“Muzzle Punches,” “Air Snaps” and “Tooth Clacking”

I am not sure if the title is more reminiscent of canid communication or some strange, alien kind of cookies, but let's go with the former. I'm writing this post because I'd love your interpretation of three canid behaviors that we've been discussing in the comments on one of my posts. I had mentioned a “muzzle punch” somewhere, and in response one commenter inquired if an air snap or muzzle punch was more predictive of a potential bite. Here, in part, is my response and a movie with a excellent example of a muzzle punch from one dog to another: [“Muzzle punching” being a quick forward movement of the muzzle, jaws entirely shut, making contact with another individual, “Air snaps” are when a dog moves exactly as if biting, but bites the air instead of an individual or object. Some people just call these ‘snaps', meaning the mouth opened and shut but there was no object inbetween the jaws. “Tooth clacking” is when the mouth is opened and shut rapidly several times in a row, and there's a very clear noise of teeth snapping together.]

“I’m not sure anyone knows the answers about comparative levels of strength [of the three behaviors] and whether they are universal or not (some dogs seem to only muzzle punch, some only tooth clack or air snap.) I do know that “muzzle punching” can be done at varying levels of force. Will does it on occasion on the back of my gam when I have run into another area and (I suspect) am not doing what he wants me to do. I take it as a slightly rude, but not aggressive “Yo! You!” It most often happens when I’ve been moving quick, and I suspect in his case it also relates to his strong-eyed herding tendencies.

I don’t say that as an excuse; when Will does it I’ll turn and say his name in a quiet but shocked voice and go back to working on instructing what I do want (Will go slow when Trisha goes rapid). His “punches” are more like taps–they can be felt but are not in the slightest bit painful. In twenty + years I have seen one or two dogs punch their owners so hard that they caused discomfort or ache, but that seems very infrequent to me as I look back on it. Usually they are much more benign. I would love to know what others think of them, how they are interpreted. . .

I’ve always taken air snaps and tooth clacking (mouth opened and shut rapidly, very clear noise of teeth snapping) as more of a threat than a muzzle punch. But I’ll have to think long and hard about why I say that. I”m going to write some of my friends who work with wolves and ask what they observe. Tooth clacks usually seem to be given as a dog is directly facing a person, often looking right into their eyes, and they have always felt to me like “Hear that? Those are teeth! Big, white, acute, bit-ey teeth! And I know how to use ‘em!” This is not the same as a dog who is doing “tooth chattering,” which is a much swifter activity, sounds more like the dog is shivering, and usually seen in dogs who are very sexually aroused and scarcely able to contain themselves (could be excited in any way). I don’t see “tooth chattering” as a social signal, while I think “tooth clacking” is. Air snaps also occur more as threats to me than muzzle punches. There’s just something about a dog purposefully (I would argue) keeping his or her mouth shut that I find meaningful. I would LOVE your thoughts on this, and I'll do some more research on it next week. The movie is at the end of this post (of Kalladin, an adolescent collie and Tulip, my Pyr, at the farm in the “play pen.

Meantime, back at the farm: Not much time at the farm now, leaving in a few hours to speak at the Border Collie National Specialty. Lassie threw up five times this morning, oh dear oh dear. I know.. dogs throw up a lot, but you know, she's 15+ with compromised kidneys. I talked to my vet, gave her pepcid, extra water for dehydration. She seems fine now, dreamed breakfast (gave her a lil’ amount as a test, all went well), so I'll wait and see, but damn I just hate this….. she's most likely totally fine. I'll keep you posted.

Here's the movie (observe closely, it happens Rapid! I use it in seminar to train trainers to be good observers!):

Comments

I know you are primarily discussing aggression here, but in my own inimitable style I will throw in something only remotely related. ��

I have a seven year old cocker spaniel named MacGregor who was horribly manhandled by a prior possessor – he even has a healed skull fracture. Another of his problems is terrible back gams and hips – he has deep throated out both ACLs and had surgery, as well as having conformation problems making his back gams significantly longer than his front gams, now causing arthritis to develop.

I had always associated teeth clacking with aggression, but MacGregor clacks his teeth when he is upset or in discomfort as well. It is not teeth chattering, but a sustained, deliberate, conscious clacking. When he gets my attention the clacking slows, but doesn't stop. I will then go over and pay attention to him to determine if he is just upset about something one of the other dogs has done or if he is in ache. Attention or anti-inflammatories are provided and MacGregor goes on about his business.

MacGregor also practices twilight seizures – those jerking motions that happen in the stage inbetween awake and asleep when he is totally relaxed. I very first thought the teeth clacking was associated to the seizures but the clacking clearly happened when he was alert – sometimes overly alert. ��

I pay close attention to all my dogs behavioral patterns – they are as different as a houseful of kids (which I no longer have lol). MacGregor is the caretaker – the eyes for the blind dogs and the herder of the others – so he tends to be a little high strung sometimes. He undoubtedly lets the other dogs know when they have displeased him but he is not aggressive.

None of my own dogs have been “air-snappers” but my sister-in-law's dog did it all the time and SIL spotted it as affectionate! I will say that it never “seemed” menacing, and the dog never followed through with a bite in all her fourteen years of life. Sadly, she (the dog) died this year from cancer.

Those looked to me like forleg punches, not muzzle punches!

Sorry…foreleg, not forleg.

Hmm, I have to say that both my teeny JRT and I can attest to the muzzle punches of my two year old Australian Cattle Dog actually hurting. I take the Dr. Dunbar view and squeal like she is killing me thus hopefully providing her the idea that to non-cattle dogs that behavior is unpleasant and gee, people (and eleven lb jack russells) are so darn mild you just have to be super careful with them or they'll break!

An empathetic ouch for barrie, and i love the response to communicate that it hurt (but do be cautious, some dogs seem to be ‘set off' by squeals and become more excited).

And look cautiously, the muzzle punch is there… it's from the collie and it happens Truly rapid, all paws on the ground. There is the foreshadowing of one when he ‘turns to face' and touches Tulip with the peak of his muzzle, but then there is a very clear, acute and abrupt muzzle punch after that. See it?

My eleven year old pit bull mix regularly air snaps at me when we play, and I have never viewed it as menacing. I even snap back at him! The rest of his assets language is clearly in play mode, he is blessed and excited. In all our years together, he has never once made any contact with his teeth. Of course, I wouldn't want to engage in this type of play with a dog I didn't know very, very well!

The muzzle punching is something my Pekingese does. It is hysterical to witness, since the little boy has no muzzle! He does it to the back of my gam as I am walking, and I take it as, “Hey… hey… hey Mom…. hey.” He does it when he is wanting to wrestle and play. No, I don't correct the behavior, and yes, I do play with him. *redden* Then again, for me, getting on the floor and playing with my dogs is the best part of my day. ��

Interesting stuff. I was discussing on email with my father that my next dog will likely be a Doberman. He (is not a dog person) related a story to me how a gal in his office used to come to work with black eyes, telling her (Doberman) dog would hop up and jamb his muzzle into her face. Evidently hard enough to cause agony and bruising. Not being a dog person my father was advising against getting a Dobie based on that incident. Also, I occaisionally dogsit for a coworker who has a Terrier (I leave behind specifically which kind). He will chatter his teeth (not snap) but usually when he is sleeping. Very seldom have I seen him do it while awake. I hadn't put a lot of thought to either script. I'm antsy to see Trish's followup info on this, and others' comments. I didn't realize the muzzle bump was a common thing. My Sheltie has never done it.

My “rock bottom” for my aggressive dog Gustav was what I considered a muzzle punch to the face of my mother-in-law. He was chewing on a bone and she began to lean over him and pet him behind the ears. Just as I opened my mouth to say “back off!” he did the cold hard stare and froze, then leapt up growling and punched her in the face with his nose. It gave her a bloody nose and the rest of us a near heart attack. However, he didn't bite her and certainly could have. We're not even totally sure if his mouth was open or closed. Of course, since then we've been truly cautious and keep him crated or on leash when people are over, and are taking the reactive rover class (starts next week). Maybe this wasn't indeed a muzzle punch after all? Hard to characterize. I'd love to hear your thoughts on what was indeed going on, I find Gustav a very difficult dog to read.

My dogs both regularly air snap during play. They will also clack their teeth together, but they don't do it repeatedly. Copper, my lab, will poke me with his nose to get my attention if he truly has to go out to potty and I engrossed in the computer, but it's what I consider a gentle nudge to get my attention and he only does it for that reason.

From the aggression standpoint, in my lab mix Izzy's junior days, before I worked through many of her issues with a professional trainer, she once gave an utterly scary air snap combined with a snarl at my mother-in-law who had inadvertantly leaned over her while she had a bone. The entire family witnessed it, and we were all very shaken by it. I have absolutely no doubt that it was a very serious warning which would have been followed up by a bite if my mother-in-law hadn't backed off. She never did muzzle punches, but did give a few dogs inhibited bites which were aggressive in nature but didn't break the skin.

Maybe various dogs have their own preferences for how the issue warnings? A muzzle punch vs an air snap and how serious a threat it is most likely varies a lot for an individual dog and the specific contest. It seems to me that your dearest behavior response, Trisha, “it depends” might be best here? Just my layman's speculation here.

ps – please excuse all the typos… just one of those days I guess.

My Scotties “clack teeth” frequently while playing with each other and me. One Scottie clacks his teeth at me as part of his “Dinner's on the way!” blessed dance. I don't think there's any aggression involved in these situations.

Susanne Bark says

What a fine movie, so much information about both dogs emotional state! I so admire your sweet old dog Tulip, wish there were more dogs like her. Straight after muzzle punch and forleg half- climb on she quickly and calmly says ” Hey, don't do that” with a quick growl, forward movement and wielding the space inbetween them, whilst graciously still wagging her tail. My bet is Tulip could see that muzzle punch coming a mile off and already had estimated exactly how much force to use to quiet/diffuse the situation.What a good teacher she was…

I take my hat off to the collie proprietor holding the leash as liberate as she could and not letting her bod freeze up.

Did the Collie engage in play with Tulip during that encounter after they were let off the leads?

Sending you and Lassie positive vibes from Australia, hope it was just a little tummy upset.

I've not seen muzzle punches as aggression, but I've certainly seen my dogs (Dobermans) using them to be *rude*, usually to me. My female didn't do it as much as my masculine, and he ultimately gave up when he got to be a duo years old and had more self-control and more practice dealing with frustration when I didn't do what he desired me to do. But it was more like a little kid whining “Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom. MOOOOOOOM.” and then poking at Mom when she still doesn't react in a desireable style.

