Mouthing

Mouthing is a very common puppy behavior, especially in those separated from their litter-mates prior to 8 weeks of age. This is because puppies do not develop bite inhibition until their 7th week of age. This is something that is only possible to be taught by other puppies and dogs. It is not possible for a human to teach a puppy bite inhibition. If a puppy is not given the proper opportunity to develop this bite inhibition, all you can do as the owner is work on impulse control to teach the puppy not to put it's mouth on human skin at all.

Puppies not only use their mouths to explore their world, but they also use them to play and interact. It is your responsibility to teach your puppy that, while mouthing during play is ok with other dogs, it is not ok with people.

To start, you want to teach your puppy that as long as mouthing is soft, it will be allowed. If it gets too rough you can yelp or give one of the other corrections listed below. If s/he comes back just as rough a 2nd time give one more time to correct their behavior by folding your arms, turning away, or even getting up and walking away to show your puppy that you don't want to play that way. If your puppy comes back a 3rd time just as rough and is not wanting to listen, than it's a good sign your puppy needs a nap! Just like toddlers who get fussy and don't like to listen when they are tired, puppies get fussy when tired too. If this happens with your puppy, don't feel bad to put him/her away for a much needed nap time. As long as your puppy is trying to correct their behavior (you give some sort of correction like a yelp or turn away and then your pup gets softer with the mouthing), awesome! You puppy is learning and you can keep playing, However, keep in mind that they are puppies and it's normal for them to escalate again within a few minutes or even a few seconds. So long as they are making an attempt to do better, learning is happening and you can keep playing. It's when you hit that 3rd time in a row that your pup is making absolutely no attempt to correct their behavior and are mouthing just as hard, every time, no matter what you do, that is a clear sign of an ornery, tired, toddler puppy!

Once your puppy is always soft whenever s/he mouths you, you will start giving corrections any time you feel any pressure from the puppy when s/he mouths (yelping, turning away, etc). You want your puppy to think that people are the biggest wusses on the planet! Often times I will make a big show of it and act like the puppy just caused me the worst pain and give looks at it of "why would you do such a thing?!" Dogs understand body language very well, so making a big show of things can really help get your point across. Once your puppy will always put little to no pressure when mouthing you want to start teaching him/her that we only mouth when you want to play that way. This will help your puppy understand that any time s/he puts his/her mouth on human skin they must always be soft.

Listed below are some of the most common techniques and corrections I like to use when dealing with a mouthy puppy. But first, there are a few things you will want to keep in mind:

NEVER leave young children alone with puppies. Supervise ALL contact until the puppy has more training.
Stock up on appropriate toys and chews. Bully sticks, Kongs and Nylabones can be good options. Pink and teal colored Kongs are of a softer rubber specifically made for teething puppies. Nylabones can be soaked in broth for about 15 minutes to absorb the flavor, making them a very tasty treat most puppies will love! Soaking a rope toy in cold water, cold carrot sticks,apple slices, and/or offering a frozen banana are also great options for teething puppies, as the coolness and texture feels good on sore gums. Always avoid rawhide! These are an awful, chemical soaked, not fully digestible choking hazard for dogs. They may be cheap, but I feel that they are absolutely not worth the risk.
Do not play slapping or wrestling type games until your puppy has better impulse control with mouthing. Discourage games that will encourage the puppy to play with you as if you were another dog. NEVER allow children to play with dogs in this manner!!

