How to Stop Puppy Biting Me
Biting, nipping and mouthing are common behaviours in dogs especially canines. It could be due to several reasons, either they could be teething or are just in a playful mood. 99% of the times puppies are at an excited disposition, loving and sweet, only 1% is defensive or triggering off an instinct when something happens making them bite. Although nipping and biting could seem adorable and cute, it definitely needs to be stopped as this behaviour could lead the dog to be socially unacceptable by his/her peers.
It is upto the owner of the dog to teach him/her what behaviour is acceptable and what is not or in other words to stop puppy biting. Letting the puppies mouth, nip or bite will only make the puppy feel that it’s acceptable and OK to bite.
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Training puppies when they are much younger, say 6 weeks – 7 weeks to stop puppy biting is much easier than trying to correct them when they are older. Hence training and keeping behavioural checks are crucial during the early stages. Once your puppy stops or responds to your behavioural corrections, you need to praise or reward him.
Although mouthing, nipping and biting during the puppy stage is completely harmless, it needs to be corrected before the puppy grows to a dog where his bites could cause injuries. Here are some important tips to help your puppy to stop biting.
You cannot stop a puppy from behaving in a particular way instantly. It is a gradual process involving time, patience and confidence, which will help get rid of your puppy’s biting days.
- It is imperative that you need to start training your puppy when they are young, say about 6 months to 7 months in age. The sooner they begin, the easier it is to retain a certain behavioural change.
- If your puppy nips or bites you, give out a loud yelp, almost like a dog and look at him as if you were hurt and then leave the place. This should be good enough to let him know that his bite was way out of proportion.
- While continuing to train your puppy, you need to extrude patience. As his bite gets softer and gentler you still need to show that you are hurt when he tries to do it. This will only tell him, that all bites hurt humans and are not an acceptable behaviour.
- Praise your puppy whenever he licks you instead of nipping or biting you. Any kind of positive reinforcement will only tell your puppy that his change in behaviour is what is acceptable and will result in stop puppy biting.
- The “OFF” and “NO” commands are a few important commands that your puppy needs to learn and can be used to stop puppy biting. For the “OFF” or “NO” command, take a few pellets in your hand. Hold it near your pup and repeat the command “OFF” or “NO” command, if your pup doesn’t touch the pellets you could then say “Take it” and reward him with a pellet. This simple exercise needs to be repeated everyday, till your puppy recognizes these commands. He even understands that these commands mean “don’t touch”. You could also tap your puppy’s nose gently and use the command “NO”. Once he learns, make sure you reward the dog for efforts.
You can get your puppy to socialize with other dogs once he is six months old. This will help the dog release his/her energy and also mingle with other dogs.