# Carrying toys in mouth



## BaxtersMum (Oct 6, 2012)

Hi

Baxter's shark attacks and biting in general is really calming down. We still have to shout 'No biting' the odd time but he knows what this means now and he certainly isn't biting as hard.

What we have noticed him doing is when he is excited, usually when greeting us first thing in the morning or when we return from going out, and when visitors come round, is he picks up one of his toys in his mouth before coming to us. He then whines (talks to us), happily, wagging his tail in his usual bum wiggling way. I'm wondering if this is his way of stopping himself from biting, or whether he wants to play. He doesn't seem to want to play with it, it's more that he wants a fuss.

Also, do any of you still let your V's mouth you. Our trainer said we should stop all mouthing because it will encourage the biting but I know as a breed they like to mouth and it's their way of 'loving' you. Is it ok to let him mouth us if he is being gentle and then just yelp or say 'No Biting' when it gets hard or do you agree with our trainer. Just wondered if any of you with adult V's find this a problem.

Thanks!


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## lilyloo (Jun 20, 2012)

Not sure if this is right or wrong, but we do let Ruby mouth us if she's gentle. If it's getting too rough we say no biting and she'll immediately stop and lick us instead. She likes to gently hold our hands in her mouth when she greets us sometimes.


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## BaxtersMum (Oct 6, 2012)

This is exactly what Baxter likes to do. Also on walks he sometimes mouths our fingers round the lead. Kind of like wanted to hold our hand. It's so cute!


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## Penny (Sep 22, 2011)

Penny HAS to have a toy in her mouth when greeting us and will run around frantically until she has found one. She can get quite stressed if theres none around, and thats when she'll grab a shoe or some other insuitable substitute! She has done this from an early age and I think it made a huge difference in stopping her jumping up on us. Once she has a toy in her mouth she can calmly say hello, and wiggle her bum to her hearts content!


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## redrover (Mar 17, 2011)

I don't think it's bad to let your dog mouth you. I let Jasper mouth when we play (or, very rarely, he just wants to hold my hand). If it gets too rough, he knows "ow!" and will lick the offended body part as an apology. Some dogs are mouthier than others. Most of the time Jasper doesn't even really mouth when we're playing--his mouth is always open, he just moves it over or around hands/arms/etc. So occasionally I'll get a tooth scrape, but he rarely actually closes his mouth. Just pretends. I have no idea if this does or does not encourage biting, but he's usually only mouthy when we wrestle. He does not normally put his mouth on me in any way. Once I had to restrain him because things were getting a little tense with a few other dogs, and he turned to bite at whatever was pulling on his back thigh...he noticed right away it was me, and just sort of gently bit like during play, then licked, even though he was in a somewhat agitated state (if it had been a full blown dog fight, of course, I would not have been surprised if I had accidentally been bit harder before he realized it was me and not another dog). So I'm not sure what to say here. If Baxter has a very firm understanding of how much is too much, then it's one thing, but maybe your trainer is concerned that he's getting confused about the rules? In that case, it might make things simpler for him to not let him mouth at all. 

Also, I know lots of dogs that greet people this way! Some of them do this because they were redirected as puppies to get a toy rather than jump on people. So they grew to just start picking up a toy, because otherwise they wouldn't be allowed to meet the person. Some other dogs just like to show off, I think. Sort of, "Hey! You! I like you! Look at this toy I have! Isn't it neat? It's a great toy! It's mine, my toy! But I'll show it to you! You should admire it! I have a nice toy!"


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## jld640 (Sep 29, 2010)

I don't know if the mouthing encourages biting or not.

Savannah is not allowed to mouth at all. She comes to work with me and some of the people she meets are afraid of dogs.


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## lyra (Nov 2, 2012)

We don't let Lyra mouth us when playing. 

When she is sleepy and cuddled up on the sofa she does sometime like to gently hold one of her fingers in her mouth which we do allow.


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## BaxtersMum (Oct 6, 2012)

This is my worry that if we let him do it to us then he may do it to someone else and they might think he was trying to bite. Especially if it was a child or someone afraid or not used to dogs as they don't understand they don't mean any harm. I worry that he may go to greet a child and if he doesn't understand to keep his mouth closed then he may catch them with his teeth and draw blood in which case could mean serious trouble. Not sure if we can train him to only do it to us? 

I am pleased that Baxter seems to be redirecting his excitement to a toy and it definitely avoids the jumping and nipping. I am going to try and keep a toy by the front door so there is always one handy ;-)


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## RubyRoo (Feb 1, 2011)

Ruby always grabs toys to greet us and frantically looks for one if none are nearby. As for mouthing, she does this thing when walking (usually when excited) she will lightly mouth my hand, almost like holding my hand. She never bites down hard. 

She did go through a phase when she was excited and you would pet her she would lightly mouth your forearm. It was fine until I saw her do it to strangers. I don't need some nut saying my dog bit them when doing this.


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## harrigab (Aug 21, 2011)

RubyRoo said:


> Ruby always grabs toys to greet us and frantically looks for one if none are nearby. As for mouthing, she does this thing when walking (usually when excited) she will lightly mouth my hand, almost like holding my hand. She never bites down hard.
> 
> She did go through a phase when she was excited and you would pet her she would lightly mouth your forearm. It was fine until I saw her do it to strangers. I don't need some nut saying my dog bit them when doing this.


Must be something in the name! My Ruby does exactly the same things


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## BaxtersMum (Oct 6, 2012)

I'm amazed at how many people are scared of him when out and about. Especially children. He has the biggest smile, wags his tail and wiggles his bum so much an is obviously happy and also obviously a puppy at only 4 months. They say its important for us to socialise dogs with kids but I think as parents it's as important to socialise our kids with dogs! 

That way they know how to treat them when out and about!


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## SteelCityDozer (Aug 25, 2011)

Mouthing- Dozer is allowed when we play hand fight and he knows when he's too rough. He's not allowed otherwise and doesn't even try anymore. He went thru a stage when he would do it defiantly such as when I was wiping down his legs, he would growl and put his mouth on me. To me is was unacceptable bec it's like him saying he could bite you if he wanted so he got scolded for that. But during play they use their mouthes with each other and we let it on us. Any other time is a NO. Penny is VERY bad about mouthing. She still isn't completely grasping how hard is too hard during play. But it has gotten better. She does mouth if you try to grab her collar or usher her out of the closet, etc. and that gets a correction. 

About kids being afraid of your wiggle butt, an overly excited dog can be scary for kids. Think of a horse acting the same way to you. Not knowing where they're going to throw that body around. Just saying for comparison. We know its excitement and happy but that excitement can easily knock a kid down inadvertently.


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## BaxtersMum (Oct 6, 2012)

Yes absolutely agree about the size thing and that's why as a mum I socialised my kids with dogs even before I was a dog owner. How a kids reacts to a situation with a dog could mean greet or beat! 

I know of too many dogs that have bitten out of fear because a child hit or kicked a dog either out of fear or just being **** right nasty, the dog only defends itself and then gets pts because of it.

My kids know to ask before petting a strange dog, know how to approach them and how to act around dogs. My youngest daughter struggles a little with the play biting with Baxter as she has never experienced this before but she is learning.

This is my main worry about Baxter mouthing through play and love and the more I think about it and my answers to the above have now made me realise that for me I'm not going to allow it just in case an accident occurs that won't really be his fault. 

Thanks for all your advice!


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