My little pup (or not so little, she is 70 lbs) will be a year old on October 1. She is slowly calming down (although still quite the little ball of energy many times). My question for the forum is related to her still liking to use her mouth. She doesn't bite, but she will nibble on me with her front teeth to get attention (or to tell me she wants to use the bathroom) and when she really gets crazy she might put my hand or arm in her mouth (but not with any real pressure). I have been taking away attention when she does it, not rewarding her, etc. We are (hopefully) training our way out of it. My question is did others have issues with labs still being mouthy at this age, or if my Holly atypical? I am not concerned, just curious. I had one other lab before her and I don't remember him ever putting his mouth on me. We lost him a year ago and he was a pup a LONG time ago, so my memory of those things isn't very good. Thanks!
Hi @RMBIII when she nibbles on you to go to the "bathroom" do you acknowledge her and let her out? If so you have been inadvertently reinforcing the mouthy behaviour. You also say "i have been taking away attention" when she does it. It is not clear how you are doing that nor when you first started to do so. In any case the problem you have is that mouthy behaviour is the dog's signal to you that it wants to go outside to urinate or defecate, which is something you probably and understandably acknowledge. So when the dog wants your attention in general she grabs you by the mouth since this is something you have reinforced. You can try a dog flap in the door teaching her first how to use it and then phase out completely the mouthy cue as her way of getting attention for toilet and any other of her wants. Alternatively, you can teach her to ring a bell when she need to toilet. Or for something less obstrusive, teach her to nose (target) a spot on the door when she needs to go out.
Michael, appreciate the response. The hard part is convincing my wife not to respond to the dog when she uses her mouth. I know she is reinforcing the behavior. Working on both of them. I was just curious as to how many others were still struggling with such behaviors at this age. I know that I am part of the "problem", and better training is needed. Just trying to figure out how much is me, and how much is just a lab at this age.
It is hard not to respond when a big dog grabs one by the arm. A look in the dog's direction may be a sufficient payoff to reinforce the behaviour. Some Labs are immature for several years. I did not have any problems with the younger of my two, whereas the older one did not settle until she was about 18 months old. In saying that, I'm not sure this is very useful information. All dogs are individuals. You know that you are partly responsible for the behaviour. And Labradors as a breed are well known for being mouthy. Who knows the proper attribution of the two factors for your particular dog? A detailed history of your dog, and your training and inadvertent reinforcement might give some rough attribution. But how would this information be useful to your problem now? The problematic behaviour will not go away as your dog ages because her undesirable actions are still being reinforced. And knowing of the experiences of other owners, I'm afraid is not going to be useful information in telling you to what degree you are responsible for the behaviour of your specific dog. Isn't the way forward with your specific dog of greater relevance? That is why I suggested some solutions in which you could attempt to extinguish the dog mouthing you as a signal that she needs to go outside.
Nibbling is often quite an affectionate behaviour from a dog, derived from grooming behaviour (they can often nibble themselves in a similar way). That doesn't mean you have to like it, but just explaining where it comes from. Putting her mouth around your arm, on the other hand, would be an attempt to play - inappropriate play, of course. There are lots of problems people have with various different types of mouthing on the forum, and it's important not to just lump them all together as 'mouthing', but to try to understand where they are coming from in the repertoire of behaviour - and therefore, what they might mean or be communicating.
Jo. Appreciate the feedback. It was quite helpful to be reminded that nibbling can be an affectionate gesture by the dog. It doesn't hurt, but I don't like the idea of her putting her mouth on people. At least remembering it is from affection helps. She is 1 year old and has the energy of a 1 year old lab. I have to remember that she wants to play a heck of a lot more than I do. Not that I want her putting her mouth on me, but remembering she isn't doing it to hurt but to get to play is also helpful. I just need to redirect her of course. The funny thing is that she has been locked up more than normal the past week or so and I took her to play frisbee for an hour yesterday. I thought that she should be nice and calm by the time we got home, but she was still wired all night. Finding the balance between too much and not enough stimulus can be a challenge for any dog I guess.
I'd be really careful playing frisbee, especially with a dog so young - it involves lots of twisting and turning and changing direction, putting a lot of pressure on joints. Repetitive fetch like frisbee or throwing a ball chucker are not the best choices of exercise. If you have a dog which likes retrieving, why not get into some force free gundog training and put it to good use Also, too much exercise can cause over-excitement and actually make stress levels worse... See these articles: http://totofit.com/tbt-think-before-throwing/ https://paws4udogs.wordpress.com/2012/01/06/too-much-of-a-good-thing/ http://theiscp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Linda-Cooper-Thesis-2a.pdf
