Mouthing turns to biting

I am training a 7 month old Lab mix German Shepard and he mouths which is turning to biting. I told then to ignore the mouthing for a few minutes however go back and pet him. Now it is worse when you turn away from him he comes over and bites you. How do you stop the mouthing? You can't even pet him or he will mouth you.

Thank you

If the dog keeps coming at you to mouth/bite, then you need to get out of his reach so he can calm down. Options are leaving the room, putting him in a crate, keeping him on a leash so you can step on the leash, etc.

When Tucker was a baby he was like that. All petting turned to us getting chomped on very quickly. Honestly we just didn't pet him a lot unless he was sleepy lol. But he was only like that for a few weeks. I agree the best bet is as soon as he tries chomping you get out of his reach. Step over a baby gate, walk out of the room and shut the door, tether him to something and step out of his reach, etc. If they need to they can even drill a few eye hooks around the house with leashes on them (actually couplers would probably work well as it latches on both ends) so they can quickly hook his collar up to one when he starts mouthing.

If the dog has a lot of trouble with controlling his mouth it might be helpful to teach him to hold a toy in his mouth during petting. If they are petting him and he starts looking like he wants to mouth they can stop and give him his "go pick up a toy" command and then start petting again once he has the toy. But it's important that the dog actually wants/enjoys the petting and isn't mouthing because he finds it annoying and wants you to stop. If that's the case I'd work more on learning to read the dog's body language to see when he's getting irritated. Actually in either case it would be helpful to learn to read him so maybe they can see he's getting aroused before he actually starts mouthing.

7 months old seems pretty old for that kind of mouthing.

Our Bouvier, at about 10-14 weeks was extremely mouthy f when he was highly aroused.This usually happened outside.

What worked very quickly was: making sure he was on a leash at times he was likely to exhibit the mouthy behavior, and pounding a stake into the ground. I could almost predict exactly when it was going to start, and I'd make sure we were near the stake. As soon as he started, I yelped LOUDLY, slipped the leash over the stake and walked out of range. I stood away from him, very still, for a minute or so, and then walked back to continue to play like nothing happened. After a couple of weeks of doing this very consistently he stopped. I was like, 100% consistent though. Also, when inside, I would slip the leash over a banister, or whatever was nearby to allow me to walk out of range.

He dragged a leash inside for a long time (for many reasons). I was amazed at how quickly his mouthy behavior extinguished by simply withdrawing all attention.

Again, the pup you are working with is much older, and I don't know if the above approach would work. With my Bouv, it was all a result of a high state of arousal and not knowing another outlet.

THIS.

The puppy would normally be trained by its mother. If the puppy bites too hard, mom will let out a loud "yelp" that startles the puppy and teaches the puppy that it is not OK to bite that way. If the human does this is is just the same as the mother would do. Shout out a "NO BITE!" and then some time out. It worked for Snoop Dogg when we got consistent with it for some time.

Some dogs like biting more than others. But, at 7 months he should be learning that this is not acceptable. If you don’t “nip†it in the bud now you will have more problems later.

Sometimes puppies are taken away from the litter before they have time to learn proper socializing and you become the playmates, so it is up to you to do the training.

You must be very consistent. As soon as he bites say “ouchâ€, put the dog down and walk away for a few minutes. When you go back and he bites go through the same process, but put him up for a little longer and don’t come back until you are ready.

Keep a chew toy handy anytime you are with the dog and place that in his mouth when you are petting him. Teach him that it is ok to chew the toy, not the hand.

If this is not working after some time...give him a chance, but be very consistent or he will be confused, you can try using a product like Bitter Apple to make the point this not what is best for you. Just spray a little in his mouth as soon as he bites too hard. Hope that helps.