What is Mouthing in Dogs?
Whether you have a puppy, a young dog, or an adult dog, you have likely experienced mouthing. Mouthing is when a dog places their teeth on human skin or clothing. Although it can look similar to biting, it is generally considered a different behavior.
Mouthing is extremely common in dogs because their mouths are one of the primary ways they interact with the world. Studies show that mouthing occurs more often in dogs one and under, but that another quarter of adult dogs still mouth on their caretakers at least sometimes (Waite et al., 2021).
It is also quite common to find mouthing and high-arousal behaviors in adolescent and adult dogs adopted from a shelter. This behavior may be due to their learning history; no one ever taught them to play nicely and ask politely, or things like that!
What that means is that it’s up to you to help your dog or puppy learn how to engage politely with you and how to use (or not use) their mouth.
We hypothesize that mouthing gets worse when you have a puppy who is teething, which often occurs between 12 weeks – 1 year. You might also notice that the mouthing gets much worse on a daily basis when your pup is tired throughout the day, and this is especially true after dinner and before bedtime.
Many trainers call this period the “witching hour,” when puppies bounce off the walls and put their teeth on everything—including you. In addition, if your dog is from a breed group meant to use its mouth, such as a retriever, we hypothesize that they are more likely to mouth than other breed groups, such as sighthounds.
There’s surprisingly little research on which breeds mouth more than others. Although one study suggested that poodles and doodle mixes had higher rates of mouthing than average (Waite et al., 2021).
🐕 Key takeaway: Mouthing is a normal way dogs explore and interact with the world—especially when they’re young.
Why Reduce Mouthing Behavior?
Most people who were asked about their dogs’ mouthing behavior said that they didn’t like the mouthing and wanted to reduce it, so that’s reason enough to work on the behavior. Most people really don’t like the sensation of dog teeth on their skin – those puppy teeth can really hurt, break skin, or rip clothing! Some dogs even leave bruises on their owners, even if they’re “just playing” (Waite et al., 2021).
Another reason to intervene is that although biting is often categorized under “aggression”, whereas mouthing is not, although it very much depends on the person! You should note that most people actually disagree on what counts as mouthing versus biting, so be prepared that when you think your dog is “mouthing,” someone else may call it “biting”, which can be a shock to some caretakers!
For example, almost 60% of people said they would label something a “bite” even if the dog wasn’t otherwise acting aggressively, and 59% said a bite is a bite, regardless of whether it was an accident or not (Oxley et al., 2019).
Further, 46% of respondents said they would call something a bite even if the dog only made contact with clothing! What that tells me is that even though mouthing is common in dogs, we should take the behavior seriously.
🐕 Key takeaway: Even though mouthing is normal for dogs, most people don’t enjoy it—and teaching polite alternatives makes life easier for everyone.
End of Part 1
In Part 2, we’ll look at some of the biggest underlying drivers of mouthing behavior and how meeting your dog’s behavioral needs can dramatically reduce it.
References
Brophey, K. (2022). The Karl Hack. Family Dog Mediation.
Oxley, J. A., Christley, R., & Westgarth, C. (2019). What is a dog bite? Perceptions of UK dog bite victims. Journal of Veterinary Behavior, 29, 40–44.
Waite, M. R., Harman, M. J., & Kodak, T. (2021). Frequency and animal demographics of mouthing behavior in companion dogs in the United States. Learning and Motivation, 74, 101726. Published online by Science Direct.
Wells, D. L. (2004). The influence of toys on the behaviour and welfare of kenneled dogs. Animal Welfare, 13(3), 367–373. Published online by Cambridge University Press.
