# Puppy very excited and mouthy with people



## loyalablue (Sep 4, 2013)

Although he is only 8.5 weeks old labrador, he gets extremely excited with meeting new people and just wants to mouth, bite and lick. And if I'm not holding him; Jump.

At this stage I want to introduce him to as many new people as possible; kids and adults; but because of this it makes it difficult for them to touch and clap him.

What do I do about this? How do I handle it?


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## elrohwen (Nov 10, 2011)

I would get down on the ground and hold his collar. At this age you won't really be able to teach him not to jump and mouth reliably (that will probably take months) but you can manage him as he learns so he can't practice the behavior.


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## HollowHeaven (Feb 5, 2012)

I disagree that it's too early to teach him not to jump. It will take a while but I feel right now is a great time to start setting a basis for not jumping.
It will be hard to stop other people from encouraging him, but as much as you can, right now, only reward him for keeping his feet on the ground. If he jumps, no attention. If he keeps his feet on the floor, get down on his level and give him attention. 
When he mouths, offer him a toy instead and if he persists, stop giving him attention. If he mouths other people, ask them to stop giving him attention for mouthing too.


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## elrohwen (Nov 10, 2011)

I didn't say it's too early to start teaching it, but it's way too early to expect any reliability with strangers in new situations.


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## jade5280 (Feb 20, 2013)

My puppy is still like this at 4 months old. He is slowly growing out of the mouthing but he gets too excited with new people. He doesn't jump on us at home but as soon as we go out in public he forgets all his manners. It is especially hard because other people will pet him when he jumps on them. Before anyone approaches him I just tell them that he gets excited and may nip. I hold his collar so he can't jump up and tell him to sit (doesn't always work). It's difficult with children because they always want to pet him. He is still a baby so I don't expect him to be perfectly behaved.


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## Zorro13 (Nov 11, 2013)

HollowHeaven said:


> I disagree that it's too early to teach him not to jump. It will take a while but I feel right now is a great time to start setting a basis for not jumping.
> It will be hard to stop other people from encouraging him, but as much as you can, right now, only reward him for keeping his feet on the ground. If he jumps, no attention. If he keeps his feet on the floor, get down on his level and give him attention.
> When he mouths, offer him a toy instead and if he persists, stop giving him attention. If he mouths other people, ask them to stop giving him attention for mouthing too.


I get the ignore if they bite while playing, but what about when they bite to get away? For example I'm trying to keep my puppy off the couch. I usually catch him when he's just thinking about it but sometimes he beats me to it. I calmly grab his collar to get him down but sometimes he bites my hand. Should I back my hand out (which is what he probably wants) or keep going until he's down?


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## hanksimon (Mar 18, 2009)

My philosophy is that a dog should not bite. Of course, preventing him from jumping on the couch is best, and teaching him "off" is next best. But while you're waiting for him to learn this behaviors  then Yelp or say Ouch! when he bites you, and keep going until he's down.

However, you can 'teach' him not to nip when you grab his collar, by practicing this activity during quiet times, and giving him a tiny treat, when he doesn't bite you. And, you can teach him to understand "Off" by letting him on the couch [You can even say "Up" just before he jumps onto the couch], then you say "Off!" and lure him with a tiny treat, giving him the treat when he gets off, then repeating but giving the treat when he gets off AND then Sits, and finally repeating randomly without the treat, incrementally phasing out the treat.... and never giving him the cue "Up"


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