3 Simple Ways To Stop Your Puppy From Biting
If you’ve recently adopted a puppy one of the first things you’re going to ask yourself is “why is he biting so much?” Well either that or what in the hell have I gotten myself into.
Training your puppy to stop biting is not a fun or quick process. I’m not going to sugarcoat it; it takes a lot of patience and consistency, and some dogs take longer to train than others. But don’t worry — there is hope.
These methods work by encouraging your dog to chew on something appropriate, rather than using your limbs as a chew toy. Here’s 3 methods to stop your puppy from biting.
Puppies Are Jerks — That’s Why They’re So Cute
If you have a puppy chances are you’re asking yourself “what in the world have I gotten myself into?” Trust me, you’re not alone. Puppies are a handful, and their constant biting can be extremely frustrating.
Why do puppies bite so much anyway? Puppies are just like babies in a few ways; they’re curious, they can be fussy, and they’re just starting to learn about the world around them. And guess what they use to explore this new world? Yep, those sharp little teeth of theirs.
Sure their litter mates and mom taught them a few things, but now it’s up to you to continue the process. And that includes teaching them not to bite humans.
Puppies bite everything, and they bite a lot, and some breeds tend to bite more than others. It’s their way of exploring and learning about the people and things that surround them. While it might be funny for a minute it gets old pretty quick, especially if you’re the one on the receiving end.
Teaching your puppy not to bite is one of the first things you’re going to want to work on, especially if you have children.
Training a puppy isn’t on my list of fun and enjoyable activities; it’s a lot of hard work and as I said puppies are jerks. There’s a reason they’re so cute and that sole reason is to keep us from harming them. It doesn’t take long for the cuteness of a puppy to wear off as you find yourself constantly prying their mouth off of everything.
Bite Inhibition: Learning to Fill In The Gaps
One of the first things your new puppy needs to learn is how to how to control that mouth of his. And to do that you’re going to have to start teaching them some bite inhibition.
Bite inhibition is a learned response where your dog consciously inhibits the force of his bite. Dogs start learning this behavior at a young age from their litter mates, but now you have to fill in the gaps.
Your puppy probably has a decent foundation of this behavior. While pups are nursing the mother dog will stand up and walk away if one of the pups bites too hard. When puppies are playing with their siblings they’ll yelp and stop playing if someone gets too rough. But problems can arise when the pup is introduced to his new human family and those same boundaries aren’t set and reinforced.
The good news is that this biting behavior isn’t permanent, the bad news is that it’s not always easy to train them out of their biting behavior (not to mention how much those puppy teeth hurt). As with us humans, each dog is different, and some dogs will require more consistency to break this nasty habit.
Three Ways To Stop Your Puppy From Biting
I’m not going to sugar coat this — teaching your puppy not to bite takes awhile. Most dogs aren’t going to catch on in one day and be done with it. And you better make sure your whole family is on board with the training process.
Don’t let dad rough house with your pup & then expect him to calm down & be on his best behavior immediately afterwards. Teaching your puppy not to bite takes consistency and patience from everyone involved.
Here’s the three methods that work best when training your new puppy not to bite.
1. Redirect Your Puppies Bites to Another Object
The redirection method is great when it comes to teaching your puppy to stop biting, but it does take consistency.
Puppies bite whatever is in front of them, and if it’s a moving target it’s even more exciting. So when your puppy bites your hand and you pull away they might take that as a game and decide to keep chasing after those yummy fingers of yours. The redirection method works by teaching them that there’s way more exciting things to chew on than your flesh.
The process is pretty simple, but as I mentioned above — consistency is key. Every time your puppy goes to bite your hands or pant legs redirect their attention to another object. The redirection method goes like this:
- When your dog bites you give them a toy instead. Move it around, make noises; do whatever you have to do to make that toy more exciting than biting you.
- If your puppy won’t take the toy ignore them.
- And by ignore them I mean be still because puppies like to chase stuff that moves — including your pant legs
Now I know it sounds fairly simple, but resisting that urge to pull away quickly is tough. But those quick actions tend to get puppies even more riled up and excited, which leads to even more biting.
