Help with mouthiness

Cytina

Hi Pesties!  I haven't been around much b/c of work but I need your advice with our new foster (we got him on Friday night).  He's a shar-pei/lab mix named Riley, about 12 months old.  Animal Services listed him as a stray so no history available.  He has no manners/training (except thankfully housetraining!) and I'm working successfully with him - starting with the basics.  He's already sitting on command 99% of the time!  He is VERY mouthy though and nibbles/bites a lot to get attention or to be playful. If you've successfully broken this habit, what was your trick/method?  TIA! 

mainerocks

Is that your fence?  It reminded me of this one dog we had at the shelter that was super mouthy because he got so wound up. You couldn't really just ignore and walk away because he'd follow you being mouthy. The great trainer we have looped a leash around him and clipped it to the chain link fence. She'd approach calmly and when he mouthed she would step back just out of reach and ignore him. Then try again. It took ages, but he eventually figured out that being calm and not mouthy meant the attention he wanted, and any nibbles meant ignoring.  It took so much patience that I still get tired just thinking about it! )

eshee8198

I don't know about an older dog, but our aussie is super mouthy - she responded well to an overexaggerated, hurt sounding (not aggressive) OWWWWW from us every time she put her mouth on us in a way we didn't like...generally followed by stopping the reward (play) and acting hurt and ignoring her for a short time. Now she makes sure there is a toy in her mouth before she gets excited - almost like she knows she can't help herself. Good luck!

ESquared423

eshee8198:

I don't know about an older dog, but our aussie is super mouthy - she responded well to an overexaggerated, hurt sounding (not aggressive) OWWWWW from us every time she put her mouth on us in a way we didn't like...generally followed by stopping the reward (play) and acting hurt and ignoring her for a short time. Now she makes sure there is a toy in her mouth before she gets excited - almost like she knows she can't help herself. Good luck!

Ditto to this, our Pointer mix was super mouthy and he has really improved with this method.