How to stop puppies from biting

Have you been asking the question, “How do you stop a puppy from biting?” While puppy biting is a completely natural behavior during the puppy stage, it is also important to let your pup know what is and isn’t allowed to be chewed on.

Puppies begin biting very early on in life. Just like human babies, it is common for them to chew on objects during the teething stage to reduce discomfort. Furthermore, many dogs prefer using their mouths rather than their paws for manipulating objects. Once again, this behavior begins in puppyhood as young pooches start to explore their world.

Puppy biting may be cute at the beginning, but as your pup grows, these little nips can turn into painful bites. A puppy’s teeth are very sharp, and dogs often don’t know how hard they’re biting. Thus, the puppy-raising experience will generally include that one moment when Fido playfully bites down on a finger and draws blood.

Needless to say, this is not a behavior we humans want to have continue, especially not into adulthood. Want to learn how to get a puppy to stop biting? Here are the steps to take to stop puppy nipping.

Inhibit the Biting

The first step for how to get your puppy to stop biting is to inhibit the behavior. It is totally normal for puppies to mouth each other when they play. This mouthing, however, can quickly turn into a bite. When it does, the puppy on the receiving end will yelp, and this sound startles the puppy doing the biting, thus making him release.

Humans can exploit this behavior to stop puppy nipping and teach your pup how much mouthing is acceptable. When a puppy latches onto your hand or finger too hard, let your hand go limp and imitate that yelping sound. When the puppy releases, ignore her for 10 to 20 seconds and then resume play.

How to stop puppies from biting

It’s important to remember, though, not to pull away from the bite. This can trigger your puppy’s chase instinct and make the problem worse. If the yelp doesn’t work or you’d prefer not to make that sound, you can substitute a loud “Ow!” or use other verbal deterrents.

Don’t repeat the limp and yelp process more than three times in 15 minutes. If you come to this point, it’s time for a puppy timeout.

The goal here is to teach the puppy that gentle play continues and rough play stops. Once you’ve inhibited the hard bites, repeat this teaching process with more moderate bites. Eventually, you should be able to teach her that mouthing without biting down is OK but that anything more than that is not.

Redirect

If you’d like to teach your puppy that her mouth on human skin is not acceptable at all, you’ll most likely want to use the redirection method. For this method on how to make a puppy stop biting, each time the puppy tries to mouth you, pull your hand away before contact and promptly provide a treat or wave around a chewy toy for him to bite on instead.

You can also satisfy your puppy’s urge to mouth things with noncontact games such as fetch or tug-of-war. Keep in mind, however, to never let the tugging become too aggressive. You’ll want to teach your puppy the commands “let go” or “leave it” so that you can always remove something from his mouth without the response of aggressive puppy biting.

Distraction

In addition to mouthing people, puppies will also mouth things in their environment. This is mostly done out of curiosity. There are many ways to teach your dog not to chew on house furnishings. Besides puppy-proofing your home, be sure to provide an assortment of interesting and safe chew toys for your pup to play with. These toys should be chosen for your puppy’s level of chewing and destructiveness. For example, if she shreds a plush toy in 2 minutes, you may want to stick toys made of rubber or hard plastic.

Hide-the-treat toys are also great for distracting puppies from nibbling on other things. This type of toy not only distracts your pup but also provides mental stimulation as she tries to figure out how to get to the reward.

A final option for distracting your pup is to arrange a playtime for your dog with other puppies or vaccinated adult dogs. Not only will this help to socialize her with other dogs, but those dogs will also assist in the process of teaching your puppy when a bite is too hard.

Deterrence

There are various products designed to prevent a dog from licking or chewing objects in the house. These products include Bitter Apple, Bitter Cherry and YUCK No Chew Spray. As you have probably guessed, these products will put an unpleasant taste in your puppy’s mouth each time she chews on furniture or other objects in the house. With that being said, this method of stopping puppy biting is not as simple as spraying your belongings with these products. There are two very important steps involved in using them for training.

The first step is to associate the smell and taste in your dog’s mind so that the scent alone will keep him away from unacceptable chewing targets. To do this, put a little bit of the product on a tissue or cotton ball and gently put it in your puppy’s mouth. He should spit it out right away. After he spits it out, let him smell it so that he makes the association.

The second step comes in handy when you’re actively using the product for training. For the second step to work, make sure your dog doesn’t have access to water for up to an hour (but no longer) after contact with the product. This may sound cruel, but if your dog learns that he can just run to his bowl and get rid of the taste, the deterrent will become ineffective.