For my dog Laika, aka the biting monster, we had a lot of success with the redirection method. Anytime she would get too rough and bite too hard I would grab a toy and encourage her to play with that instead. If she continued to try to go after my skin with those sharp teeth I would just stop playing altogether.
Now when it comes to stopping the play you need to make sure what you’re actually doing is becoming boring & dull. Your first instinct might be to walk away from the dog when they’re getting too rowdy. But that can make things worse since moving objects are always going to be more interesting to a puppy than something still.
This process took a long time for us, mostly because training myself to stay still & calm while getting bitten by a puppy was difficult. Eventually I caught on, and that calmness kept my dog from going full on puppy assault mode. And by staying calm I was able to discourage her from biting me further.
Every time she’d bite my hand I’d pull out a toy and encourage her to play with that instead. Eventually she started bringing toys to me when she was in a feisty mood, rather than grabbing onto my legs from the get go.
Tip: If you’re looking for a good toy your puppy can’t chew up in seconds check out our top 5 tough dog toy recommendations. Since your puppy is likely teething a good chew toy or two can help ease that discomfort as their adult teeth come in.
My personal favorite for toy puppies is the Chuck It Glow Ball; it’s lightweight and great for fetch, and through some sort of magic holds up extremely well to chewing, despite my dog’s best efforts.
One of the best ways to teach your puppy not to bite is by redirecting their attention onto a toy.
2. Socialization Will Help Stop Your Puppy From Biting
Another way to stop your puppy from biting everything is by socializing them more. Sign them up for puppy kindergarten or doggy daycare for awhile. Not only will you be getting your dog the proper socialization he needs, but he’ll be picking up on lots of good doggie manners in the process, including better bite inhibition.
They’ll be learning from other dogs that playing too rough isn’t tolerated, and that biting too much puts a time out to play time.
This is one of the reasons why removing a pup from their litter before 8 weeks old is considered a big no no — that extra time with their littermates gives them a good foundation of bite inhibition to start with.
Research has found that puppies who are separated from the litter too early are more likely to show fear, aggression, anxiety, resource guarding, reactivity and inappropriate play biting than puppies who stay with the litter for at least eight weeks. – Cornell University
If you’re not going to puppy kindergarten try to continue to introduce your new puppy to other dogs in other situations. Socialization is often overlooked when it comes to training, but it’s one of the first things you should work on. Studies have shown that dogs who don’t receive proper socialization are more likely to have behavioral problems later on.
Studies like this indicate that it’s never too early to begin socialization and why dogs who don’t get sufficient human contact as puppies tend to be the most difficult to break of their fear of people later in life. – Animal Behavior College
Not only is socialization necessary for their social development – it makes bite inhibition training much easier. Having your puppy learn from adult dogs is something you should take advantage of. Back before we domesticated them they were pack animals, so they’re pretty good at learning from their peers.
You’re still going to work on training bite inhibition at home, but socializing with other dogs can be invaluable when it comes to making the process much easier.
Tip: If you’re not able to sign up for a puppy class invite your friends or neighbors well behaved dogs over for some play dates.
3. Clicker Train Your Pup for Better Impulse Control
Clicker training is a good thing to teach your pup because it enables you to mark good behaviors in a consistent way. The clicker sound itself is used as a cue that your dog did something right. By using a sound cue you’re able to capture the exact moment he makes that good decision
So when you put your hand in front of your puppy & he doesn’t bite you’re going to click & give a treat. Part of learning bite inhibition is having your dog learn exactly what the boundaries are. Since clicker training allows for more precision it works really well for teaching bite inhibition.
How to Teach Bite Inhibition With a Clicker
- Place your hand in front of your pup’s mouth, if he doesn’t bite give him a click, treat, and praise like crazy.
- When you’re comfortable that your pup isn’t going to bite your hand when you place it in front of his face you can up the ante.
- Start by slowly waving your hand in front of him, if he doesn’t bite it praise, click and treat.
Your goal here is to teach your puppy not to bite everything that comes near his face. Don’t set him up to fail. Start slowly, his first reaction might very well be to bite anything that comes near him.
Click and treat for small inhibitions and gradually up the stimuli. If you’re consistent you should end up with a puppy that isn’t going to reach out and try to bite anything that moves.
