# How to curb mouthiness...



## momtymztu (Mar 27, 2012)

Hi Everybody,

I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on how to curb my puppy's mouthy behaviour? Dusty is 7 months old now. He is not bad or ugly with the use of his mouth, but he will do things like grab my shirt tale or pants leg, particularly when he is excited to see me, like when I have been gone and I let him out of his crate. He has to be calm and sitting before I let him out, but once he is out he gets excited. He also loves to lick your hands and feet. He will give kisses to anybody, but I have noticed that he will often end with just the tiniest nibble with his front teeth (on your ear or neck). It is like a little "flea bite", he and my little dog do this to each other all the time. I have to admit to thinking the little nibble is kind of cute, like a little love bite, BUT regardless it is not something I want to encourage. I really want to get his CGC and then work towards Therapy Dog certification and I know he absolutely CAN NOT put his mouth on people (even a lick) if we are going to go that route. 

For the most part he does have a nice soft mouth...he takes toys or treats gently, will let me stick my hand in his food bowl and will easily give up anything to me, the kids, or the little dog. He is not dominant at all and he is very eager to please. For what it is worth, he is not neutered yet and will not be in the near future as I am showing in conformation. This use of his mouth is really his worst trait at the moment. 

He is my first poodle and I was warned that mouthiness can be a poodle thing given the retriever heritage, hence the toy in his mouth most of the time. When he grabs at me I usually try to redirect by shoving a toy in his mouth. I tell him no when he licks at my hands or feet and again give him something to put in his mouth. 
Anyone have any other suggestions? I would greatly appreciate your advice.

Thanks so much


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## N2Mischief (Dec 3, 2012)

No hints, sounds like you are doing it right. Just a comment on the little nibble thing...Misha does that too. Only when she is really excited to see us, she will hold my hand in her mouth but not bite down at all, and then she will let go and as I pull my hand away she does that nibble with the front teeth. Doesn't hurt, I think it is a love nibble. I don't discourage it, but I totally understand that you have to being that this will be a service dog.


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## Lene (Jan 18, 2013)

> When he grabs at me I usually try to redirect by shoving a toy in his mouth. I tell him no when he licks at my hands or feet and again give him something to put in his mouth


You are rewarding his mouthing... You need to completely withdraw attention, when he mouthes you... I say AH!AH! and walk away..


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## Curls (May 14, 2013)

Lene said:


> You are rewarding his mouthing... You need to completely withdraw attention, when he mouthes you... I say AH!AH! and walk away..


x2 :dito:


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## CT Girl (Nov 17, 2010)

I yelp. Dusty loves you and does not want to hurt you. Yelp and withdraw attention. Try to redirect to a toy or chewie before he begins to mouth you.


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## msminnamouse (Nov 4, 2010)

Good advice about redirecting her to a toy before she begins to bite on you. If she still manages to get some nips by you, you can try ignoring her or redirect her to a toy. But whatever you do, you have to remain consistent and give it a fair amount of time for her to learn.


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## Chagall's mom (Jan 9, 2010)

Some of this may be helpful to you.:clover:


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

Keep yourself calm so that Dusty doesn't see what is happening as a game. I agree that a yelp or yipe followed by withdrawn attention when contact is made will be good. When no contact has been made the redirect to a toy will reward the impulse control aspect of extinguishing the undesired behavior.

You are doing a good job. Keep going.


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## Ainsley (Apr 22, 2013)

I so needed to read this post. Alby is being very mouthy and I think we've been rewarding the behavior with the toy like mentioned here. The whole shove a toy in her mouth worked with our lab, but her executive function was no where close to Alby's. I know he's not doing it aggressively, just being a 14 week old puppy. After reading this yesterday afternoon we stopped giving a toy after yelping to yelping and walking away and this morning it's much lighter mouth when he did try to play. Ugh it's like no matter how hard you try to be aware these little human mistakes still creep in and derail things for a few days. It's no wonder how so many puppies end up in shelters. I went in knowing he'd be my almost full time job for a while and the little quirks are still frustrating. Especially when you KNOW it's your fault at this age.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

Most mistakes in training are made by us not by the dogs. I have made plenty with Lily. Thankfully if I keep it light she just shrugs it off and thinks to herself "my mom has to make herself clear about what she wants."

