Another article on Australian Labradoodle puppy mouthing.

Young puppies not only bite, but they mouth.  Teaching your puppy to have a soft mouth is an important part of your puppies development.  A soft mouth is where no pressure or pain is applied by your puppy when they are grasping your hand.   You will need to teach your puppy  that they cannot use their teeth to grasp, manipulate or gain control over any item (other than their toys) or your hand. 

Begin petting your puppy and as soon as he begins using his mouth and applying any pressure say “OUCH” .  Once your puppy stops, work with him on a ”sit” and reward him with a treat.  If “OUCH” doesn’t stop your puppy then you will have to create some fake pain and associated yelps.  A sharp high pitch yelp, similar to what his siblings would make, and pulling back on your hand at the same time should do the trick.  Stop all interaction with the puppy.  This is what a sibling would do when nipped too hard.  After 30 seconds,  return to your puppy and start playtime again and repeat the above steps if your puppy uses force with his teeth or nips.  Your puppy will learn quickly that nips and bites stop playtime.

Your puppy doesn’t know the difference between your hand, furniture and clothes, so don’t allow him to bite any of these things except for his toys.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 11th, 2009 at 3:32 pm and is filed under Advice, Australian Labradoodles, Labradoodle Health, Labradoodle Puppies, Labradoodle Training. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.