Just remember this activity will take a lot of practice. You’re building up his impulse control which isn’t something that can be trained in just a few sessions. Puppies need to learn boundaries and how to control their impulses just as children do. They need to learn that good things come to those that wait, or in this case good things come to puppies that don’t bite.
Once your dog has a good foundation with their bite inhibition you can move onto more challenging games such as tug of war, which will teach your dog how to control that mouth of theirs.
Should You Yelp When Your Puppy Bites You?
There are so many articles out there that tell you to yelp at your puppy when he bites you because it’ll make them stop. The theory is that your yelp is a clear signal to your puppy that he hurt you. Now maybe my yelps weren’t convincing enough but this method did not work at all with my dog. In fact it made her much worse.
The yelping method doesn’t work for all dogs. I still remember the first time I tried this with my puppy years ago – it made her come at me twice as hard. Many dogs become over stimulated by this strategy and it can make their biting worse. So please use with caution.
Teaching Bite Inhibition Takes Patience
Teaching bite inhibition was a real pain for me. It actually took a lot of time with both redirection and clicker training for it to finally start working. Don’t be completely discouraged if your pup is a bitey jerk, it’s just the way puppies are. Their one defense is their teeth so they’re going to use ’em.
If you praise enough when they’re behaving well and ignore them when they play rough they’ll start to catch on. They’ll start to understand the proper way to interact with their new human family; one that doesn’t involve those sharp puppy teeth.
Here’s a great video from Applause Your Paws on how to stop a puppy from biting –
Did Your Puppy Bite Like Crazy?
Did your puppy bite like crazy? How long did it take for you to train your puppy not to bite? Did you use the redirection method? Did the yelping method work for you?
Please share with your friends 🙂
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Too weird. All my dog training is about teaching the puppy to bite. IPO, French Ring, Mondioring, all about teaching the bite. Got to have the right breed with the right genetics. Can’t imagine knocking the bite out of a puppy.
This article is about teaching puppies not to bite at home so they make good companions. It’s not related to bite work or Schutzhund in anyway – those are a separate sport completely.
great article , puppy biting can definitely be a pain ( excuse the pun ), i find the redirection idea works well and using a clicker is also a good idea , but as you said a lot of getting your puppy over this behavior is patience .
thanks
We are at 16 weeks and our puppy is still a voracious biter ,and she’s a larger breed so her bite is getting more painful. We have some success with redirecting but yelling ow does not work, actually it seems to spur her on. We start puppy kindergarten soon I’m hoping we learn something to help. I don’t mind fiesty, but do not love bitey.
Yeah that yelping method or saying ow just ended up backfiring on us as well. Rather then getting her to stop biting it just made her more excited and bitey.
Our puppy (border collie) is now 4,5 months, most of the really bad biting is gone but with playing she still wants to go for our skin instead of the toy. Yelping didn’t work at all, she became even more excited to bite our hands and feet. Redirectment training and focusing on her good behaviour instead of negative works a lot. I can wave my hands and feet in front of her face and she doesn’t bite.
But… when she is bored or wants attention, she knows that biting in our feet or another object in the house will get her attention. Negative attention, but for her that is also attention. I find that the most difficult to ignore, it’s really painful when she hangs in your feet with her sharp teeth.
Also, do other people recognize this? When outside with other people, she behaves like an sweet little angel. As if she would never use her teeth. But inside, with us (her pack), she can really play with us aggressively and even sometimes showing us her teeth. We always immediatly correct her, and she knows she went a little bit to far.
After all, the most important thing is being patient. When we first got her I thought she would never learn, but with patience and being consistent, every day you will see some progress. And most of the time she is a really sweet and eager to learn little puppy.
I’m glad to hear redirection works with her, and you’re certainly not alone when it comes to the yelping method riling up your pup even more. I noticed when Laika was young she did have a tendency to act much sweeter (less biting) around other people when we were outside the house; I don’t know if it was because she was so much more comfortable with us specifically, or if the outside stimulation was what was helping to distract her from her regular biting & nipping. It’s a great question.
Hey I have the exact same problem with my 8 month puppy…
Did you find any solution?
I totally agree that yelping does not always work. And as you said it could make the situation worse getting the puppy more exited. This method however worked for my golden retriever.
