whilst walking Barney round the road at lunchtime today, he got a bee in his bonnet that decided it was time to test me! He kept jumping up/lunging at me biting my left arm (has left some lovely purple bruises!), and was so persistent that I had to escort him home by holding his collar. He is not small (31kg at 7 months), which is more than be said for me at 5ft! As you can imagine, it was not fun!

At 7 months, will he ever stop mouthing? It is not just me, but anyone who goes anywhere near him (he just loves people too much and gets soooo excited!!). I have consistently tried many suggestion over the last 5 months and nothing seems to work! He is a beautiful boy and I love him dearly, but this mouthing has to stop. It is not aggressive, just HARD playful.

I too have problems with towelling and grooming. Being a very long haired breed, he needs to be groomed every day and towelled off after walks. Like the other posters, he bites the brush and me, and the towel and me!

I only hope this gets better. I have seen some real improvement over the last week, but I dont know what to think after today's little episode. 

Hi

I have a long haired breed aswell and to train her to stop biting the brush and wriggling around like an octopus I trained her with a clicker...........I would brush her and hubby would click and feed treats, it meant that all her attention was on the food and not fighting with me, because she loves her treats it only took a couple of times for her to associate brushing with treats and then I could do it by myself,

she is nearly 2 and if she is in the mood will be brushed with no treats but sometimes she still gets a bit frisky and out come the treats again........

Nikki

Personally, at 7 months I wouldn't have this at all. Look at it this way. Think of a dog you know who is quite dominant and try to imagine him doing this to him/her. Chances are, he wouldn't. He's not stupid! He does this to you for two reasons. One, he can; two he gets a good reaction from you.

Water is a good one as you can squirt them when they bite you, still ignoring them. After all, it is the reaction he gets from you that is his reward, but it is almost impossible to ignore a huge dog mouthing your arm! Then when he stops you can give him some attention. I use squirty water as a deterrent for most unwanted behavours as it is completely harmless to the dog and yet very effective and you can still ignore while correcting them.

HTH, Claire

Agree works for mine too.  I twas the only way I could get my untrained Jozi to stop heavy mouthing when I had her back at 8 1/2 months.  She still likes to try it now, just to see what I will do as she grins all over her face at the time, but now I just need to say 'enough' and she stops taking the mickey.

I use it most to stop the herd barking when the doorbell rings, usually enough to just pick the bottle up if they ahven't stopped as soon as I say, as I don't go to the door until barking has stopped.

juli.julibob,  I think 7 months is a trying age.  It was for my pup.  She was very mouthy at that age.  I was very frustrated, shed tears, and threatened her with the rescue (laugh).  I don't think she believed me. 

When my dog was a pup, I was not giving her the right amount or type of exercise for what her breed needs.  I just did not know.  So with the direction of our vet, we changed her daily exercise.  That was the biggest improvement for her.  Once we reduced some of that excess energy and boredom, she was less mouthy. 

We also would leave her lead on her while we were together.  Of course, we only did this while she was supervised.  But, this way if she was becoming mouthy, we could reach for the lead (away from her face).  We could get control of her without putting our hands near her mouth while reaching for the collar.

She is not quite 2 years old now.  She is much much much better.   I believe it was a combination of things that helped her not to be so mouthy.  General maturity, appropriate exercise, leaving the lead on.   When she is not exercised or wants her evening bone she will sometimes get a little mouthy.  The loud yelp thing works now, but at 7 months that was ineffective for our pup.  I did not have luck with the water spraying, but maybe my timing was off? 

Let us know how things go.

Julia, from experience, if you want even more  fun and high jinx, spray the water bottle at him! There are 2 main reasons for NOT doing this, first being, with the amount of hair around their faces, they just don't feel it and the second, they probably will hear the squirt before feeling, then it's just another hugh game and makes them snappier by catching the water in their mouths. This results in, "oh good mum, can we have another water game" :D :D

You know that he shouldn't be on more than 35 mins lead excercise a day, mental stimulation there is no limit to :P Have you got kongs and stuffed them for him? Tug of war games? Hiding food in strategic places and giving him the scent so he can go off and find them for himself?

I know this is an ongoing problem but also have a word with Kathy and Max. :)

what is the breed?

Darling,

He is a Briard.

Jo,

You are 100% about the water bottle, he loves it! I do have a kong and stuff it, but I haven't tried hiding food. I have been speaking to his breeder and she is going to come and see him. The other 3 pups from his litter are not doing this. Max is supposed to be visiting in a couple of weeks so I will speak to him then. The maximum exercise he has on the lead is 25 - 30 mins, or a good romp in the woods. He would walk all day if I let him, but obviously with bone and joint growth I know this isnt possible. I'm sure we will get there in the end, and I know I am not alone.

Julia

It's good that the breeder is coming to see him, a different perspective and all that. what does he do when people come into the house? Does he do his normal mad act or is he mummy's little angel and make people believe that you are paranoid? :D :D :D I tell people that Monsterman is soft and won't bite and then he goes and grumbles at them :rolleyes: Callia of course, would bite them to death :P

Good luck with Max, he has this habit of saying he will visit/call and then he gets sidetracked onto other things, I don't know how he fits it all in with 10 of 'em

Do speak to kathy as she had been in the breed for years and is also a judge. I would be interested to hear her opinion on him when she has him for Easter :)