How To Stop Dogs Biting
June 13, 2009 by admin
Filed under Behavioural Issues, Training
Does your dog make you feel like a giant chew toy? Chances are, if you have a puppy then there are times that he may take a nip at you. Sometimes it happens when you’re playing together but it can happen at other times. Maybe he chews on your toes and fingers. Even some adult dogs continue this bad behavior if they haven’t been stopped as pupsters. 
The reason puppies and dogs engage in biting and chewing on people this way is because they haven’t properly learned “bite inhibition.” This is a different behavior from aggression-motivated biting where your dog may growl at you or bite because you remove a toy from him or make him get off the couch. That’s a guarding or dominance behavior. With bite inhibition your puppy or dog has failed to learn something that he should have learned from his mother and from you. Fortunately, you can still teach your puppy or dog to curb his biting and nipping problem.
When a puppy is in the whelping box with his littermates and his mom and he’s getting his sharp little teeth, he engages in all kinds of rough biting and play. However, his littermates and his mother quickly teach him that if he bites too hard or plays too rough that they won’t put up with him. Littermates will get up and stop playing with him. His mother may nip him to make him stop. When he bites a brother or sister too hard they may bite back harder or walk away. Your puppy is supposed to learn that if he bites too hard or plays too rough there will be no more play and he will be outside the group. And that’s the last thing any puppy wants. This is how a puppy learns bite inhibition in the litter.
When your puppy comes to you you should continue these lessons — without biting your puppy, of course. When your puppy plays too rough you should stop playing with him. Call a time out. If your puppy nips you the best way to handle it is the same way his brothers and sisters handle it. You need to make a big fuss about it and stop playing with him. Yell out loudly to let him know it HURT! Then stop playing with your puppy for a minute until he has calmed down. If he can continue playing calmly you can go back to playing with him. But, if he is still playing too roughly, you should leave the room and stop playing with him for a while. Let your puppy learn that if he nips or otherwise plays too roughly that there won’t be anymore fun.
You should do this every time your puppy nips or tries to chew on you. YELP! Make sure that he knows it hurt. Even if it doesn’t hurt much or not at all you need to make a big fuss about it so that he knows he went too far. If your puppy even touches his teeth to your skin you should give a yelp. Make sure that everyone in your household is doing the same thing so your puppy doesn’t single out someone that he thinks he can play with roughly.
If you follow these suggestions your puppy will soon learn that it’s unacceptable for him to bite or chew on people. As always, make sure that you provide your puppy with plenty of good things to chew on and toys to play with. When he has good alternatives to play with he will be less tempted to chew on you.
