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Help How To Stop Puppy From Mouthing


chloebear
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Holly 4 month old, when patting her, she keeps putting her teeth around my hand, not trying to put but like she is trying to show affection but I am wanting to teach her that this is not okay. I am not sure how to handle this. She is a rescue dog, was very timid, still is, but has made a lot of progress (if that makes any sense) she was very badley abused and neglected. She also has started to jump alot, at obiendence previously I was told to bring my knee up when she is doing this, but I am finding that is seeming to make her cringe away. I know I have been asking alot of questions in realation to my puppy, please be patient with me and help me out. I knew when I took her that she would be a challenge (and yes I am not really experience enough but I have a lot of love to give), I didn't have the heart to leave her where she was, she was due to be put down that afternoon.

Once again Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to help me out, we are making progress but still a long way to go. She has put on weight and started to learn what playing is.

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Hi...

Seeing as how Chloe is timid...maybe you could try this?

get her to sit,or lie down ..then stroke/tickle under her chin with one hand...'almost' holding her head still :) but gently stroking, from near her throat ,to under her bottom jaw.

You can reverse it after a couple of strokes.

while you are doing this, and she is holding her head still..quietly praise her..and ,with you other hand, scratch behind her ear, or gently massage her neck.

By keping things slow and gentle, she doesn't get excited...both your hands are not in a position to be mouthed, and she will be so happy to have the attention to her chin, she shouldn't open her mouth :D

This may help her relax, and to realise that being patted isn't a stressful thing, and that when she is still and not mouthing, she gets attention :)

IF she does mouth... remove your hand,immediately turn away and stay still for a minute or so..let her know that this behaviour leads to you 'disappearing' :)

A similar thing in obedience.... when /if she jumps..immediately turn around and ignore her for a minute..no force..no loud noise...

I was told to bring my knee up when she is doing this, but I am finding that is seeming to make her cringe away.

well, yes, it will!!

I have done it to boofy dogs who just won't listen...but NOT a timid puppy :thumbsup:

is there another club or somewhere you can go ...phone around, explain that she is lacking in confidence and reacts badly to the physical corrections and loud noises...

Edited by persephone
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The way we stopped mouthing was to hold her muzzle when she mouthed and a firm NO with eye contact.

You can also try to pull her lip over her teeth when she bites so she realises it hurts.

OUCH!!!

good advise persephone, i was going to say similar as its what worked with levi and fergus!!! :thumbsup:

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The best way to teach her not to jump up is to teach her to sit. A dog with bum on floor can't simultaneously jump. Reward when she sits (e.g. pats, attention, treat), ignore when she jumps e.g. turn your back as she jumps.

Although you've rescued her and she's timid, still be a good leader and be consistent. She will feel more secure this way. Training doesn't mean being harsh at all. At our obedience club, a member was told off for kneeing her dog to stop her jumping (not hurting her), so it's strange advice.

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The way we stopped mouthing was to hold her muzzle when she mouthed and a firm NO with eye contact.

You can also try to pull her lip over her teeth when she bites so she realises it hurts.

Yep - we did this with our dog and it worked well.

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The way we stopped mouthing was to hold her muzzle when she mouthed and a firm NO with eye contact.

You can also try to pull her lip over her teeth when she bites so she realises it hurts.

I tried this and it worked for a few days until my pup decided that it was all part of some crazy game. As mean as it sounds I even tried putting her paw into her mouth after taking my hand out, thinking that she'd realise that biting hurts, but unfortunately not.. She also thought it was a fun game haha

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The best way to teach her not to jump up is to teach her to sit. A dog with bum on floor can't simultaneously jump. Reward when she sits (e.g. pats, attention, treat), ignore when she jumps e.g. turn your back as she jumps.

Although you've rescued her and she's timid, still be a good leader and be consistent. She will feel more secure this way. Training doesn't mean being harsh at all. At our obedience club, a member was told off for kneeing her dog to stop her jumping (not hurting her), so it's strange advice.

there are some dogs who will not listen to sit etc.i bought a 15 mth 50 kg bloodhound that was such a bad jumper we had scratches 2 feet long,and deep.ignoring him didnt work,any movement excited him so in the end i did bring my knee up(not knee him though) and as he came down he hit it.i also said ah,ah which is my word for 'dont do that".it worked for him when nothing else did,but a timid puppy needs a different approach.i watched my bitch with her large litter when they got to the 8-12 weeks stage and were jumping on her,biting etc,she turned around and grabbed them on the muzzle while growling!!!never drew blood though.i have a pup that is an attention jumper-what i did was go in and out that door 100 times! one day and just walked past,no talking to them,no pats,just ignored them.at first he jumped around,followed etc,but after i kept going in and out,he got bored and only jumps occasionally.i also do not pat them evertime i see them,sometimes i dont speak to them either ,they only get attention when they are calm and all 4 on the floor.

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The way we stopped mouthing was to hold her muzzle when she mouthed and a firm NO with eye contact.

You can also try to pull her lip over her teeth when she bites so she realises it hurts.

OUCH!!!

good advise persephone, i was going to say similar as its what worked with levi and fergus!!! :)

Not that hard to elicit an ouch! :rofl:

I believe the holding the muzzle is a dominant action and it is not intended to hurt the dog, it is uncomfortable and she got the message quickly enough. To begin with if she got too excited we would hold her down whilst holding her muzzle - again dominant not aggressive...

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