We had an agility private lesson this morning and went to a utility class at our obedience club afterwards. I said oopsy many times at both. I'm sure she thinks I'm pretty stupid today. LOL

Bottom line, patience and consistency. When in doubt or not getting desired/expected result, have someone watch what you are doing who knows dogs. They will be able to tell you if you are inconsistent in your cues.


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## dfwcarguy (May 12, 2013)

What suggestions for this scenario? When the toy poodle is mouthing and you withdraw attention and go to turn or walk away, he grabs either a pant leg or shirt tail or the back of your sleeve if you are playing on the ground with him. He used to go for shoes or pant legs coming in from outside, but now he is busy watching for falling food...lol. I don't think a food treat is in order for the mouthing issue so I am trying to figure out something else.


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## msminnamouse (Nov 4, 2010)

> When the toy poodle is mouthing and you withdraw attention and go to turn or walk away, he grabs either a pant leg or shirt tail or the back of your sleeve if you are playing on the ground with him.


Could you please clear this up, as I'm a bit confused. Is the dog grabbing your clothing when you're walking away or when you're playing on the ground with him, or both?



> I don't think a food treat is in order for the mouthing issue so I am trying to figure out something else.


I don't understand what you mean by this either. Why don't you feel that a food treat is in order? Do you just not want to use food in general or is it because he won't stop grabbing at you, or something else?


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## dfwcarguy (May 12, 2013)

msminnamouse said:


> Could you please clear this up, as I'm a bit confused. Is the dog grabbing your clothing when you're walking away or when you're playing on the ground with him, or both?
> 
> 
> 
> I don't understand what you mean by this either. Why don't you feel that a food treat is in order? Do you just not want to use food in general or is it because he won't stop grabbing at you, or something else?


When he is playing with his chew toys he will stop and head for either a pant leg or arm. If you are on the couch he will go for the seam on a pant leg. If I am on the ground playing with him and he mouths me. I started turning around and withdrawing attention from him. Then he started grabbing the back of my shirt and sometimes the skin on the back of my arm. So I started getting up as soon as he would mouth me. When I stand up (not trying to walk, just standing up to turn my back on him) he goes for the pant legs. 


The way I got him past pant legs when I am walking in from outside, was dropping a kibble of food. But dropping a kibble of food while trying to remove my attention?


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## msminnamouse (Nov 4, 2010)

I see, that IS difficult. He sounds like a tenacious little land shark.

I would try directing all his mouthing to a toy. Go to the $ store and stash a bunch of these all over the house or near his play area so you always have one at hand. Or even put one in your pocket. Play and when he mouth strays to your body or clothing, try to direct him back to the toy. If he stops mouthing you and starts in on the toy again, mark (you can say, "Good!") and pet him or give him a treat, or just continue the toy play. This is teaching him that if he wants to chew, the toy is what he needs to chew on.

If he's consistently ignoring the toy to go for you:

You can either wait his mouthing and grabbing out and then drop food or drop food before he gets a chance to mouth or grab you and stop dropping food if he begins to mouth and grab you, or you can put a harness and lead (I prefer a short rope without a handle because it's safer) on him in the house for controlled exercises. 

For the controlled exercise, you can tie the end of the rope to something sturdy and begin to play with him. When he starts mouthing or grabbing you, get up and walk away and he can't continue. When he calms back down, approach and begin again. If he starts to jump up when you even just approach, this is a perfect opportunity to work on that as well using the same method. 

Practice this many times a day so that ideally, the mouthing and grabbing will only occur when he's tethered to something and you can easily move away without him following you to continue. 

Short, frequent reps are better than long, infrequent reps. So 2-3 minutes of this, several times a day. Otherwise, with long drawn out sessions, your puppy would get bored and you'd be setting him up for failure. And infrequent practice will make the lesson harder for him to remember.

Good luck.


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## dfwcarguy (May 12, 2013)

Well I think the tip of putting him in the kennel and sitting where I am turning my back to him has backfired. Today he fighting not to go sleep and he will not sit in front of me at all. He wants to sit behind me no matter what.


