How much mouthing is acceptable or is it all unacceptable?

ozzy · 01-10-2008, 10:32 AM

I have read so many different opinions on this subject and I was wondering what some of you dog lovers thought?

I have a terrier pup currently 8 months old. I did the bite inhibition thing right away because he was a nippy puppy. I believe he quickly learned that we don't like it and not to do it so hard so isn't that the definition of bite inhibition? He never bites hard but he is mouthy even still at 8 months. When he was younger it was all the time. Pulling away and saying ouch seemed to excite him more so I used a combo of ignoring him (which worked well) and sometimes really yelping like a puppy which would shock him into stopping.

Now he just does it occassionaly and it is when he either wants something or when he wants to get something or get away from you. I spoke to a trainer who seemed to think it was no big deal and said terriers are very one track mind and when they want something they want it.

So is this acceptable? He doesn't do it hard so he has learned the inhibition part, he doesn't do it like sudden nipping, and when I say no sternly he almost always stops and starts licking? Anything else I should try? What do you all think?

I am also planning to start another obedience class with him this winter, will that help? I practice NILF for the most part as well but do slip up sometimes.

digits mama · 01-10-2008, 11:12 AM

I let Puddles mouth me in play, but it really depends on the amount of pressure she mouths me with. There are limits to how hard she bites. If she bites to hard, I quit play.But if she is sweetly play nipping I think it is OK.

Shalva · 01-10-2008, 11:55 AM

there are two schools of thought here
one is that a dogs mouth should never be on a person......
the other is that it is ok to have them mouth you as long as you teach good bite inhibition and you don't mind....

I personally am of the latter school BUT I have no elderly people here and no young children..... my dogs are soft mouthed retrievers and they were nippy as youngsters but have grown out of that now they mostly want to suck my arm....

only you can decide what is acceptable for you and what you are willing to tolerate..... just make sure that when you say stop it stops and there are no questions about your puppy not taking it any further than you allow.... you must set a clear boundary for mouthing if you are going to allow it and then you need to teach good bite inhibition by letting the dog know when he is too rough....
but all in all its totally up to you to make that decision
s

MegaMuttMom · 01-10-2008, 12:12 PM

We use the command no mouth when we don't want to be mouthed. We never allowed it when he was younger because we were a bit afraid. Now that Cherokee is older we trust him to always use his mouth very gently and it is a sign of affection and bonding. He likes to groom us very gently with his front teeth too. I like that he listens to "no mouth" so I can use it when other people are around. Not everyone enjoys a gentle mouth enveloping their forearm or having their earlobes nibbled.

lovemygreys · 01-10-2008, 02:10 PM

We don't allow mouthing mostly b/c we *might* have kids one day.

ozzy · 01-10-2008, 02:33 PM

Yeah I don't really mind the mouthing but I might have kids one day too so I don't really want him to think it's ok whenever he feels like and right now he seems to. He knows I don't like it and stops when I say no bite but he still does it all the time just not hard. I think I am going to work on the no bite or maybe a no mouth command for the next few weeks including ignoring him every time he does it. I will just have to get up and go away I guess which is hard because a lot of times we'll be in the middle of a game but I want him to get it.

He responds really well to food rewards, is there anyway you can think of to teach this and reward him when he doesn't do it. If he sees a treat he won't do it to begin with.

MegaMuttMom · 01-10-2008, 02:49 PM

I don't know how I would have rewarded Cherokee for no mouth. If he stops mouthing when I say "no mouth" the play continues, if he doesn't, I get up and go away.

britishbandit · 01-10-2008, 02:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shalva

there are two schools of thought here
one is that a dogs mouth should never be on a person......
the other is that it is ok to have them mouth you as long as you teach good bite inhibition and you don't mind....

I personally am of the latter school BUT I have no elderly people here and no young children..... my dogs are soft mouthed retrievers and they were nippy as youngsters but have grown out of that now they mostly want to suck my arm....

only you can decide what is acceptable for you and what you are willing to tolerate..... just make sure that when you say stop it stops and there are no questions about your puppy not taking it any further than you allow.... you must set a clear boundary for mouthing if you are going to allow it and then you need to teach good bite inhibition by letting the dog know when he is too rough....
but all in all its totally up to you to make that decision
s

I totally agree.

echo8287 · 01-10-2008, 08:17 PM

I let my 2 puppies bite me all they wanted to. I would yelp if they did it too hard. As they got older I would yelp if it was even a tad hard bite. Now they are 9 months old and I can play with them as rough as I want and they never bite me even a little hard. I hand fed them a lot while they were little too. I give them 2 bowls of food and they have never growled at me or each other over any food. You can open their mouths and take out numerous objects and they don't flinch. If you hand them something to eat they will take it ever so lightly>no snapping. They WILL argue over a toy, if one has it and the other wants it. David

sheltiemom · 01-10-2008, 09:48 PM

Mine are not allowed to put their mouths on people at all. I have two kids, my youngest was 5 when we got them as puppies, and herding breeds are known for being nipping at heels, especially kids running around. I just felt not allowing it at all was the best way to prevent problems.

ozzy · 01-11-2008, 10:21 AM

Sheltiemom-I had a sheltie growing up he was my companion from age 7 to 21 and I remember him chasing us kids outside and nipping our ankles. I would get upset and my parents would put the poor dog inside so we could run around and not be herded haha.

My mother just got a new sheltie over Christmas and he is already a little nippy but he is so tiny those puppy teeth don't hurt yet.

Echo8287-I think my situation is similar, Ozzy play bites but he doesn't do it hard anymore, once in awhile it is a tad hard and I want to stop that in case I do have kids in the future. I can stick my hand in his food and grab stuff out of his mouth no problem though, he only mouths while playing or when he wants some attention.

rosemaryninja · 01-11-2008, 10:32 AM

It's entirely up to you. Both are just as teachable. For my dogs I taught them no mouthing at all. Anytime their teeth even touched my skin I would do the "Ow!" and they got the idea really quickly. Some people teach their dogs that mouthing is fine as long as there's no excessive force, which is also acceptable. I just wanted to be perfectly safe because we do get kids over who can't resist the dogs and I didn't want them telling their mommies my dogs "bit" them.