Any suggestions on how to stop puppy from mouthing?

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
My grand puppy teeths on everything, even fingers. He is NOT mean and does not bite. Just teeths on everything.He is a lab mix and did not respond to traditional behavioral methods. Any experts? He is very smart, but, hey, he is still a baby.

Tomorrow he is traveling to Chicago with us to visit Princess and Granddaughter.
 

susiestar

Roll With It
If there is a specific item you don't want him chewing on, try using Bitter Apple. It is sold at farm and home stores, tractor supply, etc... The problem with lab mixes is that some actually like it. Our lab mix once got into the bottle and ate the top off because she LOVED it. We got it to stop her licking at bandages put over hot spots she would lick on her tail, but it didn't work on her. It worked on every other dog I saw it used on, but I have been told that some lab mixes like it. It is not a common thing with lab mixes, but we got the lucky one in a very few that loved the stuff. But our Friday was a very unusual dog.
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
Oh, Susie, lol. Cam the dog WILL love it! He loved having his face sprayed with water...lol.

Anyhow since he mouths everything, they would need to buy infinite amounts of cans!

This pup is going to spend four hours in the car with us tomorrow lol. We are driving to Chicago ;)
 

Lil

Well-Known Member
For our Boston's, the YUCK spray they sell was just a tasty marinade. We finally used hot sauce and vinegar sprinkled with Cayenne pepper. Even that didn't help too much.
 

susiestar

Roll With It
This isn't something you spray in the dog's face. It is something you put on a bandage or the leg of a table the dog chews on, etc.... For most dogs, they get a taste and loathe it because it is bitter. For our dog, it was the tastiest thing around, even better than the crunchies left in the litter box (yuck!!). Our vet just laughed and said if any dog was going to love it, it would be Friday.

Friday was just weird though. She loved the squirrels and birds. Not the way a hunting dog would. As her friends. She would let them come into her dog house and cuddle with her. She even made friends with an armadillo who wandered into the yard. She seemed to think it was the bestest thing ever. Drove my brother NUTS because he wanted her to be a hunting dog, lol! We used to joke she would be a great watch dog. She would watch the robbers go in, and watch them steal all our stuff, and watch them go out. We didn't get her to be a hunting or security dog.
 

susiestar

Roll With It
Oh, when Friday was a puppy and mouthed, we used to flick her nose with our finger. Nothing that hurt, just a light flick and we said "No!" firmly every time. She HATED to be flicked. After a week or so, if we even asked if she needed to be flicked, she would stop in her tracks. I swear it did NOT hurt her, and was not mean at all. I was so uncoordinated that half the time I missed her nose totally and didn't even touch her. But it still got through to her.
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
Susie...the dog just thinks we are playing with him lol. But he is doing better. And he is so smart, like labs are. Three "sits" and giving him treats for sitting and he sits on command! He is potty trained too. So smart and compliant.

Nothing like our stubborn little mutts (see avator) ;)
 

mamato3

Member
SWOT, how's the pup? We have a 12 week old lab and she chews, mouths, bites everything.... She is our 3rd lab so we knew what we were getting ourselves into. We train the command, "leave it" and "look at me" (along with others) and one of those typically gets her to stop mouthing and refocus. We also randomly treat when she's being good. Another thing we do is give her something she can chew on when she's got her mouth on something she shouldn't. Limiting the area she's in and the things she has access to helps, too. However, it is a constant battle with all the things we do :)
 
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