Puppy biting is something that just about every new dog owner struggles with. It can go from being an annoyance to affecting your enjoyment and bond with your puppy. It gets even worse with the kids.
Puppies don't know how to play with humans. It's in their DNA to play with their tough-skinned, fur-covered littermates, but not us wimpy humans with our delicate skin.
Working with your puppy on their nipping is pretty straight forward. When you don't like the way they're playing, you stop playing. You become completely boring and disengage. Turn your back, tuck your hands or maybe even walk out of the room.
What you don't do is say "no, no, no, stop" and physically try to stop them. To your puppy, you are still playing.
Then, even if you are doing everything right, you may still be struggling. The main reason I see, is that stopping your puppy's biting is a process. You will be working on and managing puppy biting for a good portion of their first 6 months.
Just like potty training, it takes time for our puppy to understand how to play with us. Remember, we are working against their natural instincts. So, you're gonna have good days and bad days. What you need to look for is progress.
The other big reason is that sometimes the puppy biting has nothing to do with biting at all. There is something else going on that you need to address.
- An overtired puppy will bite more
- An over-excited puppy will bite more
- A teething puppy will bite more
On those really bad days, instead of "strong-arming" our puppy into stopping, it's probably more about addressing one of the above problems.
- Maybe it's time for your puppy to rest in their crate with a toy or chew
- Maybe we need to give them a little bit more exercise like a walk or a structured game (like Rover Round Robin which I talk about in Episode 4).
- Maybe we need to give them their chew toy to satisfy their aching mouth.
In this episode, I talk about what to do when your puppy is biting while playing and why you might still be struggling.
Press play to listen and enjoy!!
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