Help! My dog is biting me - puppy biting and mouthing

by Anne-Marie Mayes

I would like to visit the topic of biting or “mouthing”. I have had many clients over the years come to me with the concern that their puppy, adolescent or adult dog is biting them. I recently adopted an 8 month old, medium sized mixed-breed dog that is very mouthy especially when she is excited.  By "mouthy”, I mean when the dog puts their entire mouth on your arm or hand and lightly bites down.  This is different from true aggressive biting where the dog intends to harm someone. When puppies do this, we end up with a lot of scratches on our arms due to their sharp baby teeth but when the dogs have adult teeth it usually ends in a bruise.

So why does mouthing occur? Dogs explore the world with their mouths by picking up objects, chewing on them or sometimes eating them. They use their mouths to play with other dogs, or to play with or get attention from humans. We have to take the time to teach dogs that they shouldn't put teeth on humans. This is why we should not move our hands quickly towards our dogs or play games with our hands such as playing keep away with your hands or touching their face with each hand back and forth.

Another issue that can develop if we do not address the mouthing is that as the dog gets older they bite harder.  We as an owner want to teach them bite inhibition – if they bite, not to bite hard. 

I recommend practising some exercises that teach the dog when human hands touch, we do not bite and they get rewarded for it.

Exercise #1 Hand target: we offer our hand and the dog moves forward to sniff and then touch we mark yes and reward simple repeat eventually we want the dog to add pressure when their nose (with their mouth closed) touches the hand and reward.  

Exercise# 2 Gotcha: slowly reach for your dog’s collar or harness and reward.  There are two main reasons to play this game. First, so we can catch our dogs if and when we call them and second, when we hold or touch them they do not mouth us but wait for the treat.  Slowly increase the speed that you move towards the dog as well as the time of the hold.

Addressing the mouthing involves a lot of patience. As soon as your dog gets excited or overtired the mouthing and biting increases.

Exercise #3 Anything But Biting Me: If you've taken classes with us you know this one. The more we touch our dogs on different body parts the more comfortable, and therefore less mouthy, your dog will be. For example as you are walking through the house reach down and do a gotcha and reward them. When you are out walking, gently touch your dog’s tail and treat.  As your dog gets more comfortable with touching you can increase the excitement of your touch and also practice when they are tired. 

I find that the longer the dog is able to mouth the harder the bite and the more time it takes to redirect 

Remember that we also have a part in it. Be aware of where your hands are, if your dog jumps on you do not push them off as they will think you are playing the jump at you harder. Instead, turn your back, ask for a sit, or pick up a toy and reward 

Once again when human hands touch dogs they produce treats and they are not for biting.

Marshmallow is mouthing her human