# teeth showing!



## MsMailbawx (Jan 5, 2012)

Ryker has started to show his chompers alot more latley. he always showed his teeth in play, but now when i go to rub his tummy and go near his neck he shows his teeth. (he is perfectly healthy- just got a recent check up) he also does it when he gets agitated/stressed/too wound up. he gets a good amount of exercise and training and we have come a LONG WAY. im just worried this will continue into adult hood and i have been told he will be about 95 pounds :/

any suggestions? :help:


----------



## MacyGSD (Dec 22, 2011)

I would try the same thing I do when Macy does something I don't agree with. When your rubbing his belly or touching his neck, as soon as he shows his teeth you should stop what your doing, have him sit away from you and say "No!". Macy Loves praise and me petting and hugging her, so when I do this she usually get's it pretty quick. Good Luck!


----------



## PupperLove (Apr 10, 2010)

Does he think you're playing? I can't hug Jackson or if I touch him goofy he thinks I'm playing and goes for my hands and starts jumping around like a maniac. Maybe he's just being a butt and has energy to spare? Hopefully it's nothing serious!


----------



## Wolfiesmom (Apr 10, 2010)

Wolfie shows me his teeth from time to time. He showed me his teeth the first day I brought him home at 12 weeks old, and told him " no biting" It depends on the situation, as to how I handle it. He sometimes shows me teeth when I am trying to take a tick off of him. He gets scared for some reason. I don't back off, that would teach him that all he has to do is show his teeth and I will go away. I tell him " no teeth" in a firm tone and then try to calm him down, while I continue to go for the tick. He also shows me teeth sometimes when I won't let him get something that he really wants. For instance, he wanted a napkin on the coffee table last week, and showed teeth when I told him no and pushed him away. Usually all I have to do is say leave it, and he goes away. I guess there was something on that napkin that he really wanted. As soon as the teeth came out, I told him very sternly " no teeth". Then I took him by the collar, put him in the other room and ignored him for a while.I think that it's important not to be intimidated by the teeth showing. He knows I don't put up with it, and it's only on a rare occasion that he does it. He is 2 years old and 85+ lbs.


----------



## shaner (Oct 17, 2010)

I would absolutely not let that continue. It could be a puppy play thing, or it could be a sign of the dog attempting to dominate and intimidate you. If the dog is wearing a collar, I would immediately take a firm hold of the collar and very loudly and firmly, say "no!" 

I would not immediately back away or stop doing what you're doing or the dog will think it can do it again next time it doesn't want to be touched. Give a correction, then continue doing what you were doing. If no teeth, then you can stop after a few more seconds and praise.


----------



## 1sttimeforgsd (Jul 29, 2010)

Are you sure it is a aggressive action, I have a friend whose dog does this when he is happy? I also know of another dog that does this and it is just like he is grinning at you, he is not doing it in a mean way.


----------



## Castlemaid (Jun 29, 2006)

When he shows his teeth, is he just pulling his lips back, or is he wrinkling his muzzle too? How old is he?


----------



## MsMailbawx (Jan 5, 2012)

Hes 5 months and I'm not sure I'll try and find out. What would be the difference? Thanks for all your replies guys, I always get good advice on this forum. Having a shepherd after having a lab is quite the culture shock!


----------



## Castlemaid (Jun 29, 2006)

Showing his teeth without the muzzle wrinkles may not be anything to worry about. Dogs will smile, or sometimes show mild stress by pulling their lips back. I can see either smiling or mild stress in the situations you described above. 

Wrinkling their nose/muzzle, slanting their eyes and staring at you hard while pulling back their lips to show their teeth could be a warning sign, but I don't really see it being that if he is rolling over for you to pet his tummy or when playing with other dogs.

Take a look at these drawings, you can see that there are a number of different situations where your dog may have a slightly open mouth showing his teeth, but there is a lot more going on if the dog is showing aggression:
http://www.moderndogmagazine.com/articles/how-read-your-dogs-body-language/415


----------



## MsMailbawx (Jan 5, 2012)

No he doesn't growl or stare hard. He just shows his teeth and bites at you. Sometimes he'll just show his teeth. His hormone are raging majorly too. we had a girl dog over and he was just all over the place. He kept harassing her so I shooed him away and he barked an showed his teeth at me and lied down. I love this dog but it always seems that we take 2 steps forward then 2 steps back.