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## patk (Jun 13, 2013)

there are probably some hard and fast no-nos re dog training, but the bottom line is that dogs are not all the same and shaping a behavior is not that simple. what works for one dog may not work for another. depending on the dog, it may take a lot of looking around to find the right way to teach what you want to teach. because a dog is not immediately trainable, by the way, does not mean it isn't intelligent. from watching others try to train their pets, seems to me it's often a question of finding the right way of communicating with a particular dog. that's where the patience part really comes in.

i do, though, believe in negative feedback for an undesirable behavior, and i think one of the most effective i have seen is the dog whisperer's neck poke. no, not a hard jab, but a quick two fingers in the neck that is supposed to resemble what a mother dog will do to an overly rambunctious pup. the message is hey, cut it out. my almost 16 year old dog can still come up with a new annoying behavior when he feels like it. the neck poke is a consistent message over time that seems to work better for me than some other distraction. if my dog liked the distraction enough, knowing him, he would just repeat the undesirable behavior to get me to offer the distraction! it's called training your human!


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## msminnamouse (Nov 4, 2010)

Dogs don't think we're mother dogs. You're underestimating their intelligence. I've fostered many litters with their mothers and taken some reproduction courses. Mother dogs don't actually bite their puppies to correct them. If a bitch does, she should be separated from her pups and not bred anymore since this isn't normal rearing behavior. It makes no sense for a mother to risk injuring her babies. That's why they're incredibly careful when they move them by taking their entire head and/or neck in their jaws. They would have a hard time getting the pups to cooperate with the moving and playing process if they taught the pups to fear their mouths. 

Jabbing a dog in the throat is a good way to teach a dog to become hand shy and also to teach them redirected aggression.


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## patk (Jun 13, 2013)

interesting point of view. thanks for weighing in. i do think there is a difference between jabbing and poking, however, and i deliberately chose the latter word because of that. having been bitten twice by small dogs who simply did not know they were not allowed to bite, while on the other hand watching my own female dog "train" my male by pinning him by the neck (no biting involved, just her muzzle right up to his neck) when she thought he was biting my hands, i tend to go by what i have seen succeed. as i said elsewhere, it has been eight years since my female had to be put to sleep. nonetheless, my male dog has never repeated the behavior that brought on the pinning incident.


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## CT Girl (Nov 17, 2010)

I myself miss the fine distinction between jabbing and poking. I think that technique is likely to make a dog hand shy and perhaps provoke fearful aggression. There really is no need to resort to this when a combination of redirection, yelping and bitter apple and the removal of attention works so well. Looking for a quick fix with an overly aggressive correction technique could create more problems and more severe problems than the original issue. 

I am glad that your female dog's correction was effective but to extrapolate that because that worked poking/jabbing will work too is a bit of a stretch. This is a puppy filled with youthful high spirits that just need to be channeled appropriately.


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## sarahmurphy (Mar 22, 2012)

How much play time is he getting? Sounds like he is playing a boredom card to get attention... what does he know? Can you give him some command as a distraction?


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## patk (Jun 13, 2013)

thanks for sharing your views. sorry i am not able to make the distinctions clear to others.


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## momtymztu (Mar 27, 2012)

patk said:


> thanks for sharing your views. sorry i am not able to make the distinctions clear to others.


I understand the distinction you are getting at...it is kind of like the difference in "spanking" a child or "smacking" their hand and in "beating" a child...not everyone sees a distinction there either. Beating or abusing a child (or any animal for that matter) is NEVER okay but sometimes a quick smack on the hand can save a life. 

I do think with both children and animals that there are certain situations where physical intervention (generally viewed as "punishment") is necessary. Whether people like to admit it or not, physical correction is a large part of communication in the animal world. Mother's do physically correct their babies to teach them proper behavior. 

I spent quite a lot of time around horses when I was growing up and in hs/college I worked at a TB breeding farm...those broodmares had no problem giving their foals a quick nip or even a little kick if they were being too pushy. Once the foals were weaned we would pasture them with one particular older mare for precisely that reason. She was a fabulous nanny and she taught the weanlings , especially the colts, to mind their manners. 

I think the dog world is the same way...an older female dog can teach a puppy (particularly a younger male) manners in a matter of minutes. A well placed nip or two does the job. It sometimes takes us humans months to solidify the same manners with treats or withdrawing attention.


