And yet another dog question by me.
July 15, 2024 8:12 AM Subscribe
What does it mean when a dog puts your forearm in its mouth but does not bite down?
As I've mentioned in previous questions, I have had horses and cats, but never a dog, so I have little experience with them. Yesterday, I picked up my grandson from his mother's house. She has two large dogs, one of whom I had not yet met. She and the dogs met me at the front door, she invited me in, and the dogs went nuts and were barking madly and were all over me. Her husband tried to make them go into the back yard, but they would not go. Eventually, he got the more excited one into its crate, and let the one who had met me before run free. Before the crate, the more excited one (appears to be a Pit/Lab/Mutt mix) took my forearm into his mouth and left a red mark with one of his canines, but did not bite down. My question is: Why did he do this; what was his objective?
As I've mentioned in previous questions, I have had horses and cats, but never a dog, so I have little experience with them. Yesterday, I picked up my grandson from his mother's house. She has two large dogs, one of whom I had not yet met. She and the dogs met me at the front door, she invited me in, and the dogs went nuts and were barking madly and were all over me. Her husband tried to make them go into the back yard, but they would not go. Eventually, he got the more excited one into its crate, and let the one who had met me before run free. Before the crate, the more excited one (appears to be a Pit/Lab/Mutt mix) took my forearm into his mouth and left a red mark with one of his canines, but did not bite down. My question is: Why did he do this; what was his objective?
That's usually a "hi, hello, did you see me, are you noticing me, interact with me!" It's often the equivalent of a small child grabbing your hand or arm to take you to see their toys.
Not having hands, dogs do most of their interaction with the world with their mouths. It indicates the dog knows "soft mouth" - puppies will do this but break the skin, they don't know their own strength.
posted by Lyn Never at 8:19 AM on July 15 [28 favorites]
Not having hands, dogs do most of their interaction with the world with their mouths. It indicates the dog knows "soft mouth" - puppies will do this but break the skin, they don't know their own strength.
posted by Lyn Never at 8:19 AM on July 15 [28 favorites]
It means "my owner doesn't care about me leaving tooth marks on guests"
posted by SaltySalticid at 8:46 AM on July 15 [10 favorites]
posted by SaltySalticid at 8:46 AM on July 15 [10 favorites]
We have a dog that mouths us (only us) when he is playing or excited. Occasionally he has squeezed a bit hard or caught skin in a nip by accident, but has never ever used any force and is clearly not trying to hurt us. It's always been excitement and we have classed it as Lyn Never had above, as him wanting to hold our hands with his mouth as a way of interacting with us.
posted by Martha My Dear Prudence at 9:08 AM on July 15 [3 favorites]
posted by Martha My Dear Prudence at 9:08 AM on July 15 [3 favorites]
It's a very labrador thing to do.
Some dogs feel driven to hold you with their mouth, it's not really a bite, not intended to harm. More of an excited greeting, but obviously not polite in human terms, and something to work on for the owner.
Dogs find it soothing to hold things in their mouths. You probably find that dog would also like picking up big branches and carrying them around, and gnawing on things with its back teeth.
posted by Zumbador at 9:13 AM on July 15 [5 favorites]
Some dogs feel driven to hold you with their mouth, it's not really a bite, not intended to harm. More of an excited greeting, but obviously not polite in human terms, and something to work on for the owner.
Dogs find it soothing to hold things in their mouths. You probably find that dog would also like picking up big branches and carrying them around, and gnawing on things with its back teeth.
posted by Zumbador at 9:13 AM on July 15 [5 favorites]
Agreed with all of the above. Overexcited, wanting to play, but badly trained.
It might be a good idea to raise it as a concern with the adults in the family, depending on your grandson's age. They may be used to the excitable dogs but a pit/lab mix who puts hands in his mouth when he's excited could cause real harm to a child (or an adult!) without meaning to. They need to train their dogs before someone gets hurt.
posted by fight or flight at 9:57 AM on July 15 [5 favorites]
It might be a good idea to raise it as a concern with the adults in the family, depending on your grandson's age. They may be used to the excitable dogs but a pit/lab mix who puts hands in his mouth when he's excited could cause real harm to a child (or an adult!) without meaning to. They need to train their dogs before someone gets hurt.
posted by fight or flight at 9:57 AM on July 15 [5 favorites]
"I'm very excited, I would like attention, I'm overstimulated."
A dog's mouth is like a slippery, daggery, hand used to interact with the world.