Yelling had the opposite effect for me as well with my lab mix. Redirecting works sometimes. I can’t even pet her without her turning her head to bite. She was born in a kennel and picked up bad habits and is the most stubborn dog I have ever worked with. She’s getting better but….very slowly.
I believe this depends less on the dog and more on the person doing the yelping. With our still-cute mutt (retriever/ collie / rottie mix), it works when I do it, as long as he’s not *really, really, really* trying to tell me something. Like “I am hungry” or “I want to go to the bathroom” or “I really want to play”. Most times, he’s getting good at inhibiting his bite, and we’re now working on not touching my hand at all with bare teeth. Oddly, we somehow managed a strong “Crate” command, which still works at the height of his efforts to get our attention. So we’re making progress. However, if my son tries to cry “ouch” when the dog gets near him, it spurs him for a more energetic game. So I can easily see how there’s more than “Cry ouch” when he digs in, but I can’t quite put my finger on what that is.
You make a great point, and I wouldn’t doubt for a second that my yelping isn’t exactly convincing. My dog knows my real “ouch” noises and will back off after stepping on my foot etc, but she seems to to think my yelps are a joke. So it might all be in the way we’re yelping, and whether or not we’re convincing enough about it.
What do you do when none of these methods work? If we stop playing with her and walk away, she follows us around and bites our ankles. She could care less about a toy when we try to redirect her. When we ignore her she just jumps on us and bites until she gets your attention. Literally nothing we’ve done is working and it’s starting to worry me that she won’t stop. She’s a 7 month old Jack Russell and has been the hardest dog we’ve ever had to train with this biting problem.
I am having the same problem! I have a 7 month old lab/ pit mix and his biting is getting out of hand. Redirection doesn’t work. I use clicker training, but it doesn’t work with biting.i turn my back on him ( after I finally get away from his grip) and he will nip me in my butt. I can’t lie on the couch, or relax at all. This is worse in the evening. I come home from work and walk him, as well. He is pretty big and powerful now, and I’m exhausted.
Did you ever find a solution? I jut got a 9 month old German Shepard mix from a shelter and I ‘m having the same exact problem with the solutions. I realize that he bites my ankles when I stop playing and he wants to continue playing. The only way to stop it is go in the house (keeping him outside). I leave him out there for a while and he is good until we get into the same scenario. I can do non-stop play and as soon as I stop playing, the behavior begins.
We have a 10 week old GSP and have had her for 2 weeks now.
We are trying the redirection method, she mostly still bites our hands rather than the toys offered though. I have tried to stand still and ignore when she is jumping up and nipping my ankles but she doesn’t lose interest very quickly and there is only so much I can endure. I am more worried for my children aged 10 and 12 as she seems even more persistent in biting them, they are trying to redirect, ignore and stand still but this is proving very challenging for them not to react.
We have started puppy school and she is doing well with the sit and drop command (using click and treat method)
Hoping the biting will start to get better soon as I’m dreading it getting any worse.
I have 4 month old shih tzu and nothing works for her. Let me just say there are more types of her ‘bite play’. One is perfectly normal for puppy, she will gladly take the toy and play with it. Then it’s other type, when she would randomly bark at me and start jumping with those short sharp bites. At that stage, I can’t remove myself cause she is so fast. Only thing I manage to do now is grab her and give her alone time in bathroom. She calms down, but won’t learn to not do it at all. I’m getting so sick of it and i’m even thinking she’ll need to get rehomed if this won’t stop. I had dogs before, so i’m not exactly beginer, but this one is too big challenge for me. I even picked shih tzu cause it’s supossed to be one of those non energetic calm breeds…. NOT
I find my lab bites me for different reasons. I learned that 90% was an over tired dog. This is when she will bite anything and everything. She will also grab stuff and hide, even something that she knows she is allowed to have, but it’s a 100% accurate symbol when she bites a table or chair. When she does, it’s in her kennel for a nap. And she usually does so without any pushback.
The other times are food, outside, and wants to play.
Hungry was easy to fix. She won’t eat more than she needs so we just keep her bowl pretty full.
We started tracking the pees and Pooh’s so have a decent idea when this is the problem.
The rest is play or she’s getting overexcited with play.
