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Mouthy? Dog
Hi there. We adopted a chihuahua mix that is thought to be around 18 months old. We have had him about 6 weeks. When we first got him, he was terrified of the men in the house and he even “bit” two of them. He never used teeth or left a mark at all. He’s adjusted well to our home and gets along with everyone now, but when we take him places he pulls really hard trying to get to people, wagging his tail the whole time, and he jumps and mouths their hands. He isn’t growling or barking but it scares people sometimes because it looks like he’s trying to bite but he never uses any teeth at all. Any tips on how to work on this issue?
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1 Reply
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Laci, if you haven’t already resolved this, here are a couple of suggestions. 1) Train an incompatible behavior, such as sit for petting. He also doesn’t need to greet every person he sees. The mouthing is a juvenile excitement behavior and is his alternative since he can’t shake hands like a human! 2) If he is a retriever or some other ball crazy dog, try putting a toy in his mouth before letting him greet people. 3) Work on keeping his focus on YOU while someone pets him. Don’t let the other person give him treats. That will just increase his excitement about other people.
No matter how you go about it, you want him to start learning that other people are not that exciting. Depending on his personality, this might not be possible short of not letting him interact with others except in very special circumstances. Nothing says your dog has to greet every person he comes across. Good luck!
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