If you have a puppy at home, you know that they enjoy tugging and mouthing at clothes. As the puppy grows bigger this habit doesn’t naturally stop until they’re trained. So it’s obvious that an adult dog who tugs and mouths at clothes can worry you because it’s dangerous.
Your dog isn’t tugging and mouthing at clothes because they want to annoy you, it’s only natural, but this behavior needs to be stopped by directing play towards toys instead of clothes, human hair or skin. Remember to be consistent if you want your dog to stop undesirable behavior. Here are four ways to stop your dog from tugging or mouthing at your clothes:
1. Don’t react when your dog tugs or mouths at your clothes. If you do you’ll only teach them that the behavior is acceptable. If you start tugging or pulling you might teach them that it’s another way to play tug-of-war. Instead of shouting and screaming at your dog, stand motionless, look away from the dog and stand in a cross-armed position to let him know his behavior is not acceptable.
2. Teach your dog two commands – “leave it” and “drop it” and when successful, reward your dog to teach him that you will be happy if he stops unacceptable behavior.
3. Keep your dogs occupied because sometimes the tugging and mouthing are because your dog has excess energy that he doesn’t know how to use. Puzzles and games will help him get physically and mentally too exhausted to tug and mouth at clothes.
Sometimes dogs tug and mouth at clothes because they’re experiencing separation anxiety. If that is the case, please visit the vet so you can get proper guidance as to how to help him stop tugging and mouthing at your clothes.
Does your dog or puppy tug and mouth at your clothes? How do you handle the situation? Let us know in the comments!
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