Avoid encouraging play biting by gently redirecting your puppy's attention.
By Siddhika Bhat, certified dog trainer and behaviorist, founder of Wagabonding: Dog Training and Beyond
Puppy biting: because “love bites” are apparently a real thing! When you got your puppy home, you were probably envisioning cuddles, snuggles, wet nose boops and the cutest selfies; until those needle-sharp teeth latch onto your hand for the 50th time of the day! You are anything but alone. There’s a whole army of new puppy parents out there who fall into the same trap of trying to curb the biting...and somehow, make it worse! Let’s dive into the mistakes we’re all guilty of while dealing with puppy biting and figure out a way to make the transition smoother without losing a finger.
Why Is Your Puppy Being A Tyrannosaurus Rex?
Imagine if your hands were your only way to explore the world around you. For puppies, it’s their teeth! Puppies explore the world around them primarily with their nose and their mouth. When something interesting catches their attention, they first sniff it and then put it in their mouth. They are nibbling their way through life as they are learning about their surroundings, interacting with you, and soothing their teething gums.
Puppy biting is a mischievous mix of playfulness, curiosity and painful gums. As teething starts, they may chew and bite more intensely to relieve their pain. While providing them with outlets to chew may help, it is safe to say that their favorite bone is in your arm! Fortunately, this phase doesn’t last forever. With patience and a little guidance, those sharp nibbles will turn into sweet licks in no time!
7 Things You Should Never Do When Dealing With Puppy Biting
1. Scream And Scold Your Dog
Being bitten by razor sharp canines may naturally evoke a painful response that usually comes out in the form of screaming or writhing. It is often followed by irritation and may make you want to yell at your pup. It might help to remember that scolding or screaming at a pup for doing something that comes naturally to them would have two possible outcomes – it may either leave your dog feeling clueless; or add to the existing excitement. When teaching a puppy to not bite, you do not want either of these two outcomes.
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Say a sharp “ouch” when your puppy bites you. Your volume must be loud enough to momentarily startle your puppy but soft enough to not scare them away from you. Once your puppy has backed away from you or taken their mouth off your skin, verbally praise them in a calm voice for letting go. Follow up with training them to calm down through cues like Look, Sit, Down, and so on. Focus on changing the behavior rather than just correcting it. Puppies are adept at catching on to facial expressions and body language cues. Repeatedly following up your corrections with training will quickly help them learn what to do and what not to do.
Scolding or yelling can confuse and scare your puppy, making biting behaviors worse.
2. Say NO
Now, hear me out! There is no harm in saying “No” to something that you do not consent to. However, puppies do not speak our language. Technically, they don’t really know what the meaning of “No” is. Furthermore, “No” is not a behavior that can be taught. It is merely a correction word. Repeatedly saying No without teaching them an alternate behavior will leave the word with nary an importance. You may have often observed dogs backing off when they’re told “No.” This is because of their ability to read human facial expressions and body language. But this correction only works when dogs are taught what to do instead of the behavior that is being discouraged.
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Always follow up a “No” with a desirable alternate behavior. In other words, teach your puppy what to do instead of biting. These alternate behaviors could include giving them an outlet for biting, teaching them bite inhibition and training them to back off using certain cues like “back away” or “leave it.” Giving your puppy an alternate behavior to perform will help reduce both the instances and intensity of biting. It will also help teach them to relieve their overstimulation in a better way rather than resorting to hyperactivity and excessive nipping.
3. Swat Your Dog With A Rolled-Up Newspaper
Puppies bite! That’s what they do. It’s how they explore the world around them. It is one of the most natural dog behaviors. When you see a baby put something in their mouth, do you get agitated? No! Because that’s what a teething baby is designed to do. Swatting your puppy with a rolled-up newspaper for biting may seemingly discourage them from repeating the behavior, but you would be causing a bigger harm than that. You would be scaring them away from you and killing their willingness and ability to trust you, thereby leaving them utterly clueless and heartbroken.
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Teach your puppy the concept of bite inhibition. It is a training process that teaches them to control the force of their bite. Some of the steps involved in training your puppy bite inhibition are letting the puppy know when the bite is too hard by yelling ouch, redirecting with a toy, rewarding and reinforcing soft biting, limiting interaction if play biting continues and gradually increasing tolerance levels. Did you know- dogs who are taught bite inhibition in puppyhood are less likely to develop aggression towards people, especially kids? This is because teaching this technique early on will make for a gentler, more well-mannered dog, setting up a lifetime of safe and enjoyable interactions for everyone!
