When does all the mouthing stop????

Hi,

Ruby is now 8 months and i was just wondering when she would stop with all the mouthing. Dont get me wrong its not a problem as she has learnt not to 'bite' as such, its just she still will quite often play bite when she gets excited and is made a fuss off. She doesnt hurt and puts no pressure on at all, it seems that whenever i make a fuss of her and come down to her level i get a hand full of dog slobber and teeth I cant rememeber when other pups stopped it so i was just wondering.

She will outgrow it when she consistently gets a negative response for a long time. Tolerating biting thinking it will go away before long is a common mistake. You now have a natural behavior reinforced by 8 months of it.

Young Labs, which I know best, and other puppies tend to very bad about biting. You see a litter of them, and all the ones that are awake are biting another one or themselves. I am not even sure they realize that when they are alone, if they quit biting, they would quit being bitten. At 3 to 4 months they are getting their adult teeth, and it seems they spend every waking moment biting or chewing. One thing you can do at that stage is to knot and wet a piece of cloth. Then freeze it. The cooling will soothe the gums. Only let the puppy have it when you are there to watch it. I maintain a Lab's favorite chew toy is another Lab. Otherwise they settle for any person they can. They keep hoping to find one that won't yelp, jerk their hand away, and leave.

You just have to keep on correcting them, hundreds of times, not dozens. Provide sturdy, safe toys such as Kongs and Nylabones. Avoid things they can chew pieces off and choke on them. Keep them away from electrical cords. Crates are essential for most young Labs and other dogs.

The pet stores are full of toys that many dogs will quickly chew up into pieces they could choke on or cause intestinal blockages. If you are not there to watch, stick to sturdy stuff such as Nylabones and Kongs. Keep a close eye on chew toys and quickly discard anything that is coming apart in pieces. Rawhide is especially bad because it swells after being swallowed. I don't trust any of the consumable chews. The dogs just gnaw them down to a dangerous size too quickly. These problems are the worst with, but not limited to, large, aggressive chewers such as Labs.

Hi, my first beagle chewed everything but it will get better,I used to yelp like a dog and get up and walk away ,sometimes the little monkey would chase me though and go for my ankles: We got another beagle when he was 6 months they chewed eachother after that You could try redirecting the chewing onto a suitable toy and praise her if she chews that? Cold raw carrotts are good for the gums and not many calories for greedy beagles. Good luck.

Think my first post was a little unclear.....sorry ill try again.

I guess when i wrote play bite that wasent what i ment really. When she was younger she was always play biting and i taught her 'no bite' she would then stop biting, loosen her jaw and kind of mouth me (not causing any pain to me) i possibly made the mistake of thinking i had done well training her this as it stopped the continious puppy bite marks!!

She now never bites as such..... but she will when excited mouth me, again no pressure and not chewing me. It happens at times when im training her and go down to praise her stroking her head and her mouth will end up with my hand in it mouthing and slobbering all over me Sorry if i have just described play biting but it certainly isnt what she used to do when it actually hurt!

I dont class it as a problem, just an over excited puppy, and i was just wondering if others do this and when they grow out of it?

She has lots of chew toys that she takes it out on, and from what she has done to them im certainly glad its not my hand (or my furniture)

Hi,

I think all puppies vary with stopping mouthing.

My two have both been different. Tia was a lot rougher and tended to play bite more than she mouthed, but she had stopped by around six months old. Sapphire sounds very much like your pup, she is also eight months old and only mouths gently when she gets excited. I correct her each time and she only does it very rarely now.

Thanks, think im gonna have to be a bit tougher with her as ive probably been letting her get away with it for a bit to long as she hasent been hurting me.

Couple of points

1, make sure she's got enough mental and physical activity to satisfy her

2, teach her a behaviour incompatible with mouthing.
If she jumps up to mouth teach her to sit for greetings for example.

Adam

In short..

A dog stops biting or mouthing when you teach it not to. Mine are taught not to bite or mouth at 16 weeks old.

On dogs I am planning to run into protection work later on in life, they are taught to bite or mouth anybody but me and then only if told to during rough play. Unless you know what you are doing, your dog should not bite ANYONE, including yourself under ANY circumstances.
What does not hurt you, could very easily hurt or at the least scare a child and get both you and your dog in a lot of hot water.

Blimey wish i never said anything! I take on board the comments that have been made and as i said earlier i will be stopping her a bit more now she is getting a little older.

She has never hurt anyone with her 'mouthing', not me nor my 5 year old son, nor for that matter my nieces and nephews ranging from 16 mths to 10 years, and they all play with her! So i do not see this as a problem, just a slobbery stage, that i will now address if anything just to get away from the slobber when i praise her.

Hey Louise

If Ruby is anything like Monty I know exactly what you mean! Monty will occasionally munge (that is what I call it lol) on things, he loves socks! I am sure she will get over it soon, I wouldn't take it seriously and would just take your hand away if she gets annoying lol!

I know lots of dogs are good with children but I know Monty and he really is one of the best I have seen with them, he adores them! I am sure Ruby is just the same??!!