This Cooling Teeth Stick featured below, is another great option, as it can be frozen but still stays soft enough to prevent tooth damage. Avoid toys that they might shred and ingest, and don't give them bones or chews that are too hard and might crack their teeth. Check out this list of trainer-recommended products for nipping puppies for more safe toys and chew ideas. When choosing the best toys for your puppy, it's helpful to consider their "chewsonality.
Excess puppy energy often means an increase in nipping or other unwanted puppy behaviors. While they are still young, physical exercise should be moderated.
You can pair short sessions of physical activity with lots of mental exercise throughout the day! Enrichment is all about providing appropriate outlets for natural dog instincts and behaviors. These two cues are crucial when working with a nipping puppy that wants to put everything in their mouth. Playing tug is a great game to practice Drop It with your puppy.
Watch puppy Finnegan practice drop it while playing tug during his nippy puppy phase in this video:. When teaching these cues, one of the biggest mistakes we humans make is mixing up the meaning between the two. This can be very confusing for a dog learning what it is exactly that we're asking for. Because the majority of puppy nipping is based in play or due to lack of bite inhibition, adding an aversive punishment when it happens can have unintended consequences.
As mentioned above, instead you can use "negative punishment" to take away something your puppy wants and likes to decrease the unwanted behavior. This type of behavior "positive punishment" can damage the trust and sense of safety they have in you.
Raising a puppy is hard work and many new puppy owners experience what's called the "puppy blues," where they feel exhausted, anxious, and depressed. Puppy nipping and biting is often the main trigger of an outburst of anger from us humans — getting nipped hurts! It can be hard to not want to yell at our puppies, but it's worth it for your relationship to try and stay cool, calm, and collected at the moment.
If you're feeling overwhelmed with your puppy's behavior, reach out to us or your dog trainer for support. We're here to help. This can be hard, but try to keep your movements especially your hands slow and smooth. Fast or jerky movement can entice more play nipping and lunging.
Running children can be a big enticement for puppies to play and nip as they chase heels. If your children are running around and playing, keep your puppy separate or have them on a leash under your control. This makes it easier to reward calm behaviors around excited kids. Loose clothing, such as long skirts, wide-legged pants, or loose sweatshirt sleeves can also entice nipping.
For some reason, this response to puppy nipping has been making the rounds on social forums, and you should completely avoid this. Second, as with other aversives , it can have unintended consequences of increased nipping or unwanted aggressive responses. You don't want your puppy viewing you as threatening or something to be scared of. That's not setting you up for a trusting and healthy relationship. There are better ways to handle puppy nipping.
A snappy puppy may be worrisome, especially when paired with growling and barking. In most cases, nipping, growling, lunging, and barking are all part of your puppy's play behavior. It is rare for young puppies to be exhibiting truly aggressive behavior.
If you are worried that your puppy is acting aggressively, I recommend consulting with a certified dog trainer or canine behavior consultant who can work with you one-on-one. They will observe your puppy's body language, watch for any environmental triggers for possible aggressive behavior, and help you develop a training plan. If the result of the consultant's report is that your puppy isn't aggressive then that's a bonus, and you'll get some good training tips for curbing the unwanted nipping behavior.
However, if the consultant believes that your puppy is displaying aggressive behaviors, then you'll be catching it early and can start a behavior and training program so it doesn't become a lifelong issue. If your puppy is lunging or biting when you reach for a toy, their food, or another type of resource such as where they are resting on the couch or in a dog bed , this might be a sign of resource guarding. If you believe your puppy is resource guarding, please connect with a certified dog trainer or behavior consultant who can help you through a behavior modification plan.
Don't play with your puppy's food while they are eating, or grab at a chew while they are enjoying it. Think how annoying it is when another person reaches over to your plate and plays with or takes your food. Allow your puppy to eat and chew in peace.
If you have children in your home, teach them that when the puppy is eating that they should not approach or interact. Feeding your puppy in a safe space, such as their puppy zone or crate, can help prevent any accidental intrusions of their "me" time by curious kids. Always listen to and respect your puppy's warnings. If they freeze when you approach them, or start to growl, stop approaching and think about what you can do to build positive associations with your approach.
For example, as you will see in the video below, the dog learns that an approaching person means a piece of chicken appears. Focus on teaching your puppy that someone approaching them while eating means something good happens to them. A certified trainer will help you learn how to do this, and their training plan should look similar to what's shown in this video :. If your puppy has body language indicative of aggression along with nipping and biting, it's time to reach out to a professional.
