What are the most important things you can do for your puppy? Part 1 – Bite Inhibition

With every puppy there is a moment where they are no longer adorable little puffs of fur and, maybe just for a second, they become little monsters. This moment usually occurs as their teeth connect with your skin.

Ow.

If you’ve ever spent time caring for a human baby, you know that for a while just about anything that isn’t nailed down goes into their mouths. With puppies it’s quite similar, except being nailed down is no guarantee of safety. Puppies don’t have hands and fingers, so they experience much of the world through their mouths. This starts out being cute, but loses it’s luster when the puppy becomes strong enough to do some damage to you, furniture, shoes, gloves, hats, cell phones, and even remote controls.

When tackling this problem there are two important aspects to keep in mind: lower the frequency of inappropriate biting, nipping and chewing but only after teaching your puppy how to control how hard she bites.

This second part seems counterintuitive to some. Let your puppy continue to bite so she can learn how? Yes, absolutely. Stopping the biting dead in its tracks offers immediate relief to an annoying problem, but if she never learns that her mouth can inflict pain and how to bite without doing so, then we may have a serious problem. If she is provoked or frightened as adult what could just be a warning bite could instead be a deadly and damaging attack.

The first step is to tell your puppy when biting hurts. Say “Ouch!” and pull your hand away. It’s that easy! If she pauses for a second and stops biting, praise her, ask for (or lure) a sit, and allow play to resume.

If she doesn’t stop, say (or yell) “Oww!” louder and leave the area. (If you have a habitual biter make sure you are playing in a room that you can safely leave her in.) Return in 30 seconds, lure another sit, and allow play to resume. Repeat.

These steps rely on a simple principle: your puppy wants to play with you. If she bites too hard, play stops. She should learn very quickly how to keep play going. Puppies play this same “game” with each other in the litter (and in puppy kindergarten, which you should attend with your puppy!) and teach each other the same bite control lesson. Human children should not do this. Their “ouches” are probably very squeaky and will very quickly get your puppies too excited.

After some time the bites will stop hurting. You are going to pretend that they still do! You want your puppy to think you must be made out of tissue paper. Eventually biting and nipping should effectively be only mouthing.

When you reach the mouthing stage, it’s time to turn it off. It’s time for zero tolerance. If your puppy’s mouth touches you, you say “ouch!” If it persists, use the same “Owwww!” as earlier and leave the room.

The entire process will take several weeks, but at the end you will have a dog that has learned bite control, a very valuable lesson that can save someone from a serious bite in the future, as well as saving your dog from consequences of that serious bite.

A good puppy kindergarten class will help you implement this, as well as providing your puppy will a valuable chance to exercise control with other puppies.

Related Posts

1. What are the most important things you can do for your puppy? Part 4 – Puppy Proofing
2. What are the most important things you can do for your puppy? Part 2 – Socialization
3. Puppy Diaries: Back to Kindergarten
4. What are the most important things you can do for your puppy? Part 3 – Get a Crate!
5. The Puppy Diaries: Life With a New Puppy