It is a common and normal behavior for puppies to bite and nip. But you can avoid or minimize it buy training your pup early on.
While a puppy is growing biting or nipping is a form of bonding or playtime that he has with his siblings and mother. Puppis’ boundaries are normally based on how their siblings and mother respond when they bite. That’s when they when it’s too much or if it’s okay. Since you may not be aware if you puppy’s boundaries are set properly, you will need to teach or train him, or else you or your family members will get hurt for real.
Before you start training your pup, you have to keep in mind that biting is normal. What you are trying to do is to set boundaries and teach your puppy to control his bites. Also, please keep your children away while you are doing your bite training. They might copy you and get bitten accidentally.
Here are the DO’s and Don’ts.
DOs:
- When he starts biting ignore him, when it’s not painful. Otherwise, a sharp “Ouch” should startle your pup and make him stop. Praise him when he stops.
- Give him a toy to nibble, if he obeys praise him.
- Walk away and break any interaction if refuse to stop biting.
- Train you puppy in controlling the force on his bites, and bite gently. How: wave a closed fist in-front of your dog, if he tries to bite move it away. Try it this repeatedly and give him a treat every time he does not bite. The treat should come from your other hand, not the one you have in front of him. Increase the intervals of giving him treats. This will teach him to that he needs permission before nipping or biting.
- Teach your dog the “No” command. Stand up and stow your hands away and say “No” if your puppy starts biting. If he sits calmly give him a treat. This command will be very useful in most situations, not just for biting.
- Keep an eye on your kids when they are playing with your pup.
- Regularly give you pup praises and rewards
DON’Ts:
- Never raise your voice, slap his nose, and/ or hold his snout close when he starts to bite. It will confuse your puppy, and make him trust you less during play time.
- Don’t provoke him, get him worked up, annoyed or to make him bite. Even if it’s for training reasons.
- Never let your kids put their faces anywhere near the face of the puppy while you are still working on his bite training. This is for your kid’s safety.
Have patience with your puppy. He is just a young dog who likes to play. Apparently the type of play he is used to is a bit painful. But you can train him to control his strength. You can train him in a way to know that during playtime he need to be gentle. Consistency is the key, do the training daily, and increase the length of time of the training as you go. Your pup will be bite-trained soon enough.
