Cute little golden puppies turn into land sharks. lol
We were patient and said something like, no, that's not yours, chew on this, and gave an appropriate toy. Good luck.

 

When teeth touch skin, correct him and immediately end all play. Stand up and turn away from him until he calms down, and try again. If he bites at your ankles, then stand up and walk into another room with a baby gate or a door until he calms down.
Hope this helps!

 

There is a difference between mouthing and biting.

Biting is critically dangerous. Dogs have strong jaws, sharp teeth, and they have the capacity to kill a person. If you are annoyed, but not calling for an ambulance, then you are probably dealing with mouthing.

Mouthing is a dog's natural means to explore objects, and mouthing is a major component of their non-verbal communications. When pet dogs tug or pull it may be an extension of mouthing, which can be painful, and must be corrected - but it is not a sign of aggression.

Accidents happen, as do false accusations, and you don't want to be explaining any exposures to a dog's teeth!


We tried all those things and they didn't help us. One trainer told me stand still and cross my arms until he stops, which worked for other dogs in her group. For me the results include torn sweaters where Murphy jumped up and clung to the clothes on my back. We have a correction now, but I haven't solved the problem fully because he still tests me and my hands regularly display little nicks that occur before or during corrections. The marks are so small I won't notice until they later sting in hot soapy water.

He understands perfectly but seems unable to fully control his mouth when he comes over for a cuddle. To avoid mistakes he often looks around for something to hold in his mouth, which in turn prevents him from mouthing people, all of which indicates to me that he really is thinking options through and trying to avoid doing the wrong thing.

How we correct him on a lead: When he grabs a person, immediately hook the lead on to a door handle or similar. He will sit and wait to be released. He typically stops, at least for as long as there is a door handle around.

How to correct him without a lead: We growl "Indoors" or "Outdoors" depending on where we are. If he calls our bluff we pick him up and force him into the other space for a period of isolation. He typically stops because he does not want to be isolated.

In both cases when we let him back he wanders around to find something to hold in his mouth before coming back for more cuddles. The problem is that if he cannot find anything, or if he drops it, we can still get mouthed!

Someone in the park once cuddled him, and he mouthed them, which was really very bad! It's very hard to deal with because the dog gives that big goofy grin that just says "I like that person", and the challenge is communicating back that nobody likes to be mouthed!

In parks I call him away from people, especially friendly people, and I scratch him under this face to distract him from them. Some people whack the dog's snout for correction and maybe that typically works. We have tried, and other people have tried to demonstrate. It hasn't worked for us, or for them - Murphy squints and smiles and behaves as though being whacked is another game/reward.

If he gets my fingers in his mouth then pulling them out is the wrong reaction because its what dogs plan for, and there could be an accidental injury. Instead, I push my hand in and tickle the back of his tongue - that triggers him to open his mouth wide! I appreciate a hand of dog drool isn't for everyone, but its the least bad option for me.

Nobody has ever suggested ours is aggressive - in fact the opposite. He is often praised for being the happiest/friendliest dog, but he has an undeniable "challenge" when it comes to mouthing. Hope this helps somewhat and rest assured most owners don't share this ongoing challenge with their GR.

 

At 7 months old your dog should have had the foundation training to understand that putting teeth on people is unacceptable in any circumstances. If you haven't done this, it is up to you to correct this immediately. If it were my dog, he would be wearing a collar and a short leash (cut to 2 feet long) at all times he's not crated so that I could use the leash to put an immediate stop to bad behavior. If you aren't currently enrolled in formal obedience classes, I would spend the weekend researching a good dog training or obedience club (reach out to a local GOlden or Labrador Retriever club or Kennel club for referrals to someone good) and enroll first thing Monday. If you have the means to also get a referral to a trainer for a few private lessons, I would do this immediately as well. Obedience work is key to helping him understand what you expect of him. Practice every day.

 

If it were my dog, he would be wearing a collar and a short leash..

I agree, but I wouldn't cut it because the loop on the end is useful. Larger puppies in need of correction can be difficult to control on a lead because they can jump to their handler's face, which is why I used a door handle! Another thing to note is that when a leash is permanent the dog repeatedly sleeps on it, and doing so can cause skin sores - just need to watch out for that.

