How to Stop Your Puppy From Biting

Why do puppies bite?

Dog owners have been trying to stop puppies from biting without knowing why puppies bite in the first place. By understanding why your puppy bites is the first step in training him not to bite.

The main reason why puppies bite is as a result of Puppy Teething.

Puppies' jaws are weak and as a result of new teeth they gnaw, mouth and even play-bite to sooth the gums around the teeth. This combination of weak jaws with extremely sharp, needle-like teeth, can result in numerous play-bites which, although painful, seldom cause serious harm. The developing pup, therefore, receives ample feedback regarding the force of its bites before it develops strong jaws - which could inflict considerable injury. The greater the pup's opportunity to play-bite with people, other dogs and other animals, the better the dog's bite inhibition as an adult.

Puppy Socialization

Proper puppy socialization is important when teaching your dog bite inhibition. Your puppy is a blank slate and needs to be taught proper behaviour around humans and other animals. Once she is taught proper behaviour, it will carry into adulthood.

For puppies that do not grow up with the benefit of regular and frequent interaction with other dogs and other animals, the responsibility of teaching bite inhibition lies with the owner. All puppies love to play by being mouthy and biting or chewing anything they can get their sharp little teeth into. These sharp teeth are the reason that it is crucial for puppies to learn bite inhibition (controlling the force of their bite) during the first few months of life. Normally this is learned naturally and effectively through contact with mom and other littermates. If the puppy bites mom during nursing, mom can roll the puppy over to correct it or just get up and walk away. Most young puppies do not aggressively bite. If you have an aggressive puppy, you should give very serious consideration about keeping such a dog. Puppy aggression may lead to dangerous behaviour as an adult dog if not properly handled.

Next the owner must realize that the puppy does not know how to act around humans.The puppy has not had much life experience outside of its interactions with its canine family. Proper socialization techniques are crucial at this stage of your puppy's development. 

How to Train a puppy to stop biting:

The first and best way to start teaching your puppy to stop its biting is to do what his littermates would have done were they in the same position. Puppies usually learn bite inhibition from their mothers and littermates. When a puppy bites its littermates, they will yelp and go away. This same method can be applied by you. As soon as your puppy starts to bite, you should give a loud, yelping OUCH! Glare at the pup, get up and move away. This way you can start ignoring behaviors you don't like. Be persistent with this method and advise your family to do the same.

If your pup does not change then you can start applying the ''Time Out ''method. You just leave the room or take him into his crate.

Another way to use this method is this; when your puppy bites, say "no" and gently hold its mouth shut. This will teach him to keep his mouth shut. Since the puppy is a social creature, saying no, yelping, holding his mouth or walking away will teach him that he will lose his playmate. An important fact about the above two methods is to maintain eye contact with your pup when saying "no" and also watching the tone of your voice. Your tone should be in the form of a command, sharp and to the point. Emitting a growling tone will convey the message in his language.

Your duty as a puppy owner is to plan a response to active puppy teething that will soften the impact on you and your possessions. The best way to do this is to provide your pup with better chewing alternatives instead of your fingers and limbs. You can buy toys like hard rubber balls, sterilized or nylon bones and knotted ropes from pet supply stores. 

In a low voice you can say "no" then remove her into a neutral area where you can give her any of the above stated toys or others to play with.

 

Praising your puppy whenever she behaves well is one of the best ways to teach her what's right. She will surely want to continue getting the praise. So when she plays nicely and appropriately, praise the action.

Another method is teaching the "off" command.

You get a puppy's dry food. Hold a handful and close your hand with it then say "off." 

Note what will happen. After a few seconds, if your puppy has not touched your hand, say "take it" and give him a piece of food. The lesson you are teaching him here is that "off'' means not to touch.

It is important to give your puppy daily exercise and give him enough playtime. It is advisable to have a specific daily playing time. Your puppy will always look forward to this period and will be less likely to seek attention at anytime, thus limiting his biting behavior. Also, you will be distracting his attention from biting by teaching him new tricks and taking him for a walk. You will be establishing a great bond with him doing this as well. 

