09/13/2025
A wonderful email with photo update arrived this morning from a current client team, that features one of my tips in action.
Their adorable five month old puppy, Sydney, uses her mouth to explore all the things while on slow hikes. This includes her leash, and pant clothing material.
Rather than suppress this behavior, we look at the function (purpose), and go through our checklist.
✅ Is she hungry? She’s growing quickly, and may need a caloric increase.
✅ Monitor her weight with the help of their awesome veterinary team
✅ She’s currently teething, and those adult pearly whites are pushing through… ouch!
✅ Does she need to eliminate?
✅ Assess the cues the evoke mouthing behavior, and consequences that reinforce it.
✅ Bring food on walks and offer treats contingent on all the wonderful behavior she offers that we’d like to increase in frequency.
✅ Bring more approved safe toys to chew on.
✅ Is she tired and needs to rest? Or, did she just wake up, and full of fresh energy?
✅ Is she thirsty?
⚽️ ✅ And stuff a small ball inside a clean tube sock that is easy for her to place mouth on. I use this tip with my own dogs when they are mouthy puppies. Even as we walk through our home. Plus, the long length of the sock sets the environmental condition for height access that’s easy to hang near the leash, so we’re not bending over, potentially tripping.
🐾✅ Now Sydney has access to this novel toy on walks, and enjoys rest time with it while outside, too.
This update doesn’t address all the useful tips available we as professionals can provide. But it’s definitely one of my favorites.
✅ Always remember to supervise dogs with their toys to ensure safety.
Thanks to Team Sydney for making my day!
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