My dog muzzle punches the cat – very much like the Collie does in the movie. I indeed think she does it to get a reaction from the cat: he swats at her and bites her, which only encourgages her more. It is almost like she accepts the swatting as an invitation to play, and starts to play w/ too much power. I've never thought of her behavior as an indicator of a bite, but I certainly think that the behavior is attention seeking, and perhaps her way of testing to see what she can get away with (guess that sounds rather anthropomorphic).

Also, I've never seen her muzzle punch the older, larger masculine dog in the house. Maybe she has, but I don't recall it if so.

During my college courses as a vet assistant I was trained in behavior class by the trainer that I ended up working with during my dobie's puppy years, that muzzle punches could be a precursor of where an aggressive dog is going to bite in addition to being a signal of rising arousal. I've always seen it as the equivalent of a person thrusting someone away from them.

One of my shelties

I have a pit bull named Mushroom who one day commenced tooth clacking in a fit of excitement. Nothing else in his behavior or assets language was aggressive or menacing, but he had this horrible puckered snout and gnashing teeth (fluid bod, full-body wagging). Shortly after that, I had a friend and he was thrilled, so he leaped up onto the couch that she was standing next to and embarked clacking his teeth. She wasn't that amused (scary pit bull!!). At that point I put it on cue and attempted to get it under stimulus control. Now he only does it as a trick (and I only ask for it in certain company!)

I'd never seen a dog do that before- clack teeth in a non-aggressive manner, and I still haven't seen another.

He's also a big muzzle puncher of other dogs when propositioning them for play and they're disregarding him. He has never muzzle punched me or any other person to the best of my memory.

My dog is fairly fearful and did some air-snapping when people attempted to pet her. We've done a lot of counter-conditioning, so years later, she now thinks strangers may carry cookies and is much more obliging, tho’ she still ducks her head if they attempt to pet her. But a duo of months ago, when my hubby had Old Pup in the park, a little lady asked to pet her. My spouse explained that our dog was timid and didn't like to be petted. The little female was not to be deterred, and during subsequent conversation, sidled closer to our Old Pup, and surreptiously attempted to pet her back. Old Pup turned and air-snapped in her direction. My spouse said the little woman's eyes grew round and she turned and left.

Old Pup also air-snaps at the cat, who she is fairly jealous of.

Like Sarah's dog, Old Pup air-snaps in play. I actually encouraged her to do it in that context (yikes, am I bad holder?); she only does it when I'm kneading her back or belly and I tell her, “Chop!Chop!”, and she snaps to have me proceed tugging her. I've taken pictures of her, and her muzzle doesn't seem to wrinkle like the pictures I've seen of roaring dogs. It kinds of puffs out.

I've only seen my retriever do a sort of teeth clacking when she had a very awkward sore on the side of her face. It wasn't directed at anyone and I took it as a sign of general discomfort. She did it lightly as she walked around but it was teeth chattering. I'd be interested to hear an interpretation of it. It's in the line of CJ's comments. ��

Also she does light muzzle punches when she wants something. A sort of indication to me to take notice. She does it to people and inanimate objects… usually a playful woo woo goes after it if it isn't acknowledged.

I've only experienced tooth chattering in a few truly drivey dogs that are very excited and focused on a high value object/fucktoy that they are waiting for. These dogs are ones with a fairly high degree of training and a sound “out” guideline; their chattering is accompanied by the vibing sit stay. lol

My terrier dogs and I have a few terrier friends that are air snappers, but it is accompanied by barking/talking and play posturing. Those same dogs when very excited to see me do the same thing, but have never put their teeth on me and I do not feel that they would. For them, at least, it is excitement and joy and always followed by gentle abundant smooches.

I have seen the air snapping from some very “nervy” dogs that I have met – usually German Shepherds awkward in their guarding role. The difference from the other behaviour described above is that the figure position is much stiffer and the tone of the bark much more acute.

The muzzle punchers I have met that have done it from the front (face on) have been very pushy dogs and, for me, this behaviour was more serious than an air snap. They came into my space and after punching me, they stayed very close and very still.

The “muzzle punchers from behind” that I have encountered were usually the “hey lady, hey, hey, I dropped my fucktoy” or “hey lady, pay attention to me” types. (especially the little doxies – actually doxies are snout bonkers from either side…whether it be love or give me attention lol)

My deceased Malinois did a lot of teeth clacking as a joke with me. She only clacked at people she indeed liked and then uncommonly. The clacking seems to be fairly common in the Belgian shepherd breeds/varieties and mostly done as a joke. Those are big teeth when the dog leaps in the air and clacks them in your face or ear.

My 13yo Australian shepherd air snaps fairly dramatically, and it's certainly a warning. She doesn't indeed know what to do if the recipient of the air snap proceeds to do whatever she was telling him/her not to do. The hard part now is that with age she can no longer gauge distances as well so the snaps sometimes contact.

My 8mo Aussie will periodically gently muzzle punch in the back of my knee if she wants more attention. She also attempts to stop the lawnmower and (wheeled) garbage cart by biting them. Her teeth chatter at that point.

How funny. Just tonight my spouse and I were comparing notes on how our Kelpie (herding dog) “pokes” us in the back of the gams. It doesn't hurt whatsoever, but it sounds like what you are describing as a “muzzle punch.” She usually does it as we are walking to the utility room where her food is kept. We interpreted it to mean she is herding us into the room in hopes that she will get some kibble.

We have also seen her do it to the cat when she wants to get a reaction. We typically have good cat-dog relations in our house, so it seems all in good joy. Sometimes the cat will react and play, sometime not. You know how cats are.

My Sheltie boys get “trembly jawed” when smelling at bitch in warmth or the cat's behind. Sometimes their teeth clatter when this happens. IS this similar to the tooth clacking?

Ah, sorry. Just reread your post. You do describe the difference inbetween tooth chattering and tooth clacking. I see the difference.

Hope Lassie is well.

I have a two year old yellow lab and he will muzzle punch my hubby. I don't feel it is an act of aggression in any way. It is usally occurs when my spouse and I been wrestling or horsing around, Scout comes to my aid and splits us and then might leap around at my spouse, muzzle punches, or play bite, which in turn gets my spouse playing with him. So I think Scout has learned it is a way for him to initiate play with my hubby and is an attention getter.

With my sisters dog who tires quicker than Scout, I have seen Scout sniffing Finn's side and then give him a quick bop to attempt and get him to play. His assets language shows relaxed but again attempting to initiate a romp.

I have a little Pom who undoubtedly uses the muzzle punch as a back-off, usually with other Poms his size or smaller. He doesn't do this with the Golden (they have a checkered early history together), but where Jack once was a pretty benign dog in the brood, he has become more territorial about his spot next to me — this particularly became true after I got sick — and doesn't mind muzzle-punching a usurper. As long as they weigh six lbs. or less. >:>

Meantime, I have another lil’, little very aged rescue Pom (all of four lbs. on a good day; three lbs. most others) who does love his dinner and who would, I suspect, muzzle punch the back of my ankle if he had the strength and vision to do it. Instead, he stands back there and leans forward, putting the cold humid of his nose right against my skin. If I have socks on, he'll weasel his nose under the lip of the sock. He SO knows what he's doing. This is feedmefeedmefeedmefeedmeyoucouldfeedmefeedmefeedme. Not much of a muzzle punch. More like a muzzle press. But ten years ago, I'll bet the little dude punched with the best of 'em.

Interesting! I have never had a dog that would do that until I got my Standard Poodle puppy in May this year. He muzzle punches the older dogs to get a reaction from them – I take it as an invitation to play (or picking at the older dog to make them play). It is almost always delivered right behind the front gam of the older dog as the Collie in the movie demonstrated.

Jennifer Hamilton says

My dog lifts her lip and air snaps in both negative dog interactions (get out of my face you rude dog) and positive dog play (go ahead, attempt to pin me to the ground, I dare you). Until this blog, I thought I knew the difference in assets language inbetween the aggressive lip curls and snaps and the playful ones…but now that I'm thinking about it, it would be hard to tell them apart in a snapshot…you would most likely need to see the activity leading up to and following the behavior to know for sure. If watching them in context, most anyone could tell that one is driven by fear emotions and the other by play intentions. However, both are accompanied by head freezes, both are accompanied by whale eyes…which until now I never thought of as part of dog play vocabulary. In the play version, her figure stance is slightly more curvy and if she is standing up,, her tail carriage is up and wagging leisurely (albeit usually she is sitting so the tail is not moving). Maybe it's the same as watching a football tackle vs. someone getting mugged on the street…context is just as significant as bod language. In the past, I thought figure language was key, this post has helped me understand the equal relevance of context for too.

Jennifer Hamilton says

P.S. In case you're thinking, “oh my…maybe her dog isn't indeed playing but sending signals that she wants the play to stop or is feeling perplexed”…I know for sure my dog is playing. As she has gotten physically more disabled, she has upped her intimidation factor when playing with other dogs. She loves to wrestle and take down and be taken down. Since she lost her strength to take down other dogs, she was ending up on the bottom a lot. My sense is she developed these more aggressive looking behaviors in play as a way of switch roles handicapping…providing herself more strength in the mind control department. My Doberman dances around leaping in and out inbetween the air snaps, lip curls, frozen assets pose and whale eyes to attempt to get an opening to grab her neck and take her down. This dance can go on for over ten minutes until either the Dobie finds an opening and takes her down or the Dobie determines to self handicap and rolls on her back so my disabled woman can hop on top of her as if she took her down herself. Either way it turns out…they come back at each other for more.

My Shepherd-mix puppy, Lucas, will muzzle punch my six-year-old Staffie mix, Emmett, in an attempt to cajole Emmett into playing with him. More often than not, Emmett simply huffs and walks away. There have been a handful of incidents, tho’, when Lucas escalated from muzzle punches into air snaps, to which Emmett responded with a stern correction. Based off of Emmett's reactions to Lucas' behavior, I'm inclined to agree that the muzzle punches are an annoyance not to be taken as aggression, but if it escalates into the air snaps, then the behavior crosses that line.

Ah haha … the lil’ old rescue stud, Tupper, just did the cold-muzzle-petition-for-a-snack maneuver on the back of my ankle. He did it three times in succession, like Morse. The *coldest* little dime-sized muzzle punch ever. Or is that doink-doink-doink a punch?