Some dogs need a lot of help to develop their bite inhibition. I love dogs, but if I go to a friend's house who has a mouth dog I'll ask them to keep the dog crated until I've come into the house and settled. If it's a super mouthy dog I'll honestly avoid them. I've worked with dogs professionally for most of my adult life and I'm not too fond of adult dog teeth on any part of my body.
posted by spacebologna at 9:59 AM on July 15 [3 favorites]
A dog's mouth is like a slippery, daggery, hand used to interact with the world.
Some dogs need a lot of help to develop their bite inhibition. I love dogs, but if I go to a friend's house who has a mouth dog I'll ask them to keep the dog crated until I've come into the house and settled. If it's a super mouthy dog I'll honestly avoid them. I've worked with dogs professionally for most of my adult life and I'm not too fond of adult dog teeth on any part of my body.
posted by spacebologna at 9:59 AM on July 15 [3 favorites]
My dog does this to get my attention and 'claim' me. It is clearly not at all bite-y. I've had previous dogs that might do it while playing energetically, and I always put a stop to it. Just pull your arm away and say No. My dog is over-excited with visitors, and in general. I ask her to come, and then sit. A sitting dog will be slightly calmer, though these owners have not been trained, and the dogs and their family would all benefit.
Pit bull mixes should never be allowed to get overexcited with people like this. They are usually nice dogs, but can become aggressive, and can be dangerous if that happens. I'd call ahead and ask that the dogs be outside or crated when you arrive. Training should be a priority, but dog owners can be hard to manage.
posted by theora55 at 10:13 AM on July 15 [3 favorites]
Pit bull mixes should never be allowed to get overexcited with people like this. They are usually nice dogs, but can become aggressive, and can be dangerous if that happens. I'd call ahead and ask that the dogs be outside or crated when you arrive. Training should be a priority, but dog owners can be hard to manage.
posted by theora55 at 10:13 AM on July 15 [3 favorites]
Yes, this is generally an overexcited/overstimulated dog that has not been trained well. Most dogs have the instinct to play this way, but they should be trained both to have bite inhibition and to not put their mouths around human arms/legs/whatever. In terms of objective, generally some combo of wanting to play/not knowing how to direct his energy/wanting attention. I wouldn't take this as aggressive if that's what you are worried about, but sometimes overexcitement can go over the threshold into aggression.
I do have a 25 lb cockapoo who loves carrying toys and sticks around in his mouth, and on the rarest occasion when he's too overly excited, he might start to mouth at me. (He's under 2 years old, so he's still kind of a teenager and forgets himself.) But he immediately catches himself and stops. Same thing when another dog went after him and I had to reach in to extricate him. B/c I was sticking my hand in and grabbing a dog in the middle of being attacked by another dog, his mouth ended up around my hand, but he immediately realized it, never bit down, not a mark.
That's how a well trained dog should behave. How old his dog? I would be more forgiving of this in a younger, high energy dog, but the owners should be correcting him every time.
It's very concerning to me that neither of these dogs seem well behaved. Barking can have many reasons - ranging from alert, demand, aggression, overexcitement - but well trained dogs shouldn't be barking at a human once the human comes inside. I'm guessing there isn't much you can do about this, but I would not want any large dog (especially pit mix) exhibiting these behaviors in a home where a child lives.
posted by litera scripta manet at 10:31 AM on July 15 [3 favorites]
I do have a 25 lb cockapoo who loves carrying toys and sticks around in his mouth, and on the rarest occasion when he's too overly excited, he might start to mouth at me. (He's under 2 years old, so he's still kind of a teenager and forgets himself.) But he immediately catches himself and stops. Same thing when another dog went after him and I had to reach in to extricate him. B/c I was sticking my hand in and grabbing a dog in the middle of being attacked by another dog, his mouth ended up around my hand, but he immediately realized it, never bit down, not a mark.
That's how a well trained dog should behave. How old his dog? I would be more forgiving of this in a younger, high energy dog, but the owners should be correcting him every time.
It's very concerning to me that neither of these dogs seem well behaved. Barking can have many reasons - ranging from alert, demand, aggression, overexcitement - but well trained dogs shouldn't be barking at a human once the human comes inside. I'm guessing there isn't much you can do about this, but I would not want any large dog (especially pit mix) exhibiting these behaviors in a home where a child lives.
posted by litera scripta manet at 10:31 AM on July 15 [3 favorites]
Two reasons: One can be a polite request (or demand--with an untrained or rude dog) or an expression of love and regard.
I've had more rescue or pound dogs than puppies, but they all learned that a demand was never tolerated. Overexcitement was either ignored or disciplined, and if that's stopped early enough, it usually doesn't get as far as an arm grab. If so, then a loud NO and foot stamp usually corrected it! I've always had smart herding dogs and one standard poodle, so the communication was usually clear and understood by both parties.
