one telling off someone else's dog.

I have also tried saying "NO!" when I see Robin doing it, but it doesn't make a difference and makes a pretty awful atmosphere with me shouting.

Distracting him with a treat works sometimes but once the treat is gone he carries on.

Has anybody else had this problem? What would you suggest?


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## CT Girl (Nov 17, 2010)

If I have a guest who provokes bad behavior my dog gets crated. The guest usually gets the hint and does not do this next time. Another alternative is make up a reason this behavior cannot be allowed. For example, I cannot allow mouthing as I have a friend who has hemophilia. Try having some friends over who have dogs and understand the importance of training. Since your boy already has the concept this should be corrected relatively easily.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

Don't use treats as a bribe to elicit the behavior you are looking for. I agree with CT Girl about people who won't take your direction. Put Robin away in his crate. You can explain that you have habits you are trying to for and that he will not be allowed out if he is mouthy. If they like your pup and want to play with him they will be better next time. If you don't have a "hemophiliac friend" handy you can always explain that you hope he could be therapy dog someday and that you know they aren't allowed to be mouthy.


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## walkies! (Mar 25, 2013)

Thanks for your replies! I will crate him when needed and I am definitely going to try the 'therapy dog' excuse with other people, it's brilliant! 

I find it so frustrating when people (as nice as they are) undo my hard work spent training him.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

When Robin is older it won't matter so much and he will resist the temptations offered by well meaning folks who unknowingly work against your training efforts. They will then be so impressed by his great manners and you really will be able to take him on therapy dog visits if you want--even to go see your hemophiliac friend:biggrin:


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## Lou (Sep 22, 2012)

Lou doesnt mouth me at all, but she mouths my husband when they play.
she also mouths friends that come over (gently) but does not mouth strangers... She will mouth only for the first 10 minutes when people come in the house and she is really really happy and excited to see them, after a few minutes she stops and chills the rest of the time. Ive been trying to keep her under control my telling her uh-uh no biting nd pulling her away from person and she stops, then starts again after a bit, when she stops and sits down to be petted like i taught her she gets a treat, she is still not consistent yet... 
Its all my hysband's fault and he knows it hahaha he has had 5 spoos before Lou and played wrestle with ALL, and Lou is OUR dog, not just mine and I want him to enjoy her too... But it made the mouthing happen... I'm going to continue with firm AH-AH and pulling her away from the person until she sits down and acts like a lady LOL 
Any suggestions are welcome 


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## CT Girl (Nov 17, 2010)

My husband wrestles with tiny Swizzle but I have a rule that must be abided by no teeth on skin ever. Tell your husband to follow real wrestling rules, they don't allow biting either.


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## Lou (Sep 22, 2012)

CT Girl said:


> My husband wrestles with tiny Swizzle but I have a rule that must be abided by no teeth on skin ever. Tell your husband to follow real wrestling rules, they don't allow biting either.



hahahaha but it's so cute look! LOL She doesnt have arms to hug us with so she "tastes" his hands/arms
she is also holding hubby with both paws.. eheheheh


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

My mom's puppy is always looking to put teeth on me. He is very often very happy to see me since I did a fair amount of puppy baby sit visits and helped her with getting him set up and with his early training. I take my hands away from him and tell him to sit so he calms down whenever this happens. I think it is very important not to let any dog think it is ever ok to put teeth on any person. Lou I agree with CT Girl that DH should wrestle with no teeth involved. Lou is getting mixed messages from the two of you. My boyfriend plays much rougher with Lily and Peeves than I care to, but he would never accept teeth even being shown to him let alone touching his skin.


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## Lou (Sep 22, 2012)

lily cd re said:


> My mom's puppy is always looking to put teeth on me. He is very often very happy to see me since I did a fair amount of puppy baby sit visits and helped her with getting him set up and with his early training. I take my hands away from him and tell him to sit so he calms down whenever this happens. I think it is very important not to let any dog think it is ever ok to put teeth on any person. Lou I agree with CT Girl that DH should wrestle with no teeth involved. Lou is getting mixed messages from the two of you. My boyfriend plays much rougher with Lily and Peeves than I care to, but he would never accept teeth even being shown to him let alone touching his skin.


*Lou does not show teeth, NEVER NEVER. *, she just puts our hands in her mouth and flicks her tongue on our hands, kinda like she is tasting us. I understand your concern but it doesn't hurt at all. And she is learning not to do it with other people and just do it with my husband. Like I had 3 friends that just left here right now, and she didnt do it much at all, they all came in a different times, on the 3rd one she didnt do it at all. We have been practicing the "pull her away" thing.
And also when she mouths my husbands hands when they play she stops immediately when he says "That's enough". So...I'm not saying this as advice for others at all. But I will allow a little bit of mouthing with my husband as long as she knows to stop when he is done playing - and she knows. 
Now, with our friends she is learning to stop it all together. She did great today. She is smart enough to differentiate, because she knows not do it with me, for instance


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## walkies! (Mar 25, 2013)

Robin tends to mouth my partner sometimes too, he doesn't playfight with him I think it's because I've always been more firm with the no mouthing rule.

When guests come over I'm telling them to ignore Robin completely until he calms down (I'm doing this too when I enter the house) which means he can't mouth. If they try to pet him when he is bouncing around his mouth goes straight to their hands. Once he is calm he can be petted. 

Now to tackle Robin jumping up onto the sofa to lick the back of guests heads!!


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

It sounds like you will be fine. Calm entrances go a long way to getting a calm polite dog waiting for you on the other side of the door. I had a cat that liked to like wet hair, but I've never known a dog to want to do that, but then again many poodles are big lickers.


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## Lou (Sep 22, 2012)

walkies! said:


> Robin tends to mouth my partner sometimes too, he doesn't playfight with him I think it's because I've always been more firm with the no mouthing rule.
> 
> When guests come over I'm telling them to ignore Robin completely until he calms down (I'm doing this too when I enter the house) which means he can't mouth. If they try to pet him when he is bouncing around his mouth goes straight to their hands. Once he is calm he can be petted.
> 
> Now to tackle Robin jumping up onto the sofa to lick the back of guests heads!!


HahHhahahaha Lou loves licking the back of people's head too!! And she loves to leave the top if my husbands shaved head too hehehe I've always thought that was weird and funny!!


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