GSD Trait????

Bodi's Mom

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#1
I am the owner of a 10 month old Bernese Mountain Dog who is still in the mouthy puppy stage (Berners take a long time to mature). The other day, Bodi and I met a gentleman who breeds GSD's. My pup greeted the man happily, as he does with everybody, and then started to gently mouth the man's hands, again as he does with everybody. I thought this was just the remnants of the puppy stage until the gentleman voiced that this was called "Culling." He went on to say that his GSD's do this all the time no matter what age and it is a sign of affection. Has anybody ever heard of this??
 

Brattina88

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#2
The only time I've heard the term "Culling" is when puppies or other animals are culled (or killed) at birth. . . :confused:

GSD's can be a 'mouthy' breed, but can they learn to keep they're teeth to their selves quite easily.
Some dogs (my cocker spaniel does this to me) act like they are grooming their owners, and that's supposed to be a sign of affection. Looks like they are chewin' for fleas lol But I'm not sure if this is what you are referring to or not.

Put simply, I've never heard of it. :p
 

Rosefern

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#3
I've never heard that term before either. But then again, I don't do a whole lot of work with GSDs. I've never owned one, never knew anyone who owned one, and our rescue group doesn't take a whole lot of GSDs, as there is a large GSD rescue nearby.

When your Berner "mouths" you, is it like running around you, jumping, play-bowing, play-mouthing? Or is it when you're sitting there together and he just mouths your arm?

Pepe will occasionally "groom" me, he puts his mouth on a part of my body (usually a hand, foot, or arm) and gently mouth me up and down. I at first thought it was a dominant behavior, but it's not, since he is very submissive. The agility instructor we worked with had a Papillion that used to do that too. She clued me in. My cat will sometimes do the same thing - but only on my hair. She'll sit on my shoulders, or on the back of the couch, and lick my hair and neck.

-Rosefern
 

Amstaffer

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#4
Some dogs (my cocker spaniel does this to me) act like they are grooming their owners, and that's supposed to be a sign of affection. Looks like they are chewin' for fleas lol But I'm not sure if this is what you are referring to or not.
p
Athena does that too
 

Jynx

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#5
I've never heard the term used that way before either..."Mouthing",,yes,,not culling.

My gsd's at times were 'mouthy',,using a soft mouth would grab your hand and 'mouth' it, usually for attention, or as a way of showing their affection..

diane
 

Julie

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#6
Rocket will mouth your hands arms etc... but only if you instigate it first. She never just goes up to a stranger and does it.

Now Charlie does that little "flea biting" thing if you tell him to. It is hilarious if you just grab a kid and say "Hey Charlie Wanna nibble of this corn" And he will do his "flea biting" on them all the while they are laughing and screaming.. The kids ask us sometimes if they can be the "corn".. Lol
 

Red_ACD_for_me

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#7
My GSD husky mix who we just PTS last weekend used to do this all the time and he was very very affectionate. He did it right up to the ripe old age of 12. Culling huh? I grew up with GSD's all my life "purebred" and we did have a couple that did it as well. I suppose there is some truth to it :) I just called them love nibbles ;)
 

bubbatd

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#8
All my Goldens were " mouthy " ....really an endearing gesture of love.
 

Miakoda

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#9
To cull is to euthanize a dog.

And I personally don't like mouthy dogs. That's one of the first things I work with puppies on as most strangers wouldn't appreciate a happy American Pit Bull Terrier chewing on their hand......no matter how friendly or innocent the gesture. And I don't want anyone else's dog, no matter the breed, doing that to mine.

However, the nibbling thing--that thing a dog does when you scratch just the right area & he turns & nibbles either on himself or on you...whichever is closer--is absolutely hilarious.
 

RD

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#10
Dakota never does the flea-biting, but he will come up to me and very slowly and gently put his mouth over my arm or nibble on my fingers. It's cute, and he has the sweetest look in his eyes the entire time he does it. Pure affection.

He's never done anything like that to strangers.
 

Miakoda

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#11
I must be the odd-ball in all this, because I don't want my dogs putting their teeth on me in any way, shape, or form. Sorry, that's just how I feel. And my dogs know better than to try & do so.
 

IliamnasQuest

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#12
I've had German shepherds for a long time and been around many others and I've never heard of the term "culling" used for mouthing.

I haven't found shepherds to be any mouthier than other dogs overall. I teach all of my dogs when they're young that they're not to put their mouths on me - for safety reasons as much as anything, because if they put their mouths on someone else it could be taken wrong. But I also teach my dogs that I can put my hand inside their mouths and it's okay. I was just showing friends today how I can put my fingers into Khana's mouth and she'll just sit there holding my hand until I say "okay" .. *L* .. it's just a trust thing. Kylee used to "retrieve" my finger - I'd tell her "take it" and she'd take it into her mouth, I'd say "bring it" and she'd step closer to me still holding my finger, and then would let go when I said "give". It was cute, but I will admit that sometimes she held my finger a bit tight (I was using the same commands I use for retrieving a dumbbell, which SHOULD be held snugly).

Teaching my dogs to hold my hand/fingers hasn't made them act any mouthier. In fact, because it's not something that they particularly want to do it probably discourages them from mouthing at other times.

Melanie and the gang in Alaska
 

Debi

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#13
I consider mouthing when the dog is a pup and is nipping/biting during play, which I found very easy to train not to do. my dog will come to me and take my hand if he wants to go out. it isn't a gesture that involves biting at all, I think it's sweet. I have never seen him do any type of mouthing, sweet or otherwise, to anyone else.
 

DanL

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#14
Gunnar will mouth you sometimes when he's playing. It's never hard and I don't mind it. He used to do it more when he was younger.
 

Gustav

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#15
Gus does the nibbling thing, but he does tend to get quite into it, so sometimes you have to tell him to "Back off" LOL! He doesn't mean it, he just gets all tizzy! He never mouths me, but when Christian has wound him up (Which I constantly tell him not to :rolleyes:) he will take Christians arm or hand in his mouth but very gently.
 

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