HELP! Puppy mouthing!

hi,

i have a 7 month old ridgeback male called samson. He is really well behaved most of the time, and is obedient until he gets excited! i think he is only playing but his mouthing is really bad, and what ever we seem to do to stop it, nothing works

i will take him for a walk in the park and one minute he will be great the next a monster! he jumps up at you and mouths hands and arms. tried everything ive been told previously, telling no or down in firm voice, crossing arms and walking away, yelping like pups do, distracting with toys etc. none of this works, it seems to make him worse! I end up having to just bring him home which is difficult with him jumping everywhere!

please help!

thanks

Quickly remove the hand say no very firmly and walk away ignoring him for at least 10 minutes after.

Sorry just read it is on the walk, would suggest you try a head collar or one of the leads that is just a handhold so your hand is behind his neck and he can't grab you, it is only excitement but it is unacceptable.

sound like your pup is starting to go through the "teenage stage"....mine is to!
It can happen all of a sudden like it did with mine....it is one of the worst time your go through with your pup...but it will end, hopfully sooner than later!
Keep doin what your doing...telling him down etc
and praise him when he is showing good behaviours.
He is testing the water so you have to be firm and constistant with him....take to obediance trainning, show him that your the boss and that mouthing is not expetable.
Dont worry to much he sound like a hyper teenage brat at the moment....like mine!
Should turn out finr in the end.....have you thought about castration???

alot of people have said that, that he will grow out of it. i hope he does. he is a big dog already and only going to get bigger! dont want to get him castrated as hoping to show him eventually. that is if he calms down! he doesnt listen to anything i say when he is in that state tho, its really frustrating.

he has completed his puppy foundation course and will be back to do his bronze in a month.

sounds like your doin everything right
my 10 month old was really hyper and all of a sudden stopped listen to comands he'd done from 4 months
but he is calmind down alot....hes a soppy as anything, but still has his hyper...pretend to go deaf moments bu hes still only young and is coming along well again.
Im not going to get hin "done" either untill he has fully matured

Personally I don't think puppies do generally just grow out of things, why should they once it gets a reaction. I would step the training up a gear, make it more varied and fun where possible, introduce new commands and make him work harder generally.
He's a big dog and he's getting bigger push him off, tell him get off, sit and wait for the next command such as walk on or whatever. None of mine are ever allowed to jump or mouth I find it totally unacceptable.
Also the yelping thing only tends to work when they are very young.

thanks, when you say that mouthing and jumping up is unacceptable, i totally agree. we have never let him do it and not say no or try to stop him. we jus cant seem to get him to stop. he wont listen to commands when he is like that either. i will try the walk on command, although i do usually try and walk and say lets go to him.

Seems you are doing the right things and as long as you continue being the one in charge he will come out the other end a well-adjusted well-behaved hound. As far as castration is concerned it may well make no difference and is not an alternative to training. He is anyway, in my opinion, far to young, needs to mature and that will be at least another 18 months.

I have a 7 month old GSD who since about 4 months has done the same thing - theres no meat and two veg making her behave that way - just youthful exhuberance. Stick to a routine, ignore that behaviour and fuss the dog when they sit calmly - mine has begun doing it less and less and the penny has eventually begun to drop.
Now I may stir up a hornets nest but Lola also did it to my 6 year old daughter on a few unsolicited occassions and the last time hurt her / scared her and made her cry. My patient technique went out the window and i grabbed her by the scruff and told her NO and threw her out the room.
I dont advocate physical punishment but her mouthing round the kids has stopped totally.

HI,
my pup did the same at that age, have you tries tickling his tongue near the backish as he mouths you? He won't like that. Also try saying ouch really loud as though he has really hurt you, I have heard that that can work quite well, as they start feeling worried about you and stop what they are doing. Generally keep going with the training the more he has to think about, the less time he has to think about mouthing. Goog luck!
Shelly