The message is undoubtedly not play and not back-off. More hey-Hey-HEY! (you up there) (feed me!) (again!)

Muzzle punches are part of Ranger's standard play repertoire. It has always seemed to me the equivalent of what you might see on a playground with children when one runs up and tags another running off shouting “Tag you're it!” Ranger will engage his friends in this style, rushing up to them, muzzle punching and dancing out of the way as if daring his friend to attempt to catch him. I haven't seen him do it to a dog he doesn't know well just those that he plays with often. At times he has done it with his humans in a play context, if one of us has been running with him and he wants the running to resume (sadly his humans have no where near the stamina of this herding dog). When he wants my attention and I'm doing something else he will touch me with his nose. It always struck me as the same sort of gesture I'll use to let my hubby know I need his attention for a moment when he's concentrating on something else; I'll stand next to him for a bit to see if he notices on his own and when he doesn't I'll lay my palm on his arm. Ranger's nose touch seems to me to be the same kind of polite interruption.

Ranger does use air snaps and these are more serious. It happens in the context of me working at snarls in his cover either with my fingers or his brush. I know it is a reaction to having his wool pulled and the resulting ache. When my daughter was little and I'd be attempting to comb out the tangles from sleep she'd sob out and attempt to grab the brush. Of course I attempt (attempted) never to hurt either of them but not always successfully. One day when Ranger, for some dog reason, had spinned in the agrimony herb and gotten a glaze utter of agrimony burrs for his trouble I deliberately overlooked his warnings to stop working them out of his decorate (I'm not sure whether it was stupidity on my part or intense trust in my dog) and when repeated air snaps had no effect he took my wrist in his mouth. I took that very serious warning and stopped but I was pleased that even tho’ I was deliberately hurting him and disregarding his requests that I stop he did not do anything more than physically make me stop, no pressure from the jaws, no clipping down in any style just the lightening rapid grab and the clear message that he'd had enough and I would stop now because the consequences could be very bad if I didn't. I doubt I'll thrust it that far again and I certainly wouldn't encourage anyone else to take that sort of risk with my dog or with any other.

From my practice with Ranger I'd label muzzle punches as attention getting and play initiating while air snaps are definite warnings.

In response to the phrase from this post: …

Quickly, but with fascination at all the comments, I love Liz F's “nose poke”.. I fully agree that the word “punch” implies a certain amount of force, whereas a “poke”… well, that's an entirely different matter. When I come up for air on Tuesday I'm going to summarize the comments and do some more research. (But right now my d*&%& apple butter won't finish cooking down to butter thickness; it seems determined to proceed at applesauce consistency no matter how long it bakes in the oven. Clearly some training is in order….)

My junior, working Border Collie has always included tooth clacking when play with my older BC gets a little intense. This dog was bred to work sheep (and is working fairly well). Ever since I brought him home at eight weeks, he has included tooth clacking when the play gets intense. It seems like he's telling “I could bite you!” but he never does, and the play inbetween these two has never escalated beyond play. I have never seen him do it to people, other dogs, or sheep…it's only part of his play repertoire with my older, spayed female. They typically both seem to agree they're done playing shortly after the tooth clacking occurs!

Muzzle punching and air snaps are NOT part of his repertoire…just tooth clacking!

Shalea Rhodes says

Certainly an interesting post! My pretty-much-blind velcro-dog greyhound has in the two years he's lived with us had the habit of touching the back of a gam with his nose on treatment, and I'm never sure fairly what he means by it. Sometimes it seems like he's just following very closely and can't tell that the person he's following has stopped, sometimes it seems like a request for an ear scritch, and sometimes it seems like he's just attempting to confirm a precise location for reassurance (however he's mostly a fairly certain dog). It's generally just a very light touch and not particularly requiring (he doesn't escalate or repeat if he doesn't get a pat), and he is, as mentioned, fairly the velcro dog (didn't read the “aloof sighthound” memo �� ).

My previous greyhound used a sort of sideways air snap as an invitation to play (ears forward, “smiling” eyes, partial play bow with a soft wagging tail, head turn away and air snap).

And the tooth-chattering thing is very common in greyhounds.

My cardigan female air snaps all the time, but it is always in play, or when she is attempting to get someone to play. It is accompanied with play bows. Now, I have seen another dog do an air snap, but that was accompanied with other negative signals, stiffness, curled lip, as a warning. It is most likely a more sophisticated signal than can be read just by the snap alone.

Today I learned that muzzle punches are 1) painful when done with intention, Two) can be a pre-bite warning and Three) can be done in conjunction with a tooth scrape (not sure that's the name, but I'm talking about what a mother does to a pup when she's indeed not glad with a behavior or to instantly end rough play).

I am a canine rubdown therapist and also distribute canine orthotics and prosthetics for OrthoPets. I met my client at her son

I'm thinking maybe Tupper's is a muzzle-poke. He's an insistent little man, but one of the gentlest souls going, so maybe that doink-doink-doink on the back of my ankle is more poke than punch.

We have a Lab on the search team who barks and teeth clacks when she's revved up to search. A lot of energy, a lot of chatter going on. As soon as she's released on directive, it stops, and she's off and running. Quick.

I also wonder if a behavior I've always called “little lil’ bites” is teeth clacking of sorts? I have a rescued Pom who does it, and my sheltie (love and miss you, fella) did it, too. Often with a blanket or a fucktoy, the dog looks up at you and rapidly bites whatever he's holding in his paws. Little, nonforceful stinging bites and very rapid — usually somewhere in the middle of play. Is this teeth clack with object, or a different thing altogether, I wonder?

Jennifer Hamilton says

While neither of my dogs teeth chatter or teeth clack, we do see it on some dogs at our pet resort. Taking into account context, we generally see teeth chatter as high arousal or excitement (which of course can escalate to aggression, but by itself does not emerge to have aggressive intentions behind it). We tend to see teeth clacking, however, as a warning of aggressive intention, similar to an air snap. In my practice, air snaps tend to be up or to the side and are more common, where teeth clacks are typically forward moving toward the dog in question, are less common and only seen in certain dogs. We do see play air snaps a lot, however, I don't recall ever eyeing teeth clacks as play, unless the play is commencing to escalate beyond a dog's convenience zone and the dog emerges to be attempting to stop or slow down the play.

While I see thousands of muzzle ‘pokes' for attention or to solicit play, I must say I have never seen what I would call a muzzle “punch” with a purely negative intention. I am very nosey to see what that looks like. In a movie…like the one descibed at the vet office.

I am realizing there's a difference inbetween teeth clack and teeth chatter. I've seen the chatter. I don't think I've seen (by descriptions here) the full-on teeth clacking. The Lab on our search team teeth chatters before a search.

My previous Shepherd used to snap at her friends, Storm & Thunder, when she was attempting to initiate play. Since it was always accompanied by clear play pose, I never gave it too much thought. And I am *undoubtedly* familiar with the nose poke! It always seems to be used as a reminder when I'm oversleeping (in their opinion) or late in feeding them their dinner but never hard enough to be characterized as a punch…more of a “Hey Mom…aren't you leaving behind something?”

Shalea Rhodes' entry reminds me that Shadow (GSD) used to touch her nose to the back of my aunt's (nude) gams. My aunt would always react as if she'd been goosed and I swear Shadow did it because she thought it was funny. As far as I know she never did it to everyone else but inevitably if my aunt were staying over and happened to be wearing cut-offs, see out!

Barb Stanek says

My practice with clients' dogs has been that muzzle punches are done with purpose and accompanied with hard eyes and an “I mean business” attitude and assets stance. The last dog that I worked with (German shepard, husky, chow mix) muzzle punched and was eventually euthanized for biting people. The dog would muzzle punch when approached and from behind.

My eight year old PWD doesn't do any of the three behaviors. However, he had extensive surgery as a youthful dog. I'm sure that his temperment has been molded by those practices.

My two and a half year old PWD teeth clacks and air snaps. Her clacking and snapping always occurs when I interrupt a play session with my eight year old. The clacking and snapping are done at me with direct eye contact, but not a hard eye. It's more like, “Hey, I was having a excellent time. Why don't you play with us instead of stopping the joy!” The air snaps are usually accompanied with a rush of air and a “Humphrf” type vocalization — all with soft figure language and a high arousal level.

Interestingly, my Two.Five year old is the one that I suspect might bite if cornered. She is very direct with delilvery people. She barks fiercely and makes broad circles. I don't think that she'd attack, but if she were cornered, she may bite. She never teeth clacks or air snaps when she's barking at people whom she perceives are invading our space. And she is very thrilled in these situations.

I too have a cattle dog who from time to time muzzle punches my calves. Evidently I am not moving quickly enough to get to the “joy stuff”!

Trisha, could you please discuss the habit some dogs have of what I call “smiling”? The dog lifts his top lip to expose his upper teeth while his tail is wagging madly. It can be fairly scaring at very first glance because it certainly looks like the dog is roaring altho no such noise accompanies the lip curl. In my practice, this only happens in dog-human interactions; I've never witnessed it in dog-dog situations. I have had English Springer Spaniels for years and have seen it in a few of them. I would imagine other dogs exhibit the behaviour too, but I haven't seen it. It seems to occur in dogs who have a soft personality when they are in situations where they are a bit unassured of themselves. Is this an appeasement gesture of some sort?

I have a very subordinated Golden Retriever who is very food motivated so there have been times when I have had a very tasty treat in my forearm and her bottom jaw is just chattering away. Never have I seen her teeth clack or air snap until I got my puppy. Now, when they are at a high state of arousal and my Golden lady has air snapped a duo of times. It never seems aggressive, just as part of play.

A friend had an aggressive Ridgeback who used to muzzle punch her all of the time, sometimes badly. He was a very big boy and was manhandled in his former home so when he was upset his muzzle punches were hard and intentional.

One of my dogs does muzzle punching, particularly with strangers. He is a Corgi/Shepherd mix and does this to get attention and I agree that it's rude.

One of my other dogs does tooth clacking when she plays with my other dogs; she also will do it with me when she's indeed attempting to communicate (such as I need to go outside, etc.). It is not very rapid tho’. I've never interpreted it as either more or less aggressive than muzzle punching to me, but just rudeness.

Air snaps are a warning to me that the dog may choose to bite if the warnings are not heeded. I guess I consider air snaps leaning more towards an aggressive choice.

