Biting Puppy – How to Stop It

Dog Quote: To his dog, every man is Napoleon; hence the constant popularity of dogs.
….Aldous Huxley

Puppies love to bite.
They do it naturally and may be something they must be taught not to do. For obvious reasons, this needs to be addressed while they are young. What could be considered an “accident” could still inflict a lot of pain and an unwanted behavior from your dog.

It may seem fun and funny to have a puppy biting but a full-grown dog can do a lot of damage, particularly to children if biting becomes a habit. Games like tug-of-war can encourage a mouthing behavior and should be avoided unless you know for certain that you will “win!”

Puppy teeth are extremely sharp. They lose those teeth only to gain the new-and-improved larger teeth! Dogs have immense strength in their jaws and even a playful nip can do permanent damage to a child. It can also lead to your child being fearful of dogs.

Generally, puppies are taught to control their biting from their mothers. In most cases, we get puppies as pets that have been taken from their mothers at a very young age and it is up to us to teach them. It helps to let your puppy socialize with other dogs as they will quickly learn from their elders, provided they have been taught well, that the desire to bite needs to be curbed to avoid retaliation and an ensuing fight.

If your pup starts to use your hand as a chew toy, you can try saying “ouch!” in a high-pitched voice. Don’t pull away but rather move your hand away slowly and give them an appropriate chew toy. Usually, when you respond quickly with a “hey, that hurt” sound, they will back off.

Children may need to be reminded as often as the puppy that allowing the dog to chew on our hands, arms, or feet is not good behavior. Stuffed Kong toys, Nylabones, and things like fabric and rope chew toys are a much better option.