How to survive your puppy's biting phase
Do you wonder if you adopted a fuzzy shark instead of a puppy? Your puppy is biting your body, the hem of your pants, electric cords...the list goes on.
Don't panic! In most cases, puppy biting is perfectly normal. It usually diminishes naturally by 5-6 months of age.
In the meantime, you can protect your skin and everything else that is going into your puppy's mouth by meeting the needs that drive your puppy to put their mouth on everything.
Why do puppies bite so much?
Reason 1: Exploration
Just as human babies grab everything in their little fists, puppies explore the world with their mouths.
Using their jaws on their playmates (including you) is part of how they learn to control the strength of their bite.
What to do about it:
1. Provide appropriate things to bite on
Have a variety of chews and toys available for your puppy to chew. Their preference may change as they grow.
Stuffed toys, bully sticks, hard rubber chews, coffee wood chews, empty plastic bottles (cap and plastic ring removed) have all been favorites in my house.
Place the current favorites in strategic locations so you can easily grab one to offer when needed.
Caution: be proactive as much as possible
If you always respond to biting by offering a toy, puppy can learn that biting is a way to make a toy appear! Learn to anticipate when your puppy is likely to bite and offer the toy before they bite you.
2. Teach your puppy that hurting you ends the fun
There are different schools of thought about exploratory and play biting.
Some say a puppy should learn never to put their teeth on people.
On the other hand, experience at controlling their jaw strength can be valuable when they are grown up. For example, I've accidentally pulled too hard on an unseen mat in a tender place while grooming my dog. She responded with reflexive speed to the pain, but by the time her jaws reached my hand, she inhibited her jaw strength to a feather-light touch of her teeth on my skin.
How to teach bite inhibition
When your puppy bites too hard, say "Ow!" in a firm but normal tone of voice and walk away. Step through a baby gate or into a closed room and ignore puppy for a minute. If you and everyone who interacts with the puppy are consistent about disengaging immediately when they bite too hard you should see the hard bites diminish.
Trainer and service dog consultant Laurie Luck has a very helpful video explaining this technique in detail.
Reason 2: Seeking attention and play
Have you watched puppies play with one another? It includes a whole lot of mouthing one another, especially on the head and face. Playful biting is a perfectly normal behavior - but as with exploratory biting, we need to be consistent about ending the fun when they bite too hard.
What to do about it
1. Closely supervise all interactions with children
Puppies often treat human children as they would their littermates: by pouncing and nipping. When this happens, kids tend to escalate the puppy's excitement by squealing and jumping or running.
Postpone the dream of toddler and puppy frolicking together.
They'll have lots of time to develop a play relationship once the pup is less nippy and has learned some manners. Think of it as an opportunity to start teaching your child that puppies have needs of their own and aren't toys.
If your young child wants to play with a rambunctious puppy...
A safe way to do so is to have a baby gate between your child and the pup. Your child can:
Throw a toy or treat for the puppy to chase. You are the referee. This is an opportunity to teach puppy to wait politely for the toss (we're happy to help you with that).
Blow bubbles for puppy to chase (did you know there are dog-safe bacon flavored bubble kits?)
Place treats around the room for puppy to find after they swap which side of the gate they're on.
A lot of my clients have success giving their young child a realistic life-size toy dog to hug and cuddle.
After your puppy outgrows the bitey stage, this video has a fun song to teach kids the best ways to interact with dogs.
2. Provide natural opportunities for play if possible
Interactive toy play with you
When your puppy gets that mischievous gleam in their eye, grab a toy that they like and make it come alive. Encourage them to chase or tug it while you hold on and make it wiggle.
It's important that you stay involved in the play. Usually just tossing the toy doesn't work. Your puppy wants to play with you.
Try to anticipate the attack rather than producing the toy after puppy bites you. You don't want your puppy to learn that biting you is the way to make play happen.
A stuffed playmate
A simple at-home way to give your puppy a wrestling pal is the "Karl Hack" introduced by applied ethologist Kim Brophey: offer your puppy a life-sized stuffed dog to wrestle and bite. The toy company Melissa and Doug sells very realistic and sturdy stuffed dogs in a variety of sizes.
