Mouthing At Me

[cgs]

This is really minor, but I wanted to ask about it. When I start getting ready for the morning walk, Percy gets really excited and starts mouthing/gently biting at me--at my shoes as I'm tying them, my leg as I sit to get my shoes on, etc. It's not a big deal. I tell him no and he generally stops. And he's not really biting at all. Just mouthing. I'm just wondering if this is typical grey behavior. I've never had a big dog before. My little dog literally waits until the last second when I'm about to walk out the door to even bother coming over to get her leash hooked up. I've left her behind a couple times to teach her she needs to be there ready to go when I am.

 

I haven't really done much training with Percy. He's so good, he hasn't needed much. We've worked a little bit on "stay" and that's about it. But teaching him to wait patiently while I get my shoes and coat on might be a good thing to do, though I'm not sure exactly how to do that. We've had him about 6 weeks and he's a dream. Goes in his crate on his own at night for bedtime. Mostly goes in during the day when I ask him to when I need to leave the house. Has no separation anxiety (I was worried about going out of town for a few days--my husband and daughter were home--and he had no issues at all.) No problem being in his crate for several hours during the day if need be. No problem when the neighbor teenager came over to walk him for me one day when I was out for 6 hours. Learned to ring the bells by the door to go out if no one is paying attention. Mostly stays off the counters and out of the trash, though I need to work on that more if I want to be able to leave him uncrated. Really, he's awesome and so sweet.

[XTRAWLD]

My boy loves doing that with me on our walk after I get home from work. He takes me by the hand and we walk together a short distance. It's a sign that he's happy and content and he loves you!

 

For sure you can train him to be calm when you are getting ready. Treats when he sits and waits, if he gets up, correct him and give him a treat when he sits. Being greys though he might be more comfortable just standing and waiting if you give him a wait command.

 

I'm glad that you guys are having a good time and enjoying yourselves after all you've been through!

[NewGrey2017]

Mine does it when I get home and uncrate him or when he's very excited. I kind of like it.

 

He also snaps at me when he's grouchy. It's just who he is at this juncture. I'm hopeful to get rid of the grouchy snapping and keep the happy nibbling. Of course, I have no plan for either.

[BatterseaBrindl]

Ruby and especially Nigel are mouthy when they get excited.

As soon as I sit down to put my walking shoes on and / or when leashes come out they start.

Nigel spins and leaps and spins some more while he's pretending to grab me.

They have never really made hard contact and will easily settle and stop if requested.

 

Nixon never did this and -so far - neither has Sid.

[cgs]

Glad to know it's pretty commong. XTRAWLD, he doesn't sit. I've never tried to get him to sit, since I read they don't really like it. I guess I don't want to totally curb his ability to show excitement. I'll think about what I'm willing to tolerate. At some point in the future, I'm thinking about training him to be a therapy dog, so I'd have a lot of work to do, and should probably start with teaching him some manners. I guess I consider it a bit rude to be mouthing at my hands while I'm trying to tie my shoes!

[greysmom]

Teaching him to wait calmly is a good idea. You can also redirect him to an appropriate chew object or toy when he starts being mouthy. It's generally a good thing and indicates he's happy and excited.

[Guest thebuiscuitlady]

I got two males 3 months ago. One is happy, calm, and never mouths. The other is SO EMO. He can get grouchy, but also very very very excited. And when happy, he mouths like crazy. I'm doing my best to teach him to stop, because he will nibble with the front of his teeth hard and leave little tiny bruises on me. Yeeee-ouch. I've made quite a bit of progress with is grumpiness, but the nibbles have not improved. At all.

[NewGrey2017]

When mine is super excited, he will mouth you, do a lap around the house, then kangaroo punch you when he comes back around. I have learned to sidestep the double fisted punch like a matador.

[LaFlaca]

Both my Greys have gently mouthed my hand when walking next to me. I find this endearing although in reality letting a dog put her teeth on you, even in play, is not a good idea. You're essentially telling them it's okay to use their teeth on you. Nitting - when they use their front teeth to nibble on you - is an expression of happiness and/or excitement and can be quite painful and leave bruises. Again, it can be endearing but what of they do it to a child?

 

To stop the nibbles, you might try yelping loudly (like a puppy) when your dog nits or mouths you. When they get excited and kangaroo punch and leap around, turn your back to them, cross your arms across your chest and ignore them until they calm down. I'm working on this with Lola now. She will disembowel you with her velociraptor feet when she gets excited.

[NewGrey2017]

She will disembowel you with her velociraptor feet when she gets excited.

 

I strive to remain emboweled at all costs.

[krissy]

My dogs love mouthing. Not generally when we're getting ready for a walk, but I actually play "bitey face" with them with my hand. Kenna loves this game. I'll tap/slap the sides of her muzzle with my hand, and gently grab her whole muzzle in my hand - and she'll open her mouth and try to grab my hand or my fingers. It's very gentle and appropriate and we have no children that ever come around so it's a fun game we play. If you don't like it just ignore it by stopping what you're doing and turning your back for a few moments until he calms down. Reward calm behaviour with treats.

[LaFlaca]

 

I strive to remain emboweled at all costs.

 

[fastpointydoge]

Sometimes when Rogue is excited about going out or getting fed, he'll see me putting my pants on and grab the pants leg. I just redirect him to a toy.

[EllenEveBaz]

I expect it's a dog thing, not just a grey or a big dog thing. If little dogs could reach our hands, they'd probably do it, too.

 

Jeter arrived with the habit, along with a bunch of other over-boisterous [to me] bad manners. He did it when I arrived home, and when we were getting ready to go out. As posted above, I taught him to stop by saying "no", turning my back, and crossing my arms over my chest so it was harder to get to my hands. It also stopped the activity that he wanted -- me coming in, us going out. He learned easily not to do it to me (although he has a relapse sometimes) but it has been harder to teach him not to do it to other people since most of them think it's cute.

 

If you don't want to teach a sit, how about a "lie down." http://neversaynevergreyhounds.blogspot.com/2009/07/greyhound-downs-101.html Once he's lying down, then I think it's easier to teach a stay.

 

Counter and trash surfing -- my dogs have taught me to keep clean counters, but Brandon McMillan (sp?) on the "Lucky Dog" tv show evidently has good success with a spy cam and a noisemaker such as pennies in a can, to give an immediate correction.

 

I strive to remain emboweled at all costs.

It's always good to have goals.