----------



## Castlemaid (Jun 29, 2006)

Sounds to me like he is hyper and excited, and has a hard time controlling his drives. Not aggression. 

More training, more exercise, more re-direction to a toy. 

And have fun along the way.


----------



## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

1sttimeforgsd said:


> Are you sure it is a aggressive action, I have a friend whose dog does this when he is happy? I also know of another dog that does this and it is just like he is grinning at you, he is not doing it in a mean way.



We have a lab down the street that is quite the escape artist..the first time I caught him boy did he catch me off guard..he was growling and showing his teeth. I still managed to grab him, only because he was wagging his tail and showed signs of some happiness When his owners came I told them he growled at me and they said that is just what he does when he's happy and sure as **it, he has done the same thing to me everytime I catch him--which is quite often since he likes to chase rabbits


----------



## MsMailbawx (Jan 5, 2012)

I dont think a smiling dog would try to nip you like ryker tend to.


----------



## Castlemaid (Jun 29, 2006)

He is in drive, and can't contain his energy. The nipping is an outlet, not an act of aggression. Give him appropriate, constructive outlets to his physical and mental energies: get him involved in classes, dog activities, play tug with him, let him win. If he nips at you, stop everything and ignore him. He will learn which behaviours are rewarded with attention (playing with a tug or other activities), and wich ones don't. 

If you are truly worried that Ryker is showing inappropriate aggression, then have him evaluated by a behaviourist. We can't give "tips" to curb inappropriate aggression over the internet if we can't see the behaviour for ourselves.


----------



## hoocli (Mar 7, 2012)

llombardo said:


> We have a lab down the street that is quite the escape artist..the first time I caught him boy did he catch me off guard..he was growling and showing his teeth. I still managed to grab him, only because he was wagging his tail and showed signs of some happiness When his owners came I told them he growled at me and they said that is just what he does when he's happy and sure as **it, he has done the same thing to me everytime I catch him--which is quite often since he likes to chase rabbits


Just an FYI a wagging tale shows excitement not happy. A dog with a wagging tale doesn't mean he won't bite. Alot of people assume a wagging tale means the dog is happy.


----------



## codmaster (Aug 5, 2009)

hoocli said:


> Just an FYI a wagging tale shows excitement not happy. A dog with a wagging tale doesn't mean he won't bite. Alot of people assume a wagging tale means the dog is happy.


 
Often what a wagging tail indicates about a dog's mood is told by how it is wagging! I.E. beware the dog whose tail is held high and is slowly wagging back and forth! (usually) But a tail wagging fast and low or going in circles -- HAPPY DOG! (usually)

Have to read ALL of a dog's sign language to be able to interpret it!


----------



## sashadog (Sep 2, 2011)

codmaster said:


> Often what a wagging tail indicates about a dog's mood is told by how it is wagging! I.E. beware the dog whose tail is held high and is slowly wagging back and forth! (usually) But a tail wagging fast and low or going in circles -- HAPPY DOG! (usually)
> 
> Have to read ALL of a dog's sign language to be able to interpret it!


A lot of people think my boy is aggressive because when he's happy he'll "talk," which sounds like a big growl, and he'll "smile" while kind of chomping at the air. Meanwhile he's bouncing around and his entire 40lb body is wiggling  But people get so hung up on the sound and the teeth that they don't see the rest of his body barely able to contain his joy that I picked up the leash or that we just got to agility  Even when I tell them he's just excited they look at me like I'm crazy!! (Except at agility, they all just laugh at his silly antics)


----------



## hoocli (Mar 7, 2012)

lol the difference between Dog people and Non-Dog people.


----------



## MsMailbawx (Jan 5, 2012)

Thanks for all the replies guys! What I decided to do was up the exercise, even though he was getting ALOT already. Obviously, I was underestimating his intense drive to do something physical. I also started making him go on his side and every time he is calm and not biting, I would click and reward him with some tasty kibble, I have been doing this for 2 days now and he's gotten better  I think he was fearful of me looming over him. For such a "tough guy" he sure is a pansy sometimes. We are also heading to level one training classes this Thursday! I have been really proud of him lately. The last 2 days he's been really showing me what a wonderful dog he is turning out to be. I think with consistency and some more work, I'll have a very good and happy companion!


