How to Stop your Puppy from Biting

Puppy ownership is lots of fun for everyone involved. Playful in nature, you can spend hours enjoying games with your furry friend, while also teaching and training him the rules of living in your home and interacting with the humans and any other animals in your family.

When puppies play with one another, their primary tool is their teeth. Therefore, it is totally natural for them to bite or ‘mouth’ hands, and it is rarely meant as aggressive behavior. Nevertheless, as your pup grows, it is important to teach him to direct this habit on to toys instead of hands and feet to help prevent him accidentally hurting anyone.

Here is our guide to how to stop your puppy from biting.

Discourage unacceptable behavior

One of the basic principles of puppy training is to encourage good behavior while discouraging that which is unacceptable. One of the best ways to do this is to immediately stop playing with your pooch if he accidentally nips you with his teeth during a game. He will then quickly learn that biting is not an option if he wants to enjoy playtime with you.

Use a verbal command to show that you are unhappy

In addition to stopping the game with your pet, you can also reinforce your unhappiness at his behavior by using a verbal command such as “stop” or “no”. By startling your dog with your voice, and then pulling away and not playing with him, he will soon learn that when he starts to bite, you won’t want to play with him any longer.

Puppy socialization

Socialization is absolutely crucial in the first 16 weeks of your pup’s life, as it is during this time that his temperament, character and behavior habits develop, and he learns how to interact with family, strangers, other animals and his environment. It also provides an opportunity for you to form a close bond with your new best friend. By socializing with other dogs, your pup will quickly learn not to bite.

Avoid certain games during the anti-biting teaching period

Some games encourage the natural predator instinct in dogs, which is far from ideal when you are trying to teach your pet that biting and mouthing isn’t acceptable. Therefore, most puppy trainers recommend that owners actively avoid tug of war, wrestling or chasing games until your furbaby is well aware that nipping doesn’t form part of your playtime routine.

Don’t reprimand your pup with violence

Some inexperienced owners believe that smacking a pup on his nose or rump will discourage him from bad behavior, including biting and nipping. Unfortunately, this is far from accurate and your pup may think you are still trying to play with him. Alternatively, your furbaby may become distinctly afraid of you, which could cause you a range of other, more complex problems.

With a little time and patients, preventing your pup from biting needn’t be a difficult task, and you will soon be able to enjoy a wide range of different games together without fear of coming into contact with his teeth.