See a Karl in action (video courtesy of Jenni Pfafman:
Hints:
Your puppy's Karl ideally should be the same size or bigger than they are.
Supervise sessions so puppy doesn't swallow any stuffing if they manage to tear the toy.
If you don't already have a sewing kit, order one so you can perform emergency toy surgery.
Puppy play dates
If you know of other puppies of compatible age and size, set up play dates. This not only fulfills their need to roughhouse - it's an excellent way for them to build confidence and practice social skills that will enable better public manners as adults. Here are some ways to provide play opportunities:
A well managed puppy class run by a certified positive reinforcement trainer
Introductions made through your private puppy trainer
A gentle adult dog who is known to be kind to puppies
Through healthy play interactions with others of their kind, puppies learn to use their mouth gently (because another puppy or dog is an effective teacher when a puppy bites too hard).
Ensure a positive experience
Play sessions should be a maximum of 1/2 hour. After that the puppies may become cranky and play too roughly. End the play sooner if one puppy is getting trounced and trying to escape.
Avoid large mixed-age play groups for young puppies. Instead, seek a carefully curated small group. If a young pup is bullied by an inconsiderate one, the experience isn't constructive for either pup. Choosing appropriate personality combinations is as important as matching size.
Engaging a qualified behavior professional to supervise is the best way to ensure that interactions are appropriate. Sometimes a puppy or adult will discipline a puppy who is being too rough with them. A professional with experience at reading dogs knows when to intervene and when to let natural learning take place.
Are you worried about disease?
Nothing in life is 100% safe, but if your puppy and their playmate each have been in their home for 10 days, started their vaccination series at least a week ago and avoid unsafe interactions, the benefits likely outweigh the small risk of disease transmission. The American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior notes that more dogs lose their homes or lives to behavior problems than die of communicable disease.
3. When you're a moving target, provide something else for puppy to pursue
One of the biggest frustrations is trying to walk across the room with a puppy biting your feet or hanging onto the hem of your pants. There are two solutions
Drag a long toy to provide an alternative target
A long piece of braided fleece or rope with a toy tied on the end is ideal. Keep a couple strategically placed for when you need them.
Toss treats ahead of you to give your pup something else to chase
One of my favorite puppy survival strategies is to wear a treat pouch on my belt. If your puppy is an eager eater, you can carry part of their food ration. This is an easy distraction when you don't have a toy handy.
Reason 3: Puppy is stressed, over-excited, over-tired, frustrated, or feeling unwell
Just as human children get cranky when they're too wound up, need a nap or don't feel good, so do puppies. They express their grumpiness by jumping and nipping.
What to do about it
1. Minimize general stress
Ensure that your puppy's needs are met for:
Regular meals (3 times a day till they're about 6 months old).
Adequate rest (a quiet place for undisturbed naps is especially important in a household with young children). Just like human infants and toddlers, puppies need a lot of sleep for healthy development.
Age-appropriate exercise and play:
How long should walks be? A rule of thumb suggested by the American Kennel Club is 5 minutes per month of age, once or twice a day.
Opportunities for romping in the yard or a large room.
Is their elimination normal? Have they had a recent fecal test? Untreated parasites can deplete a puppy's emotional reserves.
2. Provide quiet time when puppy starts cranky-biting
If your puppy won't play with the toy you offer in place of your arm or leg, then kindly transfer them to their quiet resting area (crate, pen or puppy-safe room).
Provide a chew or a toy smeared with a little peanut butter or wet food. Licking helps them calm down. Chances are they'll drift off within a few minutes.
Reason 4: Teething
When the adult teeth are coming in (between 3 1/2 - 7 months of age), your puppy's gums will be sore and they may want to gnaw on things.
What to do about it
1. Provide toys with a variety of textures to chew on
Chewing opportunities are important even beyond the teething phase, as gnawing is one of the ways dogs can self-soothe and decompress.
You can try:
Bully sticks
Fabric toys (the unstuffed kind are best for chewing on so you won't have stuffing all over the floor)
These are appropriate only if your puppy won't swallow the pieces they tear off.
