Mouthing- any advice?

[ceriann201]

Hello

I'd be interested to hear if anyone has advice on mouthing? My one year old rescue staffy can be really quite boisterous with it, clinging on to coats, sleeves etc...

I know a lot of people us the squeaky toy to distract mouthing. My dog initially responds to the noise and lets go but then gets super excited that someone has a squeaky and starts playing up again.

Any advice much appreciated.

Ceri x

[Baglady]

oo er, mouthing can be such a pain! Almost all puppies do it, but if she's a year old I'm guessing it has become a habit rather than a puppy behaviour. They do it as puppies because 1) they are teething, and 2) because they don't know it hurts the 'mouthee'.

But puppyhood would be the time to teach them that it's not really OK to put teeth on skin.

It's so difficult to give advice on line, if you are really worried that it's escalating then the best advice anyone could give you would be to get a trainer/behaviourist to see what she's doing and give you strategies for preventing it.

From my own experience I would say try not to excite her if excitement is the trigger. There is a big difference between controlled play, like throw and fetch, tuggy games (if she has a reliable 'leave' command), and general razzle dazzle excitement.

If and when she does put teeth on skin, I would stop whatever you are doing, and give her something else to do, for instance scatter treats on the floor and tell her to go hunting, or give her something to chew, but don't increase her excitement if that is a trigger.

If you can identify the triggers, just remove them. If something you are doing gets her excited, stop doing it.

She is still very young, hopefully she will calm down as she matures, but you need to have a zero tolerance on mouthing. It's easier to nip it in the bud with the help of a qualified professional trainer behaviourist while she is still young.

Good luck xx