Owner-Implemented Functional Analyses and Reinforcement-Based Treatments for Mouthing in Dogs

Waite and team asked three dog owners to run full functional analyses in their living rooms. Owners tested if mouthing happened for attention, toys, escape, or sensory feedback. They used the same test and control conditions we use with kids. After the FA, owners picked a matched treatment like attention extinction or differential reinforcement.

All three dogs mouthed most when the owner talked or played. Sensory alone produced almost zero mouthing. Once owners stopped giving attention for mouthing and instead paid the dog for calm sitting, mouthing dropped to near zero and stayed there.

Older human studies said mouthing is almost always automatic. Cannella et al. (2006) reviewed 23 papers and told us to start with sensory toys. Rapport et al. (1996) and Constantino et al. (2003) cut mouthing by giving food or leisure on a fixed-time schedule.

Waite’s dogs break that rule. Their mouthing was social, not sensory. The finding lines up with Davidson et al. (2022), who also used social reinforcement to curb dog mouthing. Together the two canine cases show the same mouth movement can have different functions across species.

So do not assume sensory first. Run the FA. If the mouth is sensory-driven, use the old tools. If it is attention-driven, use Waite’s owner-friendly extinction and reinforcement package.

You already teach parents to do brief FAs at home. Now you can teach dog owners the same skill. A five-minute test tells them why the dog mouths and which simple plan will stop it. No special clinic, no bite risk, no punishment needed.