How do I stop my puppy from biting?
You can always spot the new puppy owners in a crowd. They are the people with all of the tiny puncture marks on their fingers, hands and forearms.
Puppies bite-and thank goodness they do. Puppy biting is a normal, natural, and necessary puppy behavior. Puppy play-biting is the means by which dogs develop bite inhibition and a soft mouth. The more your puppy bites and receives appropriate feedback, the safer his jaws will be in adulthood. It is the puppy that does not mouth and bite as a youngster whose adult bites are more likely to cause serious damage. Dogs nip each other to play, to test their strength and to show each other who is the boss. When a puppy leaves his canine family to come to us, he brings this same way of thinking and behaving with him.
Puppies naturally want to test everything with their mouths, and they wind up chewing on us in the process. While the activity is harmless at first, even play biting can quickly escalate into something painful when a pup becomes bolder.
This brings us to the heart of the matter. Whether your puppy is biting in play or he really means business, it’s crucial to stop the behavior before it becomes an ingrained habit. It all comes down to teaching your pup his proper place in the family pack.
In order to teach a puppy not to bite, he first has to understand he has boundaries. There has to be a firm rules that the pup is never allowed to wrap his teeth around anyone’s hand, even if it’s only during play. There’s no point in sending a mixed message that biting is okay in some circumstances and not in others. Puppies simply aren’t sophisticated enough to figure out the difference, so it’s up to us to be consistent.
Make sure that everyone in your household understands why this is necessary and agrees to the rule from the start. We can help get you started on the right track.
Need more help?
Please complete the behavioral evaluation to provide us with more information to help you and your dog.