Teach all your family members not to play any rough games like tug-of-war or wrestling which may encourage aggressive behavior like biting. Also, teach them to be consistent with the "no biting" rule. With everyone working together, you will achieve a well-behaved, well-adjusted puppy and, ultimately, adult dog.

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How to End Puppy Play Biting

What's cuter than a puppy? Very few things, that's for sure! Raising a puppy, just like raising a toddler, is equal parts rewarding and exhausting. Play biting or mouthiness is a common problem among puppy owners that can get out of hand as the dog gets older, but can easily be addressed with a few consistent responses. Since biting is an inevitable truth with any dog, this is an important lesson for every dog and their families.

What play biting isn't

Play biting is most commonly mistaken for teething. The difference between the two is play biting is something that happens during social play and comes in short bursts of biting. You'll know your puppy is teething when they are quietly sitting there chewing or gnawing, usually on something they shouldn't!

Bite Inhibition

Biting is a form of dog-dog communication that's learned when the puppy plays with its littermates. When the action gets a little too heated and someone gets hurt they'll yelp out in pain and stop playing with the meanie who bit too hard.

Puppies use this social withdrawal to teach other puppies how hard they can bite without causing pain or damage. This is called bite inhibition and it's why it is so important that puppies are not separated from their litter before they're 7-8 weeks old. Since bite inhibition is learned through rough play, it's vital that anyone watching the puppies play not interfere with playtime.

How to Stop Play Biting

Of course, preventative measures are always something to highlight right off the bat. If you are going to buy a dog from a breeder always be sure that the breeder provides a good standard of care for their animals and never take a puppy home that is younger than 7-8 weeks.

This kind of preventative measure isn't always possible when adopting a puppy from a shelter. Because of health concerns for dogs spending any amount of time in shelters, most prefer to adopt out animals as soon as possible to reduce their likelihood of infection. This goes for puppies too despite how young they are when they leave the litter.

Once you have your puppy home, set them up to succeed! These three things can make or break the rest of your puppy's play biting training.

Playtime should be a social event full of social learning and appropriate oral stimulation. A great way to stimulate your puppy's need to bite during play is to play tug of war and fetch (even if the actual fetching of the object is lost on them!).

Provide teething toys that are safe for puppy to chew on. Doing this won't directly help with play biting, but it will limit their need for oral stimulation.

Never allow mouthy behavior. Allowing it even one time every few sessions is enough to encourage the behavior. Don't allow your puppy to bite or nibble anything inappropriate, especially anything on a human (hands, feet, shoes, clothes). This is probably the MOST important rule your puppy will have growing up since most people misinterpret mouthy adults as biters. Take this step seriously now so you don't have any biting accidents later.

Odds and Ends

Always stop playing with the puppy as soon as they bite. It's important to be very quick with your response. 

Never allow them to bite.

Be sure that all interactions between children and the puppy are supervised. Kids aren't quick or assertive enough to keep up the strict no mouthing policy. 

Supervise playtime.

Always play with appropriate toys. Toys should always be something your dog can have in his or her mouth and chew on without getting in trouble. This is obviously not the case for your arms, hands and feet. I know I already mentioned this, but it's the most common reason for out of control mouthiness.

Don't allow your puppy to get your attention with play biting. Say "No" or "Off" (you could also yipe like a littermate) to interrupt the bite and turn away or leave the room. You need your pup to understand that biting gets him nowhere.

Leave the room long enough for your puppy to be confused by your absence. You are utilizing social withdrawal (just like their littermates), so be sure to withdraw long enough for it work. Around 2-3 minutes should be sufficient, but take the temperature of your puppy to be sure it's not too long or too short.

Don't pick the puppy up to remove them from the room since it can be misinterpreted as play and won't discourage the biting.

Never physically punish your puppy. Punishments can cause anxiety and turn what was play biting into fearful or even aggressive biting. It can also cause your puppy to get even more riled up and bite more.

If biting doesn't stop after 1-2 weeks of consistent training try a head halter to help redirect your puppy from biting - and any other bad behavior - and reward them for whatever you directed them to.

*Rest assured that your puppy isn't play biting so they can dominate or control you. It's a normal part of canine communication that needs to be learned. It's a lot like volume control in kids, they need to learn from others when they are being too loud. They aren't yelling at you to intimidate you.

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