----------



## MsMailbawx (Jan 5, 2012)

Castlemaid said:


> Sounds to me like he is hyper and excited, and has a hard time controlling his drives. Not aggression.
> 
> More training, more exercise, more re-direction to a toy.
> 
> And have fun along the way.



I just wanted to let you know that you always have very helpful advice and it's greatly appreciated


----------



## Castlemaid (Jun 29, 2006)

Thank you! Hope everything works out for you. It would be helpful to get an experienced person to see just what Ryker is doing if you want to be sure, but most of the time these kinds of behaviours from young dogs are not aggression, but high-energy, play behaviours.


----------



## MsMailbawx (Jan 5, 2012)

Well I thought I would add another thing here that's not so good....we were taking ryker hiking with us and he had his gentle leader on, and he doesn't really like it all that much yet and was trying to take it off. I told my brother to unclip it so ryker didn't break it and when he reached over to get it out of Rykers mouth, ryker snapped at him. Didn't growl or anything but snapped with teeth showing. I sternly told ryker NO and ignored him. After that I told my brother to pet him again and ryk was perfectly fine and we were able to get the gentle leader off. Ugh, i really hope he matures into a stable dog. We are going to the trainer for obedience tomorrow and I will obviously mention this to her. Until then any thoughts on why he did this?


----------



## Maggies1329 (Jan 3, 2021)

MacyGSD said:


> I would try the same thing I do when Macy does something I don't agree with. When your rubbing his belly or touching his neck, as soon as he shows his teeth you should stop what your doing, have him sit away from you and say "No!". Macy Loves praise and me petting and hugging her, so when I do this she usually get's it pretty quick. Good Luck!


 I'm having the same issue with my 6 month old German showing teeth when playing with my smaller dog


----------



## jarn (Jul 18, 2007)

Maggies1329 said:


> I'm having the same issue with my 6 month old German showing teeth when playing with my smaller dog


Sorta like this?

__
http://instagr.am/p/CBWdp2Jniz1/


----------



## Lexie’s mom (Oct 27, 2019)

Lexie has never shown her teeth, however she growls a lot when she wants to play holding a toy in her mouth and playfully inviting anyone to chase her and get it. Nobody can mistake this kind of growl for any kind of aggression, it’s very clear that it’s her way of communication to make you play.
Kids usually make growing sounds back at her and it’s funny to watch.
We used to have a toy poodle that would bare her teeth on one side when you gently pull her ear, making a funny face. Kind of half a smile. She would do it on command for a photo as well. Was never a biter either.


----------



## drparker151 (Apr 10, 2020)

Showing teeth can be part of play or a serious warning. The picture posted above looks like my two when mouth playing.
Post a video so we can see this in context.


----------



## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

I had a (laid-back) dog with similar behavior when he left on his back. I put the behavior on cue with "Sharky!" By saying it as he did it. It never went any further and it became a trick.


----------



## finn'smom (Oct 4, 2019)

My dude just gets his face stuck in his teeth... it is quite possibly the most ridiculous looking thing I've ever seen! 

That silliness aside though, he was very similar growing up... mouthy about everything! He's not the first puppy I've raised but by far the most difficult about being handled - he has been a jerk about it since day one. We worked on it everyday, happy to say he will now stand in the tub without a collar or leash for bath time (finally) and I can sit on the kitchen floor and trim his nails... and all of this without feeling a tooth on my skin. Standing for grooming is still a work in progress, he is not shy about grabbing a hand with his mouth. Correction and start again, reward for standing and letting it happen.. rinse and repeat - he's figuring it out. He's been pushy and mouthy all along but never a growl or snap, just has to try and remove what is bothering him from where it is bothering him at. The biggest test will be his vaccinations coming due - with the current lockdown situation I cannot go inside with him. This week we learn to accept a basket muzzle without stress - because I suspect he's going to need it to keep the Doc happy, and that's by far the better option to me than theirs getting pulled on in a room of strangers and stressing him more.


----------