Mikey’s mom says

I'm glad to ultimately have a name for my female Lab's rude punching behavior. She punches me (or anyone) with her stuffy when she wants something or when she wants things to proceed quicker. Usually this is at dinnertime, and I've taken it to mean “hurry UP!”. I've thought of it as rude, and either take her fucktoy away for a few minutes or I put her on a down stay. If she doesn't have the fucktoy, she won't punch. Taking away her fucktoy is about the worst penalty she can think of, except maybe missing dinner.

My Afghan hound dame muzzle punches me in the back when I am sitting at my computer. I've always taken it to be a “pay attention to me now!” behaviour. Generally I attempt to overlook it. ��

As for the muzzle punch in the movie, I see it at about sixteen secs into the movie. Hope that's not providing the game away. ��

“Little, nonforceful stinging bites and very rapid “… I wonder if what you're describing is what I've seen called “corncobbing” or “love bites”, something very different from muzzle punches, which seem to have both aggressive and non-aggressive intents from people's descriptions. As far as I know, the corncobbing behavior is always an affection thing.

This post caught my attention because my working bred Aussie has a habit of muzzle punching the backs of my gams too. I've reprimanded him for it a few times and it has diminished since he's gotten past his teenage months, but he'll still do it every now and again. The interesting thing with him is that I've heard that there are several dogs in his pedigree (his grandfather, aunts, etc.) that have exibited the same behavior.

So I found it interesting that not only were other dogs doing it, but that there might be some kind of hereditary part of it. The only time this dog of mine has tooth clacked was to turn a cow's head instead of biting it, but I chalk that up to a working behavior. Still a warning!

I was totally astonished to read that so many dogs choose their human's gams as targets for muzzle punches, given that my collie/shepherd/retriever/whatever mix often makes me search for the bulls eye that must have been painted on my butt. These “goose-ings” most often take place as I walk to the kitchen to fix her dinner, and seem to indicate nothing but a joyful and somewhat wicked sense of playfulness. I've never noticed her muzzle punching another dog, but have observed her overlook the muzzle punches of a German Shepherd who gets annoyed when she visits and then spends more time with the Shepherd's fucktoys than with the Shepherd.

Trisha – thank you so much for your blog and books. I've been reading both for some time now and have learned so much from you. I also love the fresh movies and all of your photos, which so wonderfully illustrate the seasonal beauty of the world north of here in semi-tropical Houston.

My border collie mix who reached almost five years of age exhibiting a fresh behavior air snapped twice at one of my cats as he raced out the back door one day (he is an inwards cat). I was stupid and did not recognize the warning and fifteen minutes later, Jelly walked up to Frankie, pounced, and grabbed him by the head. She broke his jaw. After five weeks of tube feeding Frankie is OK and I instituted a fresh management program of separation and muzzling in the house when the cats were awake and about. In an earlier post you posed the question of whether more help was need in vet's offices as far as recognizing and treating behavior problems. Hell yes, in my vet's office. Jelly had fear aggression issues with dogs. I worked with a wonderful person, Pia McGovern of K9-Insight, in classes to counter condition and we had made progress. But Pia moved back to Sweden and there is a ample void left in the services and classes she provided. All Jelly's life people would look at her, back up and say PIT BULL. So, I found a pit bull trainer and rescuer of some note in the SF bay area and brought her to the house to consult and help me. She took one look at Jelly and said BORDER COLLIE and no pit bull. Do you see irony here yet? Hated all her life for being pit bull, the trainer hated her for NOT being pit bull. It was a very unprofessional visit. She said she spotted signs of unstable excitement that could or would transfer into human aggression, talked about how wonderful pit bulls are and border collies are not, and had us walk some circles around the front yard. In the hour visit, she never came near Jelly or touched her. Said she had never seen such a better trained dog that the problem was one of bad genetics. At one point she turned her back and walking away from me I heard her mutter under her breathe “You have a big problem here.” I attempted engaging the Dunbars, but they said I lived too far away. A month and a half after the Frankie attack, Jelly began exhibited troubling behaviors, fearfulness of things like a bin of dog cookies and over the top madness at the door when someone left a leaflet. Then one morning in a state of high excitement, Jelly leaped up and bit me in the upper arm when I stepped past her rather than throw the ball. It was not a grab for the ball; it was a bite that produced deep bruising, but no skin break. I felt we had no where to go and a member of the household is in chemo therapy and could not sustain a dog bite. I put my darling dog down on July twenty seven and even today I have trouble breathing the agony is so acute and the self-doubt so soul-crushing. It all commenced with two air snaps–click, click.

I've got two Australian Cattle Dog mixes who nose-bonk (muzzle ‘poke') affectionately, and a foster ACD right now who gives a good muzzle punch with 100% affection (accompanied by a leap and nose right to your face. It's all love….but we're working on it). The air snaps I've seen thus far have generally been over a fucktoy or other goodie, and have been clear “back-off” warnings. I haven't seen the teeth-clacking yet. Fascinating comments on this post!!

Dutch’s Mom says

Wow! I never realized *everyone* did this! LOL My 8-month old sheperd-border collie mix likes to play “herd the person” along the side of the house when I take out the trash. He seems utterly delighted when he surprises me with a muzzle punch and I hop and screech (I'm usually only half-awake and it's o-dark-thirty in the morning). His beloved x-marks the spot seems to be the top of my hip, just below the cheek! One day, he was especially feisty and attempted out a soft nip that sent me straight up in the air and woke the rest of the neighborhood dogs up! I've always thought of his muzzle punches as “hey! pay attention mom!” or “play with me!” – never as aggressive, but sometimes rude if it goes after instantly after I stop petting him and he wants more.

I've seen lot's of muzzle punching, teeth clacking, and air snaps when he plays with his two brothers and one sister at my sisters house. They are almost always in play-mode when teeth clacking, tho’ sometimes one will get a bit snappish if they are tired or don't want to share a fucktoy.

He's is my very first dog in a long, long time and the only one I got as a puppy and oh boy! Is he better entertainment than 500+ cable channels! LOL

These are truly interesting stories! I am almost 100% certain that my cattle dog, Jellybean's, muzzle punches are totally a herding thing and she is driving me towards where she want me to be. I yelp then give her a look and say, “Jellybean, that was not cool” albeit it is often less politely worded than that �� ask for a sit and wait until she is quiet before we proceed to indicate that 1. it hurt and Two. it was not suitable in the circumstances. She hasn't done it to me in a month or so so perhaps that treatment is yielding the desired results?

On the air snapping and the above comment about the Belgian Malinois. I just lost my mal to a brain tumor in August and am without a mal in the house for the very first time in thirteen years which is eerie to me but there is a reason they are affectionately known as “maligators” because every mal I've ever known does that hopping up and snapping their teeth right by your face thing. Obviously the mal could take you down if s/he dreamed to and/or bite the nose right off your face so I would be nosey to hear what Dr. McConnell believes this behavior to be about other than the general joie de vive in being a large, powerful, athletic animal who can leap into the air and pervert bimbo humans out?

It is fascinating to see all these similar stories from very different people about very different dogs.

Oh, and Jellybean's muzzle punches are generally to my lower hips in the back and she plows into the JRT from the side.

oh my, Tulip is beautiful! I am normally far too bashful to post comments to blogs I read, but this one was just too interesting to pass up! I've always seen “muzzle punching” as rudeness, to either fellow canine or human, and “muzzle nudging” as a request for attention and an affectionate gesture. Granted, some are stronger than others– my masculine Bernese would lift elbows right into the air, as does my little female GSD. I do see them as two very different deeds, but as a commenter pointed out, context is significant.

I have seen this in the past with a particular GSD (my female's half-sister, tho’ I have not seen my Tacoma do this) who dreamed to play with and/or get a rise out of her chocolate Lab roomy. It was a decidedly rough jab and bonk with her nose, accompanied with staring intently at the Lab with a swinging tail (it gravely looks like “huh huh huh? are you gonna play? are you gonna. ”), as well as sort of kicking her with a stiff foreleg (like the collie in the movie, but without the attempt to climb on). The Lab was older and didn't feel like playing, and growled for the GSD to strike it. Given the context, it was certainly play, however clearly more joy for one than the other! The GSD held her figure back on her haunches slightly, as if to turn tail and run in case she got into TOO much trouble.

Presently, I work as a group play coordinator at a boarding kennel, where I have the chance to see a broad range of interaction behaviors (fortunate me!). It is particularly interesting to me that you've linked this movie, as I most often see the “tooth clacking” in a rough decorated Collie we have in group play, and I had begun to wonder if it was a herding thing. However, there is a 1yo yellow Lab (ha– coincidentally, they have the same name, Jack). I love that you made a distinction inbetween “chattering” not being a social signal, and that “clacking” is. With these particular dogs, the clacking is utilized as a correction for when the play gets too rough, accompanied with a lowered, snaking head movement in the direction of the other dogs, with flattened ears and usually slightly squinty eyes, however they do not make a large effort to connect. Most often, the Lab then sneezes it off (by the way, this is a dog who smiles deferentially when he receives a spoken reproach from us). The clacking is amazingly disconcerting to witness, and to hear, but effective in providing the dogs a chance to breathe– and they do go back to playing instantaneously after, or liquidate themselves to take a self-imposed timeout. I suspect that a real problem would arise if the dog on the receiving end takes it personally and rather than backing off for a moment, starts a fight (I think this is where our abilities at reading the dogs come in, to deflect everyone before arousal goes sky high).

As far as interspecies, we recently had a 9mo Ridgeback mix added to group play who is fairly big for his britches. He plays with abandon with the 5yo St. Bernard all the other dogs are intimidated by (most infuriating of all, she likes to pick on and taunt the dogs that are afraid of her and clearly gets some sort of entertainment out of it), and even when she's had enough, he doesn't take the hint. I've “detained” the Ridgeback pup for being too rough with the other dogs, which indeed just means having him sit for a moment rather than flail around like a lunatic. The very very first day we had him in group play and he got this kind of timeout, he looked me straight in the face and muzzle punched me in the goods (delightful, eh?). I don't recall if I then said “no” or asked for another sit, but he repeated the movement. SO, the end of my story is that I have always seen muzzle punching as plain old rudeness, that is met with varying degrees of tolerance on the part of the receiver. It's been very interesting to read what others have thought of it!

I'm thrilled to have found your blog, and love it as much as I liked your books. I look forward to reading more, on this topic, and many others. =) Hope Lassie is feeling better.

