Puppy Bite Control

A puppy doesn’t really know that biting someone else actually hurts, because to her it’s just another object to chew on or play with. You can’t make her understand by punishing her or being angry, it will just confuse her even more. In order to fix her biting habit here are some of the things you can do.

Socialization

A puppy needs to be socialized with other dogs and puppies. You can check your local listings for puppy socialization classes. Over there a puppy basically gets to know other puppies and dogs. When a puppy bites very hard, a grown dog would assure her that it is too hard. It is a dog’s way of communicating with each other. By observing other puppies she will also learn how to behave in a positive way.

What she will do is bite other puppies or older dogs to play. If the other dogs or puppies find it too hard they will let her know by biting her back. This is how your puppy will learn to control her own biting strength. It is usually easier for a puppy to observe an older dog and learn this behavior. But if you don’t have an older dog or socialization class is not available, then you can try to teach her yourself.

Hand Train

This method is recommended when you are alone, the puppy doesn’t have an older dog with her and or socialization is not an option. Play with the puppy for some time. Use a toy or something for the puppy to chew on. Now engage her to bite it. You can do this by moving the object next to her mouth, rub the toy around her body, poke gently and eventually she will learn that you want her to bite it. If she shows any sign of aggressiveness or even bites you by chance, stop the game immediately.

Then gently put her in laid back position and try to keep her mouth on the ground. Do not use any extra force; just a gentle press would be enough. After she calms down, give her a treat and play along. Also when she bites you, do say something like “Ah…”, “Ouch.” A puppy can understand the difference when someone is happy with her and when someone is hurt due to her actions.

Keep repeating the same steps in a regular basis. As soon as you stop playing with the puppy, she learns that biting is just not an option, or if she makes any contact with her teeth the play stops. Puppies love to play, so they will stop making contacts with their teeth.

Also you must make sure your puppy learns not to bite humans in about four months, because after that his teeth not only will hurt, but could do severe damage. If you can’t train your puppy to control his biting habit, it is recommended to seek help from an expert.

Please do take the time and effort to train your puppy now, because later this issue could be very serious.

About the Author

Roosevelt Purification is an enthusiastic pet lover. He likes to write articles and produce videos on pet training, and pet parent training. Do checkout his website here:
http://www.pett-training.info
for a wealth of information on pet training.

Teaching Your Puppy Bite Inhibition

Bite Inhibition is one of the most important things your puppy must learn to become a well-trained, respectable dog. Bite inhibition is a learned response in which your dog will consciously inhibit the full force of his biting ability. Without learning bite inhibition a dog can severely injure or even possibly kill another dog or even a child.

Puppies learn bite inhibition during the socialization of nursing and playing. If a puppy bites while nursing the mother dog will get up and walk away. If the puppy bites too hard while playing with his littermates, the bitten puppy will yelp and stop playing with the biting puppy. This teaches the puppy that all playing must stop if he bites too hard.

A puppy should learn bite inhibition by the time he is four and a half months of age. Since many puppies are taken from their mothers and other littermates before this time, it becomes necessary for the new owners to take over the role of teaching bite inhibition.

When you are teaching your puppy bite inhibition treat him as his mother and his littermates would. When he bites too hard, get up and walk away, make sure he knows that when he bites too hard all play must stop.

Some ideas you can use to teach bite inhibition are

Sit down and start playing with your puppy. Bring his attention to your hands. When your puppy starts to bite your hands too hard say “Ow” firmly and stop playing and stop all interaction. Do not look at your puppy but avert your eyes to the side away from your pup. He needs to know that you are serious about stopping the play.

Make sure that your response is short and firm. If you whine or wince your puppy may think that you are still playing and you have defeated your purpose.

After some time has passed, face your pup again and offer your hand if he tries to bite again, repeat the process.

If your puppy is just nipping at you or your clothes you can offer a toy to chew on. If he is not interested in the toy but keeps on nipping, you should withdraw all attention. You can even walk away.

As you practice this, your puppy should be using less and less pressure as he is playing with you. Your first goal should be to inhibit the force of his bite and then to reduce the frequency of his bite. If he is never allowed to use even a light bite, when faced with a situation of stress he will probably react with a overly strong bite and could hurt someone unintentionally.

Bite Inhibition is an important part of training and socializing your dog. It is easier to teach a puppy bite inhibition but even older dogs can learn with some patience and good training.

About the Author

Kevin Lynch owns a
Dog Training
site and offers you more information on training your puppy plus a free newsletter full of all kinds of puppy and dog info at
Puppy Bite Inhibition