Chew-proof firm rubber toys such as Kong or West Paw brand
Nylabone (the ones with little bumps on them seem to be the best-accepted in my experience) or Benebone
Safe wood chews. My pup loves her Canophera brand coffee wood chew and uses it to help herself relax even well into adolescence.
Empty plastic beverage bottles - the crackling noise appears to be a bonus. Remove the cap and plastic ring before offering it to your pup.
Things they can shred (again, this is appropriate only for pups who won't swallow the pieces): cardboard boxes, empty yogurt or cottage cheese containers. Make sure that plastic tubs are big enough that your pup's head can't get stuck in it.
Tips about toys
Remember the advice above to do your best to offer the toy before puppy assaults you, so they don't learn that biting is the way to ask for what they want.
Your puppy's preferences may change as the days and weeks go by, so if a toy is refused at first, try offering it again at a later date.
Reason 5: Breed-related instinct
Some breeds have a strong instinctive desire to carry things in their mouth (retrievers) or bite things that are moving (herding breeds).
These instinctive behaviors have been intensified over generations of genetic selection. The desire to use their mouth to do their inherited job may be stronger and persist longer in these individuals.
What to do about it
There are lots of fun training games that provide outlets to satisfy these needs in appropriate ways. We're happy to help you with this.
Additional ways to minimize biting and encourage calm behavior
1. Reward behaviors you like
Carry treats (your pup's kibble is fine if they're a good eater) so you can reward calm and polite behaviors.
For example, when you notice your puppy relaxing on their bed or quietly chewing a legal puppy toy, walk over, quietly place a treat in front of them, and walk away. Ignore them if they get up to beg for more. Even if they get up, they'll start to notice which behaviors paid off.
2. Teach a variety of behaviors you want to see.
The world is teaching your puppy through the experiences they encounter every moment they're up and about. It's so easy for them to learn annoying habits through happenstance.
You can tilt the odds in your favor by teaching them things you'd like them to do (e.g. settle on their bed with a toy when you're busy, wait quietly while you fix their meal) instead of biting at you, jumping frantically or relieving frustration by chewing on the furniture.
In a puppy class or private lessons you can learn how to encourage the behaviors you'd like to see. You may even find a trainer who will come to your house to do the bulk of the training for you.
3. Be patient and persistent.
Remember that most puppy biting is a normal phase of development. It will get better when handled appropriately using the suggestions above.
What not to do
1. Don't lash out
Smacking your puppy or grabbing their muzzle creates stress (leading to more biting) and damages trust. You might even start to see defensive biting when hands approach.
When a behavior such as puppy biting is motivated by an internal need, suppressing that behavior through discomfort or fear gives you temporary relief, but the puppy's need still exists. Their next attempt to fulfill the need is unlikely to be more acceptable to you unless you provide one of the healthy outlets suggested above.
Even worse, sometimes an unmet need that has been suppressed emerges as a stress-induced health or behavior problem.
So skip the punishment and provide one of the peaceful outlets suggested above instead.
2. Don't squeal
You may see advice to squeal the way a puppy does when a playmate gets too rough. On rare occasions this works with a very sensitive puppy. More often, they attack with renewed vigor, perhaps thinking you're a squeaky toy. Few people are able to sound like a puppy.
3. Don't push them away
Bouncing their paws off of one another is a key part of puppy play. When you push on a puppy, it's an invitation to come right back at you.
When is a puppy's biting something to worry about?
You should seek help from a certified positive reinforcement professional if your puppy:
Snaps or growls at children.
Growls, barks or snaps (not play-biting) when they encounter new people.
Stiffens and stares before biting.
Makes a low-pitched growl and/or snaps or bites when someone approaches their food, toy or resting place.
Pro tip: Never scold or punish your puppy or dog for growling
We need them to be able to warn us when they're uneasy so they don't learn to bite without warning.
Even though it's embarrassing when they growl in public or at a visitor, think of it as a plea for help getting out of a situation they don't know how to handle.
Would you like help teaching your puppy?
Visit the Enjoyable Dogs puppy page to learn more:
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