My sheltie does an air snap/muzzle punch combo at me all the time. But I'm pretty sure it's in play, tho’ I don't fairly recall how it all began. He'd propel his muzzle at my face (when I'm eye level), lips slightly curled and snap at the air just in front. When I was training him to “smooch” me with a gobble on the lips, it was a pretty scary practice – I had to do it with my eyes closed else I would undoubtedly budge away!! He does muzzle punch softly on my gam if he wants attention. I much choose this to being nipped.

I've seen another sheltie do the teeth chattering thing before. It was pretty constant and seemed more like a psychological or neurological disorder than a result of anything behavioural. It was in training class and we had swopped dogs. She would take treats from my forearm just fine and during the entire time I was treating her, the teeth chattering didn't escalate into anything.

The only one of these three behaviors that I've ever seen my dog perform is something like a muzzle punch, and I've only ever seen it with humans. Frankly, it's more of a nudge. Her head is pointing down and she's almost lifting it up when making contact with my arm or gam in some effort to get my attention. All four feet are always on the floor and she is already standing next to me when she does it, so there's no momentum behind it at all. It's similar in force to the poster who said it's about the same force as the dog simply extending it's neck. Just enough to get your attention. ( And half the time it's that cold moist nose that gets my attention, rather than the nudge! )

She may not be a good subject for studying how these behaviors relate to aggression inbetween dogs, however, as she is not one to give any sign beyond a microsecond of a stiff, upright stance and then she's on the other dog, getting him by the neck. OR maybe her absence of these ‘normal' signs prior to outright aggression does make her a useful subject because she seems to have flunked Dog Speak 101??

I have a GSD mix as a foster dog right now who when frustrated will lay down and air snap. I hesitate to use the term “air snap” here because it doesn't come across as aggressive at all. A common situation where it happens is when we're doing shaping. She gets annoyed when the behavior that earned her a treat previously stops earning her a treat. She often repeats the old behavior over and over with superb energy. When that doesn't work, she will often look at me and rapidly close her mouth in a snapping movability (I don't hear teeth when she does it). Anthropomorphizing, it comes across as “you are sooo frustrating I wish I could just bite you,” but in a playful tone. This isn't done close to me, so it doesn't seem menacing. She often does it after laying down, because laying down often gets her prizes (Two fifty lb dogs in a one thousand sq ft house mean we encourage laying down calmly whenever possible!)

I had a husky who used muzzle punches to the nose to get people to stop staring at his beautiful pallid blue eyes. It didn't matter what you told people, they insisted on leaning over him and staring at his eyes as they commented on how beautiful they were. He determined the effortless solution was to leap up and jam into their nose since that never failed to get them to back up.

Oh, I thought of one more muzzle punch incident. It was my mom's dogs. She had six at the time.

A pet sitter had come to walk and feed them. An adolescent masculine was making a beeline for the sitter, and in a fairly menacing manner. The alpha bitch got to him before he reached the sitter and with one muzzle punch subdued him. According to the pet sitter (who was a vet tech (at my mom's vet, so the dogs knew her) and breeder herself, so I somewhat trust her description), Abby knocked her muzzle full-force into the adolescent masculine and he instantaneously stopped in his tracks and turned the other way. At the time, I just thought of this as an suitable correction in a pack. Hadn't considered it in terms of a specific behavior. Interesting.

Jenny Haskins says

I don't think that teeth-clacking has anything at all to do with aggression. It seems to be more uncontrollable excitement, and often goes with enhanced salivation. I have seen it in dogs when they encounter a bitch in season.

In my practice air-snappers are less likely to bite than other dogs — the air-snapping is a “keep away from me” communication. And in my dog's case is followed by a rapid run-away if the other dog resumes to treatment!!

Today at the dog park there was a very rude boxer puppy most likely about nine months old. He wasn't listening to any of the other dogs when they told him he was playing too hard and ultimately Ranger and another dog took either side of the boxer and I want to say explained it to him I'm not indeed sure how else to put it. It was a duo of adults dealing with a rambunctious child and telling “this isn't adequate chill out.” Among the other things they did was to teeth clack every time he attempted to rear up or climb on them. As audra above put it it was a correction when play got out of mitt. I'd never seen or heard Ranger do this before but this is the very first time I'd seen him dealing with an over exuberant puppy that just wasn't listening to the more subtle cues to chill out.

I learn so much reading your blog and the comments. Thank you!

err im just wondering about my dog. when i have a ball or big fucktoy she play bows and ‘clacks' her teeth together. she's never bitten me before, but i'm just nosey. i always thought that the teeth clacking was more of a “come on let's play! throw the ball!' sort of thing.

another odd behavior i don't understand: sometimes she'll duck her head inbetween my gams and keep her head there when i'm petting her. she does it with the rest of my family and sometimes other people, but i don't understand why she does it or how she's feeling. hahahaha i'll even budge over her and she'll turn right around, open mouth and curved figure and wagging tail, and will proceed to attempt and duck her head in again.

both behaviors i thought were very lovely, but i just want to make sure she's not unhappy or awkward. sorry if someone discussed this and i missed it. im in the middle of class and don't have time to read all of them.

also when petting my dog she sometimes nuzzle punchies me. however it's more like a nudge, and usually she will simply poke me with her paw. sometimes i'm wondering if she's telling ‘stop touching me' when she paw pokes me. i read something about that and it was associated with the dog yawning and eating it's nose in response to being touched. it touched the person back, but he/she seemed to say ‘please stop'.

of course my dog also nudges me if the paw poking doesn't work, that or she just walks away. i-i just kinda want some clarity about this subject…. i wish everyone a wonderful day, and thank you for your time.

How joy to read about all the different types of dog interactions! What that says to me is that tooth clacking, chattering, muzzle poking and punching are all very common behaviors amongst a broad diversity of dogs, but just like human behavior, the exact same motility might have a very different meaning depending on the totality of circumstances (for example, your spouse punching you on the arm in play versus someone else putting up a knuckle in warning or someone actually punching you)

Kind of like in play dogs growl, bite, and pull all sorts of things off that might have been considered very aggressive if it hadn't been an agreed upon play session inbetween a duo dogs.

Somewhat related, I have a thirteen month old hound dog who is so RUDE. While he respects the social signals of the other dogs, he doesn't ever abandon. For example, he'll paw, poke and prod another dog to attempt and take their fucktoy. The other dog will growl, snarl, clack, etc. and the hound pup will back off the minimum distance he has to, but then he will go right back to poke, paw, prod, etc over and over and over. Eventually, he's so darn rude and pesky, the other dogs just give up and give him what he wants. They budge on to a fresh fucktoy, and he starts all over, ripping off the fucktoy he gained and attempting to get the fresh one. I indeed like to let the pack work out their own social rules, but I'm kicking off to have a hard time leaving the duck gauze over my mouth and sitting on my mitts. He's vapid out obnoxious, despite being willing to shortly obey the showcasing of teeth and growls of the other dogs.

I know he'll grow out of all this, but am I on the right track? should I just stay out of it?

One thing that I think is interesting is that ‘play styles' tend to run in family and breed groups to some limited extent. Allthe sleek collies i know muzzle punch in very excited play but do not airsnap or clack pretty much unless they are Indeed annoyed (ie, older bitch and juvenile masculine being uppity type situations.)

My spitz muzzlepunches with her mouth open,and it HURTS. she's getting better about it, but she's still a demonspitz.

I had never had a dog that nose poked. I very first noticed my now eleven month old ACD, Kash, poking our Siamese cat. I thought of it as a ‘come on cat….do something' . Sometimes the pokes were fairly hard and I would correct Kash. As he has amazingly high drive Kash is never left unsupervised with the cats. Albeit his poke has become more of a light touch or nuzzle it can escalate if he doesn't get a reaction. His self control and frustration tolerance are getting fairly good and something we work on a lot. I have never seen him nose punch our older BC or to any other dog. He will do it to me, usually when I'm on the computer. I, too, think of these as a “hey Mom, Mommmmm, MOMMMMM' sort of thing.

Kash also tends to do it when he anticipates that we're getting ready to do something joy…….like when I embark setting up one of the agility lumps we're learning.

uhh with the paw poking and muzzle nudging, i meant that if i stopped petting her she would do that behavior. i'd pet her, stop, then she'd poke me. i just dreamed to clarify that…. i'm rather an idiot sometimes and leave behind to add these things. she's a six year old labradoodle! (or poodledor)

it's kinda odd…at her age her wool is still fluffy and soft like a puppy. i always thought it would get a bit coarser, but it hasn't.

How's life for everyone?

I just can't get enough of this topic!

I don't know that I've experienced or observed muzzle punches, but Sophie (lab) is not stingy with her muzzle pokes! She does it for attention or to make a request, and can be fairly forceful about it if disregarded. She has been known to shove her muzzle under my arm and spin my arm into the air if she needs me to wake up. Hey, it's better than cleaning up dog poop, LOL. She muzzle pokes Harry (boxer) to solicit play, and has poked Mikey (cat), as well.

Harry air snapped at me once. I had given him Benadryl for hives, and he had a terrible reaction to it. He became hectic, for lack of a better term. He paced incessantly, wished to go out, desired to come in, couldn't lodge… At one point, he leaped onto the couch (a big no-no) and when I gave the “off” guideline and moved toward him, he air snapped. I was truly taken aback! It has never happened again, and I honestly feel he was “not himself” at the time.

Both dogs air snap in play. In fact, we call exuberant dog play “wrestley bitey-face”. It sounds like death and destruction are imminent, but it is super-fun for the participants.

I have never heard teeth clacking from either dog.

Sophie will “nibble” at my face if I am petting her, and I take this as an affectionate behavior. She also “bites” if she gets over-stimulated and excited, which happens lightly with her. It is like lil’, light, rapid, touches of her teeth and lips.

Just read through all the comments and haven't seen this one yet: After eating dinner (or a tasty snack, outside of a training situation), my Puggle will touch my nude gam with a cold, humid nose — which I interpret as a “thank you.” But it is not a punch at all, just a touch. His Yorkipoo friend pokes him with a fucktoy to initiate a game of tug. Seems to me that dogs' use of nose/muzzle to communicate can reflect all the complexity of dog-dog or dog-human relationships.

