Is it normal for a pup to still be mouthy at 6 months? Aspen seems to be learning bite inhibition, but when you give him belly rubs or play he still gets very excited and bites at you, not in a snappy way, but just a "I want your hand in my mouth" way. Luckily, when he jumps he doesn't bite and when we play chase he doesn't bite. He has almost all his adult teeth I think, but he still chews on his molars like he's trying to satisfy an itch or an ache. Just wondering if this mouthiness is still normal or if I should be worried about it. Also just want to note that he doesn't really mouth other people, just me and my boyfriend. My mom who doesn't really like big dogs likes Aspen because he has a soft mouth when she feeds him treats. (But not for me, of course!) He never mouths at little kids either. I'm thinking it's because he still sees me as his litter-mate. I'm guilty of getting on the ground with him and playing. Should I stop that?
Very normal. Mollie was mouthy until eight months. Tatze even longer and she still licks whenever she can .
Hi @alschwahn, Harley is still mouthy at 1 year and was very mouthy and excitable at 6 months. All I know is that we consistantly worked at offering something else instead of hands and feet. And although I do sit on the floor with Harley all the time I don't play with her like that, it is far too easy for something to happen that could result in me getting scratched or bumped hard in excitement. Also because learning to calm down and stay calm was important to us with Harley I want her to see my time with her on the floor as love and cuddles time. At first is was very hard as she would just become overwhelmed with excitement but I would then remove myself from being on the floor. As she has grown, matured and understood that the attention stops when she jumps on me and bites me she has reduced the behaviour, almost completely. I have to add that I don't mind Harley taking my hands into her mouth. She will do it when she is walking somewhere with me (just the tip of my finger in her mouth) or just in general. My husband doesn't like it and also doesn't like her licking. I don't mind the licking. Harley is able to adjust to both of us and will avoid licking and mouthing him, and will do it gently with me. But as I said, she is now just about 1 yr 1 month old and she is a generally calm lab.
Hi, Two Socks is now 6 months old, she was just spayed two weeks ago. she did just fine. She has all adult teeth now and yes everything goes to the mouth. I am having trouble with her destroying toys and anything she can chew. I just don't know what to do with her. she chewed the edge of the carpet lose and yesterday, while in her crate she chewed up her toy box. I wish she would calm down. any suggestions would be appreciated.
My advice, and that if all trainers I know, is that once a dog has a full set of adult teeth, those teeth do not touch human skin. Dog teeth are weapons and can do serious damage very easily.
Sound advice. Sometimes a badly delivered treat will result in Coco's teeth catching my finger - boy does that hurt. He does not otherwise use his teeth on human skin in play. If Aspen wants to be mouthy in play, how about a game of tug? Let his teeth grip the toy rather than your limbs.
Tug is a great game as long as you remember to teach the basic rules 1. They don't touch the tug until invited. 2. They release the tug when asked. 3. Teeth touching human skin stops the game.
So is it still just withdrawing your attention when they do bite? Any other suggestions? Is it also about desensitising - like touching them from low stimulation gradually to high?
Hi @Me and my dog I don't use withdrawing of attention for behaviour modification. I prefer to train alternative or incompatible behaviours so for mouthing always have a toy to hand which goes in pups mouth. Train them to go fetch a toy to approach you with etc. I find teaching tug with rules simply one of the best, and fun ways, of teaching teeth do not touch human skin. If a dog is body sensitive to touch, yes I would train for desensitising very slowly, and desensitising is a very slow process, with lots of fabulous treats every step of the way. Each case is individual though so some methods work better with one dog than another
Joy, also 6 months is still a little bit mouthy but much gentler now, hasn't actually broken my skin for 4 weeks and itwas happening pretty much on a daily basis up to then.
