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Puppy
mouthing is often seen as a problem by many owners, and whilst
i am not saying that it isn't a problem, it is not half as bad
as many owners make out in their reaction to the puppy doing
so,
Pupping Mouthing is NOT the same as Puppy BITING. Biting shows
a distinctly higher level of confidence (which one might suggest
a puppy should not yet even possess) and it also gives an indication
to owners that their puppy doesn't yet have a clear grasp of
the hierarchy in the home.
Puppy mouthing could also be caused or at least agitated by soreness
of gums due to teeth growth in the mouth of the puppy, so a soothing
chew or bone may be worth using at set times during the day (quiet
times) to allow this behaviour to be focussed on something other
than your body, and also to allow the soreness to subside a little
and provide some relief.
Mouthing puppies are displaying a TRIAL behaviour, in other words
they are just testing the water by placing their mouths around
something like your hand or some other part of you, to see whether
or NOT they should go forwards and escalate into biting. This
is why we have placed emphasis on the difference in the two behaviours.
Yes we can look at them in a very similar light, but they are
not the same.
However, there is no doubt that puppies who have begun mouthing
your hands, will certainly move on to gentle bites, and then
firmer and firmer bites until you as the owner educate the dog
that this behaviour is not acceptable and not rewarding or fun
for your young puppy.
So, the good news is that by an owner noticing early puppy mouthing
signs, they have a great opportunity to prevent far worse problems
later. There are several motivators for a puppy, but generally
behaviours like this are motivated primarily by fun, play-drive,
experimental strength testing (just as they would with littermates),
and sometimes pure desire for attention.
Regardless of the reason and motivation behind this behaviour,
it must not be accepted, and any raised voices (including a harsh
tone, contrary to popular belief) will have a good chance of
actually ENCOURAGING the behaviour because it will raise the
stress levels, the noise levels and the general excitement of
the situation. What is called for is CALM but educative reactions,
which are consistent and even every time, and which always PREVENT
the puppy from obtaining whatever it desires, which you can pretty
much always assume will be fun and interaction with you (play
drive).
When mouthing begins, simply REMOVE yourself immediately from
the company of the dog, and do so quietly and calmly. Each person
will have their own way of doing this as each household is different.
Many suggest using a crate with this behaviour but i would not
advise this, as it is far too easy with such a young and impressionable
puppy to associate the crate with punishment or at least a corrective
reaction from you, and we don't want any such associations in
your puppy's mind.
I prefer to gently and silently remove my hand from the puppy's
mouth, and then get up and walk out of the room, closing the
door firmly (not angrily) behind me. At the point when i get
up and move away from the dog, i would make a sound which i will
use in future to tell the dog "No". However i do not
use the word No itself as i feel it is too commonly used in general
conversation and is not fair to any dog as a result. I have used
many sounds and words in my time, but a PSSH sound is the most
effective generally. A small minority of puppes actually react
to this sound with excitement, and in those cases i use "AH
AH" which should sound like two sharp bursts of sound, but
again, NOT loud or aggressive, just calm, firm and definitive.
By walking out of the room, you will put the puppy in a slight
state of confusion and THIS is where the mind needs to be to
learn to adjust behaviours in order to prevent this occurring
again. I would wait the other side of the door usually for just
a few seconds with a young puppy, and then i would walk back
in the room, PAST the puppy completely ignoring it for a few
seconds, before returning to the puppy and stroking again or
interacting calmly and kindly with soft voice and gentle hands.
If mouthing repeats, i would get up quickly but quietly, make
the PSSH sound and walk out.
In the event of problems with the puppy being too quick for you
and beating you out of the door, you can either use your body
language or voice (if this works for you and your puppy) to make
the puppy stay in the room, or you can try my secret trick! This
is something i suggested to a puppy owner once and it worked
a treat! The lady was elderly and too slow to beat her little
lab puppy through the doorway. Every time she tried, the puppy
skipped through her legs on the way through and waited the other
side with a mischievous face as if to say: "Beat ya, now
what?!"
I told the lady to get to that point with the dog the other side
and instead of moving towards the dog, she just pulled the door
shut immediately, and remained in the first room leaving the
dog in the room it just ran into in its attempt to out-think
its owner!
You have to find your own physical positioning and timing, but
it should not be difficult to use a combination of body language
and voice to either slow your puppy down and beat it out the
door, or to make the puppy run through the door past you. In
either case, the door is shut and the puppy wishes it had your
attention again. It is important not to leave it too long, as
the puppy may then display another unwanted behaviour like scratching
at the door or barking. The puppy just needs enough chances to
begin to learn the association between mouthing and the sudden
and calm removal of your eye contact, physical presence, play
and affection.
It should take no more than 7 or 8 of these scenarios before
your dog adjusts it behaviour for the better, and you can apply
this same removal technique to many other behaviours. |
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