How To Stop Puppy Biting

Puppies begin biting at a young age, it is common for them to chew on objects during the teething stage, just like human babies.

Their mouths contain approximately 28 teeny-tiny razors that appear to be attracted to your fingers or toes. Dog trainers call it “play biting,” but when your cuddly pup appears to be all teeth, it’s annoying and often painful.

This, however, is completely normal for puppy teething and necessary for development, and it is something that you can train away with a few simple steps.

Steps On How To Stop Puppy Biting

Step 1:

The first step in teaching your puppy not to bite is to prevent the behaviour.

Yes, it is tempting to try to completely stop your puppy’s biting and mouthing right away. However, doing so will skip an important step: teaching your puppy the limits of how hard they can press against skin before it becomes painful. Teaching this lesson provides your puppy with a built-in inhibition against causing harm if it should occur.

When puppies play, it is completely normal for them to mouth each other; however, this mouthing can quickly turn into a bite. When this happens, the puppy on the receiving end yelps, which startles the puppy doing the biting, causing him to release.

Consistency is essential in puppy training because it helps reinforce these lessons.

Step 2:

If you want to teach your puppy that putting her mouth on human skin is not acceptable, you should probably use this method.

To stop a puppy from biting, each time the puppy tries to mouth you, pull your hand away before contact and immediately provide a treat or wave around a chewy toy for him to bite on instead.

Non-contact games like fetch or tug-of-war can also satisfy your puppy’s urge to mouth things. However, keep in mind that the tugging should never become too aggressive.

You should teach your puppy the commands “let go” and “leave it” so that you can always remove something from his mouth without fear of an aggressive puppy biting.

Step 3:

We don’t want to discourage chewing, mouthing, and biting because these are natural behaviours in dogs. Puppies must learn early on that chewing on toys is acceptable, but chewing on skin is not.

While your puppy is learning the first two lessons, make sure to give it plenty of chew toys so it understands that while skin is not allowed, toys can be chewed to its heart’s content.

Step 4:

There are a variety of products available to keep your dog from licking or chewing on household objects, examples are Bitter Apple, Bitter Cherry, and YUCK No Chew Spray.

As you might expect, these products will leave an unpleasant taste in your puppy’s mouth whenever she chews on furniture or other household objects.

That being said, this method of preventing puppy biting is not as simple as spraying these products on your belongings. When using them for training, there are two critical steps to take.

The first step is to train your dog to associate the smell and taste so that the scent alone will keep him away from unacceptable chewing targets. Put a small amount of the product on a tissue or cotton ball and gently place it in your puppy’s mouth. He needs to spit it out right away. Allow him to smell it after he spits it out so he can make the connection.

When you’re actively using the product for training, the second step comes in handy. To ensure that the second step works, make sure your dog does not have access to water for at least an hour (but no more than an hour) after coming into contact with the product. This may appear cruel, but if your dog learns that he can simply run to his bowl to get rid of the taste, the deterrent will be rendered ineffective.

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

Step 5:

Some dog breeds, such as Australian Cattle Dogs, Collies, and Shetland Sheepdogs, have strong herding instincts that can cause them to nip at ankles in order to keep the ‘herd’ moving.

If your dog does this, try to remain still until it realizes that nipping ankles has the opposite effect of what it intended. Avoid wearing flip-flops because they draw the dog’s attention to your heels.