Why does my Golden Retriever mouth me?

If your Golden Retriever has a habit of mouthing you this post will show you why it might be doing it and what you can do to get it to stop.

So, why does my Golden Retriever mouth me? Possible reasons are that it is looking for attention, it’s teething, it has not been trained not to or that you have inadvertently rewarded it.

Your Golden Retriever might be doing if for a number of reasons and it could be due to a combination of reasons. However, there are also a number of things you can do to get it to stop.

Why your Golden Retriever mouths you

Below, I will show you a number of reasons why your Golden Retriever might be doing it and what would make them more likely to be the main reason.

It wants attention

The cause could be that it is looking for extra attention. This would be more likely if it does it more when you have not been giving it much attention and if you tend to give it extra attention when it does it.

Instead, it would help to give it attention throughout the day by exercising it, playing with it and training it. But, it would help to avoid rewarding it with extra attention when it mouths you.

It is exploring

Dogs interact with the environment using their mouths and their noses as much as they do with their eyes and even more so when they are puppies.

The reason why your Golden Retriever has been mouthing you could be that it’s interacting with you. This would be more likely if it is a puppy.

Even if this is the case it will still be important to get it to stop by training it not to mouth you.

It’s teething

The cause could be that it is teething. This would be more likely if it is a puppy, it has started doing it suddenly and if it has been chewing on other things as well. In this case, it would help to give it lots of training so that it learns what it can and cannot chew and to give it lots of things such as toys that it can chew instead.

It wasn’t trained not to

If you have not given your Golden Retriever much training it will behave the way that it feels like behaving which is unlikely to be the way that you would like it to. There are a number of tips mentioned below on how you can train it not to mouth you.

It has been reinforced

It could be the case that you have encouraged it to do it by giving it things that it wants when it does it.

Instead of giving it things such as toys or treats in order to get it to stop mouthing you, try to recognize when it is likely to start doing it and to redirect its attention. If it does start mouthing you, try to withdraw your hands and to avoid giving it attention until it stops as mentioned below.

Excitement

The reason why your Golden Retriever has been mouthing you could be that it gets excited and it is trying to show its excitement.

This would be more likely if it only seems to mouth you when you’re about to do something exciting such as to go out for a walk. It would also be more likely if it tends to show other signs of excitement when mouthing you.

In this case, something you can try is to stop it from mouthing you by standing up and turning around or by leaving the room. You would then reward it when it shows signs of behaving the way that you want it to. Doing this will teach it that mouthing you does not get it what it wants.

Things to consider

Below are some things to consider about your Golden Retriever mouthing you.

When it started doing it

If it did not always mouth you, it would help to consider what else happened when it first started doing it since it could be the case that there was an event that caused it to start doing it.

If your Golden Retriever started doing it suddenly, it would make it more likely to be due to things such as teething, inadvertently rewarding it or stopping training it. In this case, it would help to consider what else changed when it started doing it.

Whereas, if it has always done it, a lack of training would be more likely to be the reason. If you have trained it not to do it, your training method might not have been effective and you could try using a different strategy.

How old it is

It would also help to consider how old it is since its age will have an impact on the most likely cause.

If your Golden Retriever is still a puppy it would make it much more likely that it mouths you naturally because it is teething.

Nevertheless, it would be important to train it not to mouth you so that it doesn’t do it when it is older.

If it is an adult then it would be more likely that it never learned not to do it.

However, if it started to do it suddenly and it didn’t do it in the past then it might suggest that something is wrong such as that it is in pain.

When it does it

It would also help to consider the timing of when it mouths you since it could also be the case that the timing has something to do with it.

How to get your Golden Retriever to stop mouthing you

Below are a number of options you have when getting your Golden Retriever to stop doing it.

Train it not to

Positive reinforcement training involves getting your Golden Retriever to behave a certain way by rewarding it when it shows signs of behaving that way and avoiding rewarding it when it does not.

To use positive reinforcement training to get it to stop mouthing, you would do as follows:

1. Start giving it positive attention
2. Stop giving it attention by turning your back and hiding your hands when it starts mouthing you
3. Carry on giving it attention when it stops mouthing you
4. Stop giving it attention again when if it starts mouthing you
5. Repeat the above until it learns that mouthing you results in you not giving it attention

Avoid negative reinforcement training

Negative reinforcement training is where you inadvertently encourage bad behaviors by rewarding them. Instead of giving you Golden Retriever rewards when it bites you, it would help to reward it when it does not and to stop rewarding it when it starts biting.

Give it distractions

In addition to the above, it would also help to give it things to be distracted with so that it is less likely to feel the need to mouth you. Things you could give it would include, toys, bones and puzzle games.

Get help from a dog behaviorist or trainer

If you cannot get it to stop mouthing you, it would also help to get the help of a professional dog behaviorist or trainer in your area. By doing so, you should be able to see why it is doing it and how to get it to stop effectively.