is a mouthy dog an aggressive dog?

starry

my dog can be mouthy at times when he gets excited. this means opening his mouth at my hand but not actually putting his mouth around my hand even if I don't move it away
i was told mouthiness does not necessarily mean aggressiveness, it might just be the way he interacts with the world like we do with out hands.
Does this behavior go away with age or do I need to train a new behavior...cause an open mouth coming at you although not actually connecting does not always go over well with other people
any suggestions on training?

WrylyBrindle

I agree. Mouthiness does not=aggressiveness. It MIGHT= pushiness, though. If you dont like it, redirect it, if you dont mind it, though, I enjoy playing mouth games with my dogs, and some dogs are just mouthy. Sage is mouthy and we play on/off mouth handling games. He opens his mouth and I handle his teeth and he closes gently. If I hook my fingers behind his canines, he will gently tug, and release when I say so. Its not an intense game, its a gentle game. He also delicately removes mittens and gloves.

He does still pluck my shirt and use his mouth to tell me things by touch. But he is NOWHERE as mouthy as the Springer Spaniels I dogsat! Those guys will take your ENTIRE forearm in their whole mouth (softly) and urge you toward the door to let them out.

You can teach bite inhibition by practicing mouth control.

JessicaRabbit

a) mouthy is by no means aggressive.
b) The simplest way to eliminate mouthiness is to absolutely ignore your dog when he tries to interact in that manner. Leave the room. Essentially you will be telling him that that behavior does not get him what he wants which is attention.

Heidi

Wolves and dogs will put their gaping mouths over each other's faces and necks as a sign of affection, and of course, dogs are mouthy with each other when they play. Rakka likes to mouth my wrist when she's happy to see me. It's annoying, so when she does it, I just turn right around and face the other way. Then she remembers her manners.

Dogs can hurt you on accident during play, so it is wise to keep their open mouths away from your body, but it by no means signifies an aggressive dog.

miss_mallinson

When I groom Tiger he puts his entire mouth around my wrist/arm and just holds it there, I was told it was his way of saying he was enjoying the grooming/play session, but because I don't want him to pick up this habit when he's excited and potentially cause some damage, I stop grooming and remove myself from the situation for each time he does it. It's working, slowly.