I'm not sure if this is the correct term but it is what I have been able to find on google. My 15 month old doberman, when excited, snaps his jaws together while puffing out his face like he has excess drool. I have read that jaw clomping is a sign of stress.

He has done it once or twice when corrected to heel but stayed in high drive and excited (also able to take treats and wagging tail) but most of the time he does this after sniffing where other dogs may have urinated. He is not neutered, is this possibly him smelling female dogs and getting excited or does it sound like stress?

He only does this on walks out, I have had no problem correcting him without getting the noise in the house or yard or with him sniffing things in the yard.

He doesn't seem stressed and there are no other symptoms that go along with it except for pronounced need to keep sniffing whatever he is sniffing but whether I call him to me from it or he finally gives up on the scent he clomps.

I don't plan on neutering him until he turns at least two (if ever, though I will not be breeding him) but I am worried that he is girlie urine crazy. <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

Anyone seen anything like this before? I've never had another dog make this noise. Should I just leave him alone when he is in sniff mode? I may end up standing by a tree for a week...

Thanks!

What you are describing is called "chatter jaw" or just "chattering". This is a dogs way of discerning a scent. Male dogs often do this when sniffing another dog's urine or feces and helps them to identify the sex and reproductive status of that dog. Sometimes the dog will lick the area they are smelling to get an even better smell. Sometimes dogs will also do this with non-dog animals when they are not familiar with it. I've also seen dogs do this to any unusual scent.

You will see this often in intact males and they usually start this at about 6-10 months old.

Thank you Jamie! My other dogs were either female or neutered and I couldn't find anything about this. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't stressing him out with a correction when he was not listening (which seemed implausible). Strange he only now started doing it I guess.

Haha great stories thanks! Also, eeewww! They are hilarious creatures aren't they? <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

I have to laugh everytime I see my pup looking serious and concentrating on some kind of puzzle to him and then solving it and I think boy he is so smart and then I look over at times like now and he is sleeping on his bed with all of his legs in the air and his upper lip hanging down
off his teeeth.

Thanks for the stories, I am going to die laughing everytime he does it now waiting for him to start rolling in it. <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

My male APBT does a version of this as well. We will be walking and all of the sudden his head goes down and it as though the scent is pulling him to it. When he gets their he licks the spot, then he looks at me with drool dripping from his mouth while his teeth are clicking together very quickly, but the look in his eyes is as though his brain has just fallen out of his ear.....he does this after my female goes to the bathroom....I think he is just a dirty old man <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I've been told that there's actually an extra scent organ near the apex of the top jaw, which the dog stimulates by chattering/whiffling -- I'm not a vet, so this may or may not be true, it's just what I've heard years ago <:-)

Yes, this is called the Jacobsen's organ. I think that most mammals have this, human's don't. I might have the spelling wrong... <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

Thanks for the confirmation! -- And try this link to read about Jacobson's organ & the Flehmen reaction (chattering & whiffling)...

http://chemistry.about.com/cs/medical/a/aa051601a.htm