# is it bad to stick your finger in dog's mouth?



## dogclass (Feb 16, 2011)

I stuck my finger in my dog's mouth yesterday to remove a foreign object - later determined to be a frog... 

Is it bad to stick your finger in your dog's mouth? So many things novice pet parents do in the beginning end up developing bad behavior patterns, I'm just wondering if this is one of them?

I haven't taught him drop it yet, and he's kind of a pig about eating stuff outside. I'm not sure I could reliably get him to do it on command. When he's distracted, he usually doesn't follow commands. We're working on distraction training, but it's been slow going. He's an one year old collie/sheltie mix.


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## climber (Apr 28, 2008)

personally, i'm a fan of desensitizing dogs to all sorts of things. pulling ears, pulling tails, sticking fingers into their mouths, handling paws/toes, etc.

you never know what a child will do to a dog, and you never know what kind of vet examination may be required throughout the life of the dog.


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## lisak_87 (Mar 23, 2011)

I stick my finger in Brady's mouth all the time to remove stuff. If it presents no immediate danger, I grab a treat and tell him "drop"...but sometimes I just don't have the time for it and it has to be removed ASAP!


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## Elana55 (Jan 7, 2008)

I put my hands in my dog's mouth too. I brush their tetth etc (way cheaper to brush teeth than it is to have dental work done). I DO try to swap whatever they have for a treat most of the time when taking stuff from them. 

A word of caution.. I did stick my hand in Questa's mouth when she was about 4 months old to get something and she bit down and caught me between her molars.. OUUUUCHHHH! that REALLY hurts! She did not really mean it. It was sort of a reflex on her part... I was way back in their on a retrieving mission.


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## Labmom4 (Feb 1, 2011)

It's important to be able to handle every inch of your dog; mouth, ears, nose, feet, etc, in case medical treatment is necessary and for teeth brushing. Also, a dog's gums are a good indicator of his health and you should be able to open his mouth and poke his gums if needed. And, as climber said, the first thing small children do when they see a dog is poke it's face; you dont want your dog freaking out when that happens. I often lie my dog's down and run my hands all over them, touching them all around the face and in between their toes, to get them used to it.


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## LuvMyAngels (May 24, 2009)

It's not just about you having to remove objects either, your vet will need to check the dogs mouth during exams (or if something gets stuck). Having a dog that already understands that someone touching his/her mouth is okay makes for a far less stressful exam. The vets (and techs) Buster has seen have visibly relaxed when they realized Buster had been taught to accept any handling they needed to do. I imagine that a 140lb Saint boy is intimidating if you're unsure of what he's been taught.

I pretty much do anything to him that someone else might have to do, including any vet or groomer he may ever see. I take it as a compliment when I see the vets visibly relax as they're handling Buster because they realize he's been taught to accept whatever they're going to need to do. This includes one sticking a cold slide on an open wound near his scrotum (to see what was in the wound and why the 10 day course of antibiotics didnt touch it) and another sticking a cotton swab in a severely infected ear...both were a combo. of yeast & staph.


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## Keechak (Aug 10, 2008)

Working with show dogs it is important to be able to do all sorta of things to thir mouth and to allow strangers to poke and prod them as well.


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## Shiningsummer (May 24, 2010)

I'm also working on "drop it" with Merlin but sometimes I don't have time to grab a treat, so I just pry his mouth open and take out whatever's in there. I give him a really good treat afterwards though!


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## Polywoggy (Mar 7, 2011)

There could be situations in the future life of your dog, where you will have to open their mouth to give them medication. Sometimes you can't hide it in food if the dog is ill- they may not have much of an appetite, or need to fast. 
Plus, as mentioned, tooth brushing is cheaper than dental work in the future, and your vet may have to look in your dog's mouth at some point. 
I wish my BF had taught this to his terrier. Once in a while he will grab something dangerous to chew on and you risk getting bit if you try to remove it from his mouth. I usually have to trade for a cookie, which sometimes feels like rewarding inappropriate behaviour...


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## WolfyNeiviv (Apr 24, 2011)

Nope, definitely not bad. I am in agreement with the other posters - and think, what if your dog had something poisonous in his mouth and refused to drop it? 

Since he's not learned drop it, you need to be able to reach in there and grab something without him being bothered by it. We constantly practiced taking food or toys away from my little gal because a child who doesn't know her may try to take a toy away - it is safer to know that the dog accepts that a human has the right to take anything away without struggle. We also taught her drop it - which came in handy a couple days ago when she decided that a fig pod was a good thing to roll around in her mouth (poisonous) - I was too far away to take it, so said 'drop it' and blehp out it came. When outside, a leave it command is also good - if you spot something he goes for, you can command him to leave it and he shouldn't even pick it up.


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## dogclass (Feb 16, 2011)

Well, all the responses were oppposite of what I thought they would be 

I do try to brush my dog's teeth and get him used to my finger being in his mouth. But I thought the act of taking something out of his mouth might be significantly different (from the dog's point of view) than the tooth brushing sessions?

He doesn't like getting his teeth brushed, but he seems to be even more resistant to letting things taken out of his mouth...but I guess if this isn't developing any bad habits (and is actually good to get the dog used to), then I don't need to worry.


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