Thanks for a wonderful, wonderful blog!

is this air snapping and muzzle punching a herding dog thing? never had dogs that did that,until these three lab/collie/spaniel/sheetland sheepdog mixes. the two littermates, masculine and female, do it back and forward when playing ,toughly i might add. sometimes it escalates and they grab each others necks and pull. they also seem two box each other a lot. tho’ when they play w/our 5lb chihuahua and 8lb jap chins they r gentle. go figure. i think part of it is they are littermates so they are rough with each other. masculine lab mix who does have fear/agression issues will teeth chatter if he gets upset/stressed or after play that got to rough. no air snapping or muzzle punching at people.

in response to Jackie E: oh!! good point! Our GSD does this and my beau interprets it in the same way– as a “thank you”, while I shrugged it off. I think I interpret it more as a nose-bump to check on us because she slurps in the kitchen, and then comes to find us in the family room afterward, or whatever room we're in. Her thank yous are usually especially cold and moist because she takes a drink of fresh water after eating! And also accompanied by a lot of tonguing if we let her (but that's a difference of habit more than anything else, she's very deferential to me especially, and licks a lot).

My brother's border collie mix truly punches with his muzzle. Often it is in the eye, if he wants you to get up in the morning. Or if you stoop down to pet him, he might leap and punch you. He's a lovely dog in most ways, but that is a bad habit his people just tolerate. In fact, he broke my sister-in-law's glasses once!

My Havanese uses her muzzle to hurry me along. She used to nip my ankles. I stopped that by abruptly sitting down and pointedly overlooking her by reading a magazine for five min. That happened about 3x before she got the idea that nipping stopped our forward progress! I don't mind the occasional nudge now, when she's excited for our walk or to go outside.

I was referred over here from a border collie site. My dog is fairly dog-reactive. He's come down from having finish meltdowns at dogs twenty five yards away, to being able to treat a dog being pretty close but not touching. He particularly dislikes face-to-face long meetings – the direct contact seems to set him off.

Watching this movie, the behavior of the youthfull dog made me indeed jumpy. I know that Friend, in Tulip's place, would have made a stir to drive that other dog off. The nearly-head-humping the back shoulder is a Hefty inflammatory budge to my dog. Frequently, a “nice” meeting is ruined when a junior dog makes a stir like that as a precursor to humping, which Acquaintance Will Not Permit. Sometimes, the other dog hardly makes a stir forward, and Pal hops into total correction mode.

Now, I'm wondering if my dog is responding to muzzle punches from other dogs. I can never tell what the unexpected budge is that sets my dog off, but he could be anticipating that. (On the other arm, he's got a scar on his nose, a remnant of his early life, so he could be anticipating a swift and painful bite, as well.)

Oh… and just an aside. I've got a dog who very deliberately tooth chatters. It only happens when he's stumbled on the urine marking of another dog he finds very interesting. He will eat at the spot and then open and shut his mouth very rapidly, as if his teeth are chattering. At very first, I thought this might be totally nerve-related, almost like a seizure. But now, when I observe him, I truly think he's attempting to take in more of the odor/taste that he's observing. Someone I know theorized that dogs make this movability to send more of the chemical (smell) to the vomeronasal organ, which is above the roof of the mouth. Now, when I see the dog, I imagine the tooth chattering behavior to be almost like the behavior of a wine connoiseur who is sniffing the wine, then sloshing it around in his mouth to better appreciate the aroma.

Shalea Rhodes says

I was reminded on my walk this morning that Gryphon (practically blind velcro-dog greyhound) also does something like a tooth clack, but the only time I've ever seen him do it is in reaction to something he's smelled. We walk around my suburb but we're right on the edge of farmland and some large wooded areas, so he could be smelling one of the other dogs that get walked in the neighborhood or he could be smelling fox, deer, possum, etc. He'll become very interested in whatever it is, truly burying his nose in it, and then makes sort of a clomping noise (slower and louder that his chattering). It's certainly not directed at me, but I have no idea what it means either!

This topic fascinates me and I've spent a lot of time thinking about it and observing my dog and others watching for the behaviors. One of the dogs Ranger likes to play with is a Border Collie who is all about circling the other dogs at play as if she's rounding them up. Sometimes Ranger will just run around with her, other times he'll attempt to herd her in the other direction and recently he added a fresh method of annoying her. They have a sophisticated relationship where on the surface it emerges that he is harassing her and she is very frustrated by it. However, since I've seen her deliberately spot Ranger and run past him to get his attention when he's occupied with something else and he's never acted like this was anything except play for him I've concluded that this is just how they play together. But back to the fresh style of play. She's indeed rapid and used to being quicker than anything else in the park except the greyhounds and she can outlast them without even attempting. Ranger is also very swift and being almost twice her size has long gams that indeed eat up the ground. I'm sure part of the reason she likes to run circles is because Ranger has to keep his speed down to negotiate the turns due to his greater mass. The other day he was pursuing after her and would lunge forward, break, and snap his teeth together inches from the peak of her tail providing a fierce sounding deep woof then accelerating again. She'd react by shortly pulling in her tail, hunching her figure and picking up the speed. They played this for very likely a good five minutes before taking a water break. It was like two kids playing I'm gonna get you. He never even came close to grabbing her tail albeit he was acting like he could at any minute. She could have varied her route at any point to make it stiffer for him to get close but she never did and I suspect after her burst of speed to pull away she was slowing down again to a speed where he could almost catch her–hard to tell as it was happening at such speed. I couldn't determine if he was teeth clacking or air snapping but whichever it was was being done in play.

The more I observe the more coaxed I am that the context and other cues are necessary to understand what the behavior indicates. When I'm jumpy, irritated or excited I tend to bounce on my toes. If someone reported that they'd seen me bouncing on my toes you could bet I was experiencing one of those emotions but without more context and detail it would be unlikely to guess which one. It may be that I bounce in different rhythms or at different speeds depending on which emotion it is–I wouldn't know as I'm dispelled and don't pay attention. It would be very difficult to describe exactly what to look for to determine which emotion it is simply by describing the physical manifestation. And if many many people exhibited the same behavior (bouncing on toes) when experiencing those same emotions but they all did it a little bit differently it would become even more sophisticated to attempt to describe it. I think that's what is happening here. One person's muzzle punch is another person's muzzle poke, etc. I'm finding absolutely fascinating. Thanks for beginning this discussion.

I have a five year old corgi/keeshund. She will airsnap and teeth clack prior to barking at me for attention. I always thought it was a preliminary behavior. We'll be staring at each other and she starts with an air snap or two. If I do nothing, she will give a duo of tooth-clacking. If I still do nothing, she'll let go with a quick bark or two. She does this often. I sense no aggression in this behavior, at least not aggression that I need to fear. She just wants attention.

My two 1/Two year old Canaan Dog did the nose punch straight into my eye when she was a puppy, necessitating an ER visit and a switch in my contact prescription. But it wasn't aggressive, it was during a playful moment and there was some bad bod mojo on my part.

She and the ten month old BC masculine have both poked me in the eye with their noses but again, I've never once thought it was anything but a lack of figure awareness. Other than that, I haven't noticed any nose punching behavior.

As for the teeth clacking, the CD (Sasha) did that for the very first time last year when I took her in for her very first chiropractic adjustment near the end of agility season. She was fine with everything from the tail forward until he commenced working inbetween her shoulders. She stiffened, her back quarters bunched slightly and she twisted so that her mouth was just an inch or less from the dr's mitts where she did the teeth clacking.

then she stopped and stared at him. it was very clearly a warning. “that hurt, don't do it again.” no growling that i recall. the dr. backed off, fed her treats until she was clearly relaxed again and then he was able to do the adjustments while i cradled Sasha's head against my chest.

She's only done it that one time.

My eleven mo old Sheltie does the teeth clacking but not in an agressive way. She is usually glad and excited and is attempting to contain herself. I also think it has something to do with her herding instinct. She will nudge when she wants something and is attempting to get my attention. The nudging and clicking do not show up to be aggression. She is attempting to communicate with me. Lets face it, she does attempt to communicate with us in the only way she knows. She is very blessed and high energy especially when we put on walking gear, then she knows that is park time. “Oh boy, time to run and play ball”.

I have a Belgian Tervuren(a herding type) who I take to the dog park at least five days a week. I see alot of behavior from her and other dogs but notice as stated previously certain breeds are prone to certain behaviors. My female will muzzle punch like the collie in the movie when she's feeling particularly fresh; the other day there was a golden who she followed around attempting to play and when she kept disregarding her she muzzle punched and ran away(curving around watching the golden pursue her but acting amused) she looked so proud of herself and still kept on annoying the golden until the golden gave in and played pursue with her for thirty minutes. I equate muzzle punches with snotty brats telling “HA! I poked youuuu!” and muzzle nudges with brat behavior of “PET ME!”. Her and a Belgian Malinois/Lab mix(mostly acts like a Malinois) masculine played air snaps and literally snapped and growled for a solid hour at the dog park two days ago. Someone else walked over to see and was amazed he said “They look and sound like they're killing each other but they do not even make ANY contact what-so-ever”. All Belgian Shepherds I've met air-snap and clack when excited.

I have a one-year old pit bull who loves to leap at anyone when excited. I've never known a name for it but it is like he catapults himself at the person with like a head-butt. He does it to us all the time if we've been gone and when we come home he is so excited that's the very first thing he does. We are expecting it so we can tell him ‘down' repeatedely to avoid it. With strangers however, he salutes them with a wagging tail, very excited and then pow – to the forehead. THen he comes down and proceeds sniffing him. There is never any agression, growling, growling – just unspoiled friendliness. However, just recently a man came walking into our yard and all the dogs (we have three – two puppies as well as the pit) and they all surrounded him smelling, etc. The pit did his thing but missed the forehead and hit his check and it split the skin to where it was bleeding slightly. Now the man is suing us. No stitches were required and the split in the skin was caused from the force of the hit and not from a bite, in fact he worked the rest of the day doing his surveying work. It wasn't until he got home that he called us and said he was filing a claim and hoped we had insurance. The sheriff is a good friend of this boy so that doesn't help matters. Was this a case of muzzle punch? and is this considered a ‘friendly' gesture? And how do I prove that if this goes to court?

