Odd happening today with mouthing

[Cherylwordweaver]

Beeji is a really good dog but does still try to mouth when playing and his teeth can be hard, He doesn't bite as in a mean bite but just using his mouth.

I have been doing the firm no bites, immediately stop playing and ignore. He usually settles right down and is okay.

Today I was sitting in my recliner and he came and got up in it with me (which is fine, he had permission). But then he climbed up so that his butt was up on my shoulder, I was sort of reclining but not fully. Then he flopped over and his head was at my face, he mouthed my nose and it was harder than usual, still not a real bite but teeth were there.

I said no bites, and he stopped but then immediately went to do it again, I could tell he was excited so I just sat up and slid him off my lap onto the floor (not hard, not in anyway angry, just my sitting up and he slips off) as I did so I did a high pitch yelp, said no bites very firmly (all this while sitting up so it was very fast) and totally ignored him and sat very straight and still.

Beeji just sat there on the ground with this look of o crap, I've blown it now. (Remember he has been abused/beaten/hurt or something in the past so I am very careful not to do anything that will look like physical punishment) I didn't say anything to him and wouldn't look at him.

I waited a second, got up and walked away to the kitchen, he slunk and I mean slunk to the couch and crawled up and lay down and didn't move.

I waited in the kitchen out of his sight until I saw out of the corner of my eye that he was not in the fear posture but was just sitting on the couch.

I washed my hands, put away a glass or two and then called him to me. When he came over nice and calm, I petted him and gently told him good boy.

He hasn't mouthed anymore today but that doesn't mean he won't try it again when he does get excited.

I went back and reread several posts and hope I am handling this correctly.

I also took him outside later and let him exercise a bit more. I don't think we had walked as long as usual this morning, but I have injured my foot and can't walk as far. I will see a doctor for it today and I hope we can find a solution or I am going to have to try and find some one to walk him.

The Vet has given us permission for him to run and play a bit more than he had been due to the heartworm treatment. he will have to go back to a slower pace after the next shots but they usually make him feel not so good so it is easier for him to stay quiet then.

So we were able to do some ball tosses, where he could run after them. (He doen't fetch so I had to hobble after him to get the ball and toss it again) I also got him an outdoor floppy flipper disk and he chased that a bit and ran some with it.

He is now asleep on my bed so I guess I got him tired enough.

I sure wish he didn't have the mouthing problem, I think who ever had him must have let him be mouthy as a pup and then never dealt with it and probably didn't like that he does it as an adult.

I'm hoping we can begin some basic obedience training as soon as I get news of my foot. If I can't do it, I'm going to see if the trainer at my friends boarding/doggy daycare/ grooming shop can work with him a bit.

Overall he is a nice pretty mellow fellow but he is a high energy dog and I want to make sure he gets the work outs he needs.

I'd appreciate any advice from all the trainer gurus on here! He is too good of a dog to let him not get his manners as we say!!


If you know of any energetic dog walkers in Bladen County, NC let me know!! LOL

Thanks

Aloha,
Cheryl

[Quercus]

Sounds like you handled the situation perfectly! By your description, it sounds like play and affection....but still not acceptable for human skin. I think you calmly sent your message loud and clear :)

[jys1011]

Bravo...sounds like you're doing a great job by letting him know what you didn't like without scaring him or being too aggressive towards him. You should be rewarded too :)

[Cherylwordweaver]

Bravo...You should be rewarded too :)

Thanks, I accept all denominations of funds ;) , will be 50 on the 19th of this month and love presents :rolleyes: and my choice of a chew toy is an Oreo!!!:D :D :D

Just kidding.

Seriously, thanks for your feedback, I want to have a well behaved dog and a well behaved human. I think I was more worried than he was, but so far so good. He got a little excited tonight as we were playing and he rolling around and turned his mouth toward my hand and all I said was no bites and he immediately stopped.

Thanks again everyone!!