If your kids are being treated differently it’s because the pup thinks of them as litter mates. They are probably over reacting and rough housing, rolling around on the ground with her. They probably laugh when they are being chased. Puppy is happy, this is the most exciting playmate ever!!!
Dogs are pack animals and they see hierarchy. I see mine trying to sit in places we sit, get higher than we are, or get us to react to her whenever she wants.
There is a lot to be said about making sure they know they aren’t above or equal to you. They will love you more in the long run, even though they won’t like it.
Pretty much exactly like kids!!
My wife and I try to ignore her when she bites but it hurts like hell. We push her away only to make her bite more. When we ignore her she thinks we likes the biting. My beautiful wife said it should continue to a couple more years. I believe she is after me more then my wife which is good for her but he’ll for me.
Oh! Really! Love this idea, I can redirect my pet bite to another object. I think it will work with my puppies. Thanks for your helpful tips.
Thanks alot will try this tips my dog gets crazy at times
Wow! Really helpful tips to stop puppy from biting. I hope every puppy owner should follow the mentioned 3 simple ways to train their puppy and safe from biting. Thanks for sharing.
We have a beautiful pup but think he is part shark!!! He was bottle fed from the time he was 4 days old so he didn’t have a mom to teach him about the biting. He is extremely smart as he is sitting, shaking paw, staying and almost completely potty trained at 8 weeks old. We have had Charlie for almost 3 weeks and he had doubled his size and his biting is really hurting to the point that he has made us bleed. He now is barking snarling and jumping at the time of biting as well. The only time he doesnt seem to bite is when he is tired. Distraction, time out and ignoring just doesn’t seem to work! Have spent a small fortune on chew toys but he wants hands and feet. Any advise?
Really if your pup can “sitting, shaking paw, staying “ can you command SIT when he bites? Barking snarling and jumping? sounds like he doesn’t like you much.
About 11 months ago I bought a pet dog named MILO, It was a beautiful, energetic and lively dog and I was spending a good time with him, But my MILO dog had some bad behavior,Which always bothered me, which included constant barking, especially on the neighbors, which caused me embarrassment with them However, I recently found this guide : (https://dog-trainingtoday1.blogspot.com/p/how-to-train-your-dog.html) and After following what was stipulated, my dog became obedient to me and his behavior improved very well.
Hi guys, I have a 6 months old puppy, and I’m wondering how I can get him to stop biting, so this article helped me a lot. Also, I want to stop him from bullying other dogs. Been searching for some methods, found this one, and I’m wondering if you guys think it will work, if I follow this method? https://petsmarttrainingdogs.wordpress.com/2020/07/23/5-simple-ways-to-get-your-dog-to-pay-attention/
Hi hi, I’m a new dog owner. Her name is Fran is 8 month dog, and I am wondering how i can get her stop biting, so came by this website and saw this article, helped me a lot. Also, I want to teach her to ‘shake’ hand….Been searching for some methods, found this, and I’m wondering if you think it will work, if I follow this method ? karyinow.com/dog
I had that same problem. I’ve already done a lot of research and found a free ebook that really helped me. I highly recommend this to everyone! My dog behaves much better after learning the tips and tricks from this e-book. It´s EASY to train your dog with this FREE e-book
What was the free ebook?
I have the same problem like others. David, if you can share the e-book with us, it’ll benefit a lot of people. Really appreciate it.
Yelping and stopping any play immediately (or turning away) is the best way to deal with it immediately. Secondly you want to redirect the behavior, after the initial reprimand wait a bit then offer something that the dog can chew on (nothing hard as bone for teething) and give high praise when they bite that.
My pup is a lil shit.
She is only 8 weeks so I know it will get better.
She bites everyone’s hair, my hand is in bits because of her little nibbles, she has 2 fangs that are like needles.
She has bit my nipple before through my shirt, the back of my arm also (That was so painful). And also bit my brothers private areas (that was funny though).
She’s only a dachshund pug mix which is called a “Daug” so she is a small pup. But it still hurts xD
We have had previous dogs before and have never had such a biting problem though so I am hoping she will stop biting eventually.
I’ve just started doing the fake cry/yelp and ignoring her for 1 min or 2. Because simply just saying “Ow” loudly won’t work surprisingly when it’s the first instinct that people do xD
Let’s see how this plays out 🙂