# Golden is almost 2 yrs old and still mouths me pretty hard



## spruce (Mar 13, 2008)

Bridger (1) will chew on me when we're in bed, but I give him a toy & he has no problem replacing my hand with a teddy bear. 

note: all 3 dogs obey my husband; me, just sometimes


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## Sienna's Mom (Oct 23, 2007)

Sienna just turned 20 months and I've always had a problem with her mouthing me pretty hard. She gets very wound up and playful and starts to go after my arms- it is mostly if I get down at her level. She is slowly getting better, but has also recently regressed in that she has started grabbing my son's shirt sleeve again.

We got her at 7 weeks and she was one of only 4, so I am wondering if this contributed to it- not having a lot of siblings to teach her bite inhibition? Add that to us being first time dog owners (grew up with dogs, but never our own) we probably didn't go about teaching her as well as we could've. I have bruises.

I've sprayed her with bitter apple, but mostly hold her snout closed firmly and give her a firm/loud NO or NO BITE. It may take a few times, but she does stop. If it does continue I get up and remove myself. Giving her a different "toy" might work as well as I've notices she loves to grab something to hold when she is excited- hence- my arm!

We started back in an obedience class and the teacher also said she was a little mouthy- but then again, Sienna seems to think he is a big giant treat dispenser LOL. Thankfully she is better with me on the treats.

And yes, she does this mostly with me, hardly at all with my husband. BUT- she is doing GREAT with me in obedience class- then again... I have treats.

HUGS- I guess I could say I feel your pain


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## laprincessa (Mar 24, 2008)

Someone once asked me what was Max's favorite chew toy. I laughed and said, "ME!" They thought I was kidding till I showed them the bruises. I've taught him "nice kisses" when he gets too mouthy and then he knows to be gentle. I've also stopped getting on the floor and wrestling with him, because when he gets too excited is when his mouth gets a little too firm. 
And he's only a bit over a year old.


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## fostermom (Sep 6, 2007)

My Danny will be two in 11 days and he will still get mouthy if he has a lot of extra energy to burn. I just remind him "no bite" and hand him a toy, which he will shake like crazy because his energy level is very high and he has to let it out. He is why I don't miss many walks during the week!


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## jnmarr (Mar 7, 2008)

My Rusty was like this.. finally stopped just after his second birthday! He was raised as an only child.. and did this when he wanted us to play, or he was really wound up. The thing that finally worked was I would yelp, cross my arms and stomp either back into the house, or into another room, slamming the door shut. 5 minutes or so I would come back and do some obedience and start to throw the ball or exercise again. Penny does this to Rusty, but at times will try to nail me, also. She is almost 1 and improving, just doing it when greeting us after a while has passed. At that time I let her out of the crate and pretty much ignore her.. walking to the door to let them out. After she goes potty, and runs a lizard I call her to me and praise her for being calm. It does get better.. eventually....


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## gkosowitz (Oct 8, 2008)

Thanks, its nice to know i am not the only one who has a little cujo. Sometimes, I don't think other breed owners understand how mouthy golden can be. I think he knows it always gets a rise out of me and that's why he does it.


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## cubbysan (Mar 13, 2007)

Brady will be two next month, and he is getting bad again. It is with my girls (5, 10, 11). They squeal, and it just encourages him more. The one he does it less to is my 5 year old, she puts him in his place, sometimes even biting him back!

I need to get him back into classes, that helped him a lot last year.


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## JoelSilverman (Oct 21, 2008)

I was reading you original post and you pretty much hit it on the head. I am under the impression that he really does not know the word "no". If you regress back and teach the word "no", it will help you with this, and a lot of other things. I can help you here if you want just messaging.


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## Pointgold (Jun 6, 2007)

This is a respect issue. He believes that when your husband tells him "No", that there will be a consequence if he doesn't stop. You need to make him understand that the same goes for you. Make your "No!" a low, growling sounding no, and if he doesn't respond, remove him from your presence. Put him in his crate for a "time out". Exile is the ultimate punishment for a dog, because no matter how awful they are being, they want to be with you.


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## JoelSilverman (Oct 21, 2008)

That is not necessarily true. It may very well be a respect issue, and it may be the dog just has forgotten what the word "NO" means. Let me just mention what I said again. _Your dog needs to understand the word "NO"_. If your dog does not understand the word "NO", yelling the word "NO", whispering "NO", using a low growling sound or any other type of sound will not help because your dog does not understand or has not respect for what "NO" means. It's no different than a child.

There is nothing wrong with regressing and taking it a few steps back and "pairing" the word "NO" with some sort of "negative". Some dogs need it, and especially dogs that have forgotten what "NO" means.


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## Pointgold (Jun 6, 2007)

JoelSilverman said:


> That is not necessarily true. It may very well be a respect issue, and it may be the dog just has forgotten what the word "NO" means. Let me just mention what I said again. _Your dog needs to understand the word "NO"_. If your dog does not understand the word "NO", yelling the word "NO", whispering "NO", using a low growling sound or any other type of sound will not help because your dog does not understand or has not respect for what "NO" means. It's no different than a child.
> 
> There is nothing wrong with regressing and taking it a few steps back and "pairing" the word "NO" with some sort of "negative". Some dogs need it, and especially dogs that have forgotten what "NO" means.


 
I am assuming that since the dog does respond appropriately when her husband uses the word "no" that he does understand it.


