There’s an old saying: “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks,” which might be true when used as a metaphor, but certainly is not the case when talking about the real thing. Dogs, no matter their age, are indeed trainable. All it takes is patience, repetition, and kindness. It may take longer for some dogs to learn than others, but rest-assured, dogs are trainable students.

This said, it might be true to say: “It’s easier to train a new puppy new tricks.” The reason being, puppies are still learning every day and they’ve yet to establish their habits and overall behavior. Because of this, if your pup has developed a bad habit, such as mouthing, it’ll generally be easier to change this behavior before maturity sets in.

Take Diesel for instance, a Husky featured on an episode of It’s Me or the Dog. This nine-month-old pup had developed a serious mouthing problem that had him nipping at most everyone he encountered. To help, Victoria Stilwell employed some sound-diversion and time-outs to curb him of this bad habit. As she noted, if Diesel’s owners Becky and Jordan found his mouthing a problem now, wait until he reached full maturity at 18-36 months.

Mouthing as a puppy is natural for any young dog, as it’s how he explores the world around him. It also helps him with teething. However, if the behavior persists even after his teeth have come in, it could become a problem. Like with Diesel.

If you’re experiencing this with your dog, try to alter his behavior, so that he’s not nipping you, but instead a tug toy, a chew, or a favorite ball:

• When your puppy starts to nip your hand or arm, introduce a tug toy or chew into the interaction.

• Distract him with a high-pitched sound, followed perhaps by a time-out.

• If he enjoys playing rough-and-tumble, try and introduce another game, such as fetch.

Tags: dog mouthing, dog nipping, dog training