4. Resort To Time Outs At Every Nip And Bite
Time outs are recommended during puppy play and interactions. They help prevent overstimulation and hyperactivity episodes. However, resorting to a time out every time your puppy nips at you will not be teaching them anything. Excessive and painful nipping is usually a result of a multitude of factors like lack of bite inhibition training, teething frustration, lack of appropriate outlets and lastly, overstimulation. Resorting to time out at every nip and bite without teaching the proper technique to play will leave your puppy clueless. Furthermore, they may return back to the same style of playing once the time out is over.
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Understand if your puppy is trying to communicate something with you while they are being excessively nippy. Many times, puppies also bite if they want to relieve themselves or communicate some kind of discomfort. If your puppy is being overexcited and hyper, observe where the overstimulation is coming from. Do certain games or activities end up agitating your pup? If so, avoid engaging in those. Time outs work best to calm down a hyper pup and give them a quick break in between activities. They do not work to teach a puppy the right way to interact.
Positive reinforcement and calm redirection are the keys to addressing biting behaviors effectively.
5. Play Rough
You may have often heard that tug-of-war games make dogs aggressive. While this is not entirely true, they do spark overstimulation in puppies which may come out in the form of excessive biting and nipping. Puppies often resort to unstructured behaviors like running mindlessly around the house (zoomies), biting, jumping and barking when they don’t know what to do with the sudden burst of energy. Teaching them to harness this energy into games and self-engaging, harmless activities will reduce the instances of undesirable behaviors. Thus, until you have taught your puppy to master the zen mode even in times of hyperactivity, avoid playing rough with them.
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Play games that encourage cognitive development and teach your pup to interact with humans and other animals appropriately. Games like fetch, trick training, puzzle games, sniffing games etc. help in tiring out your dog mentally and physically. When playing games like tug of war, combine it with impulse control training cues like Drop it, Leave it, and Stay.
6. Reward Biting With Attention
It is hard to ignore puppy biting, especially when it happens while you are interacting with them. Having said that, if your pup is choosing to walk up to you at random times of the day and start biting, try to understand if they are trying to communicate with you or just gain your attention. If your puppy is biting to gain your attention or initiate play, you would only be rewarding and reinforcing the behavior by favorably responding back. If the biting cannot be ignored, consider distancing yourself from your pup by turning the other way or walking away from them.
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Schedule play times and down times to set a structured routine for your pup so that they stop demanding attention during random times of the day. Puppies generally get bored and look for stimulation when they do not get enough exercise or if they are not streamlined into a set routine. Puppies thrive on routines, and knowing when to expect play and rest helps them feel secure. Scheduled downtime encourages relaxation and prevents overexcitement or overstimulation.
7. Add To Their Excitement
Jerking your hand or foot away when a puppy bites you can turn it into a game, triggering their chase instinct and encouraging more biting. Puppies are naturally playful and have a strong prey drive, so sudden movements can look like something fun to chase and grab!
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Teach your puppy to mimic your energy. Dogs are very intuitive from a young age. Responding to their excitement with a calmer energy may help them calm down quickly. If your puppy bites, freeze rather than yanking your hand or foot back. Gently move your hand away once they let go and immediately offer a toy or something appropriate to chew. While it is important to teach your puppy to not bite the human hand hard, it is equally important to give them an outlet.
How Long Does This Phase Last?
Teething phase and the need to explore are the prominent driving forces of puppy biting. Puppy biting often peaks around 3 to 4 months of age as this is when they are in the process of losing all of their baby teeth and gaining permanent adult teeth. During this phase, it is important to remember that puppy biting cannot be stopped. It must only be redirected. This is because in the teething and exploration phase, biting is more of a need-based behavior.
Between 5-6 months of age the adult teeth come in, and biting tends to lessen as teething pain subsides and they learn better bite inhibition. However, dogs that were not given appropriate outlets at a young age and those who did not undergo proper training and bite inhibition may still continue biting after 5-6 months of age. This is because the dog is now habituated to biting and nipping as a way to interact with humans and other animals.
Consistent training and redirection can help them outgrow this phase smoothly. If your puppy continues biting past 6 months, especially with intensity, consider consulting a professional to address possible underlying issues.
Siddhika Bhat, Certified dog trainer and behaviorist and founder of Wagabonding.
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