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## patk (Jun 13, 2013)

@momtymtzu: thanks for trying to understand where i'm coming from. my bottom line is that it's very important that a dog not learn that it's ever all right to sink its teeth into a human or, hopefully, another living creature. the consequences can be disastrous for the owner and the dog. we have to recognize that not all dogs are the same and they can respond very differently to someone's favorite training technique. my dogs have surprised me many times - but not ever by biting anyone or any other dog. one of my favorite stories is about my male lowchen, who is shy, but not fear aggressive. at the dog park, there was a pudding jack russell who insisted in coming over and mounting him, jumping on him, etc. my dog would just lie down, hunker down and try to ignore. nothing helped. finally one day the jack was at the top of a hillock leading a group of small dogs in a game of chase. of course he was the fastest and they couldn't catch him. suddenly my dog got up, looked at the group then looked at me; i said nothing. he trotted up to join the group and i thought we were at a breakthrough moment where he was going to start frolicking with the other dogs. my dog joined the group at the tail end. then he cut diagonally across the circle to catch up with the jack russell and proceeded to hip and shoulder slam him several times. he came back down the hill with his tail high and his tongue out and i swear he was grinning. i was in shock, but not as much as the jack russell at the top of the hill sitting with a dazed look on his face. needless to say, he never bothered my dog again. 

as far as i'm concerned, my dog tried the favored technique first of sending a gentle negative signal by ignoring. he never even growled or threatened. when the jack russell didn't get it, he went a step further without really hurting the jack, but making it clear he wasn't to be fooled with. at the same dog park, a small yorkie jumped on a pit bull puppy and was killed. i'm pretty sure the jack russell would have faced the same fate had it jumped on that puppy. disastrous for all concerned, but the pit puppy was clearly not taught bite restraint and i believe it ended up being put to sleep. that is the kind of thing that makes me believe it's important that we as owners act first to safeguard our dogs by teaching them what is unacceptable and to do so we have to recognize that not all dogs respond in the same way to a specific training technique. as owners, we have to find the one that works - without, of course, abusing our dogs.


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## CT Girl (Nov 17, 2010)

Patk, I am not trying to be snarky. I literally meant I don't understand the difference between poke and jab. I think the spank v. Beat clarified your meaning. I am in total agreement that a dog must learn no teeth on a human ever. I also have no problem with a dog setting limits pinning, snapping ect. But my fear is we as humans don't do this correctly as our understanding of the way dogs interact is fractured at best. Too often I have seen harsh corrections lead to other unexpected problems and often to more aggression.


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## patk (Jun 13, 2013)

the hardest part is recognizing a dog's individuality. some dogs get it immediately. some dogs react in unexpected ways. some dogs are very sensitive and something we view casually can actually be traumatizing. the hardest dogs to train are said to be the small breeds - because they are cute and we don't think of them as dangerous. but they are also the most susceptible to end up injuring children. a friend's friend had to give up her small, cute and beloved dog because it nipped her several month old baby. it bothers me that we leave our dogs vulnerable by not recognizing these issues and addressing them from day one. i knew when i got my dog that he would be seen as fluffy toy by children. so i started taking him to the park and making him lie down with running, screaming children around. he was taught never to jump on anyone - unless i ask him to jump up on me for a treat - and to hold still while children pet him. he is actually shy and doesn't go up to people - if an adult tries to pet him, he will tend to move away. but he knows if it's a child, he is to stand still. these are basics for me. i don't care that he can't do all kinds of tricks or prefers staying at home (he hates the car). when he is in a social situation of any kind, he has to behave in a way that intimidates no one.


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## CT Girl (Nov 17, 2010)

Patk, how true about small dogs. Some have no limits set and allow behavior they would not dream of accepting from a larger dog. It is very irresponsible for pet owners not to address these issues. Dangerous for people who the dog comes in contact with and dangerous for the dog who might be put down because the owner did not take matters in hand and set limits.


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## Chagall's mom (Jan 9, 2010)

*dfwcarguy*: Is it possible for you to have someone take a video of your pup interacting with you? Seeing some of this nipping behavior might give us some clues and additional ideas about how to resolve it. My mpoo was quite a "land shark" as a pup, and a very stealth and quick one at that. My salvation was his DIRE desire to be with me; removing myself from his presence (I'd loop his leash on a door handle and leave the room for a few minutes) helped immensely. As did redirecting him to a suitable rope toy or chewie. He was (and remains!) very food motivated so I used that to my advantage too, often rewarding him spontaneously for good, polite, calm behavior (laying down, sitting, standing and not nipping!) so he got to know what I_ wanted _him to do. (Not nipping hard being top of that list!) 

I know this is frustrating as can be for you, as well as painful--those puppy teeth _hurt! _I hope we can help you through it yet. I have a rigid bias against_ any _hands-on corrections (slapping, pinching, hitting, jabbing, etc.) of a dog or child, always having found a better solution for all involved. Happy to say my dogs, kids and grandkids all turned out well so I continue to endorse that way of thinking. Hope things work out for you!


