Managing and controlling puppy biting problems can be a major challenge for us dog lovers. Puppy biting or nipping starts out as a bit of fun, but needs to be controlled quickly to avoid ongoing problems.
For most young puppies biting is a perfectly natural and essential phase to go through, especially when they are teething.
Puppies love to sink their sharp little fangs into just about anything during this teething stage, including the hands and feet of their owners. In some cases it's like you've brought a snappy alligator into your home, instead of the cuddly little puppy you had hoped for.
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How To Stop Puppy Biting Problems
There a lots of proven training methods to help correct your puppy's behavioral problems. Before I get into the specific techniques you can use to stop your puppy from biting, always keep these general dog behavior training rules in mind:
Puppy socialization and bite inhibition training go hand in hand.
Never slap or hit your puppy in the face. This does not work! Your puppy will just think you are playing or could become afraid of you. This may even lead to some much bigger problems than simple puppy nipping.
The general rule to stop puppy biting problems is to always encourage acceptable behavior and always discourage unacceptable behavior. To learn more about this fundamental rule of dog obedience training (including how to stop biting problems) visit Secrets of a Professional Dog Trainer.
While you are trying to stop your puppies from biting, never play tug of war, wrestling or chase type games with them. This only encourages the biting and nipping.
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If you don't clearly communicate to your dog that the biting is unacceptable, he will not know he is doing anything wrong. It's up to you to show him what is acceptable behavior, don't just expect your puppy to know this! (You are really taking on the role of his littermates for this task).
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Stop Your Puppy From Biting - Proven Techniques
Your goal to start with is to teach your puppy how to control the force of his/her biting. Your puppy's littermates will initiate this process and then it is up to you to continue on with it when your new puppy arrives home. This will ensure (not guarantee) that if your dog does bite someone in the future the damage will be minimized. When you have given your puppy sufficient feedback regarding the strength of his bite only then can you begin to reduce the prevalence of the biting behavior.
If you catch the biting problem early on it may be easy to rectify. Just try to redirect the biting from your flesh to a toy or chew bone. For very young puppies this method is often all you'll need do. As soon as your pup starts to bite your hands just let out a firm "No!" and replace your fingers with the chew toy (or ice cube if your puppy is teething).
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Teach your puppy the obedience training command "Leave It!". This method works great but is more suitable for older puppies.
In bad biting cases as soon as your puppy latches onto your hand say "No!" and quickly put your thumb inside his mouth under his tongue, and your other finger under his chin. Hold it there for about 10 seconds (not too tightly). This will feel uncomfortable to your puppy plus he won't be able to bite you.
"Always Praise And Reward A Gentle Mouth And Ignore Or Withdraw From Inappropriate Nipping"
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For older puppies (around 6 months) this is a sure fire technique to stop puppy mouthing. Put a pinch or choke collar on your puppy and each time he bites you give the lead a short sharp tug. This correction will form an unpleasant association to your dog every time he bites you. It won't take him long to stop. Some trainers believe this method to be fairly extreme, and I agree that you would only need to call on it in very rare circumstances - I have never needed to go to this level. I believe it's far more effective to educate your puppy rather than inflicting punishment or trying to extinquish a behavior altogether.
How to stop a puppy from biting - these methods have been recommended to me, but I have never tried them myself:
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Fill up an empty can with rocks or coins. Each time your puppy starts biting say No! and give the can a shake. Apparently puppies hate this rattling noise.
If you're worried that you may have an overly aggressive puppy on your hands, please seek the advice of an experienced animal behaviorist or dog trainer.
As we already know earlier the most important piece of advice regardless of which training method you choose is to be consistent and provide the clear feedback your puppy needs to learn, keep learning, this tips on How To Stop Puppy Biting Problem could be the start.