"Air snapping"

[elisabeth_00117]

When Zefra gets excited she snaps, it's not a "snap snap snap" type of thing either, she snaps hard and if makes contact with something will CLAMP down and not let go (unless it's your body part which she is better at but when she was little it didn't matter). She is 9 months old today.

Zefra is also a jumper (she could bounce right over me if I let her) which I am still trying to teach her that jumping means no contact/interaction in regards to meeting people/when I come home.

Put those two things together and...

I have finally managed to train her to grab a toy when someone comes over or I come home so that her mouth is busy which is working out great.

Just wondering what others have done for a dog who does this?

What do you think causes it? I truly believe it is just excitement that comes out looking like this. It's not a nervous behaviour at all or an aggressive one... guess I am just curious is all.

[marshies]

Amaretto also jumps at people in the hoping-to-meet kind of way. It's made worse by people who say "cute puppy" on the streets when she does this...some even PET her when she jumps. I thought the jumping GSD would be a deterrent enough but apparently not! I'm saying please don't pet, and also just taking her to the side of the road and working on watch me with people passing. I'm hoping she'll eventually ignore people.

Edit to add she also sometimes snaps when she gets VERY VERY excited. But not so much anymore.

[msvette2u]

Dogs relieve tension by chewing.
They will do the kind of thing you describe if super-worked-up, as a release to the tension/excitement they feel in their bodies.
If they were shaped like humans, they'd probably run around in circles, stopping to hug you or something - this is the closest they can get, or a "dog version" of HELLO!HELLO!HELLO!, etc.

That said, it can be easily misconstrued by the general public and especially mothers with children, so it is good to teach a replacement behavior.
As you can imagine, it'll be tough to make a dog stop doing it, so the best you can do is replacement behaviors.

[phgsd]

To me, it means the dog is not clear in the head...Djenga can also be that way, I have a few scars from her! But my other dogs will not use their mouths out of excitement regardless of their level of drive or how excited they get.
It helps to tell people to just ignore Djenga, if they aren't paying her any attention or are calm she doesn't get too excited. But otherwise a ball or tug works wonders

[llombardo]

Originally Posted by elisabeth_00117

When Zefra gets excited she snaps, it's not a "snap snap snap" type of thing either, she snaps hard and if makes contact with something will CLAMP down and not let go (unless it's your body part which she is better at but when she was little it didn't matter). She is 9 months old today.

Zefra is also a jumper (she could bounce right over me if I let her) which I am still trying to teach her that jumping means no contact/interaction in regards to meeting people/when I come home.

Put those two things together and...

I have finally managed to train her to grab a toy when someone comes over or I come home so that her mouth is busy which is working out great.

Just wondering what others have done for a dog who does this?

What do you think causes it? I truly believe it is just excitement that comes out looking like this. It's not a nervous behaviour at all or an aggressive one... guess I am just curious is all.

Mine does all of the above also...she is 4 months and she has slowed down on the snapping in the air. She does it every now and then. I'm not getting to far with the jumping..I think she could jump right on the counter if I let her, but she cries for me to lift her onto the bed..go figure. I use the back toward her, a water bottle, and at school her teacher used the can filled with rocks--the can seemed to be the most effective. I am presently in search of lots of pebbles for cans all over my house

[onyx'girl]

I see that behavior in Mals/Dutchies more than GSD's. And a ball or tug in their mouth is very calming!

[NewbieShepherdGirl]

Sasha does the air snaps when she gets frustrated. Like if she's really really excited for a treat, and I ask her to "down" she might do little air snaps as she moans and goes down. She never tries to bite anything, and has never bitten anything when she's done this.

She does try to jump on me every time I come home. It's getting better, but it's really annoying. She doesn't really do it to others (very occasionally my mom).

[paulag1955]

Shasta also jumps and snaps when she's excited to greet a person. She's trying to be friendly, but it's very intimidating for people! She's pretty good about running and grabbing a toy herself now - after she's settled down just a bit. So what I do now is put her in a down-stay. I have to be pro-active managing the down because she will pop back up out of excitement. But she's getting better and better at it. She is almost 2 years old. It's taken her that long to be able to exert that kind of self-control.

[elisabeth_00117]

I don't believe it has anything to do with being clear headed or not to be honest. Can you explain why you think this? Very curious?

It's almost like she is leaking drive? If that makes sense. She gets super excited and then snap.

She has never made contact with anyone - when she was a puppy she did but not recently (say since 4 - 5 months old). I usually shove a toy/tug in her mouth just to be safe.

She will do this as well when training, if I show her the reward ball she will get super excited/jumps into drive and then she will snap once or twice until I give a command, once she knows we are "in work mode" she settles a bit.

[elisabeth_00117]

Zefra LOVES people and she doesn't snap hardly anymore (only with people who are super close to her - like Wild Wolf on this forum and her husband) but she will jump.

We all call her "wiggle butt" because she starts wiggling from the tip of her tail to the tip of her nose.. whole body thrusts of wiggles.. lol. And jumping of course.. which we are working on.