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## Poodlebeguiled (May 27, 2013)

Chagall's mom said:


> *dfwcarguy*: Is it possible for you to have someone take a video of your pup interacting with you? Seeing some of this nipping behavior might give us some clues and additional ideas about how to resolve it. My mpoo was quite a "land shark" as a pup, and a very stealth and quick one at that. My salvation was his DIRE desire to be with me; removing myself from his presence (I'd loop his leash on a door handle and leave the room for a few minutes) helped immensely. As did redirecting him to a suitable rope toy or chewie. He was (and remains!) very food motivated so I used that to my advantage too, often rewarding him spontaneously for good, polite, calm behavior (laying down, sitting, standing and not nipping!) so he got to know what I_ wanted _him to do. (Not nipping hard being top of that list!)
> 
> I know this is frustrating as can be for you, as well as painful--those puppy teeth _hurt! _I hope we can help you through it yet. I have a rigid bias against_ any _hands-on corrections (slapping, pinching, hitting, jabbing, etc.) of a dog or child, always having found a better solution for all involved. Happy to say my dogs, kids and grandkids all turned out well so I continue to endorse that way of thinking. Hope things work out for you!


:adore::adore::adore:

With anything, think about what the dog's motivation is. What is he trying to do? Well, in this case, it's probably that he wants attention and interaction with you....fun times, which include for a puppy, using his mouth. So, remove that possibility. Nothing good happens for him when he does this. Redirecting to another toy is not rewarding that behavior. Dogs are smart enough to get it that you're showing him what he CAN chew on. And reinforcing wanted behavior quickly before he gets to mouthing you will increase that no-biting behavior.

Additionally, I want my puppy to be able to mouth me BUT ever so gently. So, I allow gentle mouthing a little bit. The second it comes anywhere close to discomfort, I'm gone and he's separated from me. The reason I want my puppy to be able to mouth on me gently is because I feel it's important for them to learn to inhibit their bite...learn how to regulate pressure because one day something might happen where they _will_ bite without thinking. For example, their tail or foot gets stepped on or a car door closes on them or a kid goes over their tolerance level with some kind of antic. There's a better chance the dog won't cause as much damage if he's familiar with his own ability to regulate pressure. 

As time goes on... that gentle mouthing is phased out by the same method....removing attention and walking away for all but the barest amount of mouthing. Pretty soon the pup loses interest in this because it's just not that fun to barely mouth you. 

If he's following and grabbing pant legs, I think Chagall's method of looping the leash around a door knob is a great way. But everything has to happen every single time...the same consequence for the same behavior. 

Making sure the puppy has _plenty_ of tiring physical and mental work and lots of other teething toys instead will help him get past this. Give it time.

When mother dogs correct their babies, they're very gentle about it. We don't know all the ins and outs and we can't emulate them and we don't have to. Human and dog interactions and relationships are as natural as you can get. It's that convergent evolution we've had with them. The "dog whisperer," imo, is no one to try to copy. His methods cause aggression and shyness in dogs. They stop behaving _at all _and you can't train a dog if he doesn't offer behaviors. You need him to try things so you can reinforce those things you want. He uses intimidation, threats and often pain, and this is not the kind of relationship I, as a human being want to create with my dogs. If it's not a relationship of complete trust, it's not worth a darn.

Well, that's my .02 anyhow.


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## Cathy- (May 5, 2013)

I am so glad I found this thread! We are going through this with Blue. She will be 4 months in a few days. 

I have started doing a few things that were mentioned here and they seem to be working. 

At first I would remove her from the room (put her in her cage) when yelping didnt stop her from biting down hard on me or my 5 year old. When I would pick her up, she would really think it was part of a game. We had very little success with that method. Recently, I started removing myself from the area. Now I get up, walk away and go to another room. I close the door, wait 10-15 seconds and when I return she is usually chewing on her toys in her bed. 

Excercise. Blue may be under 10lbs but that girl has tons of energy! Since she had her 3rd set of shots, we are now walking her several times a day. This helps not only drain her energy but also gives her a chance to explore smells and sounds. 

We stopped letting her roam the house freely for too long. This doesnt mean Blue is in her cage all day and night, but if I am doing something and I cannot pay attention to her, I put her in cage. I think by letting her roam around for too long she was getting over stimulated. Now she has her toys and her bed. She can play and rest until I can play with her, teach her some basic commands or just keep an eye on her while she runs after a ball. 

