Puppys – NIPPING HURTS! How to stop them from biting you!
One of our host community members asked about how to stop puppies from nipping! All puppies go through a nipping and a teething stage where new teeth are coming in and they want to chew on everything! They aren’t being “bad” they are just playing with you BUT they have needle teeth and it hurts! If you watch them with their litter mates and their mothers, they love to play and wrestle and nip. So, what do you do when you are the one on the receiving end of the play nipping or biting? It takes patience and consistency but puppies will learn…
Thank you so much to Vicki, from Best Buddies Basics for her contribution in creating this post.
1. Remove:
When your puppy bites hard enough to cause you pain, say “Ouch!” in a calm voice, gently remove your hand or other body part from his mouth, and ignore him for about 10 seconds. This is similar to what the pup’s mom and littermates would do if he got too rough. If he continues to grab at you when you try to ignore him, you can go into another room or step to the other side of a barrier that he can’t cross, like a doorway that you block with a temporary gate or piece of wood. Basically, don’t let him have access to you! When he is calm, return to him.
2. Repeat
Puppies (and adult dogs, and humans) learn through repetition. It will take time, and many repetitions of Step #1, for your pup to learn to voluntarily control the pressure of his bite. Puppies do have a very strong need to bite and chew, so at first you’ll “ouch and remove” only if he bites down hard enough to hurt you. Softer bites are okay – for now. He needs to learn how to be gentle with his mouth. Once he learns to be gentle with his mouth you will start doing the “ouch and remove” procedure for slightly softer bites, until you eventually shape him not to bite at all. Gradually he will learn not to put his mouth on humans at all. This will stick with him as an adult so he will be a much safer dog to be around.
3. Reward
Your pup wants good stuff to stick around. When he learns that biting hard makes you (good stuff) go away, he will stop biting hard. This works especially well if you remember to reward him with your attention when he is gentle. It works even better if you praise him to let him know he’s doing well. Say “Yes!” and “Good puppy!” to praise a gentle mouth moment and let him know he’s wonderful.
4. Give him something else to chew!
If he tries to chomp on your hands, other body parts, sleeves or pant legs, , or even before he makes contact with any of those parts, and you know that he’s in the mood for high-energy, hard biting, put the puppy somewhere he cannot access you and give him something appropriate to chew on, NOT you or your clothing.