Often times people think when their puppies get over rambunctious and mouthy it is a sign that they need to provide more exercise for their puppy. This is almost always the opposite case! Puppies that actually need more exercise and mental stimulation tend to get destructive, not mouthy. They seek out different things to entertain and occupy their brain. Over rambunctious, mouthy puppies need sleep!
Be careful with just how much exercise you give your puppy. If you are constantly trying to give your puppy more and more exercise to "tire them out" you will actually just be building up their stamina. In the end you will have just accidentally created a canine athlete that even you cannot keep up with. One that is still tired, mouthy, and sleep deprived at that! There are also many other ways to "tire out" your puppy other than exercise. Training and brain work is a great way to give your puppy some much needed mental stimulation. Things like scent training and sniffy games or hide and go seek can be a great option. Calm activities such as working on a good chewy or stuffed Kong in their kennel, playing with a snuffle mat, or working at a puzzle feeder can all also be great options. These can also help your puppy learn how to spend quiet alone time and how to entertain themselves rather than depend so much on you. It is also important to know that too much exercise can actually be damaging to your growing puppy and lead to potential growth and joint issues, and even hip dysplasia. When you do exercise your puppy, avoid too much heavy running and jumping. Try keeping walks and other more active play shorter and broken up in the beginning as well. A good rule of thumb is 5 minutes of activity for every month old your puppy is, 1-3 times a day.
If you find that you are getting frustrated, just put your puppy into their kennel or in their long term confinement area. Never try to keep pushing things if you are frustrated. Your puppy will just feed off of you and you will get nowhere. At times like this it is perfectly ok to call it quits and just take a break.

Here are several methods you can try to help eliminate that pesky puppy mouthing behavior. Remember that often times you will have to try several of these before you find a method that really works with your pup. Pick your favorite and try it out for 3 days - if you don't see any improvement, try a different one. You may also find that you need to rotate through a few different methods to work with your puppy (that’s what I had to do with my dog Suki!). Also keep in mind that each method will affect your puppy differently – while one method might work for one puppy, it may have no affect on another.

Yelp and cry like a dog would. This is my favorite method to use and typically works 90% of the time. Pull your hand (or whatever other body part the puppy was mouthing) into you and cradle it while giving out a loud, high pitched "OUCH!" and giving the dog a look of "oh my gosh, why would you do such a thing to me?" Angle your body away from the puppy and refuse to play for a few moments until s/he has calmed down a bit.
Stop playing with the puppy. Remove all of your attention. Fold your arms and look away. Get up and walk away from the area if necessary. This will let the puppy know that playing too roughly causes him/her to lose fun interaction time with you.
Freeze! Stop moving. Once the puppy looks at you as if to ask “what’s going on?” you may resume play and try again.
Try to redirect the puppy onto an appropriate toy or chew. This helps to show your puppy that, while chewing on people is not ok, chewing on toys is!
Give the puppy a time out. Put the puppy on a leash and attach it somewhere the puppy can see you but is unable to interact with you at all. This could be a door knob, table leg, etc. Be sure it is away from things s/he may try to chew or destroy. During this time it is vital that you completely ignore him/her. No talking to or even looking at him/her. If the puppy is barking, whining, or pitching a fit in any way, IGNORE IT! If s/he learns that these behaviors get him/her any attention or if s/he is ever allowed off the leash while s/he is doing these behaviors, s/he will keep doing it! As soon as the puppy is calm (sitting or laying down and is quiet) let him/her off the leash to try again. It may take 30 seconds or it may take 30 minutes. The key is to wait until s/he is CALM. Remember that only 10-15 seconds of calm is all that you need. If you wait for too long, even just for a minute, your puppy won’t know why s/he is being let off the leash. You want to make sure s/he is associating calm behavior with gaining back his/her privileges. If s/he starts acting up again once s/he is off the leash, just put him/her right back on. Most puppies will pick up pretty quickly that calm behavior is the key.
Try spraying a chewing deterrent on hands, feet, and clothes (whatever the puppy typically mouths at). This way when s/he tries mouthing s/he will wind up with a yucky taste in his/her mouth and a bad smell in his/her nose. This can also work well if you use essential oils (please note that you should only ever use certified pure essential oils that are approved for internal use. If it says on the container that it is for external use only, it should not be used around dogs at all! I personally use doTERRA oils). I’ve had a lot of success rubbing peppermint oil on my hands and arms to get a puppy to not mouth me.
Try rubbing a cold stick of butter on your hands to encourage the puppy to lick your hands. Praise the puppy for being “soft.” This will help teach him/her that when his/her mouth comes in contact with skin s/he needs to be soft. This method works better if the butter is cold because you get enough on your hands to get the flavor there, but not so much that your hands become an icky sticky mess. You will want to avoid using this method if you are trying to discourage licking.