PUPPY TEETHING & BITING TRAINING

One of the most important lessons we need to teach all puppies is to be very careful with their mouths around people. If a dog bites, it is a very serious problem and yet when we look at our new puppy playfully chewing on our fingers, we begin to wonder where the puppy stuff ends and the “serious” stuff begins. The reality is the whole process is often part of a continuum starting with puppy using his mouth to explore his world. All puppies mouth and nip as part of this process. The following set of exercises is designed to reduce the force of the bites and then reduce the frequency until you reach the point where there is no more biting.

1. NO HARD BITES - Let your pup take your hand in his mouth and when he bites too hard, yell “OUCH” in a loud, annoyed voice making it very clear to the puppy that it hurt and you did not like it one bit. Do not make the mistake of squeaking like a wounded littermate or another puppy; you are not another puppy, you are the leader. At this point it is not necessary to punish the pup, simply let him know when it hurts. The severity of the ouch should correspond to the severity of the pain and the dog's mental make-up. If your “OUCH!” was not enough to startle the puppy, maybe rattle a chair or slap a table top for emphasis and to help startle the puppy. Once puppy lets go, ignore him for a couple minutes (prior to ignoring him you can mutter something to yourself like “that hurt you miserable cur, how dare you”).

If the pup ignores your “OUCH” and bites again, put him in his place of confinement and close the door. Give him anywhere from fifteen minutes to one half hour to calm down before resuming gentle play with him. If he gets too rough again, repeat the procedure (you yell “OUCH”).

2. NO PRESSURE AT ALL - You progress from #1 above, gradually tolerating less and less pressure. You still want him to get the message that the mouthing hurt and you are not pleased: you want him to begin seeing human skin as very fragile. Continue to say “ouch” but by now he should know it means he has been too rough so you don't have to yell as loud.

3. MOUTHING IS O.K. UNTIL YOU SAY “OFF”- By this point his mouth should be very “soft,” when you want him to stop mouthing tell him “OFF” and he must instantly get his mouth off you or you withdraw all attention. Resume play if he stops immediately when he was told “off.”

4. DOG MAY NEVER INITIATE MOUTHING - At this stage you will tell him “OFF!” anytime he puts his teeth on you. You can and should occasionally put your hand in his mouth (your initiative not his) to test that he remains gentle.

While the above process is good for dealing with biting puppies, it only looks at one part of the picture. Biting is a serious topic therefore, another article worth reading is "To Bite or Not to Bite".