Often aggression is rooted in fear, and you might see your puppy react defensively to certain things that scare them. This usually is seen in a puppy with ears pinned back against their head, tail tucked, baring teeth, and wide eyes where you can see the whites. Along with fear, aggression could be related to pain or another underlying medical cause. The first step when addressing aggressive behavior is to schedule a veterinary exam to rule out medical issues. Here are some of my favorite training exercises:.
Ian Dunbar has a categorization system for ranking the severity of dog bites. The scale may look a little different for a young puppy without severe aggression but with a normal nipping problem. There could be additional levels of biting beyond five the puppy tears the skin, the puppy repeatedly bites the skin, puncturing it, the puppy bites and shakes the hand, etc.
If your puppy is biting at level 5 or higher frequently, consulting with a qualified behavior professional immediately is not optional, but necessary! Soft-mouth shaping is another technique for teaching a puppy to use its mouth politely. To start shaping a soft mouth, place a low-value treat in your hand and present it to your dog. Any reaction at level 3 or lower earns the puppy a click and the opening of the hand; the dog is fed from a flat palm.
A level 4 reaction results in a 5-second removal of the hand place it behind your back and ignore the dog. Level 5 reactions result in a temporarily lonely puppy—walk away from the dog for 7 to 10 seconds before reengaging him in training. As the puppy develops better control over his mouth, increase criteria so that only level 2 or level 1 responses earn reinforcement. While training your puppy not to nip or bite may sound like a lot of work and, to be fair, puppy-raising is definitely a lot of work , it is one of the most important things you can teach your dog.
Bite-inhibition training saves lives; it helps dogs and people stay safe together and enjoy each other more thoroughly. Puppy training should focus on preventing behavior problems in the adult dog—and no behavior problem is more dangerous for dogs and people than biting. Any dog may bite if it senses danger, feels trapped, or experiences pain, among many other reasons. Casey Lomonaco lives in upstate New York, where she offers editorial, writing, and behavior consulting services through her company Rewarding Behaviors Dog Training.
When she is not working with or writing about dogs, she is knitting, reading, or hiking in a forest—with dogs. Sign up for our newsletters and get articles, new products, events, and exclusive deals sent directly to your inbox! Have Questions? Why puppies bite. About the author. Post new comment Subject:. Glossary terms will be automatically marked with links to their descriptions.
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Sign Up for our Newsletter Sign up for our newsletters and get articles, new products, events, and exclusive deals sent directly to your inbox! Sign Up Today! Log in here. Why puppies bite There are a number of reasons puppies nip, bite, and chew.
Here comes trouble one more reason! Mouth manners for the long-term Puppy training should emphasize behavior problem prevention in the adult dog. These are great new behaviors for your dog to learn, but also teach an appropriate way to interact with hands that can earn reinforcement opportunities! Soft-mouth shaping Ian Dunbar has a categorization system for ranking the severity of dog bites. The puppy sniffs or licks the hand.
The puppy gently mouths the skin. You can feel teeth without pressure. Moderate mouthing. Slight pressure is applied to skin, but not enough to cause any puncture or tear. The puppy bites hard enough to cause pain, but does not break the skin The puppy bites hard enough to break the skin. Mouthing manners: helpful hints Introduce movement. It is one thing for a puppy to ignore a stationary hand, but it is much harder to avoid chasing and biting at moving objects. As those disappear, do the same for his next-hardest bites, and so on, until your puppy can play with your hands very gently, controlling the force of his mouthing so that you feel little or no pressure at all.
A CPDT will offer group or private classes that can give you and your dog lots of assistance with mouthing. Most puppy mouthing is normal behavior. However, some puppies bite out of fear or frustration, and this type of biting can signal problems with future aggression.
Something as benign as simply holding your puppy still or handling his body might upset him. Tantrums can also happen when play escalates. In most cases, a playful puppy will have a relaxed body and face. If your puppy has a temper tantrum, his body might look very stiff or frozen. He might pull his lips back to expose his teeth or growl.
Almost always, his bites will be much more painful than normal mouthing during play. Doing that might actually cause your puppy to continue or intensify his aggressive behavior.
Instead, be very calm and unemotional. Then make plans to contact a qualified professional for help. Please see our article, Finding Professional Behavior Help , to locate one of these professionals in your area.
Mouthing, Nipping and Biting in Puppies.
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