A puppy is soooo cute that sometimes it is difficult to be firm when needed. But firm doesn’t have to mean anything more than being consistent when giving commands. The skill of how to stop puppies biting can be picked up quite quickly. You can then start implementing your lessons in a gentle, consistent and effective way.
See this book for tips on how to stop puppies biting
How to Stop Puppies From Biting
If you can start your puppy training as soon as puppy arrives home, then you can minimize the problems that some have in trying to prevent puppy biting.
The Hard Nip
When puppies are playing with each other, they learn a lesson very quickly if they have nipped their brothers and sisters too hard. An angry growl or a retaliating bite quickly gives them the message that they have gone too far. Because they regard you as the leader of the pack you can react in the same way when the biting becomes more than playfulness. A stern-sounding “No”, as soon as it happens, can keep puppy’s playfulness in check and teach puppy not to bite.
Puppy’s siblings will take off anytime she continues to be too rough so you can follow their lead. If she doesn’t back off after a few “No’s”, you can exit the room and leave her alone to entertain herself for a while. She’ll soon get the message when she finds herself playing all alone.
The Biting Wrestle
Sometimes the biting is not so much a sharp needle-like nip but rather an ongoing, biting wrestle. Puppy simply loves the sleeve of that jumper you are wearing! In this case, you can hold her back until she lets go of your sleeve or your jeans while at the same time giving the usual stern “No” command. In this case, you can teach her what is off-limits and what is okay by redirecting her attention to a toy that she can now chew instead to her heart’s content.
Tug-of-War
I know I’ve been guilty of this mistake in the past. Do you like to play tug-of-war with your new puppy? Her baby growling and struggling antics are so cute and she plays even more enthusiastically at this game when you join in with the growling. But at what age is it time to break her of the habit? As soon as we start talking about “breaking a habit” it means we have already gone a long way down the path of allowing some type of behavior that we are now growing tired of. Tug-of-war is teaching her from an early age that it is okay to bite and tear at the couch fabric or the clothes on the line or the cloth that is draping over the edge of the nicely-set dinner table. So it is best to avoid indulging in tug-of-war games.
Train Puppy Not to Bite with Positive Reinforcement
It is equally important to heap praise on puppy when she plays the way you want her to. If she stops biting on command and starts to lick you or snuggle up, then lavish her with praise to reward her.
This will reinforce your attempts to stop puppy biting until the preferred behavior starts to become the norm.
The key to puppy training is to provide immediate feedback such that puppy can recognize when she has done something that is worthy of your praise or when she has crossed over the line with respect to allowable behavior. It is equally important to be totally consistent. Don’t leave her guessing about what she can and can’t do today or how you might or might not react to her playfulness.
With a little bit of perseverance, you will have a puppy that is a joy to play with and a soon-to-be adult dog that is a delight to be around.
Some more wonderful tips can be found in this book on dog training and puppy training:
Tips on How to Stop Puppies from Biting
~ Bright Dog Tips
