Puppy Biting, Cute at First
Too many times puppy biting is seen as cute or funny. It ceases to be funny when the adult bites someone and by that point the dog has gotten away with biting for months, so is confused what he’s being punished for. No matter if it’s a Chihuahua or a Doberman or a Great Dane, puppy biting should be discouraged from early on.
Puppies naturally bite to play and roughhouse with siblings or other puppies. Adult dogs play bite with each other and often when a lower ranking dog pushes it with a “boss” dog snapping and fighting ensues, with the ‘boss’ pinning the dog down to teach who is still boss. In much the same way we can use this to naturally teach our puppy biting is not acceptable and to enforce that although we treasure his company what we say goes. Without this in place a puppy learns not only does biting get attention (even bad attention) but it also insures you back down to him.
Of course this can actually teach our puppy the opposite of what we want him to learn, simply by misunderstanding the dog view of the situation. What we can view as harmless fun the dog may see as opportunity. For this reason puppy biting should be curbed as soon as possible, and it does not take abusing your puppy to stop it! There is a difference between fear and respect, although it may seem a fine line at times.
One often repeated means of dealing with puppy biting is slapping or hitting the puppy in the muzzle. This often does not work for a couple of reasons:
• Even a puppy has faster reactions than we do in many cases - then he can think you’re playing back so he spars harder!
• Even if you do connect it can teach him that the hand is something to fear which depending on the dog can result in fear biting, aggression biting or a “whipped pup” that is simply fearful of you.
A more effective means of getting through to a puppy biting is to treat him like a superior ranking canine.
• Encircle his muzzle or face and give a firm but gentle shake.
• “Growl” “NOOOO!” then (very important!) let it go.
• Repeat it when or if he does it again but don’t hang onto it and pick at him for 10 minutes. Puppies especially live in the moment…what happened three minutes ago is ancient history!
• Some might press the puppy to the floor which can be effective also.
Remember that along with discipline you need to encourage good behavior. This can mean setting up a situation to teach your puppy good manners. One of the means of handling the problem of a puppy biting is teaching proper way of dealing with hands. This involves treats and should be done the younger the better.
• Hold a piece of kibble or treat in your hand and let your puppy know you have it in your hand.
• Tell him “gentle” or “easy” – whatever word you use be consistent and hold the treat in a fist. The reason for this is you’re less likely to reflex drop it if he nips which rewards the wrong behavior! In a fist if he moves to nip the hand withdraw and say “NO! Easy!” until he sniffs then learns to look IN the hand for the treat.
• When the puppy takes it gently reward him verbally too. Smile and say “GOOD boy!!!” Repeat this several times per day and as he learns to take it nicely the issue of puppy biting will often solve itself.
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