have a 10 week old.  have a blast with him including:

pretty well crate trained, house trained, started on sit and come, give, leave it, off.  we are praising him a lot especially when he corrected and he responds well he then gets positive affection.

HOWEVER, (and I know he's just a puppy) during the past 4 or 5 days he's mouthing has gotten marked more intense.  he's not broken skin, but it is happening during almost each interaction / play session.  I work from home so he's with me lots.  he has no less than 5 toys. 

when it happens I have tried the following:

calm tone: no bite

an agressive growl  "no bite"

sort of a yelp like over reacting as if he had bitten.

a growl like I suppose mother would have offered in disapproval

a growl and little scruff grab

No bite with a tug of the drag line

other stuff that's prompts a question and my be related from a personality perspetive.  he jumps up and tries to mouth at the same time...seems fairly agressive.  and then in the past few days HE is growling as he comes up / at me.  the best way to stop is to pick him up and let him wiggle it out. once calm I praise him physically and verbally and then calmly put him down.   I will also take him straight to the crate if he mouthing a lot...not as punishment but for a time out. 

what do I need to do???  several times he's racked out right after the little episode...could he just be getting tired and cranky?

Please critize and comment and advise!! 

Patience and persistance.  He IS a puppy and he's just acting like a normal puppy.  You don't expect your children to understand foreign concepts in two weeks, or to behave perfectly either do you?

No he's not being aggressive, he's being a playful puppy.  Have you ever watched puppies play with each other?

Just keep doing what you are doing.  I would suggest "NO" rather than "No bite" or no anythign else.  No means no, which mens stop whatever you are doing.  Keep it simple.

The good news is the phase doesn’t last very long. By nine months I noticed a huge difference in behavior. After they are a year it starts getting very easy. Marley is two now and the only issue I am having a hard time breaking her of is jumping on guest when they come to the door. She is better than she was a year ago, but it is a work in progress.

Horse hockey. Puppies run around with their mouth open all the time in order to breathe.

Smacking your puppy is a great way to ensure your puppy will be fearful of your hand and nothing else; and certainly leads to problems with "here" later.

There are far, far better ways to approach this as are detailed above.

All that needs to be done is to establish what level of this type of play is acceptable and you don't have to hit dogs to do so.

Fear is not respect and you need not instill fear in order to achieve respect.

I am not talking about puppies running around with their mouths open.
I am talking about what the poster posted.
quote:
'during the past 4 or 5 days he's mouthing has gotten marked more intense. he's not broken skin, but it is happening during almost each interaction / play session....'
 

'other stuff that's prompts a question and my be related from a personality perspetive.  he jumps up and tries to mouth at the same time...seems fairly agressive.  and then in the past few days HE is growling as he comes up / at me.  '
 

Did you read what I wrote?

It is not enjoyable to have a dog mouth and bite and jump. the poster has mentioned several methods they have tried and ALL have failed so far.
I did not suggest to hurt the dog. Surely, if the dog is willing and capable of hurting her she should be willing to give him a dose of his own medicine.
If a dog becomes hand shy or there are issues with the come command because you hit your dog then that dog is of poor temperment. Again, I am not suggesting beating, a swift smack is all that is needed.


 

I hear ya.
But, it seems everything else has already been tried. the puppy appears to be becoming more aggressive in his attempts, noted by the :'other stuff that's prompts a question and my be related from a personality perspetive.  he jumps up and tries to mouth at the same time...seems fairly agressive.  and then in the past few days HE is growling as he comes up / at me.  '
 What I suggested was to be applied age appropriate and size appropriate.
A swift smack does not imply amount of pressure,force or touch. I leave that up to the person.
Francine

I agree that a smack is not how I'd choose to handle this. And I have dogs that are tough in terms of not taking things personally. They believe everyone loves them at all times even when they are acting like wild animals. I could whack them with a 2X4 and they would come right back, tail wagging. Even so, hitting is not my desired response. The tongue "pinch" as described above as worked well for me. I also have used successfully a grab around the muzzle and staring the pup down until they avert their eyes and acknowledge me as the pack leader. With a particular tenacious vampire, I will grab the scruff and haul them up so at least their front feet are off the ground. This is good because it simulates what their mother would do and as the original poster described, I let them twist and work out that they just aren't in charge of this situation. If that doesn't work, I've pinned an unruly teenager to the ground or in my lap and bear hugged until they quit struggling and submit to me, then they are allowed to get up when they have calmed themselves down.

To the original poster, you are basically on the right track, it's just repetition OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER. Just when you are sure this dog you have is retarded, it will one day click and he'll be bearable.

Jean

Did someone say it would take a year to stop the mouthing? Oh my. That can't be correct.
If he is showing signs of shyness, I would think that you are dealing with an insecure puppy rather then a dominat puppy. this needs to be looked after carefully, because an insecure puppy can turn into a fear biter. not that that's what will happen to your puppy, but it does happen.

Socialize as much as you can with kids,adults and other dogs.

Is there a picture posted of this little monster?
Most puppies ,of all breeds,are this way at this age.
part of the fun of owning a dog.


 

As always, I'm telling you what's worked for me. If I had a pup that were too dominant for me to stare down, I would look hard at my breeding program. I will NOT tolerate human sharpness in dogs. Similarly, if staring a puppy down or bear hugging them when they are acting like wild animals made them afraid, I would again look at my breeding program. I expect my dogs to be a lot more confident, tougher and unafraid than that. I would much rather use my methods than hitting, but to each his own.