@anikad, Is your GR taking food nicely from your hands?

One thing you might need to do is to replace teeth with tongue. Simply hold treats in a clenched fist so that the dog cannot get any flavour with their teeth, when the dog starts licking you quickly open your hand. By doing this they learn that using teeth wastes their valuable time. I failed to do this early, and when I did do it I needed thick leather gloves for my own protection - it worked though and he now safely takes food from anyone's hand.

... unless someone afraid of dogs tries dropping or throwing a treat. Never drop or throw treats unless you want your dog to jump and snap, which I suspect you don't!

 

We have used the first one in this list with good effect on our current puppy. Everyone in the house is instructed to yelp with pain anytime the puppy bites them. He hasn't bitten me for weeks now.

How to Stop Puppy Biting and Train Bite Inhibition – American Kennel Club

Puppy biting can become a problem behavior if not nipped in the bud. Teaching bite inhibition, offering chew toys, and training are all ways to curb biting.

www.akc.org

 

Everyone in the house is instructed to yelp with pain anytime the puppy bites them. He hasn't bitten me for weeks now.

My wife tells me it works for her. She tells me to scream like a girl. I try, but a grown man screaming just doesn't have the same effect..

 

We did the toy redirection method when she was very little (2 months) but stopped after a few weeks as a few people mentioned we were effectively rewarding her with a toy - not sure how true? But we then quickly moved to time outs where we'd put her in her play pen and turn out backs to her which worked really well. When friends came over we would put a lead on her when she was saying hello and tug her away if she tried to mouth -- same thing if she was greeting people outside. Somehow between the two methods, it clicked in her brain not to do it around when she was done getting her adult teeth.

She hasn't mouthed us in months now, and when she knows she's going to be over excited like when we come home and greet her, or when friends come over (i.e when she would have mouthed us as a young pup) she first goes to pick up a soft toy and then comes over. This is a mouthy breed and they definitely need a clear correction to understand it is totally unacceptable.

 

Do all your retrievers bites??

Yes. All puppies playbite, and GRs even more so, since it's in their nature to use their mouth. GRs are retriever dogs, that have to carry shot down small game and birds back to their owner, hence why GRs in puppyhood are especially mouthy and love to bite.

Now, biting/mouthing or any form where dog's teeth touch human skin, is not okay under any circumstances.

Pups nip, especially during play - because when growing up, pups play as nipping each other. Since they have fur coat, that nip doesn't hurt them. Only when the bite goes too strong, they yelp and stop play for a short time. <- This teaches pups the mouth control, aka how hard it is okay to bite other playmates.

Now, with humans, if pup bites at same force as with playing with other pups - that hurts us, quite a lot. So, pup must learn not to bite that hard or none at all. But since pups are babies, and just like human babies, they too experience the world by putting things into their mouths. With a difference that 2 month old pup has very sharp fangs, while 2 month old baby has no teeth.

Here's redirection way to do this:

Do note that redirection is one of methods to try, albeit that may not teach dog not to bite you, instead, it may teach dog that "when i bite the hand, i can get a toy or treat".

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Our male GR pup, now 6 months, also has been very mouthy and we've tried loads of different techniques to teach him that biting human skin (hand, feet etc) is not okay. Thus far, i've gotten through him but my missus still struggles with it.
Here's what we've tried (and not just once, but several times to see if those techniques help):

* when pup nips you, say "No", to let pup know it's not okay
(We've tried it and when our pup is overly exited, this doesn't work.)

* when pup nips you, yelp loudly (essentially imitating dog) and turn away, to stop play
(I don't do yelps since i don't find that effective, instead, i think it "fuels the fire". My missus does the yelping and it rarely helps. It only pauses our pup for a second and he gets back to biting.)

* when pup nips you, say "OUCH" and/or turn around and walk away, to stop play
(I've tried the walking away method, doesn't work since our pup follows me and bites my feet even when i'm walking away.)

* when pup nips you, distract the pup by putting chew toy in place of your limb
(With this, i've had moderate success, but it doesn't work all the time and he prefers to nip my hands instead.)

* when pup nips you, don't react at all and relax your limb (to show the pup that it's boring to bite you)
(That i've tried and it's very hard/impossible since bites hurt, sometimes a lot. So far, i've tried it when he bites my feet, with moderate success.)

