Here’s a method you can use to cure “Hard Mouth.” Hard mouth doesn’t refer to a dog who bites and injures, it refers to a dog who snatches treats fast and hard from your fingers – ouch!

 

Hard mouth usually begins in puppyhood, when owners (especially children) draw their hands away at the moment a treat is offered, to avoid contact with the puppy’s teeth. This teaches the puppy that he has to lunge forward quickly to get the treat. The bad habit continues into adulthood, and his bite gets harder and harder.

 

The following method will train a puppy, and can also be used to retrain an adult dog, to take treats gently:

 

1)      Get some small food treats about the size of popcorn. Have the dog sit. Offer the treat to your dog in a closed fist, start with your hand at your side and slowly swoop your fist up under his chin. When the dog gives your fist a gentle nudge with his nose, open your hand, palm up. The dog will eat the treat from your flat hand – keep all your fingers together to prevent incidental contact.

 

2)      While the dog remains seated, repeat the presentation of the food treat exactly as described above. Do this 10 to 20 times. (If he stands up, tell him to sit again.) When the dog has calmly and gently eaten the food from the palm of your hand several times in a row, move to the next step.

 

3)      Move the hand with the food treat toward the dog exactly the same way (swooping up from your side to just under his chin) except now, instead of holding it in your closed fist, you should be holding it under your thumb, completely hidden under the thumb. Thumb on top, all four fingers together on the bottom. When the dog touches his nose to your fingers, move your thumb out of the way revealing the treat. Do this about 10 times. When the dog has calmly and gently eaten the food from your fingers several times in a row, move to the next step.

 

4)      Continue offering the food as in step 3, only now you can begin to alternate holding the food under your thumb with holding the food between the fingertips of all 5 fingers, slightly exposed. Be sure to slowly swoop the hand up under the dog’s chin the exact same way as before.

 

Congratulations, your dog is now taking treats without snapping!

 

Over the next few weeks, every time you give your dog a treat, start with step 1 and work toward step 4. Over time it will take fewer repetitions between steps to achieve the desired result. With practice, the bad habit of snapping at your fingers will completely disappear.

 

Be careful not to pull your hand away while giving treats, or the bad habit may return.

 

A common mistake that people make when trying to teach their dog to take treats gently is to verbally prompt the dog “Gentle!” while offering the food. This sometimes works temporarily but it’s a mistake because if you teach the dog to only take treats gently when he hears the word “Gentle!” then he will still snap the food hard from the hand of anyone who doesn’t say the magic word!

 

Please do not let your children practice this with your dog until you’re comfortable that the bad habit is completely gone, and even then, be sure to teach kids the right way to offer food - in a closed fist, palm up, under the dog’s chin. Always supervise kids and dogs whenever food is around.