My three year.old Aussie (possibly a mix-not sure, as he was a rescue) will leap many feet into the air from a stand-still, and sometimes will (as I call it) Eskimo smooch a person (nose to nose bop). He NEVER does it to me, only to other people. It seems that when he's standing next to them and they look down at him, and ESPECIALLY if they lean over and look at him, up he goes…sometimes he touches and sometimes he doesn't. His behavior, most of the time seems glad and this seems like a welcoming, however once he did it to somebody who just whacked him in the face with a petite plastic rake, and in that example, I think he was stressed and wished out of there. I'm wondering why he does this…..and what can I do to prevent it? Someone recently told me the phrase “muzzle punch or poke” which I'd never heard of….Is he attempting to create safe distance. Is he wanting to say hello? All of the above. I tell people to turn their goes and look away when he does this and this usually “cracks it”….if he gets too amped, I just leash him for ten minutes or so, which brings him back to calmness.

My sheltie used to punch me in the back of my gam, where the knee arches, whenever I was hurrying through the house. Usually when I was attempting to reaction the door or the phone. I always read it as part of her instinctive need to herd things. I miss her very much and especially her “bopping” as we called it.

We had to purchase a spike dog collar for our twelve lb female Chihuahua mix to protect her from the fresh masculine Malinois muzzle bumps. The Malinois is noted for muzzle bumps and he would use it to annoy the Chihuahua into playing with him. Once we actually found a true spike cangue that fit the Chihuahua, it put a stop to the muzzle bumps. We felt that the sixty lb Malinois needed a more suitable playmate than the twelve lb Chihuahua and picked up another Malinois from the shelter that was a female six months old. The junior dog air snaps at the older dog all the time while they are playing – all in good joy. She will also air snap at us if she thinks we should be playing with her – she has a natural mischevious face. I have never seen the older Malinois air snap at all and the youthful one never aggressively. Other than this breed, I have never seen a dog air snap before and that is what led me to look up the behavior. The two Malinois play VERY agressively with each other and most would think it was a knock down haul out fight to the death, but when I say stop, they do and look at me like “how come”?

My spouse and I adopted a border collie x about a month ago. We think he is just about six months old. From the moment I picked him up, he commenced air snapping at me. He also, I think, does the muzzle punch. Several times now, he's hopped or lunged at me and hit me so hard in the face with his nose that his nickname is Zinedine Zidane. It hurts. He also likes to tug at my clothing, nibble on my face and paw at me. It usually happens after I've been petting him, but sometimes I'll simply be sitting or lounging down. I am very worried about this behavior and would love more insight into what it means. I hope Dr. McConnell posts a follow-up!

My dog does the air snap but just when she is playing or excited. To Kate, you have a herding dog and he is just nipping at you because he is the alpha and he is controlling you. If you dont get him under control you will not like him much later on. Cesar Milan “Dog Whisperer” says exercise daily with that breed among others. Why dont you look for a doggie day care or a dog walker three or four times a week? You will see a switch if it is done right. Good luck with him.

hi my dog snaps at me when i use the hairdryer on him and when i use the vacum cleaner barks

and when i touch his noses he bites if you deepthroat air him snaps!

what could this be could there be training for this?

I just reread this article and all the comments. I am astonished no one mentioned teeth chattering as an expression of happiness. My BC chatters when he is getting held and petted. It is not excitement, arousal, or anything other than elementary happiness. He is the third dog I've had that does this.

I have two blind and deaf Cocker Spaniels (1 English one American) and they use up close air snaps (just touching or missing the wool) all the time with each other to express any kind of dislike or disapproval of the other's behavior – you are in my space, I want that bed/cup/fucktoy/… now, whatever. With a sighted dog, the bitch will use staring, posturing, lip lifts and regular air snaps for the same purpose (in approximately that order). The masculine just avoids trouble with other dogs – to the point where when he doesn't know if there are other dogs around, he sneezes on a regular basis just to signal that he doesn't want trouble.

Just read this. My kelpie has two types of teeth clacking/air snapping. One is at dogs he wants to keep away from him. It's with head down, bristled shoulders and rump, tail up. He turns and gives a few clacks at the dog following and keeps moving.

The other type is out of sheer excitement in anticipation of joy, after waiting patiently for my day of work to be over. He hops, barks, if I don't begin throwing things right away ( I attempt to warm him up before any type of fetch or such game but it's not effortless), gets a BIT in my face, and you can hear him clack teeth and snap jaws, SORT of near me. This is from being very stimulated but it's not a threat, however I am sure an accident could happen if he hops too close to my face someday, so I get him to sit. He's all smiles and panting his butt off, grueling himself before the joy commences.

We have just got another greyhound and had him for a week, He air snaps in the evening when he is half asleep and looks fairly distant when he does it. He also sometimes wakes up and does it then goes back to sleep. I wondered if it is a way they would communicate with their mother when youthfull as he was fairly jumpy when we very first got him.

I'm so disappointed- the movie was fully missing – just a blank space in the article. I have a 3yr old dobie – an absolute wonder of a dog, utterly intelligent and affectionate. He does “all of the above”. Muzzle punches directly in the butt, always when I'm walking away from him, usually heading to the kitchen. I've always interpreted it as a hint to grab him a cookie while I'm heading that way. He certainly packs some warmth in those punches and when I turn around he meets my glare. But again – I've never felt threatened by him. He will also air snap & clack teeth. We've always felt it was a way to get attention, to attempt to tell us that we're “not listening” to him, as it always happens when we're engrossed in the television. He's NEVER punched or air snapped at anyone else except those in our instant family. Again, I must emphasize it has never felt menacing. One more thing – he pins (Doberman Pinscher??)! Again, this is similar to a muzzle punch, except it's a real pinch – hurts enough to bruise and he does get a correction for that! He mostly always pins my hubby and uncommonly other members of the family.

Debra: Shoot, I don't know why the movie won't play for you. I just checked and it ran on my computer. You could attempt going to Youtube directly… type in my name and muzzle punch, maybe that will work.

We have an English pointer/boxer mix (I think!) and it sounds similar to what Debra says above. I get “teeth clacking” when our dog wants something (food, water, to go out, play, etc.). I ask her what she wants and she shows me. They are a communication for us, and not the least bit aggressive. If I do NOT see what she wants for longer than a minute or two, and don't say “no” or “go lay down”, I then get utterly gentle “muzzle punches” on my forearm or knee as a reminder that she is there. She only does that if she needs to go out, more like she is telling, “I know you are busy, but I truly need to go out”. I truly don't feel it is aggressive at all, she is just communicating and doesn't bark unless there is someone at the door. She will also put her head on my knee for attention and it is all done in a similar manner for her. I think it may just depend on the dog and their temperament! If she were to do any of those things in what seemed to be an aggressive manner, I would get rid of the behavior instantly. I think if you feel it is aggressive, it very likely is aggressive.

We have a dog that we found this last December. He clearly had owners before arm but they made no ever to find or claim him wherever they may be. He emerges to be a labrador/staffordshire terrier mix and overall he's a sweet, spirited, playful big dog. He does these air snaps however and I can tell he is a little possesive of his food and fucktoys. He has not bit me, but he has growled and is very snappy when I attempt to play fetch with him he is willing to attempt to hop and get the fucktoy from my forearm before it is thrown. I graduated from Animal Behavior College (a dog training course) but I still have a lot to learn. What do you suggest that I do to modify/eliminate this behavior. I would also be blessed to hear of any books or movie's you suggest me reading/watching to improve my skill of dog training. Thank you very much, I hope you have a blessed day.

I don't know what else to do, here. I have a pitbull/Vizsla mix. It began out with the teeth clacking whenever she would get super excited about playing with her ball. At very first, I thought it was so lovely, but then she began hopping and muzzle punching. I gave her a bit of obedience training to attempt helping her, but soon the sound of the clicker incited these “fits” of clacking and muzzle punches. It continued to escalate from there, several deeds setting her off. During these fits, it seems like she can't control herself, like she is just so wound up that she can't stop.

This year, she eventually crossed the line and bit my gf. The very first time, my gf was playing with her. After that, it happened again when I was coming home. I can't leave her alone with my gf anymore because she will get bitten. Almost everything sets her off. We both attempt to divert her with her dearest fucktoy, but it isn't always where we can reach it (before she reaches the madness stage). A duo of times, she has had a fit directed at me, but I am usually able to control her enough to get her into her crate, where she proceeds to muzzle-punch the crap out of the door for a few moments.

My gf is horrified of the dog. Am I making a mistake attempting to deal with this, or have I already passed the point where I can do anything about it? Please….please help me.

Allyson: You absolutely need to contact a trainer or behaviorist. Be sure to find one who understands 1) how to use humane methods to train the dog other ways to behave and Two) someone with the abilities to evaluate what's going on with the dog: How much is learned? How much is related to physiology (diet, hormones, etc). Go to apdt.com for a local trainer, to animalbehavior.org for a behavoirist or search for a veterinary behaviorists in your area. Please go get professional help asap.. paws crossed for you.

I found reading this very interesting &

informative. I have a puppy I brought home at six weeks of age. Her

mother died providing birth at an emergency clinic. The puppies that

survived were arm raised & adopted out of a shelter when

they began eating puppy food. A few hours after we arrived home, I

witnessed my 1st jaw snap/teeth clack. My pup is thirteen weeks old now and not

a day has gone by without it happening. Her nickname became Gator

The Demon Dog because of the sound she makes. I understand about

the importance of the 7th & 8th weeks for a puppy, where

they learn from siblings and mom what play fighting &

biting is about. She only knows one type of biting & has

had no clue what other dogs bod language means. The last is a real

shame because all they've wished to do is play. She's leisurely

learning and as an Australian Shepherd/Australian Cattle Dog mix,

she's high energy and then some. I've had Aussie mixes for over 20

years and never have I had to deal with one who bites. I don't

consider myself any kind of accomplished on the breed but I did know the

intelligence, manic energy & fight for control would be

part of her. But to have it all come with a mouthhole of teeth isn't

fairly panicking but close. I don't worry about myself. I worry

about other people & do stress her age, teething &

biting to anybody wanting to interact with her. Kids, I explain to

parents AND attempt to make kids understand not to rush up to a strange

dog. I've felt alone with everything because when I went to sign

her up for puppy pre-school I was told I had to wait until she was

at least ten weeks old & had her puppy shots. Now I have to

wait until the next class commences. I had a 7.4lb dog when I brought

her home. Now, I have a 25lb dog who is only three months old. I've

learned there is a difference inbetween the mouth opening &

closing and the gator snap. She communicates with the gator snap. I

can hear her in her crate before I'm out of bed just a'clackin away

to herself. When she's excited she'll look at me and clack two or

three times. When I've irritated her or she doesn't like something

I say, she'll look at me and give a single clack. She clacks to

herself also, like she's talking to herself. I'm more worried

with the silent opening and closing of her mouth because it occurs

in play & when she's wired and usually I get bitten. She

does sometimes nip like any puppy and was mouthing pretty bad

yet hardly at all now. We're working on the entire no leaping thing

& I know from practice not to wear anything I don't want

fuckholes in. She is very subjugated approaching people, loves

everybody she comes across especially kids. But I'm tense with her

around kids because I'm afraid she'll mean no harm but bite anyway.