* when pup nips you, pinch pup's coat, to imitate another dog biting him/her back
(I got that suggestion from my breeder. I've tried it few times with no effect, other than pup turning towards the hand that does the pinching, to nip/bite it.)

* when pup nips you, distance yourself from the pup, either by going to another room and closing the door, or putting pup into pen/crate
(This has had the most success in calming our pup down. Since when there's no toys anymore around and he can't get to us, to nip us, he eventually calms down, so we can let him free. Albeit, this doesn't teach him not to nip/bite us.)

Only thing, that has helped us, thus far, is the last resort move, our breeder showed us.
* We now say "NO" in a stern, loud voice, up to 3 times. And if pup still bites us, we grab strongly from his cheek and won't let go until pup doesn't try to nip/bite us anymore. Getting yelps/cries out of the pup, when strongly holding his cheek is preferable, since that shows him clearly that this kind of behavior isn't welcome. Also, we let pup to lay on the ground and wiggle but as long as he tries to bite us, we won't let go. Once in a semi-calm state, and when i remove my hand, pup usually tries to nip our hands again. If his teeth touch our skin (hand or feet), we again grab his cheek strongly and hold it until he doesn't bite us anymore. This continues until pup learns that this form of "play" does not go with us at all.

At 1st, it was quite a handful to do it but in time, we have gotten into a point where our pup doesn't bite our legs and hand biting has been also reduced greatly. Albeit, in overly exited state, he still tries to bite us and we say NO to this. I've had more success with it but my missus still struggles with the move.

Notice for all the haters out there: You may accuse me of intimidation, but the truth is, that show of force is preferable to use of force. Most GR pups are easy going and will get by with far less forms of punishment (say NO, take toy away, stiffen yourself up etc). When show of force isn't enough to maintain order, sometimes you have to settle for the real thing.

Also, we have encouraged licking us, where we praise the licks and we even have a keyword for licking. I get that dogs want to interact with us and by instinct, it's bite. But we have to teach our dogs that we prefer different kind of "contact". Licking is great option since it feels so good, albeit it leaves hands/feet wet. But better to have wet hands/feet than aching/bloody feet/hands from nips/bites.

So, we are still in progress but there have been improvements.

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Bottom line is, good behavior needs to be praised while bad behavior needs to be made uncomfortable for the dog, so that the dog learns form it and won't be eager to do the bad thing again, or completely stops doing the bad thing.

 

When show of force isn't enough to maintain order, sometimes you have to settle for the real thing.

Don't bluff because they will call a bluff, and you cannot afford to lose credibility with a pup!

 

I'm glad you posted this video of Zak George. I'm a big fan. I've decided to rely almost exclusively on positive reinforcement with this pup. I used Cesar-type techniques on our previous GR. I have a long, loving relationship with that guy, but I'm ready to try something else. I would say try the "yelp method" first. ZG's argument is that it doesn't work. But it actually does work sometimes, and I think part of the reason is that GRs are such loving animals that it pains them to cause pain to others. If it doesn't work, then move on to other methods.

 

I'm glad you posted this video of Zak George. I'm a big fan. I've decided to rely almost exclusively on positive reinforcement with this pup. I used Cesar-type techniques on our previous GR. I have a long a loving relationship with that guy, but I'm ready to try something else. I would say try the "yelp method" first. ZG's argument is that it doesn't work. But it actually does work sometimes, and I think part of the reason is that GRs are such loving animals that it pains them to cause pain to others. If it doesn't work, then move on to other methods.

I’m not a fan of Zak George simply because of his own dog- a reactive, skittish border collie who doesn’t seem to do much aside from tricks. I think I’d be more inclined to listen to his advice if he had raised a well adjusted dog who is trained to a high level.

 

Well, dealing with a retriever who's a bit too nippy can definitely be frustrating. At 7 months old, they're still learning boundaries, but it's important to address this behavior early on. Have you tried redirecting his biting to appropriate toys and rewarding him when he plays gently? Consistency is key! If you're feeling overwhelmed, don't hesitate to reach out to a professional trainer or behaviorist for guidance. And remember, if things escalate and you're dealing with a serious bite incident, a dog bite attorney Sugar Land can provide valuable assistance.