[Youme Webark]

My 3 year old lab was not taught bite inhibition and has just started proper obedience training course. She is doing quite well in general. Accept for that when she gets treats from my hand she'd mouth my fingers too. The first few times are OK but after awhile it can be painful.

I could manage to make her wait for my command before taking treats from my hand that I put right in front of her. However, she'd often nib on my fingers too and sometimes it hurts.

[cigwyllt]

Does she mouth you any other time or only when you give her treats? Because we have always had small children around (my youngest was 5 when we got Manny) I have never encouraged the dogs to take treats from my hand, preferring to drop them on the floor. Can you not do that so that she doesn't have the opportunity to mouth you?

[GSDS4Life]

I really wouldn't say it was bite inhibition, more along the lines of manners.

I have used the "gentle" command.

Have her sit it front of you. Hold the treat and say "gentle". If she goes to grab it, don't give it to her. Say "gentle" and put it in front of her again. You may need to do this a few times. You want it to get to the point where she will be gentle when taking it.

I have taught all my dogs this. They are very gentle when they are given treats. Even from my little Great Nephews.

[Lara's mom]

A dog should be taught to take a treat from your hand without "snapping." I also use the "gentle command." I can put one end of a biscuit in my mouth and have any of my dogs very gently take the other end. Absolutely do not try this until your dog will consistently take a treat out of your hand gently.

[Todd]

Here are a few articles I found online about teaching dogs to take treats "gently";

Teaching Your Dog to Take Food Gently

Taking food gently out of your hand is a skill all dogs should learn. For many dogs, taking a portion of their owner’s finger, along with a morsel of food, is a sure-fire way to make sure they actually get the treat from owners whom make a habit of pulling their hands away as soon as they feel the dog’s mouth on their skin.

Other dogs that exhibit overly-grabby behaviors are merely overly-excited about receiving a treat anyway they can get it. In each of these cases, these dogs have either picked-up some bad habits, as a result of some improper training on the part of their owners, and/or really haven’t been properly taught how to take food from their owner in the first place.
Your job as a dog owner is to show your dog the correct way to get the things he desires in life.

Option 1

Feed your dog small morsels of food from your hand, but try not to remove your fingers from the food. Keep them tight on the food so the dog is always in contact with them. If he’s a little nippy, and your first instinct is to move your hand away, DON’T!! Keep your hand there and wait until he’s figured out that he doesn’t get the treat until the nipping stops. Once the light bulb goes off, and he’s calm, reward him. Any type of misbehavior, i.e., barking, pawing, etc. just results in the delay of him receiving his treat. Remain quiet and still, and wait him out. Hang on tight until he eases his mouth, then release the food, and give him some nice praise for doing such a great job. This teaches bite inhibition as well. If his teeth are really causing you a lot of pain, you can try this with gloves on or try Option 2.

Option 2

If, after practicing with Option 1, your dog is still nipping you when you feed him from your hand or you just cannot tolerate his nipping, give this option a try. Put a treat in your hand (referred to as “baiting your hand”) and hold it approximately at your eye level. Ask him to sit and slowly bring your baited hand down towards his mouth. If he remains seated and attempts to take the treat gently, say “Yes” or “Good” and give him the treat.
If the dog has learned to respond to Clicker Training, you can always reinforce his positive behavior with the clicker as well. If he jumps out of the sit or goes to lunge for your hand with his mouth, just say “Ahh-Ahh”, and abruptly pull the treat away back up to your eye level. Try the exercise again. Keep practicing this exercise of lowering and pulling away as needed, until your dog has learned the proper way to get his rewards.

Taking Treats Gently

Question: My dog takes treats so hard that she’s hurt my hands on occasion. I’ve had the same thing happen to me to varying degrees at the dog park or in classes when I give a treat to another dog. I dread training sessions with my own dog, and I’ve become hesitant to give treats to other dogs. Is there a solution to this problem?

Answer: I sympathize! Your experiences with dogs who chomp enthusiastically are universal among those who spend time with dogs. Many dogs regularly grab treats without taking the care required when dealing with delicate human skin. (On the other hand, some dogs are only “chompy” when revved up, so this can be a good assessment tool; in these cases, the intensity of the alligator-like behavior can indicate a dog’s arousal level.)

Some dogs are naturally gentle with their mouths, but most need lessons to achieve this skill. Dogs should be taught the cue “Gentle,” which simply means to take the treat nicely. Having a dog who takes treats gently can relieve much of the conflict-induced frustration that occurs when you want to reinforce your dog’s good behavior but also want your fingers to remain intact and connected to your body.

Avoid confusion by teaching the cue “Gentle” as its own behavior rather than during a training session for some other behavior. Commit to the idea that your dog needs to take the treats gently or she doesn’t get them at all. In other words, don’t allow the snapping behavior to work for her. Until now, she has been getting the treat no matter what she does, but we want her to only get it when she takes it gently.

To teach your dog what “Gentle” means, hold a treat in your hand, close your fist around it and offer it to your dog. If your dog bites at your hand, keep it closed; this means either toughing it out or wearing gloves, depending on your dog’s behavior and your tolerance. When she stops biting and licks your hand (or even nibbles gently and painlessly), say “Gentle” and open your hand completely to give her the treat.

Keep saying “Gentle” each time you offer her a treat to help her associate the word with the behavior. If she has a relapse and returns to her former finger-gnawing ways, pull your hand away and then offer the treat again, using the cue “Gentle” to remind her of what you want. This will keep you from dropping the treat in response to her snapping.

Until your dog knows how to take treats gently, there are a couple of ways to protect your fingers when giving treats outside of training sessions. At home, put cream cheese or peanut butter on a wooden spoon and offer your dog a chance to lick this food a few times. This is a way to reinforce your dog without putting your hands near her mouth.

In a dog park or class setting, offer the treat on your flat palm. Many dogs who will snap at treats held in the fingertips are able to take them properly when they are presented on an open hand. A final option is to drop the treats on the ground rather than giving them directly to the dog. It takes a lot of repetition for most dogs to learn to take treats gently, and the occasional effort to teach someone else’s dog by, for example, holding them in your closed hand is unlikely to be effective. Unless a dog’s guardian is teaching this at home, save your fingers by either flat-palming the treats or tossing them on the ground. These techniques won’t teach your dog or her dog park friends to take the treats politely, but they do keep your fingers safe!

[Lara's mom]

You could also try placing the treat on the palm of your hand.