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## JoelSilverman (Oct 21, 2008)

So what? It's discrimination, and it happens many times. If the dog is discriminating on her, she needs to go back and regress and pair the "NO" with a negative. Using a _"low growl" _does not mean anything if the dog does not understand or respect the word "NO".


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## TheHooch (May 9, 2007)

We had to go back and teach no to every dog in the house when Mrs Hooch said no. HER NO WAS A`DEFINITE NO unless you look at her all sad like and then it bacame yes.


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## Pointgold (Jun 6, 2007)

JoelSilverman said:


> So what? It's discrimination, and it happens many times. If the dog is discriminating on her, she needs to go back and regress and pair the "NO" with a negative. Using a _"low growl" _does not mean anything if the dog does not understand or respect the word "NO".


What I am suggesting is that the dog does in fact understand what "no" means. He respects that when the husband says it, it means something because there will be consequences if he does not. The dog needs to know that the same holds true when Mom says it, which means that yes, she might need to go back to the beginning with him, following up with a consequence if he does not respond appropriately, which will earn his respect. 
She posted "I think he knows it always gets a rise out of me and that's why he does it." What he needs to get out of her is that not obeying the command will not get a "rise" out of her, which many dogs interpret as encouragement for the behavior, but rather a consequence that he does not want - ie exile (which means a lot to Goldens).


As I re-read both of our posts, it looks like we are suggesting essentially the same thing, in a different way.


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## JoelSilverman (Oct 21, 2008)

You are right that it is most likely a respect issue too, but because I am not there, I don't like to make 100% assumptions.


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## nictastic (Aug 21, 2008)

What is the best negative consequence that would help reteach NO ... if that is the problem?


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## Lucky's mom (Nov 4, 2005)

I only had this problem when Lucky was a teenager pup (under a year). Timeing was absolutely everything. The second he started to nip I'd say "No Bite" and if he started to nip again he was imediately in time out (crate). The Timing is what solved my problem...as prior I'd give him "chances".

Teaching "off" and "gentle" using treat rewards helped immensely. WE would lay on the floor and have training time...it was fun.


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## Pointgold (Jun 6, 2007)

nictastic said:


> What is the best negative consequence that would help reteach NO ... if that is the problem?


It would depend on the circumstance. The "punishment" has to be appropriate to the "crime". 
I have gotten very good results with dogs like this by, as I said, "exiling" them. Give him the "no" right when the and where the crime occurrs, and then quietly remove him to his crate for a "time out".


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## JoelSilverman (Oct 21, 2008)

It really depends upon you and the dog. There are some people that will use a chain collar, and pair that with the word "NO". There are some that will use a pinch collar and do the same thing. 

With a dog that is very soft and shy, your voice may work, but most Golden Retrievers are not soft and shy. That is why you need to pair it with something like I mentioned. 

Here is the thing though. Remember that the correction does not have to be much. In the HEEL area in the online training area of my site, 

http://www.companionsforlife.net/Heel_members1.html

I think clips #4 and #5 will show you some good positioning for the dog which you can use for teaching the "NO" too. Because the dog is close to my leg the corrections are minimal. When people are teaching the "NO", I will always refer them to these clips because of the positioning. _Again, these clips are only to show you the positioning of the dog._

So when you are teaching the "NO", my suggestion would be to get the dog in the position much like in the video, and put something in front of him that he wants to go to like a treat on a table. 

As he goes for the treat, say the word "NO" and give a correction. Timing is huge. If you can correct him as he just goes for it, the corrections are minimal._ Remember that all we are trying to do is just communicate to the dog to associate the correction with the word "NO"._ Keep the sessions short with this.. maybe 2 minutes...

Start off with this.. and come back here and let me and everyone else here know how it goes. I have to take off, but will be on later today. Again, this is just something that works for me and a lot of other people. I am sure that there may be other suggestions from the members here that you may prefer too.

Good luck!!!!


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## cubbysan (Mar 13, 2007)

spruce said:


> Bridger (1) will chew on me when we're in bed, but I give him a toy & he has no problem replacing my hand with a teddy bear.
> 
> note: all 3 dogs obey my husband; me, just sometimes


Brady is 23 months old, same thing as Bridger. Picks on my kids a lot, but only when I am home! I know it is for attention.

Today, I just bought a cheap agility set at Toys R Us, I am having my kids teach him to use it. Hoping it will have him gain some respect for them, and keep his mind and body busy.


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## gkosowitz (Oct 8, 2008)

Thanks to everyone who posted, actually as one person suggested holding his snout shut and saying no to him has been working, he really hates it and usually just walks away.


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## Bogart'sMom (Sep 16, 2005)

Bogart hasn't been mouthy since he was a puppy but when he got into his little fits I had a cable tide to the heavy coffee table. He couldn't reach us anymore and when he realized that no one was paying attention to him he seddled down. I never put him in the crate for punishment or time outs since the crate was always positive for him. Then when he calmed down I let him go again. I hand fed him several months when he was a puppy and he takes food gently out of my hands. I'm the one that does all the training with him so actualy he listens better to me then my husband. When he would get pushy about attention I put him in a down stay, he is old enough to know stay and it seddles them down very well. I really don't have a mouthing problem with Bogart since puppyhood. He loves to lick my hands but never mouths them unless it's by accident while we play tug with a toy and he goes soft when he realizes that it's not the stuffy in his mouth but my skin.
Does your dog get enough exercise? Maybe he needs more off leash walking. All the best,


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