Learn to Stop Anxious Puppy Mouthing

2 Tips to reduce anxious mouthing:
I believe, we expect our dogs to tolerate a wide variety of handling and interaction that would not be considered normal in the dog world.
Humans, are an extremely touch-oriented species, and we interact with our dogs in very human ways, with lots of touching. We expect our dogs to accept and enjoy being touched everywhere on their bodies.
If you are reading this, your dog has demonstrated some aversion to some
type of body handling, either with a guest, at the vets or even for you at home. It is important to understand that your dog is acting this way out of fear or possibly pain. He needs your understanding and patience with this issue.
I recommend you counter-conditioning and desensitize your dog to being body handled at home. Counter-conditioning means reversing the negative association the dog has formed with a certain thing (body handling), and replace it with a positive, happy association. Desensitization means exposing the dog to the thing he finds scary at very low levels, low enough that it does not provoke a fear response, and gradually increasing the level of exposure until the dog is comfortable and happy with the full-force of the “scary thing.”
TIP#1 Open Bar
Have your dog happily eating the entire time you are handling him, and as soon as you finish handling, the kong/ can food/ treats should disappear. This will allow for your dog to easily make the association that handling means yummy treats, no handling means the yummy treats go away.
TIP#2 Touch and Treat
Show your dog the treat in your hand, ask for a “wait”, touch his ear, then say “yes” and reward with the treat. Repeat this process, many times while placing your hand on different parts of his body. Over time, build his tolerance by holding your hand on his body for longer periods of time. Example: Show treat, “wait” look in ear for 5 seconds, then “yes” and reward.