# 7 month old gets worked up and bitey



## Cpc1972 (Feb 23, 2015)

Since your pup is 7 months and not a baby any more I would give her a noise correction. When she does it make a snake or hissing noise say no. See if that works. We have used it the last month or so with our 1.5 yearold and I can't believe how well she has responded. She doesn't have a mouthing problem but a couple other small things we are working on. I am disabled. I spend a lot of time in my chair. She has a bad he it of trying to grab my food or snacks when I am sitting there. Now it's a hissing noise I tell her no and she lays down. My mom did it in the living too. Tonight because she was doing something she didn't want her doing. She stopped looked at my mom and grabbed her bone and laid down.


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## aesthetic (Apr 23, 2015)

My boy was a terrible mouther when he was younger (he's 14 months now). When the biting was really bad (he was 7 months too) I used to walk out of the room every time he bit me. We have him xpenned into our family room, so he couldn't follow me out of the room and he got time to calm down and collect himself. I never really understood what his triggers were, sometimes the behavior was just so random, other times I could think back and figure out what led to the behavior. Playing, for one, got him really excited. Tag, tug, fetch, anything that involved me getting him excited set him off after a couple of minutes. So I started cutting our play sessions down, stopping before he got too excited . I always left after I told him game over just to give him time to settle down and so he understood that we were done playing. Other times, he'd bite me as soon as I'd walk into the room. I'm still perplexed by that actually, I can't really figure out what set him off. But I'd keep leaving the room and come back a couple of minutes later just to repeat that whole sequence. That was annoying, I'd walk in the room, minding my own business, he'd grab my arm, and then I'd leave, only for it to start over again when I came back into the room 5 minutes later. If I managed to get into the room without getting bit, he'd get set off by me sitting down. Thankfully he's so much better about that now, but it was frustrating while it happened. I think everything calmed down by the time he hit 8-9 months. He's always been a late bloomer though lol.

When he finally stopped biting me for every move I made, we worked on mouthing softer. Kaizer's favorite game has always involved using his mouth. And I'm fine with that, as long as it doesn't hurt. We've gotten to the point where when we're playing, he'll just hold my hand in his mouth. He still screws up sometimes, but that's okay. He's 100x better than he was 7 months ago. I can't remember exactly what I did - I think first taught him to take treats gently from my hand, and then I offered him my hand and praised him when he took it gently, then in play, I'd remind him to be "gentle" when he had my hand. If he grabbed me too hard, I'd snatch my hand back and end play time. At the beginning, I'd only play near the xpen, so when I was done playing I'd tell him "game over" and then walk out immediately afterwards so he got the meaning. Now we can play anywhere and if I stand up and say "game over" he doesn't keep trying to play. He's a very mouth-oriented dog, more so than other goldens I think. He uses his mouth for just about everything. He's tired? Okay lemme grab a shirt. He wants a chew toy? Okay lemme grab some fingers. He wants to play? Okay lemme grab a hand and hope they know what I want. He's an amazing dog in every way though. I wouldn't trade him for the world, even for another dog that didn't put his mouth on me.

Also, I'd try increasing her mental and physical exercise a bit more. I take Kaizer on an hour walk 2x a day (for the most part lol) and then we train twice a day. I use his kibble. What I don't use for training, goes in a Kong Wobbler. He easily spends 20 minutes trying to get his food out. http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com/golden-retriever-puppy-up-1-year/424569-games-6-month-old-puppy.html Look at this thread for more ideas on stimulation. It's more tiring than physical exercise, but just as important. Maybe she'll be too tired to even think about mouthing you 

P.S. my boy has never put a tooth on anyone we've met, so I wouldn't worry too much about that


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## Anele (Dec 12, 2014)

My dog was super bitey past typical puppy nipping. He did it with everyone (inc. new people) so we had to be vigilant and no stranger could ever pet him! You are way ahead in that your dog only does it with you. I understand your concern about it getting worse. It may, temporarily. However, your dog WILL grow out of it, and it is far more common than you would think. Just don't panic. Panicking makes it worse (trust me on this) because you will feel emotionally worried and anxious-- meanwhile, your dog just wants to have fun!

We did many things (positive only) and we did have a final way to cure it, but mostly I would say look for patterns in order to prevent and redirect. Time, patience, consistency, creativity, and venting here will all help. 

My dog never does it anymore and if he ever mouths, it's very gentle. We had one trainer tell us that he was extreme even for a golden (and she volunteered for a golden rescue), said neutering would help . . . another "joked" he needed drugs. Well, he's still intact and he's never used drugs :wink2: They were both wrong! He's now the Best Dog Ever.


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## klbitter (Feb 8, 2016)

Thank you all for the great advice and making me feel confident that this is just a stage that will pass with time. I will try these suggestions out and let ya know!


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## CedarFurbaby (Jun 6, 2016)

Keeping an eye on this thread and also thanks for all the comments. 

My puppy is only 4.5 months but I feel like he will have this mouthing problem even after his teeth are all grown. I know, its a bit too soon to say, but I feel there are differences between the mouthing when he loses a tooth and the biting after an excited fetch game, when he's hungry because I feed him later than usual, when I'm not paying him attention, when i just told him no he can't eat that stone. Since 9 weeks I'm still doing the time out stuff several times per play session.


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