Puppy Mouthing

hnichols613

hnichols613

New Member
So I have a 13 week old Great Dane puppy who is roughly 30 pounds and lives to play.....and bite! I understand that mouthing is typical puppy behavior but because of her size it is becoming a greater issue than normal. She gets very mouthy when she gets really excited and wants to play, but she also bites if if try to pet her sometimes? Now I have never hit her or done any kind of physical correction but I do use a firm "no bite" and sometimes that helps. I have also tried ignoring her, walking away, yelping, and putting her in her kennel for 10 seconds but nothing seems to be working? The behavior isn't getting worse, it's just the teeth are getting bigger and so are the sores. Also, after I say "no bite" she sometimes lunges at me and barks, and I know I'm humanizing this but it seems like she's talking back at me!
So does anyone have any positive reinforcement tips using the clicker because she is very food motivated but I don't really know what behavior I should be reinforcing?
 
brody_smom

brody_smom

Experienced Member
I'm sorry you haven't had any replies from more experienced dog owners. I've never had one as young as yours, but I adopted Brody at 7 months and he still had this issue. He also seemed to be more excited and wanted to bite more when I said "ouch" or "yip" in a loud, high pitched voice, so I stopped doing this. What did work was immediately standing up, folding my arms and turning my back. He was a jumper too, so he would get me on the back of my arms or grab my ponytail in his mouth. It didn't happen over night, but it did stop. Just keep at it, and be consistent. Make sure anyone else who has access to your pup does the same. It also helps if you can redirect the attention to a tuggie or some kind of chew toy that your pup enjoys. I taught him the cue "get your tuggie", so when he kept pawing at my back, I would send him away to get a toy. Never tolerate biting or jumping up, even a little. If she persists, leave the room and close the door. Good luck!
 
kcmetric

kcmetric

Well-Known Member
10 seconds isn't long enough, make it 30-60.

If she starts to nip at you immediately replace your skin with a toy. He may start to see your arm as a reward because he gets a toy when he goes for it. So then predict when he may begin to start the behavior and quickly give the toy. You can also interrupt the behavior with maybe a clap or a firm ah-ah. Or teach an incompatible behavior. Once he starts nipping ask him to do something else like spin or whatever instead.
 
threenorns

threenorns

Well-Known Member
dandy's border collie mix and yeah - mouthy little bugger. it's how he got his name - dandelion, or more properly "dent de lion" (lion tooth in french). i don't mind mouthing - when he was little, he used to hold the tips of my fingers in his mouth when we walked. it felt exactly like i was holding a child's hand, lol.

even now, he's always mouthing my arms but doesn't do it to anybody else. he knows that's verboten - but i could see it was extremely important to him to have that so i didn't want to to take it completely away.
 
MaryK

MaryK

Honored Member
Aww that's sweet threenorns:)

Puppies do mouth, it's their way of exploring the world, along with sniffing of course. Leaf will mouth, fortunately she's not too hard, but I re-direct her and VERY quickly give her her fav toy - if possible depending on where we are - I throw it for her and ask her to fetch, which she promptly does and pounces on her toy.

I don't worry about using the clicker (I don't sleep - well not yet - with a clicker on my wrist) I just re-direct and she's off flying after her toy.

If it's not possible to throw her toy, I still use it and 'play' with her, shaking the toy etc. and she totally forgets all about Mom's Arm being a tasty chew toy - thank goodness!

Neither do I use a food based reward though she's THE most food orientated puppy/dog I've ever trained. Her toy and some fun play is her 'reward'. And fortunately, after a few throws, she's ready for a snuggle (without mouthing) with me:)
 
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