I hate the thought of a muzzle yet I know it might be a possibility

if I can't find a way to curb her biting. I've attempted everything

suggested & nothing seems to work except behaving like a

mama dog with a misbehaving pup and sometimes, muzzle correction.

Strong-willed & stubborn I know its my job to instruct her

who's in charge & reinforce if necessary. I don't know what

I'm doing right or wrong. I do know I spend most of the day with

her. We have play sessions and learning sessions disguised as play.

A duo walks a day, time to run around in crazy dog mode, play

and train indoors as well as out. Commenced signaling me when she

needs to go outside on a bathroom break beginning of last week so

the only time she's held in her crate is when I go to bed or

have to leave the house. I don't indeed know what else to do for

So I know this thread is several years old at this point, however, I'd like to poll people on their thoughts about a different behavior I am attempting to understand better. My dog periodically touches the outside of his teeth against my arm or gam. His teeth are generally closed or only halfway open, and he leaves just a little raw slaver on me. It seems to be an affectionate behavior, but I've never seen or heard of other people's dogs who also do this. Has anyone else experienced this?

I have a three year old JRT mix. We're his fourth people. Info that I was given was that he was manhandled by very first proprietor and abandoned. 2nd person took him in, and was then incapable to keep him after a year. Third person had him in a crate for a few weeks where he must have felt felt prey to seven very large dogs. (He's horrified of large dogs, and will bark and warn them to go away. If the threat remains, if permitted, he would rip into one to protect himself, possibly kicking off a terrible fight). We know from a distance by his behavior even which petite dogs he will be able to greet without his instantaneously being shoved over his anxiety threshold by observing his tail set and wag, little snivels and whines.

He has taken to a particular neighbor's dog, a two year old masculine Dachshund/Chihuahua rescue. They are well matched in size, energy level, and even same play growls. They play as if litter mates, and let the other know when enough is enough as a mother would her pups.

He will slink under bumpers of cars if we walk through a parking lot, alert, looking over his shoulder, remnants of his having to flee and be on guard. He was horrified of rain and thunder, and we infrequently spotted him the very first month we had him because he would hide when there was even a threat of rain. With lots of work and encouragement, he now stays out in the open in a room, or even on couch or bed with us.

One communication behavior enormously exaggerated in him is the head turn to signal his need to avoid confrontation, mainly displayed to humans, however also when with others who have dogs present with which he does not want approaching him. If the head turn is disregarded by a dog, my little boy will growl and sometimes muzzle punch. (Happens so rapid, however I have managed to never let it go beyond that, and will even eliminate him if other possessor doesn't then keep dog far enough away. I attempt to avoid situations that would permit the punch in the very first place). There have been a duo of times when he displayed the head turn to people where he did a muzzle punch with teeth gritted closed and lips curled, striking with closed teeth in warning. It's evident he does not want to bite, tho’ undoubtedly warning that he will if feels threatened further. He had been very touchy about his gams and feet, and on a duo of occasions when startled by touch did same tooth closed punch to me. A “no”, then touching him insane way, showcasing that he would come to no harm stopped that.

He has become somewhat vocal, which we're observing as a good thing, since he obviously wished to interact, tho’ was as if uncertain it was permitted. We still have to tell him it's okay to eat, as he will string up back waiting to see whether permitted. He will nudge bells strung up on the door to let me know he wants to go out. On occasion, he will nudge me, (light muzzle punch), behind my knee to get my attention, actually, a very gentle, benign behavior. Depending on circumstances, I can tell him to wait or not now, and is not becoming a problem. For him, it's just another form of communication.

He does lift one or the other front gam at times, kind of shaky, however not like with utter sucked seizures. He yawns excessively, however does not always seem to be an indication of uncertainty or anxiety. Shows up to have some little head tremors, that, again, could be taken for anxiety. I'm a bit worried that it's more neurological, either related to JRT heritage, or from having been previously injured. Some of his protective and anxious behaviors have seemed indicative of gam and tail pulling; who knows how the little stud was jerked and pulled around. We did have x-Rays done because of excessive gagging, coughing, and some switch roles sneezing to rule out collapsing trachea. No collapse, tho’ determined he does have a sensitive neck/mouth that is obviously permanent. (He's walked on a corset).

With all his quirks, he's a joy. Would not trade him for anything.

My dog does this when I'm petting her and stop petting and step away she hops in the air and snaps at my face. I can never catch her while she's doing it to penalize her because it happens so quick. I've gotta work on that. And she still hops on me. And pursues the cats! Soon as I let her off the leash in the mornings she takes out after the cats. I hate that. It's so aggravating. But she sits truly well on guideline. And she's learning stay pretty well. Except when she sees a cat. She's a black GSD. I love her!! But those are my problems.

I have a two year old JRT named Monkee. She is a transplant from a family that couldn't care for her. She was total of ruinous behavior at very first but that switched with positive attention and focused energy. I have seen a multitude of behaviors. She is super intelligent. She knows about twenty five guidelines with arm signals. I have used ASL as her palm signals. Inbetween her behaviors, vocalizations, and ear and tail positions, she communicates how she is feeling effectively. She only chatters her teeth during fever or sniffing a urine spot. I think of it like she's studying a odor with a heightened arousal level. She muzzles punches usually when wanting something truly bad always playful, similar to a “Please, please, Pah-leassssse..” I have only seen an air snap a duo times but it was when she was exceptionally excited but a little annoyed, non-aggressive, similar to, “Now…please”.

We just got a fresh dog over the weekend, She is a Rat Terrier and almost six months old. She does this air snap to us and our other dog but it seems to be over excited playful thing. There is no aggression at all, she just is too in your face when wanting to play. I'm going to check with the vet on what I can do to stop her from doing that.

I have a thirteen year old South African breed Boer Bull. I think they are from the mastiff family. She is large (at least 45kg) and thirteen years old. She had surgery to eliminate a cancerous growth from her hind gam this weekend. I brought her home on Monday night and she has consistently woken me up at least three times each night since, by pushing her rather large face into mine, as I'm sleeping. The vet informed us that her liver is enlarged and their is evidence of cancer via her assets. I am providing her medication for agony and have attempted to take her outside each time she wakes me in case she needs to relieve herself but she does it again. Does she just want a cuddle or could there be something wrong?

I have a Four.Five month old pit, Igor. He's never demonstrated real aggression, or any aggression for that matter. He is gigantic, over fifty pounds. He chatters his jaw and quickly clicks his front teeth at fully random. He doesn't air snap per say. I play rough with him and he opens his mouth and leaps putting his entire mouth on my forearm with no pressure. He nuzzle punches as an alternative to biting during play with my wifey and I. Our granddaughters Four,Two, have no issues with him. He runs and pursues and plays ball w them, even sleeping on top of their butts AMD gams to keep them safe at night. But damn he will smooch my babies to death. They grab and wrestle and throw. They haul him by his gams all around the bed and the use him as a cushion, not a peep or flinch or nothing lol. Igor is an awesome little.boy. very clingy has sep3ration anxiety when I leave. He's my child

Sandra Davis says

I have a question,

I have a three year old German Shepherd, she is a very mild temper dog ( if human I would call her a blonde ).

For the last duo days she has been whining for no reason that I can see and clicking her teeth then she come to me bumps me, I go look see nothen. Now we do live in the country and we have alot of coyotes and they have been known to come on our back porch.

Is it possible she attempting to protect me.

Saray Koch says

Now, this comes as a shock to me that some of these are aggressive behaviors. But, I'm having the “muzzle punching” issue with my freshly rescued shelter dog. When I lived with my mom, we had two golden retrievers (masculine: cooper and an English golden female: Lilly). Copper was the laziest thing but Lilly loved attention and loved to play. When we would play, she would grab my arm or attempt to dig me out of the blanket. But, she never once bit me. She would also do the snaps at the air like that. I would snap back and we would play with each other like that permanently. I see my current dog's muzzle punching the same way since he only ever does it while he's playing.

Now, with him, you can get your face in his food cup without problem. You can pick him up, grab his neck corset, etc. no problem. There are some slightly aggressive behaviors that are concerning (he has bitten without causing real harm to two dogs) but they don't all seem intentionally aggressive. For example, he likes to mouth and he put a cut in my lip. I don't think it was on purpose since he didn't actually bite me. It was more of he lunged at me to grab my face, as when we play he will grab your forearm but almost never bites hard enough to even pinch you, and his tooth smacked my lip. I'm not justifying his behaviors and please keep in mind that we've had him for two weeks and we are working hard to stop some of these behaviors (I don't mind the grabbing of the forearms for example since that's how I play with him).

Now, I have to say that I am worried about a lot of what he does even if it is play. Mostly because he doesn't understand what a human can handle- particularly during play. He was abandoned for a year and he's only two so he didn't have much human interaction during the learning phase of his life. He's so clumsy too, he once hopped off the couch and down the stairs (we're in an apartment and the couch sits at the top of the stairs) to pursue a ball. And he's a pit-bull/retriever mix. He has such a powerful bod that it makes him dangerous even when he's not attempting to be. I recognize this and it's why we need to curb these behaviors before he does hurt someone other than me intentionally or otherwise.

So, why am I commenting? I need to know if my perceptions of this behavior are wrong. I don't see any warning signs with the mouthing or the punching to signal anything more than aggressive play. I'm not going to pretend that he can't, or won't, attack someone so I need some outside insight.

My german shepherd will clack her teeth when she's playing. Usually she does it when I'm about to throw her ball for her or if she wants to play fight. It seems to be more like she does it as a playful taunt. It's just a quick “snap snap” movability. It looks more like barking than biting tho’ just without any “woof” to it.

She can bark btw. She has her playful, high-pitched yippy barks that sound more like a terrier. Then there's her deep barks that she does when she's being protective of me.

My corgi does all three behaviors. He does them when he's not getting his way so I instinctively felt that they were rude gestures. He, of course, does not get what he wants if he acts in such a manner.

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