What do we do with a mouthy doggo?
Let's talk about mouthy doggos, You may be saying to yourself “Finally a way to get my dog to stop back talking me!” well first off call a talent agent, Second that’s not the kind of mouthy were talking about here. Dog mouthiness is a typical habit for dogs from 12 weeks, up to 7 years old! Dog mouthiness if not corrected early becomes a real problem for the pet parent later on in a dog's life if that dog isn't taught the power of its bite as well as how to respect human pain threshold. Mouthiness is always cute when it manifests itself, as a dog first starts giving you puppy eyes as it chews on your hands. However when the teenage years come around and the mouthiness becomes a painful yet playful bite odds are it won't be as cute anymore. However fear not for I have come across many mouthy dogs and have created a very effective method of keeping those teeth safely in their jowls.
First things first let's analyze why dogs are mouthy, Dogs naturally explore new things by putting them in their mouths. Think back to when you caught your new pup scooping something up in its mouth then immediately spitting it out with a look of disdain on its cute little face. It's just how they learn what is food and what is not food or what goes in their mouths or does not. When puppies play with humans they typically use their mouths on the humans hands or clothes or limbs, It's just your dog's way of discovering how your appendages work. Now fast forward a year, Your dog is still biting your hands and pulling at your clothes and you are no longer amused by it. You try to take away your hands or say ow! but your dog is still biting at you. Well you're not alone, to get your dog to stop being mouthy it takes quite a bit of determination and patience in order to truly eliminate the biting. But if you follow these guidelines every day consistently you will see this habit eliminated and you can enjoy a nice pain free play session with your #1 pal.
Correct the behavior
Whenever your dog bites or touches you with its teeth you never yell or hit your dog If a dog doesn't know its not allowed to do something odds are it’s going to do it. Simply correct your dog for mouthing by withdrawing your hand and giving a command such as “No bites” or “Nice please” you always want to keep a positive tone while giving these commands to ensure your dog doesn't feel intimidated.
Teach your dog how to be gentle
Dogs don't just inherently know how to take a treat nice, Dogs are animals after all. So it's our duty to teach them how to be gentle on our digits. Start with treats, Take a treat and hold it above your dog's head. Whenever your dog goes to snap you fingers off withdraw your hand with the treat and ask you dog to “Take it nicely” Then lower your hand with the treat slowly so that your dog has to take it more gentle. Repeat this task as much as needed until your dog starts to gingerly take the treat from your fingers as opposed to snapping it from your hand. Always be sure to use positive corrective tones so that your furry friend doesn't think it's in trouble!
BE CONSISTENT
This step is overlooked constantly but it is one of the most important steps when it comes to dog training. To properly condition a new rule for your furry friend you have to remember to always use the same rule every time your dog does the behavior you're trying to get rid of, For instance if you are tired after a long day of work on a Friday night and you just want to sit on the couch and open up a can of Netflix binging. Then you notice your dog starts getting mouthy with your hands and you in your fatigue decide not to stick to your training method and ignore the behaviour. However you must NEVER FORGET YOUR TRAINING METHODS always be consistent in your training and you will always get results. Inconsistency never got anyone anywhere in the world of dog training and odds are it won't help with the mouthiness. However if you keep a definite set of rules and always remember to use a soft yet assertive voice when correcting, you will see results within a week!
With these steps you will see that after as early as a day your dog will respect your precious fingers and slowly stop with the hand mouthiness
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-G