Any other suggestions or imput any one else has will be greatly appreciated.


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## dfwcarguy (May 12, 2013)

It is not much of an issue any longer. Since my voice was not able to give a high pitch yelp. I figured out that if I make a slight whistle he stops in his tracks and starts licking. Just taking some time for him to train me!
Another thing that has seemed to help. My wife and I are both making a point to walk slower.


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## patk (Jun 13, 2013)

two different dogs. two different responses to the "yelp" when bitten issue. here's a third. my hairdresser's absolutely adorable maltese was teething the last time i saw her. of course biting fingers was part of the scenario. when i started yipping to get her to stop, she not only stopped, she gave me a long look then walked away from me, and the set of her body said "cry baby"! :bounce:


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## Poodlebeguiled (May 27, 2013)

LOL. Yeah, there are a few different kinds of reactions to the yelp. Your friend's dog was a pouter. lol. Sometimes the yelp works and sometimes the less sensitive dogs just think you're ready to play some more. haha So, you just have to experiment. My girl Chihuahua sounds like your friend's dog. When she was a puppy, she got the message very quickly and would walk away, glaring at me over her shoulder. These Chi's weren't much for bitey behavior though.


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## Joelly (May 8, 2012)

Hi Momtymztu,

Is Dusty still doing this?

Edison, my 5 months old toy poodle, has been doing the same thing but a simple "No!" from me actually works and he is now never doing it again. When Charlie was a puppy, he did the same thing, nipping and scratching our bare feet and toes. With Charlie, he was consistently doing so and ignoring our yelp. I even post my question here on PF. I was advised to take away the things he likes when he does this. Charlie loves to play so when he nipped or scratched us, we stop playing abruptly and back in the x-pen he went. He hated that so after a few corrections he stopped. Charlie still loves to play but I learn from training to curb his pushy puppy tendency.

I'm curious if Dusty still continue this behavior.


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## momtymztu (Mar 27, 2012)

Joelly said:


> Hi Momtymztu,
> 
> Is Dusty still doing this?
> 
> ...


Joelly: Dusty is doing a little better...thanks for asking.
And thanks to EVERYONE for all the suggestions.

Dusty has a very soft mouth and has always had great bite inhibition...He has never bitten down at all (except when he nibbles my ear) or actually caused any pain, so "yelping" was not really necessary. I think he is just a very mouth oriented dog. 

My previous aussie was like that for his entire life. He never bite or nipped anyone, even as a puppy, but he would spin and dance wildly with that huge mouth open "smile" and bump into you and he loved to lick. Dusty does those things too, the biggest difference is that my aussie would not hold a toy at all...herding instinct, no retrieving instinct...so you couldn't use toys to help with the behavior. I was also a lot younger back then and had no idea how to deter him. 

I have been trying to make sure there is a toy available to stick in his mouth BEFORE he gets the chance to mouth. Also I have been doing a lot of loving and petting with my hands cupped around his muzzle...NOT holding his mouth closed, but rather kissing and loving on that irresistable silver face while encouraging him to keep his mouth shut. I do not mind the kissing/licking at all...I know some people don't like it, but I always have...but I want him to gain some self control and learn when it is not allowed. Sort of like the concept of controling barking by teaching a dog to bark on cue, so he then can be taught to stop barking on cue.  I am sure age will help somewhat as well, as he gains more impulse control and loses a little puppy exhuberance.

My biggest concern is not that he will bite someone but that he will bump someone with a tooth (maybe in the eye, etc) and hurt them or even gently mouth someone who doesn't appreciate it and scare them. And of course, if he is going to to therapy work and visit nursing homes or children's hospitals/schools he has to keep his mouth/toungue to himself. I don't want to completely eliminate that big happy boy smile, just tame it a little. 

I am meeting with a trainer on Wednesday to evaluate him and place him in one of her classes working towards CGC and looking towards TDI, so we'll see what she has to say. She keeps her group sessions to 4 dogs max so she likes to do a free consultation and be sure she has each dog placed in the right class. She came highly recommended by one of the local evaluators for TDI and she also does therapy work with her own dog, so I am excited to meet her! 

I think we are definately on the right track! Thanks again.


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## patk (Jun 13, 2013)

sounds like you need to offer him a positive "mouth on cue" only incentive. i have no idea what that would be, but it sounds possible to train for that behavior.


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