During the training process, place the product once a day on any objects you don’t want him to lick or chew. Continue doing this for the next two to four weeks until your puppy has stopped chewing your belongings.

Ankle Biters

Puppy biting doesn’t always happen during playtime. Many dogs become fascinated with nipping at people’s feet or ankles as they walk. This is particularly true for herding breeds. To teach your puppy to stop nipping at your heels, keep a favorite toy in your pocket. When she bites at your heels, immediately stop moving and wave the toy around to distract her until she latches onto it.

Another method is to stop moving when she bites, and then, when she releases on her own, offer her the toy or a treat. Always praise your puppy when she releases from nipping at your heel. The idea is to teach your dog that good things happen when bad behavior stops.

Puppy nipping and biting are natural behaviors for puppies but unwanted in adult dogs. Remember, a large majority of dogs surrendered to shelters by their owners are between 18 months and 2 years of age—the point at which “cute” puppy behavior becomes frustrating to the owner. Taking these few simple steps now will help prevent that bad behavior down the line and allow you to have a stress-free lifelong relationship when that little bundle of fur grows up.

Looking for another method for how to keep a puppy from biting? The Wodifer Dog Toothbrush Dog Dental Brushing Stick is a great product I recommend for not only teething but also cleaning!

How to stop puppies from biting

Teaching your puppy not to bite is an exceptionally important element of puppy training, as a biting adult dog is a serious danger to other people – particularly children – and other pets. Use these five lessons to make sure the training sticks.

Lesson 1: No hard biting

It’s tempting to try to completely curb your puppy’s biting and mouthing from the beginning. However, doing so will skip a vital step – allowing your puppy to understand the limits of how hard they can press against skin before it becomes

painful. Teaching this lesson gives your puppy a built-in inhibition against causing harm if it should become stressed or scared.

To teach your puppy not to bite hard, take your cues from natural puppy play. Gentle mouthing and nibbling is natural behaviour, so let your puppy indulge in this, but when you feel a hard bite, make a yelping sound and let your hand lie still.

This will show your puppy that it’s gone too far, and soon it will learn to adjust. Everyone the puppy plays with should adopt this strategy, so that eventually your puppy will gently mouth your hands rather than nip or bite. Consistency is an important part of puppy training and will help reinforce these lessons.

Lesson 2: No teeth on skin

Now that your puppy has learned the pain threshold for biting human skin, it’s time for the next lesson: no teeth on skin. To do this, continue with the previous technique, but now you should yelp and go limp at the slightest nip. This will show your puppy that no level of teeth on skin is acceptable.

You can reinforce this training exercise through treats: hold a treat in a closed hand, and only open your hand when your puppy is not mouthing, chewing or pawing at your fingers. This will demonstrate that mouths and skin do not belong together. It may take some time and patience, but puppies are like children – they’re programmed to learn and adapt!

Lesson 3: Use toys to redirect their attention 

Since chewing, mouthing and biting are natural behaviours for dogs, we don’t want to discourage them completely. Early on, puppies need to know that chewing on toys is fine, but chewing on skin is not. While your puppy is learning the first two lessons, make sure to provide plenty of chew toys so it can understand that while skin is a no-no, toys can be chewed to its heart’s content.

Lesson 4: Walk away 

Puppies and young children have many traits in common: both can find it hard to focus on lessons, particularly when they’re excited. Sometimes, the best thing to do is give your puppy a little time to calm down in their playpen, perhaps with a nice chew toy.

Don’t think of this as a punishment, but simply a chance for your puppy to calm down. Training can resume when the pup feels a little more tranquil.

Lesson 5: Discourage herding instincts 

Some breeds of dog, such as Australian Cattle Dogs, Collies or Shetland Sheepdogs, have strong herding instincts, which can lead them to nip at ankles in an effort to keep the ‘herd’ moving. If your dog does this, try to stand still so it understands that nipping ankles will have the opposite effect to its intention. Avoid wearing flip-flops as this draws the attention of the dog to your heels.

Stay calm and focused 

Puppy training requires a lot of patience and perseverance. Your puppy may not understand the lessons you’re trying to teach straight away, but it’s best to remain calm and focused regardless. Shouting at your pup or scolding them may frighten them or cause them unnecessary stress which may be remembered into adulthood – and lead to the exact behaviour you’re trying to prevent.

If you think your puppy is struggling to learn your lessons about biting, then consider seeking the help of a professional trainer. Dogs that bite are a danger to you and others – and ultimately it’s your responsibility to ensure that your dog is safe to be around.