[jan1017]

I have an almost 6-month-old golden. He mouths quite a bit and also still grabs pant legs and shoe laces. I have tried everything including holding his mouth with both hands, water in the face, snapping his nose. putting my hand in his mouth, yelping like a puppy, and nothing seems to work. I thought goldens were eager to learn and willing to please. I have taken him to puppy classes and he was pretty good there but I just can't get him to stop mouthing. I am open to any suggestions as this gets very frustrating at times.

[cigwyllt]

Six months is quite old for that sort of puppy behaviour. How long have you had him? At what age did he leave the litter? It sounds as though he is really quite immature. As a gun dog breed he should have a soft mouth anyway so it is fairly unusual for a dog of his type to be mouthing at this age.

This article is really helpful:

Puppy Biting | Dog Star Daily

If you read the whole article then follow the link to the next one, Teaching Bite Inhibition it will give you some very helpful pointers.

[jan1017]

Thank you for your reply. I got him when he was 8 weeks old so have had him for 4 months. He just loves to be around people. I work for my son so I can take him to work with me. I just get really frustrated when he starts acting up. My daughter jokingly says that he has ADHD. When he is good he is really good but there are times that he is just awful. I have taken him to puppy classes and he has done good. We start again next week. But like I said it is very frustrating when he gets in his mood and starts mouthing my hands and grabbing my jeans.

[lange]

Originally Posted by jan1017

I have an almost 6-month-old golden. He mouths quite a bit and also still grabs pant legs and shoe laces. I have tried everything including holding his mouth with both hands, water in the face, snapping his nose. putting my hand in his mouth, yelping like a puppy, and nothing seems to work. I thought goldens were eager to learn and willing to please. I have taken him to puppy classes and he was pretty good there but I just can't get him to stop mouthing. I am open to any suggestions as this gets very frustrating at times.

When you use these techniques is he only getting more riled up? If so you need to do the opposite of what you're doing to bring down the emotions instead of being so "in his face." You need a deep, strong correction word or sound instead of the yelp while simultaneously frowning & looking him in the eye for a second. Then you cross your arms over your chest, turn away, walk away, IGNORE him. If he keeps coming for you you keep turning away, not looking at him & do something else even if you have to close yourself into a room. When he calms down you can then calmly pet him.

Some dogs are to high strung and need less stimuli. Putting your hands in his mouth, closing his mouth, snapping nose (which I would never do to ANY dog), yelping, all might be too high energy for your dog to take seriously. If this turns out to be the case for you, your dog may just need the guidance on how to calm down by you calming down first.

[jan1017]

Thanks for the info. I will try what you have suggested. Being a golden I have been told that they like to have things in their mouths. He doesn't bite down-just likes to hold my hand in his mouth. But that gets annoying after a while. He is a very loving dog most of the time but he just gets in his "mood". I had a malamute that was very protective of me and hated strangers. That is why I got the golden, knowing that they are supposed to be good with people. He does love people but I just get tired of the mouthing. I will let you know how your suggestions work out. Again thanks.

[Ghst]

At six months, it's quite possible that your dog (puppy) is still teething. Have you checked his teeth lately? Does he have all his adult teeth yet? Teething brings on a strong desire to chew almost anything a dog can get a holt to. If he is still teething he may be looking for you to help ease the pain that new growing teeth cause. Some dogs replace their teeth faster than others but usually stop their mouthing when their teething pains stop. I would get him a flavored, rawhide chew, or manufactured bone. I would, do the ignore him bit, and give him his chew bone. I wouldn't think of him as immature, but by his mouthing your hand and not biting hard (hurting) you, that he is probably looking to you for something that maybe you can fix. I had a lab once that started mouthing my hand (he was two years old) after a couple weeks of this I thought to look into his mouth. I was shocked to see that he had bitten a small stick in-two. Part of the stick, had wedged between his teeth and across the roof of the mouth. This small stick was putting pressure on the roof of his mouth and had embedded its thickness flush with the tissue in the roof of his mouth. He showed no signs of this (pawing at the mouth) only the sudden urge to mouth my hand.