Adolescent dog still ‘mouthing’

[Beedabop]

I’m hoping for some training tips. My nearly 1 year old dog is fairly well trained (we had a dog trainer until Nov and puppy classes), but he is still very mouthy/ nibbly which I expected him to grow out of. It’s purely play, or when he’s excited, and also when he comes up for affection, but it’s both annoying AND we have small children/ small children who visit and I’m very worried it will scare one or mouth too hard one day.

I’m well aware he shouldn’t be doing it, tell him to stop when it happens (constantly through the day!) and say ‘good’ when he stops. I don’t let him play with children unattended (he has a separate run in the house to help if I can’t supervise).

I have a one to one with the dog trainer but she can’t come for a month. I was hoping for some tips I can implement in the meantime.

He’s our first dog but we both grew up with dogs, and it’s the first time we’ve had one that hasn’t outgrown this.

Thanks 🙏

Although it's a natural reaction to bad behaviour, telling him to stop has no meaning for him as dogs don't understand English.

You need to show him that mouthing doesn't get him any attention. For us, that meant taking him out of the room and putting him in "time out" behind a closed door or baby gate (do NOT use his crate for this) and only allowing him back in when he was calm.

Other techniques include squealing loudly and immediately stopping play, though be warned that some dogs think the noise is playful and it just makes things worse. You could also try putting your hands into fists, crossing your arms across your chest (so there's nothing for him to jump up and bite), turning away and saying nothing. No correction, no eye contact - just totally ignore him until he stops, then once he's calm, praise him.

What breed is he, out of curiosity? Some dogs are mouthier than others.

We taught a 'gentle' command before anything else, so every time he was gentle with his mouth we would reward with a treat and a 'good gentle'. Gradually built that up so that he responded to 'gentle' if he was getting mouthy. So basically encouraged the behaviour we did want. Any nipping or catching with mouth meant the game or attention stopped.

Thank you for taking the time to respond.

He’s 3/4 miniature poodle (I know not popular on MN! but we know his mum, first litter so they could keep one, no lockdown prices, DNA tested parents, puppy contract, they had to see my kids with the litter twice before deposit allowed etc and still have regular contact with the family). I WFH since before covid and finally felt the kids were old enough.

He is very much what we hoped for. He’s affectionate and playful, and still very gentle. He also very much wants to please. He’s a bit of a velcro dog which I expected, in that he likes touch/ to be close. But he’s used to being left alone for an hour or so when needed and settles. There’s still however work to do :)

I’ll try both teaching the gentle command (to be fair he never snatches so it’s just going one step further) to build up to being able to use it when he mouths, And also ignoring/ turning away when it happens at the moment. I suspect the squeal would be exciting to him!

We have a younger dog who we were trying to distract and redirect without much success. But we have found saying “yipe” in a squeals voice has helped. She does stop when we do this

Givr him something to hold when he is mouthing you. A soft toy or a stuffed old sock usually works.

Poodles were originally bred to retrieve items from water so it's in his nature to hold things in his mouth :)

Try giving him a toy to hold instead so he directs his desire to have things in his mouth into something more appropriate. Stuffed toys are a great idea, a chew toy, a tug - all sorts!

Give him a toy if he’s coming to you to play.

If it’s overexcitement get up and leave the room or turn your back on him. He’ll soon learn that attention and play ends as soon as he starts to use his teeth.

Thank you! We have lots of toys, I have a never ending supply of chews on rotation :) but I hadn’t thought of supplying them.

I agree, Re the turning away. I’ve been chatting to all of m the family this evening so that are all doing the same thing - i.e stand and turn sideways away from him if he does it to any of us. Thanks all for your advice.

I was until very recently in the same boat with my ddog who is a 12 month old lurcher (and they tend to be quite mouthy in their play with other dogs). The only thing that worked was stopping play or interaction for any non accidental teeth on skin contact. I will just get up and leave the room saying 'no biting'. Only for about 15 seconds. My two DS were under strict orders to do the same. It has taken a couple of months but the biting is very rare now and only when he is over excited or stressed.
I know he's not everyone's cup of tea but Zac George has been doing training with a mouthy adolescent German Shepherd which I think is worth a watch.