[JazzysMom]

>>Thanks, I accept all denominations of funds , will be 50 on the 19th of >>this month and love presents and my choice of a chew toy is an Oreo!!!

Hey! We are birthday "twins"....sort of. I guess I'm the younger twin; I'll be 44 on the 19th.

[Cherylwordweaver]

>>Thanks, I accept all denominations of funds , will be 50 on the 19th of >>this month and love presents and my choice of a chew toy is an Oreo!!!

Hey! We are birthday "twins"....sort of. I guess I'm the younger twin; I'll be 44 on the 19th.

Many Happy Returns of the Day!! on the 19th. I personally believe the 19th should be declared a national holiday! :D Actually all birthdays should be celebrated that way!!

I'll send you a B'day thought on the 19th.

[luzmery928]

Wow that is great how it only took you a few tries to get your lil one to stop the nipping. We have a 1 year old B who was a rescue dog from ? So we don't know anything about his life before he came into our family. We love Champ but he won't stop nipping. As your B, he dosen't do it in a bad way but more like playing but it can get frustrating and can hurt. We have tried calmly saying no, firmly saying no, to even having to put a muzzle on him. We are really desperate since we can't even have anyone over if they can't deal with his nipping. Any suggestions?

[jessi76]

you may want to start your own thread for advice.

but a suggestion...

ignore him. if he nips, get up and leave. play and attention END when he nips. go do laundry, or dishes, or anything not focused on the dog. after 5 min or so, you can interact again. but nipping = no play.

prevent nipping. when you have guests over, keep the dog on a leash, tied to you, so you can maintain control. personally, I'd get the nipping under control before having too many guests over - nipping guests is not acceptable behavior.

teach NO BITE. I repeated FIRMLY... "NO BITE!" when my dog got nippy, and ended play. he got the message quickly. when he gets very excited and is leaning towards being "too rough" I remind him gently now "no bite" - which he follows up w/ big kisses as if to say "sorry mom, i'll go easy"

[JazzysMom]

Our golden-mix used to nip a lot in play when we got her. We started tellling her "no bite!", and giving her a "baby" -- stuffed toy -- to hold while we played. It really took with her.
Now whenever the kids play with her, she grabs her baby and holds it while they roll around on the floor. Her teeth have not touched human skin in over 12 years.
And whenever anyone {that she knows} comes into the house, or when we come home, she grabs her baby and greets them at the door.

It's sort of funny in a sad way to see her try and try and try to get Jazz to play with her with the "baby". Jazzy jumps all over her, chewing her ears, neck, legs, etc and poor ol' Gypsy keeps picking up and trying to "hand her" the "baby", cuz she knows we're not supposed to "bite". LOL {Inside at least. Outside she has no problem biting like a dog!}

[youngandtired]

I have had this problem with my B also, she is playing but like you say it can hurt. I tried the ignoring the other day and she just bit harder, I finally said, No, Don't Bite Mommy and she got it then, cause I was loud. Next time I will get up and go in the kitchen. She usually does this after being outside when she gets excited watching the neighborhood cats, or chasing mine just shy of the underground fence. She gets so excited, and she also does this while playing with me and my hubby. I hope I can stop this behavior as it is annoying, if I can stop this and the chewing up everything in site, then I will have the perfect Basenji, haha!!!!! But we still love her, she is the sweetest thing when she is good, and a real hellion when she is bad, haha

[abby_basenji]

All this is good stuuf but how do I get her to stop biting Missy (other dog)? Abby doesn't nip at us, she does have a little food agression sometime but we are working on that, but she bites missy all the time. She is only trying to get her to play but missy does not always want to.

[spitfirekrl1]

My girl does this but it's with a toy in her mouth and when she first started doing it I thought she just didn't realize that she was getting my skin in there when she was trying to get me to throw her toy. I learned later that she knew perfectly well what she was doing. After a while I was watched her doing this and she would feel for my skin with her toy in her mouth and would get it just right and then start nipping. What a sneaky little devil. And OUCH does that pinch bite hurt.