[fostermom]

We fostered an adolescent male rotti who would jump/mouth...a trainer who worked with him told me to not react to him (any response reinforces the behavior). I was told to fold my hands at my chest so they weren't targets for him, stand still and look at the ceiling, NOT him..behavior only continues as long as it is being reinforced so he eventually stopped...I was also told to work on an appropriate behavior (like "sit" or targeting my hand where he touches my hand with his nose and is rewarded for that)...then when he was approaching, I'd tell him to sit or offer my hand for him to target, thereby giving him an alternate, acceptable behavior. If he'd get too over the top, I would turn my back on him or leave the room, but not yell, push him down or look at him (dogs HATE to be ignored so their behavior isn't being reinforced). To state the obvious, dogs don't come automatically knowing the behavior you want...so you need to offer them an acceptable behavior to do. When he would do the sit or touch my hand (instead of jumping up on me), he was given a HUGE reward...excited happy voice "what a WONDERFUL boy", treats!!! It's not easy to ignore an exited rotti jumping/mouthing you, and I did question the trainers wisdom, but by the time he adopted, two months later, his new family commented how well behaved he was!
As a word of warning, he may escalate the behavior before he stops doing it (extinction burst)...ie, the old behavior isn't working any more so he tries harder.