The requests for pets and affection were only allowed in the context of an affectionate moment and done quietly with the dog in front of me and looking at me with a quiet face. Never any nips, pinching or scratches, just a soft, gentle mouth. Which if you know cowdogs, they can be pretty nippy or mouthy and not always gentle. The love fest and 'hand-holding' often was accompanied by gentle nose bomping, 'head-on-knee' with deep sighs, longing gazes, and a slightly doofus expression. And sometime a sneaky lick. GACK! ICK! NO LICKING!
The only pinch I can remember was from an older dog that surprised me one evening when I went out to feed and was walking around the back of the hay shed. Hard, sharp, slight skin break, swears, and an abrupt stop. About that time a skunk strolled around the corner. The look that dog gave me!! "Well, then idjut, next time I won't bother."
With a pit bull or cross, especially one being rude and demanding, I'd shut that down real quick. They have incredibly strong jaws, are noted for hanging on, and I've never heard of one that had a 'soft mouth' that is one that could bring back a live bunny as several of my dogs did. Poodles are retrievers, and cowdogs are smart enough to know the difference between carry softly and hang on hard. I'm not saying I've never met a smart, gentle, well-mannered pit, but I'd not have one--especially around children and small animals.
The fact that this dog was a lab, and labs are also soft mouth retrievers tells me that either he wasn't from a line of smart labs, he didn't inherit the ability to be soft, or he just wasn't bothering to be as gentle as he could have been.
Oh, for what it's worth, I would never deliberately try to pull my arm away from a dog that grabbed me. Their instinct is to hang on tighter as if you were prey--or they think you're playing, so they shake, pull, and hang on tighter. I would shout, stamp a foot, stride toward them, and possibly wack them on the head. Not guaranteeing it would work with an unstable pit bull, but any dog that's worth keeping and safe enough to be a pet would back off.
posted by BlueHorse at 10:57 AM on July 15 [3 favorites]
I've had more rescue or pound dogs than puppies, but they all learned that a demand was never tolerated. Overexcitement was either ignored or disciplined, and if that's stopped early enough, it usually doesn't get as far as an arm grab. If so, then a loud NO and foot stamp usually corrected it! I've always had smart herding dogs and one standard poodle, so the communication was usually clear and understood by both parties.
The requests for pets and affection were only allowed in the context of an affectionate moment and done quietly with the dog in front of me and looking at me with a quiet face. Never any nips, pinching or scratches, just a soft, gentle mouth. Which if you know cowdogs, they can be pretty nippy or mouthy and not always gentle. The love fest and 'hand-holding' often was accompanied by gentle nose bomping, 'head-on-knee' with deep sighs, longing gazes, and a slightly doofus expression. And sometime a sneaky lick. GACK! ICK! NO LICKING!
The only pinch I can remember was from an older dog that surprised me one evening when I went out to feed and was walking around the back of the hay shed. Hard, sharp, slight skin break, swears, and an abrupt stop. About that time a skunk strolled around the corner. The look that dog gave me!! "Well, then idjut, next time I won't bother."
With a pit bull or cross, especially one being rude and demanding, I'd shut that down real quick. They have incredibly strong jaws, are noted for hanging on, and I've never heard of one that had a 'soft mouth' that is one that could bring back a live bunny as several of my dogs did. Poodles are retrievers, and cowdogs are smart enough to know the difference between carry softly and hang on hard. I'm not saying I've never met a smart, gentle, well-mannered pit, but I'd not have one--especially around children and small animals.
The fact that this dog was a lab, and labs are also soft mouth retrievers tells me that either he wasn't from a line of smart labs, he didn't inherit the ability to be soft, or he just wasn't bothering to be as gentle as he could have been.
Oh, for what it's worth, I would never deliberately try to pull my arm away from a dog that grabbed me. Their instinct is to hang on tighter as if you were prey--or they think you're playing, so they shake, pull, and hang on tighter. I would shout, stamp a foot, stride toward them, and possibly wack them on the head. Not guaranteeing it would work with an unstable pit bull, but any dog that's worth keeping and safe enough to be a pet would back off.
posted by BlueHorse at 10:57 AM on July 15 [3 favorites]
Response by poster: Wow, I had no idea that this type of behavior signaled being excited in a positive way and wanting to play. I'm actually kind of amazed that another living, breathing being would find me to be so interesting and special (they must be really bored, haha). The info ya'll provided was super-interesting. I loved training my horses, and I bet I would get a lot of satisfaction out of fully training a dog (a previous post shows that I've done a tiny, tiny bit of dog training). Thanks for your enlightening replies to my ask.
posted by SageTrail at 2:48 PM on July 16 [2 favorites]
posted by SageTrail at 2:48 PM on July 16 [2 favorites]
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