Play biting/mouthing

[blueindigo]

Hi
Anyone got advice for a medium to large 10month old ‘puppy’ who was obviously never taught not to mouth or put teeth on people. He never marks the skin. He has an excellent temperament and only thinks of it as play. With a small puppy it is obviously easier to the employ the usual methods. This guy is full of energy but gets plenty of walks, he’s just excitable Thanks

[DogsBestFriend]

Hi Blueindigo, one of our (very large!) dalmatians engaged in this behaviour when we got her at first. For the first few months she was quite subdued as she had been very badly abused and was quite depressed and anxious and fearful as a result, but once this passed and she realised she was in a safe place, she went nuts! She engaged in play biting on a regular basis. This sounds a bit mad and its very simple really but what worked for us with her was anytime she did play bite and air snap even, we yelped very loudly as if we were hurt! This surprised her initially and also reminds them of when they were pups and the yelp made if one of the litter was hurt. She then quite quickly stopped it but not until we had yelped very loudly every time she tried it! Not sure if you’ve tried this, but maybe give it a go? Hope this helps……..

[Author]

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