Does this sound like a dog you’re living with?
Ike is the most energetic puppy I’ve had the pleasure of raising. He’s a Labrador’s Labrador. He wakes up with his tail wagging, ready to go. He’s always happy. He’s always into something.
He also always wants something in his mouth. He IS a retriever, after all. But sometimes, that something is human parts – hands, backside, clothing, whatever. It doesn’t matter to Ike what he grabs, he needs to have it in his mouth.
The typical “no!” doesn’t work (of course).
Although…you’d be surprised at the owners who hang onto that “no!” even though it’s never worked. But that’s another blog post entirely. Ike is doubly rewarded when he hears “no!” and he succeeds in getting a body part — he gets my arm and I talk to him — that’s a bonus to his brain.
What to do?
I suppose I could get harsher and more “serious.” Something tells me that wouldn’t work either. It would either energize him more, or worse — make him fearful of me.
Saying “no,” doesn’t work, so what’s an owner to do?
How about this gem: put something else in his mouth so he can’t grab me (my parts or my clothes). Genius, right? It works. It’s fantastic. I’m meeting Ike’s need to have something in that retriever mouth AND I’m able to pet him sans teeth. It’s a win-win.
But here’s the best part:
By positively (and pleasantly, I might add) encouraging Ike to put something else in his mouth, I’m preventing a bad habit (grabbing people’s parts) from taking hold. If a habit’s not there, you’ll never have to break it.
Do you know how much easier it is to prevent a bad habit than it is to break a bad habit?!
Tons easier. Tons. If you’ve got a young dog, or a new-to-you dog, mull this over and then create a plan to help your dog develop good habits. You’ll never have to call me to help break those bad habits. Wait a minute, I should probably delete that sentence…
Can you tell us a list of things you give Ike? I have kongs, and hollow bones that I fill with cheese or peanut butter but my lab doesn’t seem to be interested in toys so I’m at a loss as to what else to give her to hold and carry in her mouth that she won’t immediately tear open like stuffed toys. I’ve tried different rawhide treats but my lab seems to chew them up so fast I worry that they are going to get stuck in her bowel because she doesn’t chew them into small pieces.
Ike likes *anything* in his mouth. Sticks, snow, toys, poop (yeah, really), a sock, something from the recycle bin…in short: anything. All I have to do is make sure what’s in his mouth is appropriate. That obviously excludes the poop, sock, and items from the recycle bin!
When Luna (my hungarian vizsla) was little she was SOOOO excited to see people that her little love nibbles (created from her wanting something in her mouth) eventually became too much. So I opted for a toy. And to this day she STILL looks for something to pick up in her mouth when people come in, so she can dance around at their feet and get love. It’s amazing how oral bird dogs can be. Our lab puppy loves to have things in his mouth when we are outside too.. He will search for a stick and carry it all over the field with him.
Silly bird dogs
Kybarb… my vizsla does not want balls and kongs if they don’t have something in them. Fortunately I was able to teach her when she was little to play nice with her soft toys, so she often has something she can grab. They are coming out with more tuff soft toys. A brand to look for is “Go Dog” So long as the dog does not get to sit there and chew on the toy, they are great for playing with.
Check out this site http://www.whitedogbone.com for chews. I have talked to the representatives of these companies at various dog shows and they really know their stuff, and I trust the sources they get them from.
Some favorites around here: (Made in America/Merrick Section, and Rawhide section)
**Thick/puffy rawhide chips which digest better and have good collagen
**Pressed rawhide bones/rings which are thin layers of rawhide which also digest better and prevent them from getting big pieces off
**snozzles/moozles (look gross but are really puffy, kinda like a cheetoh so they can’t choke on them)
** 36 inch bully sticks
** Twin Hoofers (great for price as they have to work to dismantle it but then quite a few of inside pieces get tossed due to being small)
** the Sarge and plain knuckle bones are good too
Alright I shall stop, can you tell we have a lot of chews around here? 🙂 It’s all about trying some new ones and supervising them to see how long it takes them to eat it, and how they eat it.
You could spend hours looking around on that site and making your choices.. Tons to choose from, great prices and like I said I have talked to them and trust their products.
Good luck!
Yes, simple and genius. Worked for Jasmine too.
In fact worked for any puppies I dealt with too, when they were at the stage wanting to chew on something (usually you) all the time. I had these pants with a string on them, that string was a life-saver! 🙂